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  Conversions to 5th Edition D&D
  This document provides guidelines for converting charac-
  ters and adventures from earlier editions of Dungeons & 
  Dragons to the fifth edition.
   Conversion of D&D material is more art than science. 
  The aim of conversion is to arrive at something that feels 
  like the older-edition version, rather than at an exact repli-
  cation. The guidelines in this document are intended to help 
  you create what you want, not to force your choices along 
  particular lines. 
  Converting Your 
  Player Character
  Work with your DM to determine the best fit for your con-
  version. Your DM is the final arbiter of any conversion.
  Level
  Your DM sets the starting level of a converted character. 
  For fourth edition characters, fifth edition level is two-thirds 
  of fourth edition level, rounded normally instead of always 
  down. For example, 25th level in fourth edition becomes 
  17th level in fifth edition. Level in other editions converts 
  directly into fifth edition, but only up to 20th level.
  Race
  Choose the race that most closely matches your character’s 
  race. For instance, a wild elf in Faerûn is closest to the 
  wood elf in the Player’s Handbook. Replace all racial traits 
  with those from the fifth edition Player’s Handbook. Ignore 
  traits that have no bearing on fifth edition characters, such 
  as third edition’s favored class trait or other editions’ class 
  limitations.
   Racial proficiencies of like kind—skill, tool, or weapon—
  can be swapped for their equivalents in fifth edition. You 
  might swap skill proficiency for tool proficiency when 
  the tool is a better representation of a skill from a previ-
  ous edition.
   As an example, a wild elf character should have profi-
  ciency with spears, according to the third edition book  
  Races of Faerûn. Your character could give up longsword 
  and shortsword proficiency from the Elf Weapon Training 
  trait to have spear and javelin proficiency instead. Simi-
  larly, if your elf character from third edition relied on rapier 
  proficiency garnered from race, you might swap longsword 
  proficiency from Elf Weapon Training for rapier proficiency.
  For the DM: Race Conversions
  For races not represented in the Player’s Handbook, see the 
  “Creating a Race” section in chapter 9 of the Dungeon Mas-
  ter’s Guide. Start with the racial traits from one or more 
  previous editions. From them, reconstruct the race in fifth 
  edition terms, using existing races and their traits as mod-
  els. The following general guidelines should help.
   Consistency. Keep only those racial traits that are con-
  sistent from edition to edition. Especially ignore a trait that 
  appears in only one previous edition.
   Ability Scores. Bonuses to ability scores from race and 
  subrace should add up to no more than +3, unless the race 
  has few other beneficial traits. In most cases, no one score 
  should receive a bonus higher than +2.
   Three previous editions of the game included negative 
  racial adjustments to ability scores, and two included ra-
  cial ability score maximums and minimums. Fifth edition 
  avoids such parameters, but in the case of monstrous races, 
  such as kobolds, penalties can be appropriate.
   Damage Resistances. In fifth edition, the damage re-
  sistance trait has no numeric value. A creature either has 
  resistance to a damage type, or it does not.
   Infravision. Racial infravision converts directly to fifth 
  edition’s darkvision. Use the race’s infravision range for its 
  darkvision, or a range chosen by your DM.
   Low-Light Vision. Most races that have low-light vision 
  in third or fourth edition should have darkvision. The range 
  defaults to 60 feet.
   Powers. Racial powers can be ignored or converted to 
  the capability of casting a spell similar to the power. A char-
  acter of the race should have to be of a level high enough 
  to cast the spell as if the character were a spellcaster. For 
  example, a spellcaster should be 5th level to cast a 3rd-level 
  spell. A race that can cast innate spells must have a default 
  spellcasting ability score chosen from among Intelligence, 
  Wisdom, and Charisma.
  	 Small	Modifiers. Other editions’ Small races often have 
  traits that offer modifiers to Armor Class, attack rolls, sav-
  ing throws (or defenses), and skills. Ignore a bonus, unless 
  it is +4 or higher and not to Armor Class. If it is at least 
  that high, proficiency or advantage might be called for as a 
  racial trait. Similarly, ignore a penalty that isn’t as severe as 
  –4. Such a penalty might call for disadvantage in the appli-
  cable situation.
  Class
  Choose the fifth edition class that most closely matches 
  your character’s class (or classes, if your character has 
  more than one). Alternatively, choose the class that most 
  closely matches how you’d like your character to be in the 
  game’s narrative.
   Don’t feel constrained by your character’s original class 
  or classes. For example, you might decide that warlock 
  or sorcerer is a better fit for your magic-user’s story than 
  wizard. Similarly, you are free to decide that fifth edition’s 
  paladin class or a cleric of the War domain better expresses 
  your fighter/cleric than multiclassing does.
