C&C Conversion of B1 In Search of the Unknown

catenwolde · Post by **catenwolde** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 5:08 pm

I'm going to be using an integration of B1 and B2 (Keep on the Borderlands) as a lead-in to the T1-4 series (Temple of Elemental Evil). Since this is the start of a campaign rather than a one-shot, I thought I would actually convert all the monsters and treasure to C&C standards.

As you probably know, B1 was somewhat unique in that it provided a setting which the DM was supposed to populate with monsters and treasures from the given lists. I've converted all the monsters and treasures from B1, and even compared the treasure levels between Basic D&D and C&C.

My next step will be to populate the dungeon in line with the campaign storyline (the Caves of Chaos were the old barracks grounds for the builders of the B1 complex, and now the reinforced tribes from B2 are scouting B1 to see what happened to their old masters, and the soldiers at the Keep are nervous). However, if anyone would like a copy of the basic document containing the conversion info, it would serve as a quick conversion for anyone running the module.

I'm not sure how or where to post it, so anyone interested can just PM me with an email, and I'll send it out.

Cheers,

Christopher

PS - I'll post to this thread when I get the conversion (and other modules) completed.

Tadhg · Post by **Tadhg** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 5:27 pm

Thanks, Christopher. I would like to see the conversion document. PM to be send!
_________________
Count Rhuveinus - Lejendary Keeper of Castle Franqueforte

"Enjoy a 'world' where the fantastic is fact and magic really works!" ~ Gary Gygax

"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes:" - Macbeth

Orpheus · Post by **Orpheus** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 7:20 pm

Funny. I'm actually using the super-module (In Search of Adventure) which contains parts of those two modules as my first C&C adventure in a couple of weeks. I've made notes on my own as to what monsters need converting (I'm doing "Clearing Castle Caldwell" first) and there really aren't any in the adventure that I'm about to run. Any of the monsters mentioned are available in the Monsters & Treasures book. I do have a .pdf copy of the Rules Cyclopedia for any monsters which aren't available in M&T. However, that's mostly resigned to copyrighted critters like the Beholder. I'd like to see what you have though, so please post.

catenwolde · Post by **catenwolde** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 8:24 pm

Orpheus,

I'm not sure that the conversion notes would make a lot of sense if I posted them in the forum format. I might eventually make a campaign web site ... after my players work through the modules that is!
In the mean time, just PM me with an email address, and I'll send you what I have.

Cheers,

Christopher

catenwolde · Post by **catenwolde** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 8:46 pm

But ... this is the general approach I followed, which is straightforward enough, if a bit time consuming.

1. Listed all the wandering, scripted, and randomly seeded monsters and treasures, to get an idea what the original parameters were. These lists might be useful even if you are not converting.

2. Matched and converted the Basic D&D monsters with the C&C monsters. In most cases this was a straight-up match, but a few adjustments had to be made; I wanted to see if the conversion could be done using only the monsters in the M&T, even though the conversion and creation process is simple enough.

Giant Centipedes thus became Venemous Snakes, and the Carrion Crawler became the Fleshcrawler. The two different kinds of spiders weren't an exact match, but close enough.

3. To "C&C" the monster encounters I then rolled up new "numbers encountered" to match the M&T. These numbers came up equal to or a few over the originals, and in some cases (the humanoids) were divided into several different encounters.

4. Next, rolled up the treasure, straight from the book. This was fun! Interestingly, the gp value turned out just a little under the original, although the magic item count was much lower.

5. These lists give you what you need to run your own conversion. What I'm doing next is writing my own wandering monster lists, detailed encounters and treasure distribution, to match my campaign theme. I'll post that too, but it will of course be colored by my own approach.

Cheers,

Christopher

catenwolde · Post by **catenwolde** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 8:48 pm

Okay, let's see if the treasure summary works here on the forum anyway:
Basic D&D

1,850gp in scripted treasure, not including the Advisors treasure
2,788gp in random treasure

4,638gp total

5,000gp (+) statue, problematic to remove

2,460 XP in magic items, not including the Advisors treasure
C&C

3,858gp in random treasure (42 in coin; 910 in gems; 2,876 in items) not including 2 items below

2,250gp in 2 extraordinary items, perhaps difficult to locate or remove

200 XP in magic items rolled randomly but not including 4 Expertly Crafted Weapons

catenwolde · Post by **catenwolde** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 9:47 pm

The conversion is done, and a very nice one it is ... in my somewhat biased opinion.
It seems likely that this conversion will not be hosted on Dragonsfoot (as I had hoped), due to possible copyright conflicts from replicating text such as the original room names, etc.

This was written for my own use, of course, but I will be happy to send a copy to anyone who may be interested. B2, T1-4, G1-3, and the Drow series will eventually be getting the same treatment.

Cheers,

Christopher

catenwolde · Post by **catenwolde** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:44 pm

The conversion will be hosted at CNCPlayer.Net.

Next up: B2-CC The Crusader Castle in the Hinterlands.
Christopher