Tabletop Roleplaying Games (D&D, Pathfinder, CoC, ETC.)

[The Ugly One]

Can anyone recommend any good tools to make this more easy and streamlined as opposed to me literally going through both sets of books and trying to do it manually?

I had about a 1-page cheat sheet I used to fudge things on the fly. This is what it came down to:

• Use the same 5e monsters. They are usually near-equivalents in difficulty. If it's a bit hard, well, players are supposed to know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em.
• NPCs will of course need to be redone, but you can find premades online by googling "13th level 5e cleric" or whatever, don't waste your time.
• Any DC should be either 10, 15, or 20. 10 for medium, 15 for hard, 20 for expert. Just use whatever seems intuitive based on the nature of the challenge.
• Watch out for 5e spells having Concentration if there are any npcs or monsters who the module explicitly has running multiple spell effects at once. Give them a single-use trinket or something so they can have multiple spells going.
• Keep in mind there is no 5 foot step, no full action, no swift action, etc.

 

[Tom Bombodildo]

Is you going to try it, pirate the PDFs. I don't think that much different of Tri-Stat DX to worth the effort. The rules are Okay, but the settings updates are all over the place.

Brother, I pirate every tabletop book until I know it's something I want to own physically. Saves one from buying a lot of $80 hardcover microfiction collections with an idea of rules inbetween.

 

[AnOminous]

By accident I killed hundreds of millions of people, doomed the rest of the world to a slow death, and the ship that got away probably will be able to identify us.

The closest I got to this was a Call of Cthulhu campaign where the mission was to stop a world-ending ritual at the Great Pyramid of Giza but the party failed to stop it. As a desperate last measure while the gateway was opening, one of the less sane party members cast Call Azathoth, and everyone had time to go insane right before all dying, meanwhile the gateway was blown wide open immediately and a full blown end of the world scenario commenced.

This is not the only doomed world ending of a CoC campaign I had but it was certainly the most spectacular.

I offered to continue the campaign in a post-Old Ones return world where the scattered remnants of humanity desperately tried to stay alive but everyone refused to play it.

 

[Apparatus Aruspices]

Can anyone recommend any good tools to make this more easy and streamlined as opposed to me literally going through both sets of books and trying to do it manually?

I don't want to be "that guy" but I will be if I have to be. Don't play 5e with new people, don't make them play 5e, don't make them think that 5e works for what you're trying to do. It will only hurt them in the long run. I really really can't stress this enough; Playing 5e first will ruin the first impressions that many new people get because it's extremely clunky, fails to fulfill the fantasy it's advertised to accomplish, rewards a lack of investment and care, and incentivizes metagaming with its mechanics. It will entrench in them a general perception that tabletop games are something they're not, and create an environment that encourages a very stupid "I don't need to pay attention to succeed" mindset.
PF2e does this less so, so if you still want something "normal", then maybe trim out some of that and run it instead.

I would really REALLY recommend that you figure out what you're specifically trying to accomplish gameplay and aesthetics wise. Figure out if you want knights in shining armor fantasy-style, something a bit more mudcore and gritty, high-stakes political intrigue, etc. and then pick one of the games built specifically to accomplish those things. They will thank you for it later, because there's such a huge swathe of games out there that do what D&D5e is trying to do but better. Give them AD&D, give them Pendragon, give them Mausritter, Blades in the Dark, Lancer or a PBtA game or whatever else. Just don't give them 5e. It will feel better if they're getting a more "unique" experience anyways.

 

[Diabeetus69]

I don't want to be "that guy" but I will be if I have to be. Don't play 5e with new people, don't make them play 5e, don't make them think that 5e works for what you're trying to do....<snip>

I appreciate your advice and get where you are coming from...
My goal is to get one of my best friend's kids (9) into tabletop gaming. His mother (mid 30s) is a little worried that his generation has their nose in their phones/ipad/switch at all waking hours and he will never develop social interaction skills, joining the next generation of brain-rot zombies. Plus, I am using it as a way to get myself back into gaming, post-pandemic.
I am taking a rather "old school" (1E) approach to this where they don't have to worry about dropping hundreds of dollars on books, just show up, bring/borrow some dice, and have fun. I take care of the rest. Right now, I am running PF1 cause that's all I really know. I never played 5E or got into it.
The only reason I am contemplating 5E is, as flawed as it is (I agree), it does seem to be the most "popular" system out there as far as what younger kids are playing as well as what the local game stores are running for open adventures. The goal is for him to branch out of our little makeshift group (two guys in their 50s, two women in their 30s, and one 9 year old) and be able to find kids his age to interact with outside of social media.
I hope that give you some insight into my goals....

