Moving down to Room 30, the PCs smell it before they can see it.
This room is currently occupied by a group (2d8) Cat Ghouls.
These are cats infected with the ghoul's undead curse. They have 1 HD. They have a claw/claw/bite attack that causes 1d6+1/1d6+1/1d4+1 hp of damage. They can not cause paralysis as other ghouls. They are turned as Zombies.
They are currently eating a couple of corpses of humans. These victims have a total of 155 gp, 49 sp, and 22 cp. One has a ruby worth 500 gp.
Heat and light come from this room.
Inside are 8 Fire Beetles. These fire beetles are different and the glowing glands on their carapace also cause 1d4 hp of fire damage. Treat as 2+HD creatures for attacks, hp, and XP.
While they do not collect treasure on their own, there is a pile of 300 GP here from a previous group of adventurers. No one else enters this room and the beetles seem (seemed) content not to leave.
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Depending on your party size you may want to increase the number of monsters encountered. I have been sticking close to the recommended amount for a 1st level dungeon.
This room comes up (on the left) after Room 27.
Like the portal before, this one is one way. Something the kobolds will discover to their dismay once combat goes against them and they try to retreat.
I have not done one of these in a while. My efforts this year are going to be to support smaller publishers. This seems like a good one.
Coven & Crucible: a game of magic and witchcraft
You know I love witches, and this game is all about them! It is also a d12-based system, so you know I love that. Plus it is set in an alternate version of Chicago where witches hang out in coffee shops! So how can I really say no?
You can read all about on their Kickstarter page. The important details for me though are the game is written and playtested, it just needs to go to layout and printing.
I would love to learn more about the publisher, Thirteenth Moon Games, but they do not seem to have a social media presence and their website is not up.
Still, though, it looks rather fun.
Like all the rooms on this level, the doorway has no door, but this one has had debris stacked on the inside on both sides of the opening. This creates a small 5' wide hall to enter the room. PCs can only enter in single file.
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| Free Art Assets - Grey Gnome Games - Jason Glover |
Inside the room, 1d6+2 Hobgoblins have made this their base. They are raiding the other rooms in the lower level and coming back here. They are waiting for the PCs and are armed with 2 crossbows and the rest have small bows. All have short swords. The hobgoblins believe this is their home turf now and will fight to defend it. They currently have others investigating Level 3.
Inside their little base, they have collected some loot.
1 bag with 45 gp. 1 bag with 52 sp. 1 barrel of wine/water mix (50/50) still potable. 2 weeks' worth of iron rations. 25' of rope. 20 iron spikes. And a 10' pole. All are valued at 105 GP in total (for XP purposes).
This isn't going to be about a full conversion. Mostly because I feel the best conversions are done in situ by the GM.
Today I want to talk about converting one of my D&D 5e campaigns, "Into the Nentir Vale."
A bit of background. Into the Nentir Vale began as, obviously enough, a D&D 4e game. I ran the intro adventures for it with a group, and the reactions were mixed. I tried again with some Pathfinder, a one-shot, but it never quite jelled the way I wanted it to. Fast forward a few years, and D&D 5 was released. I did a series of posts on sunk cost analysis/bias and conversions leading up to it:
Somehow it seems fitting that I am converting it again to Pathfinder, this time 2e.
The adventures themselves are the HPE adventures from D&D 4e. Essentially I am removing about 1/3 of the content to make it play a bit faster. I am scaling the monsters and encounters to fit a 20th level maximum (vs. a 30th-level one), but in many ways, the conversion between 4e and Pathfinder 2e is easier than converting between D&D 4e and D&D 5e.
The Character: Rowan McGowan
Rowan is my test character here. She is a reoccurring NPC and one I used as my internal tests of various combat situations.
Like the campaign itself, Rowan has seen some history and conversions. She began life as a witch for D&D 3.5. Her concept is a "Witch Knight" or "Witch Guardian." This is a witch that takes up the sword to protect others, typically of their faith and/or other witches. Rowan is a protector of the "Old Faith." Some of her exploits found a home in my Pagan Witch book, for example.
In D&D 5, Rowan was a multi-classed Warlock (Hexblade)/Paladin. Her background was an acolyte to cover her growing up in a religious order of witches. She picked up the blade when she saw others of her kind being killed. Her devotion is like a Paladin, just to a different cause. Multi-classing her was pretty easy to do since Charisma is the prime ability of both Warlocks and Paladins.
When converting her to Pathfinder there were a number of key differences.
First, while warlock was a compromise in D&D 5 (I wanted a core book class) I can do a proper witch in Pathfinder. But witch's main ability is Intelligence in Pathfinder (though I will argue with some authority that it should be Charisma). Also Pathfinder 2e does multiclassing VERY differently than what D&D 3.x/Pathfinder and D&D 5e do it. Interestingly enough, it is more similar to how D&D 4 did it.
