Quick 5e to OSR conversion

method
March 23, 2019

I've seen this question pop up time and time again in

forums and similar websites: How do you convert 5e

material into OSR games?

This applies mostly to monsters, foes, and other

creatures that sometimes are hard to convert into older

systems because of the concepts of AC (Armor Class) and

HD (Hit Dice). Modern 5e foes use HP (Hit Points) as

opposed to HD, and their AC is ascendant (which means

that the higher the AC, the better). So, whenever you're

playing a module, things go smoothly until you encounter

your first enemy, and then you're lost because how do

you transfer such a detailed enemy into a much simpler

system, while ensuring you're keeping it relatively

balanced? Well, here's one way how you can do it.

I'd like to share with you a very simple conversion

system, that will allow you to convert 5e foes and other

creatures to OSR games with a descending AC (such as

Labyrinth Lord). This also works with other games such

as Scarlet Heroes (more info at the bottom of this

article).

First and foremost, you will need this conversion chart.

To work with it, you'll be taking into account a 5e

monster's AC and its Challenge Rating. These two

elements will provide you with the two basic stats for a

successful conversion.

Now, let's use an example to make things even clearer.

We're going to convert a 5e Aarakocra to an OSR monster.

On the right are the necessary stats to work with an OSR

monster. In this specific case, we're looking at a Boar

from Labyrinth Lord. On the left is our 5e Aarakocra.

1 - No. Enc.: Because an Aarakocra is a humanoid-avian

type of creature, they don't tend to spawn in groups by

default; rather, the GM tells the players how many of

them are around according to the adventure's needs.

Therefore, the number of encounter foes is 1.

2 - Alignment: The aarakocra's alignment is neutral

good. However, most OSR games only play with Lawful,

Neutral or Chaotic. So, it'd be neutral.

3- Movement: For movement, the aarakocra has a speed of

20 ft while walking, and a speed of 50 ft. while flying.

OSR games show the maximum movement speed while

exploring the world (used when the creature is moving in

a hex map during wilderness adventures) and in

parentheses the maximum encounter speed when in a fight

(used for traditional dungeon delving and combat

movement). The exploration speed is triple the encounter

speed. So, the aarakocra would have a 60' (20') movement

and a movement of 150' (50') when flying.

4 - Armor Class: The AC of the aarakocra needs to be

converted from 5e's ascending AC system, to OSR's

descending AC system. We can see from the chart above

that a 5e AC 12 equals AC 7 in OSR stats.

5 - Hit Dice: For the HD, we need to take the

aarakocra's Challenge level (1/4) and find it's

equivalent in the chart. Monsters with a challenge level

of 1/4 have 1 HD total.

6 - Attacks: For the number of attacks we can have fun.

We can see an aarakocra will attack with its talons, may

perform a diving attack, and will also get to attack

with a javelin. OSR games take all basic body attacks

and combine them together into a single stat while

keeping weapon attacks as an optional attack the monster

may or may not perform. In other words, the monster may

choose to attack with its body and basic skills, or may

choose to use a weapon instead. In the case of the

aarakocra, we can say it will perform 3 attacks in one

turn, or use its weapon. Why 3 attacks? Because it will

try to use its talons (it has 2 talons, so 2 attacks

there), and it will try to fly and slam its opponent

with a dive. Therefore, the aarakocra's attacks would be

3 (2 talons, dive attack) or 1 (weapon). Other types of

body attacks monsters in OSR games tend to perform are:

claw(s), bites, tail, breathe, horn(s), tentacle(s),

constrict, fist(s), beak, rear claws, hook(s),

mandibles, sting, roar, cold touch, hoove(s), head butt.

7 - Damage: For damage, we can focus on the simple dice

rolls of each attack, ignoring all added bonuses. We

want to keep it simple. The talons do 1d4 damage, and

the dive attack deals 1d6. The javelin also deals 1d6.

Therefore, the stats for damage would be: 1d4/1d4/1d6

(for the 2 talons, dive attack) or 1d6 (for the weapon

attack).

8 - Save: Saving throws are calculated in OSR games by

comparing the monster stats to that of a Fighter.

Basically, the number of HD tells you the equivalent of

a fighter's level. So, 1 HD = 1F (or a 1 level fighter).

The chart of a fighter's saving throws is the following:

9 - Morale: For morale, you need to calculate how likely

is the monster to flee in combat. The lower the number,

the faster the monster will flee. To check for morale,

you roll 2d6. If the number is higher than the monster's

morale, the monster will flee. Therefore, monsters with

a morale of 12 will never flee and will always fight to

the death. The average morale level for most creatures

is a 10, so we can assume an aarakocra has an average

morale level due to its inherent training.

10 - Hoard Class: Hoard class corresponds to the type of

treasure a monster will drop when slain. This may vary

depending on the OSR system you're using. Most

individual monsters drop no treasures, but you may

choose to make them drop some depending on your needs.

We can say that a single aarakocra will hold only copper

pieces (CP), therefore being a I. The type of treasure

dropped is represented by a roman numeral in the

following chart:
11 - XP: After determining the type of treasure a

monster will drop, comes the XP. This is connected to

the number of HD a monster has. For this reason,

monsters with more HD will give you more XP. Our

aarakocra has only 1 HD, thus it will only give 10 XP.

Maybe a champion aarakocra with 3 HD will give you more

XP points than your average humanoid-avian. Check the

chart below:

12 - Description: Last but not least comes the

description of the creature. I'm not including any for

this example, but you can easily find the description of

an aarakocra online.

So, here is our converted aarakocra (next to the

original 5e one):
And that's it! Now, if I wanted to include an aarakocra

in my OSR game, I could! The stats are fully functional

and have translated nicely from 5e to my old-school

campaign.

In the case of a monster having specific spells or

attacks, you can check if there's a Magic-User, Cleric,

Druid, or Illusionist spell equivalent and use it. Or,

you can convert them. The format for conversion is quite

simple:
 Name of spell

Level: #

Duration: # rounds/# turns (per level)/#

days/Permanent/Instantaneous/See below

Range: # ft. per level/ # ft./Touch/See below/Self

Description of the spell. It generally is 1 to 3

paragraphs long, specifying any details, facts, or other

requirements. 

Here's a fully converted Choldrith from 5e using this

conversion method. As you can see, it's all about having

fun.
Et voilà! I hope this is useful for your games and

campaigns.

FOR SCARLET HEROES PLAYERS:

In case you're playing Scarlet Heroes, note that some

monster stats are not needed, such as the Save value,

the Hoard Class, and the XP value (see page 56 of the

Scarlet Heroes book for more information). Monsters in

this game do not need to save, but they do include a

Skill Bonus trait. It will be a +1 for average monsters,

+2 for skilled monsters, +3 for elite monsters, and

maybe higher values for bosses and supernatural foes.

For the Hoard Class, Scarlet Heroes uses the chart

that's included on page 82 of the book. Instead of

monster XP, Scarlet Heroes uses XP points that are

awarded +1 per completed game session. This is better

explained on page 22 of the book.

https://eryssel.blogspot.com/2019/03/quick-5e-to-osr-conversion-method.html