Converting First Edition Creatures

Parent page Develop the Concept --- If you're converting creatures from First Edition, you won't find a direct numerical conversion. Instead, use the original statistics to create your road map, giving a better AC to a creature that had a good AC in First Edition, and so on. Here are the main areas of difference that you'll want to keep in mind for your conversion. Attribute modifiers scale differently, so don't copy them exactly. The highest modifiers tend not to get as high in Second Edition. You'll rarely see a +10 Strength modifier, for example. Creatures also tend to get better low statistics at higher levels than they used to, particularly for Dexterity and Wisdom. This is most apparent in high-level First Edition creatures with awful Dexterity. Low-Intelligence creatures, particularly animals, tend to have more special actions than they would have in First Edition. This is to make encounters with them more dynamic and distinct. Compare dinosaurs between the editions for good examples. When converting spell-like abilities to innate spells, you might need to make some substitutions. Some spells will appear as heightened versions of spells (such as greater dispel magic now being heightened dispel magic ), but others will require you to find something different. Also, don't feel like you need to keep every spell; focus on the most thematic and potent ones. The Spells section has more advice on this subject. Damage reduction has been replaced with two options: resistance to all damage (possibly with exceptions), or more HP and a weakness. Immunities, Weaknesses, and Resistances describes the distinction. If you want to convert spell resistance, you can give the creature a +1 status bonus to all saves against magic, or +2 if it had abnormally high spell resistance for its level.