   Class names can frame your thinking (the wizard was 
  called a magic-user in first edition and a mage in second 
  edition, and the rogue was called a thief in first and second 
  edition). But try to think outside that box. For instance, your 
  fourth edition avenger might be a fifth edition paladin with 
  the Oath of Vengeance or a monk who follows the Way of 
  Shadow. Your fourth edition warden could be a fifth edition 
  cleric of the Nature domain, ranger of the Hunter arche-
  type, or paladin who has taken the Oath of the Ancients.
   Multiclassing can be the answer to fulfilling many char-
  acter concepts. Before multiclassing in fifth edition, how-
  ever, make sure no single class’s development path fits the 
  character’s intent better. For instance, the Eldritch Knight 
  fighter archetype might be a good fit for a former fighter/
  wizard (or magic-user, or even an elf from Basic D&D). 
  Likewise, a bard or a rogue with the Arcane Trickster ar-
  chetype might be a fine fit for a wizard/rogue (or thief). The 
  aforementioned avenger could be a cleric/monk.
  
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   Page 2
  all these editions, a character’s preferred skills can also 
  indicate a background.
   In almost all cases, an existing background can be 
  molded to fit your character. However, if you feel a charac-
  ter needs a new background, first read “Creating a Back-
  ground” in chapter 9 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Based 
  on the game element used as a model for the background, 
  look to see if an existing background could fit with modifi-
  cations. If not, use the previous game’s element to create a 
  new background.
   You can use the character’s personality as played in pre-
  vious game sessions to help define personality traits, an 
  ideal, a bond, and a flaw.
  Feats
  In the conversion process, feats from third and fourth edi-
  tion should usually be ignored, because feats in fifth edition 
  have a very different place in the game than the feats did in 
  those two editions.
   Feats in fifth edition can make a character concept come 
  to life outside the race and class structures. Give the fifth 
  edition feats a look if you feel your character lacks a needed 
  aspect after you convert race and class.
  Spells
  Pick spells known as if creating a new character of the ap-
  propriate level. You can base the choice of spells known on 
  those from previous editions. Similarly, you can base your 
  choice of cantrips on at-will powers the character knows in 
  fourth edition.
   The DM is the arbiter of whether and how a spell that 
  doesn’t exist in fifth edition can be converted.
  For the DM: Spell Conversions
  When converting a spell from an earlier edition, your first 
  task is to make sure the intended effect doesn’t already ex-
  ist in a spell in fifth edition. Even if the effect doesn’t exist, 
  a similar one might. If you find a similar effect, you can use 
  that spell instead. Or you can base the new spell on the ex-
  isting one, making the job easier.
   When you create a spell, use the “Creating a Spell” sec-
  tion in chapter 9 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. The ear-
  lier edition’s spell is your basis for redesign. For complex 
  spells, such as earthquake, give yourself leeway to deter-
  mine effects based on the context in which the spells are 
  cast. Doing so gives you the opportunity to surprise even 
  the spell’s caster when the spell is used.
  Details
  Your character’s other details stay mostly the same, with 
  the following possible exceptions.
   Alignment. In most cases, alignments directly cor-
  respond between editions. Fourth edition and Basic 
  alignments don’t always correspond, so use the following 
  guidelines:
   In Basic D&D, you choose lawful, chaotic, or neutral. 
  Lawful corresponds to good—you choose whether it’s law-
  ful good, neutral good, or chaotic good. Chaotic similarly 
  matches a form of evil, whether lawful, neutral, or chaotic. 
  For a neutral character, choose lawful neutral, neutral, or 
  chaotic neutral.
   For fourth edition, a good character should be your choice 
  of neutral good or chaotic good. An evil character should 
  For the DM: Class Conversions
  If you’d like to recreate a class from a previous edition, see 
  the “Modifying a Class” section in chapter 9 of the Dungeon 
  Master’s Guide. Start with the class write-up from one or 
  more previous editions, and compare it to existing fifth edi-
  tion classes. From that starting point, determine if you can 
  use an existing fifth edition class as a template, modifying 
  it to fit your needs. Try to focus on what made the class the-
  matic across editions, as well as what you know the player 
  would like to play.
  Ability Scores
  For most editions, a character’s ability scores, unmodified 
  by magic, can convert directly to fifth edition values. In all 
  cases, the upper score limit of 20 still applies. A few extra 
  guidelines follow.
