Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Against the Giants

I would like to revisit some classic Advanced Dungeons & Dragons modules for my Pathfinder RPG games. I am in the process of doing that kind of thing already with some of the Slavers series (the A series modules), but this definitely will take some more imagination on my part. The Slaver modules were mid-level adventures and don't require too much tweaking, except maybe in numbers of foes in a given encounter. The Giants series (G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, G2 Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, and G3 Hall of of the Fire Giant King) not only have large foe numbers to deal with, but the giants have grown tougher since the first edition of the game.

I don't think anyone could run the Giants modules "as is" by simply substituting the current versions of hill giants and the like into the adventures. What might have worked as a challenging adventure for high level characters (say, 9th to 12th level) just won't work out right these days, at least in regards to enclaves of giants.

I'll post some ideas on how I might deal with G1 - Steading of the Hill Giants in my next post.

In the meantime, you can check out some of my thoughts on the old AD&D Slavers series here and here.

2 comments:

  1. I have been thinking of converting the old U series of modules for use with Pathfinder, although these are for levels 1-3. My experience of the power level of Pathfinder PCs, however, is that they much more dangerous than their old AD&D equivalents. Hence, some kind of buffing of the opposition will be needed.

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  2. I loved U2 Danger at Dunwater - lots of good replay value. Sounds like a good series to convert. Love to hear how it turns out.

    As for Pathfinder power levels, I do agree. I think its part of the attempt to maintain what I think is the great mid-level experience - the heroes are tough enough to take on some bigger challenges, but not so tough that orcs and goblins can be scoffed at all the time.

    On a side note, I kind of thought Pathfinder #2 made a nod towards U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, at least in the creepy locale department.

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