 

[Apparatus Aruspices]

I hope that give you some insight into my goals....

Okay this makes everything make a lot more sense now. For what it's worth, I think that's probably one of the only justifiable reasons to play 5e. It IS the game that the pop-TTRPG players are into and is the most popular. I do think that in the future it would be good to provide him resources to experience more from the genre and medium for him to show future groups, but ultimately if you're trying to get a kid into a social hobby then the actual game being played is possibly the most irrelevant part of the equation.

 

[The Ugly One]

I am taking a rather "old school" (1E) approach to this where they don't have to worry about dropping hundreds of dollars on books, just show up, bring/borrow some dice, and have fun. I take care of the rest. Right now, I am running PF1 cause that's all I really know. I never played 5E or got into it.

5e plays a lot like a cleaned-up 3.5 that strips out a lot of the rules lawyer traps, simplifies the action economy, and put some actual effort into making the Fighter a playable class instead of a trap option to punish the kinds of gamers Monte Cook personally dislikes. Ironically, I've found 3.5 players have the hardest time adjusting to it because it kind of looks like 3.5 if you squint, but it is different in lots of very small ways. AD&D players tend to adjust better because it looks different enough that they don't carry a lot of expecations.

It's not particularly clunky, at least not compared to any other version of D&D (except B/X) and has served as my main entry point for getting quite a few people into the hobby. I have run lots of BECMI, AD&D, and 3.5 modules using 5e with virtually no prep at all. People who say this is impossible have simply never tried to do it. I moved on from 5e a couple years ago, but it's a pretty good system overall that draws a lot ire from hipsters who need to hate whatever's popular.

Don't use Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. The other expansions are all right. That one breaks more than a few things.

 

[Sayer of the N-Word]

I just had the most murder-hobo session I've ever had.

No one reminisces about the sessions where everything goes according to plan. Well done.

I moved on from 5e a couple years ago, but it's a pretty good system overall that draws a lot ire from hipsters who need to hate whatever's popular.

One of 5e's greatest virtues is that it's very easy for new players to pick up, and the other is that its popularity guarantees that the kid will never have to look hard for an IRL table. Are Twilight: 2000 or Call of Cthulhu better games? Maybe, but it'll be a real slog for a kid to find people who aren’t playing online.

 

[AnOminous]

No one reminisces about the sessions where everything goes according to plan. Well done.

"Did you have a campaign where everything went normally and the party just won?"

"I know there were a lot of those, but I can't seem to recall what happened."

"What about where shit really got fucked up?"

"Oh yeah, there was this great one where we accidentally destroyed the entire world!"

 

[Joshua Connor Tomar]

I like games about killing orcs with swords.

I just ran an like an 8 shot where a big orc got mad about all the pussy tuskless half orcs and tried to kill the party.

 

[Judge Dredd]

Since we are talking about things that annoy us about DnD and it's community I have always hated how people continue to rant and ban things they do not like because they either think it's overpowered or just don't want to deal with it.

Some don't even need that.

Mentioned this earlier in the thread. But famous exploits like the druid turning into a t-rex at low level don't work for anything that isn't straight damage race combat in an open arena. Pretty much anywhere indoors will scuttle it, as will have even a low level caster bring something that requires an int save.

What's the current go-to for grabbing old books easily? I know there was the Trove and then something after...

I use the 4chan tg share thread. But not done so for a while.

I keep hearing about "the amber room", but never used it. Supposedly you need telegram to use it? I don't know.

I am looking to convert some cute little 1-shots that were written for Pathfinder into 5E, since PF is basically dead and everyone seems to be leaning towards 5E.

You might not have to? @The Ugly One said, but if there's no straight 5e stat block. As long as the HP, AC, and damage are within reason, you might be able to run it straight.

 

[Overly Serious]

Okay this makes everything make a lot more sense now. For what it's worth, I think that's probably one of the only justifiable reasons to play 5e. It IS the game that the pop-TTRPG players are into and is the most popular. I do think that in the future it would be good to provide him resources to experience more from the genre and medium for him to show future groups, but ultimately if you're trying to get a kid into a social hobby then the actual game being played is possibly the most irrelevant part of the equation.

I think you were right the first time, tbh. Yes, there's an in-built community that plays 5e but... is it really a community you want to introduce a nine year old to? Unless the kid is really hurting for friends, I'd look around for other RPGs that he can then introduce his friends to. That's what happened with me - no existing community that I joined, I bought a game in a shop, read it and then started playing it with my friends. Best way.