   Exceptional Strength. First and second edition allowed 
  some characters to have exceptional Strength, expressed 
  as a percentile value following a score of 18. Exceptional 
  Strength has no conversion value, so the character’s 
  Strength score becomes 18.
   Scores Higher than 20. Especially in fourth edition, 
  scores higher than 20 can occur. Such scores should be 
  treated as 20s, or the alternative for reassigning ability 
  scores described next should be used.
   Reassigning Ability Scores. Rather than converting 
  scores, especially if you have trouble doing so, you can fol-
  low the rules for determining ability scores set forth in the 
  fifth edition Player’s Handbook. To do so, use the standard 
  set of scores or customized scores acquired by spending 
  points. Then apply racial adjustments and any adjustments 
  from the Ability Score Improvement class feature. Use the 
  original character’s ability scores to guide your choices.
  Proficiencies
  In fifth edition, a character’s proficiency options usually 
  come from race, class, and background. Weapon proficien-
  cies can be changed only with DM permission.
   Based on your character’s history, you should choose 
  a background for your character during conversion. Al-
  ternatively, the DM can help you create an appropriate 
  background. Then pick proficiencies that reflect what the 
  character was good at in the previous edition. Here are a 
  few other guidelines for certain editions.
   Second Edition. You can base background choice on the 
  character’s secondary skills or best nonweapon proficien-
  cies, if any. If your character had a kit, it could be the basis 
  of your background.
   Third Edition. Your character’s best skills can guide 
  your background choice. If your campaign setting provided 
  regional or background benefits, you can use those as inspi-
  ration too.
   Fourth Edition. The third edition method is possible, 
  or you can use the character’s background or theme 
  as a guide.
  For the DM: Background Conversions
  Most of the previous editions provided bases for back-
  grounds. Second edition rules have secondary skills, non-
  weapon proficiencies, and character kits. In the span of 
  the third edition rules are backgrounds, regional benefits, 
  and even prestige classes. Fourth edition content also has 
  backgrounds, regional benefits, and character themes. In 
  
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   Page 3
  foes, once they were alerted to intruders, to join an ongoing 
  fight. You can replicate such pacing by keeping to easy-to-
  medium encounter groups in the dungeon without reducing 
  the number of encounters.
   In third and fourth editions, the encounter level desig-
  nated for an encounter is useful for determining the in-
  tended encounter difficulty based on the level range of the 
  adventure. (In the case of fourth edition, the actual difficulty 
  level should be taken to be two-thirds of the designated 
  encounter level.) For example, if the encounter level is 9 in 
  an adventure designated to be for 7th-level characters, the 
  encounter is intended to be hard or deadly.
   Encounter Structure. Use the encounter as written to 
  decide on its monster composition in fifth edition. Then use 
  the monsters’ challenge ratings, as described in the Mon-
  ster Manual, along with the “Creating Encounters” section 
  in chapter 3 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide, to modify the 
  encounter to the desired difficulty.
   An important aspect of this conversion is providing an 
  experience similar to the original. The number of mon-
  sters matters much less than the impression the encounter 
  makes on the players.
   With that guideline in mind, remember to adjust for pos-
  sible reinforcements. When multiple groups of opponents 
  can converge on the characters, it can make for a dynamic 
  battle. But such a conflict can also be deadly, which is fine 
  if that’s the intent. However, you can reduce the number of 
  potential foes (all the way to zero), move them so they’re not 
  potential reinforcements, or place impediments in the site 
  to prevent easy reinforcement.
   Features, Hazards, and Terrain. An encounter includes 
  site features, hazards, and terrain, and these elements can 
  occur with or without monsters being present. Much of the 
  time, you can use such elements without any new rules; it’s 
  enough for you to know the rules in the Player’s Handbook 
  on cover, difficult terrain, falling, holding breath, perception 
  and investigation, and special movement.
   You can make exact conversions, such as for secret doors 
  and wilderness hazards, using the guidelines in chapter 5 
  of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. To convert traps and dam-
  aging hazards, use the Trap Save DCs and Attack Bonuses 
  and Damage Severity by Level tables from that chapter.
   In third and fourth editions, encounter areas are often 
  quite detailed. Don’t feel the need to use every detail pre-
  sented in adventures from those editions. Convert whatever 
  seems likely to be of interest to your players, and leave the 
  rest for improvisation later. For example, a third edition 
  adventure might tell you how to push over a pillar, yet char-
  acters seldom decide to push over pillars or attack statues, 
  unless you call attention to an exploitable weakness in such 
  structures. In contrast, it’s not unusual for someone to try 
  to break down a locked door, rather than picking the lock.