In 5e Rowan's first level was Warlock (Witch) and then she took a level in Paladin. I have been leapfroging the classes. She is level 4 now with 2 levels in both Warlock and Paladin.
In Pathfinder Her class is Witch. I had her take Weapon Proficiency at level 1 so she could use simple weapons. At level 2 she is still a witch but I had her take the Champion Dedication feat. This "multi-classes" her into Champion, the Pathfinder version of a Paladin. This is similar to the Multi-class feats of 4e.
Here she continues to 4th level.
The progression is more straightforward in Pathfinder with fewer options in the beginning. The progression in 5e is less straightforward with lots of options. 5e Rowan has more spells for example, but her maximum casting choices will be limited at higher levels. Pathfinder Rowan will have access to much more powerful witch spells, even if she has fewer right now.
Perception +7;
Languages Common, Draconic, Elven
Skills Acrobatics +1, Arcana +9, Athletics +4, Diplomacy +10, Intimidation +10, Lore: Scribing +7, Occultism +7, Religion +7, Society +7, Survival +7
Str +4, Dex +1, Con +0, Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +4
Items Half Plate
AC 22; Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +9
HP 32
Speed 20 feet
Melee Greatsword +10 (Versatile P), Damage 1d12+4 S
Devoted Guardian 
Requirements Your last action was to Raise a Shield. You adopt a wide stance, ready to defend both yourself and your chosen ward. Select one adjacent creature. As long as your shield is raised and the creature remains adjacent to you, the creature gains a +1 circumstance bonus to their AC, or a +2 circumstance bonus if the shield you raised was a tower shield.
Occult Prepared Spells DC 17, attack +7; 2nd ; 1st Command, Mage Armor; Cantrips Chill Touch, Daze, Mage Hand, Read Aura, Protect Companion
Arcane Innate Spells DC 20, attack +10; Cantrips Detect Magic
Arcane Innate Spells DC 20, attack +10; Cantrips Shield
Focus Spells (1 points) Pact Broker Range 30 feet; Targets 1 creature Saving Throw Will; Duration sustained up to 1 minute You offer to broker a pact of peace. If the target accepts and doesn't take hostile actions against you and your allies, you take a –1 status penalty to Deception checks to Lie to them. If they refuse and take a hostile action against you or an ally, they must attempt a Will save. If they accepted the offer and then take a hostile action against you or an ally, they must attempt a Will save and treat the result as one category worse. Regardless of the outcome, the target is then temporarily immune for 1 minute. Success The target is unaffected. Failure The target takes a –1 status penalty to attack and damage rolls against you and your allies. Critical Failure The target takes a –2 status penalty to attack and damage rolls against you and your allies.
Phase Familiar 
Range 60 feet; Targets your familiar You draw upon your patron's power to momentarily shift your familiar from its solid, physical form into an ephemeral version of itself shaped of mist. Your familiar gains resistance 5 to all damage and is immune to precision damage. These apply only against the triggering damage. Heightened (+1) Increase the resistance by 2.
Additional Feats Arcane Sense, Arcane Tattoos, Champion Dedication, Root Magic, Student of the Canon
Additional Specials Arcane Tattoo (Shield), Champion Archetype Cause (Liberator Cause), Familiar, Hexes, Patron (Pacts), Tenets of Good, Witch Spellcasting
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Thankfully I still had her PDF from D&D Beyond.
There are subtle differences to be sure. Pathfinder Rowan has better AC and HP compared to her D&D 5 counterpart on paper. I am not sure if those will make much of a difference though in play.
I knew 5e (and 3.5s) Rowan had a tattoo on her shoulder blade but I was not certain of what yet. In Pathfinder I figure it is the symbol of her Goddess Desna.
While putting these sheets in her folder I noticed I had also started AD&D 2nd Ed, Castles & Crusades, and DragonAGE versions of her started as well!
The conversion was pretty fast, to be honest. These systems still share DNA. In many ways, the Pathfinder version is much closer to my original concept of her so I am pretty happy about that. I will need to see how I can convert the other characters now.
Converting monsters will just be a one-for-one swap out.
The odor from this room hits the PCs before they even get near the opening.
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| Free Art Assets - Grey Gnome Games - Jason Glover |
There is a fair amount of treasure here. In various bags, there are 100 gp, 35 SP, and 1000 cp. The PCs have no way to discover this, but they were left behind by a group of evil adventurers who killed an adventuring party and left these zombies to guard the loot they could not carry themselves. That evil party went deeper into the dungeons and has not been heard from since. They even left an extra magical sword to make sure their loot was guarded well.
The zombies look like they are a couple of weeks old.