And if it's familiarity there are a bunch of games based on popular franchises that will be familiar. Cubicle 7's Doctor Who game is a very simple but elegant rule system and it's endlessly creative with the sort of characters you can make. You might want to get one of the earlier boxed sets like that of Ten or Eleven before the franchise went off the cliff but one box and you have enough for any imaginative kid to have as much fun as they want. No upsell on buying endless supplements, no pressure to have minis (not that that's a bad hobby either, but adds a lot of cost and space requirements). And it's surprisingly well-balanced for a game that has to accommodate you being anything from a 2,000 year old Time Lord to a girl from the corner shop.

There are other games as well. The One Ring 2e is a nice simple system with a lot of flavour, but the adventures and atmosphere is a lot more mature that most games. FFG's Star Wars line is a decent system and obviously it's another franchise people are familiar with and it's got quite a bit of depth to character progression. FFG will try to squeeze every last penny out of you for supplements but you don't actually need them. The core book (or books) have plenty in them. They had three parallel game lines but any of them would be fine. Age of Rebellion would probably be the easiest for a boy to get his head around.

So @Diabeetus69 , that's my thoughts on it.

 

[The Ugly One]

You might not have to? @The Ugly One said, but if there's no straight 5e stat block. As long as the HP, AC, and damage are within reason, you might be able to run it straight.

The issue you run into with 3.x is level scaling on stats, and it diverges quickly, since player BAB goes up a lot faster in 3.x than in 5e. Best to just use the stat block from a monster with appropriate CR.

 

[Corn Flakes]

I think you were right the first time, tbh. Yes, there's an in-built community that plays 5e but... is it really a community you want to introduce a nine year old to? Unless the kid is really hurting for friends, I'd look around for other RPGs that he can then introduce his friends to.

For a 9 year old, I'd go with something simple like TinyD6. If you're trying to prepare them for vanilla fantasy, Tiny Dungeons works just fine.

 

[Diabeetus69]

Everyone is making some really good points.
Right now, outside of school, he doesn't really have any "friends". In the 4 years I've known he and his mom, they are on their 3rd apartment, so that tracks. He has a could of step-brothers on his dad's side that he sees every other week when the kid stays with him, but they are a bit older so i'm not seeing them get into it. His mom just got approved for a home loan so hopefully they will settle down in a more permanent place where he can make some friends in the neighborhood.
All I really want to do is get him into SOMETHING, and, for all the reasons stated upthread, 5E is a good starting point because if he ever gets tired of hanging out with a bunch of grown-ups, then he'll be able to more easily assimilate into another group where, if they introduce him to a new game system, he'll at least be able to transition more easily.
But, for the time being, it's just gonna be us once a month or so.
Thanks all....

 

[Paradox Mystic]

Don't use Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. The other expansions are all right. That one breaks more than a few things.

Isn't that the one with rules for making your own custom race? I remember some dude at a gaming store got annoyed because he overheard my gaming group when I mentioned my character only has six strength and he snorted and started saying "Ummmm aktschually people should just use the create a race rules to avoid low stats."

 

[Overly Serious]

Everyone is making some really good points.
Right now, outside of school, he doesn't really have any "friends". In the 4 years I've known he and his mom, they are on their 3rd apartment, so that tracks. He has a could of step-brothers on his dad's side that he sees every other week when the kid stays with him, but they are a bit older so i'm not seeing them get into it. His mom just got approved for a home loan so hopefully they will settle down in a more permanent place where he can make some friends in the neighborhood.
All I really want to do is get him into SOMETHING, and, for all the reasons stated upthread, 5E is a good starting point because if he ever gets tired of hanging out with a bunch of grown-ups, then he'll be able to more easily assimilate into another group where, if they introduce him to a new game system, he'll at least be able to transition more easily.
But, for the time being, it's just gonna be us once a month or so.
Thanks all....

Honestly, I'd nudge him towards sports more than TTRPGs in this day and age. I don't know your location so this might be off base for your area but it's probably going to be healthier for him both physically and socially. Gaming communities tend to wall themselves off and define themselves by the hobby a bit. Whereas a bunch of dudes who play sports together will do other stuff together as well. Plus there are events and parents and relatives meet people too by attending matches (if it gets that far).

I'm well aware that I'm posting this in the TTRPG thread and that's what you're looking for advice on, but if the goal is getting out and making friends, sports is going to do more for him I personally would think. But you know the specifics better than I do.

 

[Ghostse]

Right now, outside of school, he doesn't really have any "friends".

Ah, so by introducing him to TTRPGs you're ensure he never will and won't get any girls knocked up. Smart.

 

[40 Year Old Boomer]

Honestly, I'd nudge him towards sports more than TTRPGs in this day and age.

In any day and age.

 

[Diabeetus69]

His mom already has him enrolled in an afterschool run club, and he just completed his first 5K, so that part is covered.