   New Monsters. In older adventures, you’ll sometimes run 
  across creatures that lack a published equivalent in fifth 
  edition. In this case, the “Creating a Monster” section in 
  chapter 9 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide is your best tool. 
  The “For the DM: Race Conversions” section in this docu-
  ment can also be helpful.
   If you choose to create the monster whole cloth, start by 
  replicating the original monster as closely as possible using 
  elements from fifth edition. Use the HD as the creature’s 
  HD in fifth edition (the level of a fourth edition monster can 
  determine the number of HD it has). Ability scores should 
  be in the fifth edition range, from 3 to 30; third and fourth 
  be your choice of lawful evil or neutral evil. An unaligned 
  character is your choice of lawful neutral, neutral, or cha-
  otic neutral.
   Languages. You should select languages from the fifth 
  edition Player’s Handbook, or from a list the DM provides, 
  that most closely match the ones the character understood 
  in the character’s original edition.
   Personality. Based on those in your chosen background, 
  create a trait, ideal, bond, and flaw for your character. 
  Alternatively, choose from those detailed in your new 
  background.
  Equipment
  Equipment should be swapped for fifth edition equivalents. 
  The DM handles the conversion and distribution of gear 
  that isn’t in the Player’s Handbook.
  For the DM: Equipment Conversions
  As DM, you can allow characters to retain any gear and loot 
  with which you are comfortable. Swap magic items for fifth 
  edition equivalents. The rules in the “Starting at Higher 
  Level” section of chapter 1 in the Dungeon Master’s Guide 
  are a fine way to establish a character’s starting wealth and 
  gear in a fifth edition campaign. In most cases, the high 
  magic option is the best choice for representing treasure 
  distribution of previous editions.
   For mundane equipment, most such gear converts easily, 
  since it has pragmatic (and narrative) effects rather than 
  broad mechanical ones. Use existing equipment as guides, 
  and when necessary, create mechanics appropriate to fifth 
  edition. Remember to use advantage instead of flat bonuses. 
  Also, try to limit mechanical effects to at or below those of 
  common magic items.
  Converting Adventures
  The fifth edition of D&D is fairly compatible with ad-
  ventures from the first, second, and third editions of the 
  game—enough so that quick conversions of adventures 
  from such editions are possible. Careful conversion is the 
  alternative. As the DM—the one who creates and runs ad-
  ventures—the choice is yours.
   The following sections provide guidelines for careful con-
  versions, quick conversions, and the conversion of treasure.
  Careful Conversions
  Converting an adventure to fifth edition with precision re-
  quires several detailed steps. Whenever you convert in this 
  way, use what you know about your players’ characters to 
  guide the process. Don’t bother converting adventure ele-
  ments you know your players are unlikely to notice or use.
  	 Encounter	Difficulty. For encounters, the first step is 
  usually to decide what the difficulty of the encounter should 
  be. Doing so requires more intuition than science. Further, 
  the design from edition to edition and adventure to adven-
  ture varies on this point.
   For first and second edition, encounters were often de-
  signed to be on the easy side. This sort of pacing allowed 
  the characters to do more exploring and have numerous 
  encounters before resting and retreating from the dungeon. 
  Ideally, the characters could reach one or more significant 
  encounters or areas, revealing more of the adventure site’s 
  background or story, before retreating. Further, the Dun-
  geon Master could more easily allow disparate groups of 
  
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   Page 4
  in earlier editions, such creatures often deal lower damage 
  and have fewer hit points than their fifth edition counter-
  parts. Most statistics in third edition include the creature’s 
  ability scores. Use the following parameters:
  • Armor Class can be an average of touch AC and actual 
  AC, or 20 percent lower than in third edition. The upper 
  limit is 22.
  • Attack roll modifiers are the appropriate ability score 
  modifier + 3.
  • Saving throw DCs are 10 + the appropriate ability 
  score modifier.
  • If a creature has to make a check or saving throw, use its 
  ability score modifiers. Grant it a +3 bonus if it should be 
  good at the roll.
   Monster Groups. If a group of monsters has 7 or more 
  members, it should be evaluated to see if numbers should 
  be reduced. Such a reduction is especially important for 
  player characters of lower than 5th level.
   Spells. For spells, use the most closely matching spells 
  from the fifth edition Player’s Handbook. You can assign 
  spellcasters cantrips, but doing so is optional. Third edi-
  tion’s 0-level spells can be used as guidelines for such 
  selections.
   Traps. For traps, improvise by using the guidelines in 
  chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Your best tools 
  are the Trap Save DCs and Attack Bonuses and Damage 
  Severity by Level tables from that chapter. Keep copies of 
  those tables handy. Also, keep falling damage in mind.
