Forum

Finally got a chance to run Dragonbane at a local con and it was excellent. Really did feel OSR with some modern mechanics thrown in. We loved it so much we're looking at a campaign and I thought it would be an excellent way to use some older modules I have (Elemental Evil, Keep on the Borderlands, Scourge of the Slave Lords etc.). Anyone have guidelines for converting 1e D&D creatures? I know it's not a simple math formula where you plug in X and you get Y and is more about what feels right but even loose guidelines would be a huge help. It's been a long, long, long time since I looked at 1e rules so I'm very rusty on how dangerous/tough creatures are.

I've been thinking to do the same. From what I remember AD&D loosely ranked its monsters by Hit Dice which roughly matched their levels, though beasties with extra powers would be bumped up a level or two. I have yet to play DB, but from what I'm reading it has more in common with RuneQuest than D&D so I'm anticipating fewer combat encounters and those that remain being tougher

The solo rules for npcs could be used to rule monsters not covered or close enough to one of the ones in the core book. Most of the early dnd modules were some think like 90% goblins, kobolds or orcs so no conversion need for those. One thing to keep in mind is that a fresh character in DB is roughly as good as a 3-4 level dnd character but they will never be as durable due to the dnd hp by level mechanics.

I've been thinking to do the same. From what I remember AD&D loosely ranked its monsters by Hit Dice which roughly matched their levels, though beasties with extra powers would be bumped up a level or two. I have yet to play DB, but from what I'm reading it has more in common with RuneQuest than D&D so I'm anticipating fewer combat encounters and those that remain being tougher

Earlier editions were much closer to RQ; the treatment here is off in a third direction.
See, RQ and DoD1-3 monsters are fully statted out as would be a PC.
D&D OE barely gives stats - HD encompass so much.

The Bestiary (the standalone book) and the bestiary chapter (in the core) roll the attacks into the attack table. The attack table is key... but not all monsters are Monsters in the Dragonbane keyword sense. If the critter has 2-4 of the same attack, I'd just put that as ferocity, and make it an NPC template.
If it has a claw/claw/bite, I'd give it 2, and a monster, with only one attack line having all three. Then a one claw, a 2 claw, and a bite only, one for morale/fear effect, and one more specific to the type.
HP, I'd say if under 50, keep. Above 50, subtract 50, then divide by 3, and add to 50. (80 thus winds up as 60, 150 winds up as 83...)
Evasion skill based upon AC. 18-AC sounds about right... Natural Armor, only if there is a hard carapace.
If it has any special resistances, list them as half damage; immunities similarly, but then you need a way around them.
If it's really big or notably strong, give a STR damage bonus. If it's notably quick, Agl damage bonus.

Tweak from there.

Finally got a chance to run Dragonbane at a local con and it was excellent. Really did feel OSR with some modern mechanics thrown in. We loved it so much we're looking at a campaign and I thought it would be an excellent way to use some older modules I have (Elemental Evil, Keep on the Borderlands, Scourge of the Slave Lords etc.). Anyone have guidelines for converting 1e D&D creatures? I know it's not a simple math formula where you plug in X and you get Y and is more about what feels right but even loose guidelines would be a huge help. It's been a long, long, long time since I looked at 1e rules so I'm very rusty on how dangerous/tough creatures are.

I'd say at this point, most games tapping into trad fantasy setting have a Rosetta Stone. All goblins are weak enemies, Orcs are lesser up to beginning PC level threats and dragons are to be avoided at all costs.

Beyond that, I suggest you play adventures with such standard foes until you get a feel for your table's tactical savvy and then make some homemade critters inspired by D&D and your adventure goals. (Like some monsters may be NPCs if they are an encounter, but if they are the end boss, make them a monster instead.) As an example, I have 6 players and most of them are pretty tactically savvy with maps, so I'd design homemade monsters very different from someone else who has three friends who play much more loose without a map.

The key here is that with low HPs and no leveling system, DB PCs never raise to the heights were they can achieve in AD&D or B/X. (Your list of suggested modules include 2e and Basic, so you are already in loose guideline territory anyway.) and they don't an XP grind of combat or gold to get better, so you can cherry pick the encounters you want to use and omit the rest. This does make several D&D maps very "empty," so you might want to fast forward through those sections.

Hit Points and Damage: HP are generally about double in DB compared to 1e AD&D. So eg a 1 hd 5 hp AD&D creature would have 10 hp in DB, an 8 hd 36 hp creature would have 72 hp in DB.

Damage is a bit less than double, eg a 1d8 (4.5) AD&D longsword is close to a 2d6 (7) DB broadsword. A 1d6 (3.5) 1e shortsword > 1d10 (4.5) DB shortsword. For monster conversion I'd suggest +50% (rounded up) damage should generally work, but avoid going over about 4d10 (22) damage, instead give Ferocity. So eg a fire giant doing 5d6 (17.5) damage in 1e could be Ferocity 2 with a 2d10 sweep attack and a 4d10 power attack on its attack table.

Multiple attacks also equate to Ferocity, as noted above.

For armoured creatures, AC converts fairly easily. Many DB creatures have no armour, but for those that do you can use this:

AD&D Armour Class > DB Armour Value
9-10 0
8 Leather 1
7 Studded 2
6 Scale 3
5 Mail 4
4 Banded 5
3 Plate 6
I generally would not go above AV 6 in DB unless it's an ancient dragon or similar, but you could keep the progression up to AV 9:
2 7
1 8
0 9

Generally though I think the best approach is to take an existing DB monster and tweak it; eg a Kobold may look like a weaker DB Goblin, a Spectre or Wraith like a DB Ghost.

Much like how many combat spells are essentially similar but given more power so as to level up with a player. i.e. burning hands >> flaming sphere >> fireball, lots of critters are offered in leveling games to keep pace with the PCs. Like previously stated, kobolds and goblins can share similar stats and just be different in appearance and culture.

OD&D to Dragonbane Conversion
Armor Value=9-AC. AC 8 – leather (1) AC 7 – studded (2) AC 5 – chain (4) AC 3 – plate (6) etc.
Hit Points= avg OD&D hp x2, using D6 for HD above 1. Eg ½ (2.5)=5, 1-1 (4)=8, 1 (5)=10, 1+1 (6)=12, 2d6 (7)=14, 2d6+2 (9)=18, 3d6 (10)=20, 3d6+1 (11)=21, 4d6+1 (15)=30, etc.

Hit Dice > Typical Skill
0.5 8
1-1 10
1 12
1+1 13
2+ 13
3+ 14
4-5 15
6-7 16
8-9 17
10+ 18

An interesting observation is that Armor Class in many of the D&D clones and recent editions is easier to convert than the originals. Original D&D AC was set so that lower numbers were better armor, but the ascending AC of the newer editions (3E and newer) starts with 10 and gets better as the number gets larger. Looks like one could take ascending AC and just subtract 10 to get Dragonbane Armor.

AD&D -- Ascending AC -- DB
10 -- 10 -- 0
9 -- 11 -- 1
8 --12 -- 2
7 -- 13 -- 3
and so on.

Ascending is set with 19-AC for OD&D and 20-AC for AD&D, more-or-less since the two scales are nearly identical. Just take the Ascending AC and subtract 10 to get the DB armor rating.