   Treasure. Adventures in previous editions often contain 
  more treasure than is common in fifth edition. In third 
  edition, NPCs were especially rich sources of magic items. 
  When improvising, give out only the treasure you’re happy 
  with the characters acquiring.
  Treasure Conversions
  In fifth edition, treasure isn’t as abundant and magic items 
  aren’t as necessary to character performance as in previ-
  ous editions.
   As the Dungeon Master’s Guide says, you can hand out 
  as much or as little treasure as you want. Instead of pains-
  takingly recreating treasure to fifth edition parameters, you 
  can use the tables in that book as guidelines for intuitively 
  reconstructing an adventure’s treasure. Alternatively, you 
  can hand out whatever is in the adventure, modified to ac-
  count for fifth edition constraints.
   One such constraint is that the highest bonus in fifth 
  edition is usually +3, although a particularly mighty leg-
  endary item could confer a +4 bonus. A +6 weapon might 
  have been essential for a particular fourth edition char-
  acter to function, but even a +1 weapon makes a similar 
  fifth edition character better. Although a character might 
  have had a weapon with a high bonus in a previous edition, 
  maintaining a correspondingly high bonus in fifth edition is 
  unnecessary. Further, the functions of a magic weapon or 
  armor, unrelated to its bonus, are often the most interesting 
  aspects of the item.
   Another constraint, although one that is less strict, is the 
  amount of money and salable goods that characters can ac-
  quire. The Treasure Hoard tables in the Dungeon Master’s 
  Guide show appropriate amounts for accumulated treasure. 
  At each level, a party of adventurers has access to two or 
  three hoards from the appropriate hoard tables.
  edition ability scores often need to be reduced. For special 
  traits and attacks, use existing creatures as guidelines.
   Once you’ve converted a monster to fifth edition or 
  created a new one, you can use the Monster Statistics by 
  Challenge Rating table in the Dungeon Master’s Guide to 
  determine the creature’s challenge rating. Then, you can 
  adjust HD and other statistics to get the challenge rating 
  you desire.
   Treasure. In a careful conversion of treasure, you need 
  to create or roll treasure as if creating it from scratch for 
  the adventure. Use the Individual Treasure and Treasure 
  Hoard tables in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide 
  to create new assortments of treasure, using what’s in the 
  original adventure as a guideline. Be sure to read the “Trea-
  sure Tables” section of that chapter to decide how you’ll use 
  the tables in recreating the treasure. See also the “Treasure 
  Conversions” section later in this document.
   Magic Items. Whenever possible, magic items should 
  be swapped for existing magic items from the Dungeon 
  Master’s Guide. If this strategy fails, chapter 9 of that book 
  includes rules for modifying magic items and creating new 
  ones. Use the original item as a starting point and existing 
  items as guidelines.
  Quick Conversions
  Rather than going through the work of full conversion, you 
  may use published adventures from the first three D&D edi-
  tions as they’re printed. You can “convert” during play using 
  the guidelines in this section. Fourth edition adventures are 
  usually amenable to quick conversion.
   When you do so, it will be difficult to give experience 
  points based on encounters and to determine encounter 
  difficulty accurately. Therefore, be prepared to improvise 
  and allow level advancement through alternative methods, 
  such as those described in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Mas-
  ter’s Guide.
   The first task is to select an adventure of the appropriate 
  level for your player characters. Characters of a level in the 
  middle of a suggested level range are likely to find the most 
  challenge with the least overt risk of excessively difficult 
  encounters. In any case, adventures along the lower and 
  middle parts of the level spectrum work better with quick 
  conversion.
   Once you’ve chosen the adventure, use the following 
  guidelines:
   Monster Statistics. For first and second edition, you can 
  use the shorthand monster statistics in the adventure. In 
  these adventures, monsters are often more numerous, but 
  they typically deal lower damage and have fewer hit points 
  than their fifth edition counterparts. Make the following 
  changes to those first- and second-edition monsters: 
  • Armor Class equals 19 minus the creature’s AC, 
  up to AC 22.
  • Attack roll modifiers are HD/2 + 2, up to +12.
  • Saving throw DCs are 8 + HD/2, up to 20.
  • If a creature has to make a check or saving throw, and 
  should be good at the roll, use the creature’s HD/2 + 2 
  as a bonus on the roll. Otherwise, use no modifier, or 
  use a penalty to reflect something the creature should 
  be bad at.
   In third edition, you can use monster statistics included 
  in an adventure as a guide. Monster distribution in this 
  edition is fairly close to the distribution in fifth edition. As 
  
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