Updated 10 February 2015 (added link to Monster Traits and Actions)

Similar to my previous conversion document (Next to 5E), I created the below guidelines by comparing the
5E versions of monsters from the Monster Manual with their 3.5 counterparts.

And like my previous document, I have to include two warnings:

1. If you test these guidelines on the 3.5 versions of the monsters yourself, the 5E versions will likely
be slightly off. This is partly because Wizards changed some monsters in other ways (like the
Doppelganger) and partly because I was going for an approximation, so it would be easy to use.
2. I am fallible, and I may have made some mistakes. If you find any glaring errors, please let me
know.

At the end of this document, I have also included guidelines for adjusting the below guidelines to work for
3.5’s major cousins, 3E and Pathfinder.

You will need access to at least the D&D Basic Rules and the Monster Manual to make full use of this. The
Dungeon Master’s Guide, while not strictly required, is highly recommended for its monster creation
guidelines (pages 273-283).

Thanks to the people in this ENWorld thread for general help, and Carson McNatt and Greg Lecea for their
input on Languages.

Challenge Rating

Before you get started, you should choose an initial Challenge Rating for the creature. This is an estimate
of the monster’s CR, which you can use to guide the rest of your conversion. There are two ways to do this:

• Use the CR of a similar 5E creature.

• Use the CR Estimator in Appendix 1 to convert its D&D 3.5 CR.

When you are finished converting your monster to 5E, you may wish to adjust this initial CR for a better fit.
The best way to do this is to use the rules for determining CR in the DMG, but if you’re pressed for time,
you can just compare it to similar 5E creatures once again.
Size

There are six creature sizes in 5E: Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Huge, and Gargantuan.

Any creatures smaller than Tiny (i.e. Fine or Diminutive) should be treated as Tiny creatures, and any
larger than Gargantuan (i.e. Colossal) should be treated as Gargantuan creatures. Whether you actually
want to rescale them to those sizes is up to you.

Type

5E keeps most of the 3.5 creature types. The exceptions are the following:
• Animal and Vermin were folded into Beast.
• Magical Beast and Monstrous Humanoid were folded into Monstrosity.
• Outsider has been split up.
• Elemental planes: Probably Elemental.
• Predominantly chaotic planes: Probably Aberration.
• Predominantly lawful planes: Probably Construct.
• Good planes: Celestial.
• Evil planes: Fiend.

Further details on 5E’s creature types are detailed in the Basic Rules PDF.
Special rules for creature types (such as senses or immunities) are described in the 5E stat block, rather
than being something you’re expected to memorize - so if you want to keep those qualities, make sure you
include notes on such traits along with your conversion, for reference. (A handy guide to the 3.5 types can
be found here.)

Note, however, that no creature appears to be immune to critical hits or sneak attacks, and many of the
other default special qualities seem to be absent in 5E. Check similar monsters in 5E before you add too
many of the 3.5 rules.

Tags

These have replaced the 3.5 creature “subtypes”, but unlike subtypes, tags only appear to be descriptive.
(There are also fewer of them.) As with creature types, any game rules associated with a 3.5 subtype
should be explained in the 5E stat block.

Shapechangers do not appear to have the fixed rules seen in 3.5, and appear to change depending on the
specific creature - look at the Doppelganger, Imp, Quasit, Vampire, and Yuan-Ti Malison for several
examples. We also have new rules for incorporeal (see Wraith), which is no longer a subtype or tag at all.
It is likely new rules will be established for other former subtypes as well, but we don’t have them yet.
Alignment

Generally, keep this the same. However, "true" neutral is reserved for sentient beings who consciously
avoid alignment extremes. Beasts, non-sentient constructs, etc, that creatures in 5E may also be
unaligned, meaning they operate on instinct are considered, so you may want to change neutral to
unaligned instead.for some creatures.

Armor Class

It’s easiest to recalculate AC from scratch, based on their Dexterity bonus and any armor worn. (Make sure
to check the rules for determining AC in the Basic Rules PDF.)

If a creature had natural armor before, give them a +2 bonus to their new AC. Other types of AC
adjustments from 3.5, most notably size adjustments, no longer appear to be a factor.

Dragons definitely appear to have stronger natural armor, but with only one example, I can’t give you a
good method. Shaving a few points off of their 3.5 natural armor, then adding it to their new AC, would
probably work.
Hit Dice

In 5E, the type of hit die is determined by a creature’s size. Tiny creatures use d4 hit dice. Small creatures
use d6 hit dice. Medium creatures use d8 hit dice. Large creatures use d10 hit dice. Huge creatures use
d12 hit dice. Gargantuan creatures use d20 hit dice.

Tiny creatures should keep the same number of hit dice as they had in 3.5.

Small or Medium creatures should add one hit die. For example, 1d6 should become 2d6.

Large creatures should add two hit dice. For example, 3d10 should become 5d10.

Huge and Gargantuan creatures should be treated the same as Large creatures at this time.

Average hit points for creatures should be recalculated as follows:

Xd4 - Multiply X by 2.5 (round down), then add their Constitution bonus, times X.
Xd6 - Multiply X by 3.5 (round down), then add their Constitution bonus, times X.
Xd8 - Multiply X by 4.5 (round down), then add their Constitution bonus, times X.
Xd10 - Multiply X by 5.5 (round down), then add their Constitution bonus, times X.
Xd12 - Multiply X by 6.5 (round down), then add their Constitution bonus, times X.
Xd20 - Multiply X by 10.5 (round down), then add their Constitution bonus, times X.

Example: A monster has 3d8 HD and a Constitution of 14 (+2 bonus). So their average hit points are 4.5
times 3, rounded down: 13. Then you multiply their Con bonus by their HD, for a total of +6. 13+6 = 19.

Two exceptions:
Oozes should probably keep their current hit dice.
Dragons changed a lot between 3.5 and 5E, and simply treating them like the other monsters will create a
weaker dragon than it should be. But until we have more examples, I can only advise treating them like
other creatures of their size.

Speed

Speed can pretty much be used as is. Dragons seem to have had their flight speed cut down by more than
half, so you may want to halve any other especially high flight speeds.

Ability Scores

These can be used as is. Most 5E monsters have at least minor ability adjustments from their 3.5
counterparts, but the differences are pretty small, so you shouldn’t sweat it.

Note that 5E does not allow creatures to have non-existent ability scores. My recommendations for
replacing a missing score:
• Strength should probably be below 10 for creatures without it. The single example we have of
such, the wraith, has a Strength of 6.
• Constitution never seems to be lower than 10. You can probably get away with a Constitution
score anywhere from 10 to 15 or 16, based on your guess as to how tough the creature should be.
• Intelligence should also be below 10 for creatures without it. Creatures working on instinct usually
have at least 2 Intelligence.

I have no guidelines to offer on Dexterity, Wisdom, or Charisma. I would probably aim for at least a score
of 2 in such cases.

Saving Throws
You can ignore the 3.5 save bonuses, as 5E uses saves associated with each of the six ability scores. So
assume most creatures just use their ability bonus for saves.

Some monsters apply their proficiency bonus to their saves - the young green dragon has a +3 to four
saves, and the zombie has a +2 to one. You may wish to do the same for your converted creature, if it
seems appropriate. (For example, if the creature had the feats Great Fortitude, Iron Will, or Lightning
Reflexes.)

In most cases, though, you should probably pass on giving your creature proficiency, as it’s much easier
without it.

Skills

For many creatures, particularly more instinct-driven ones, you won’t need to give them any skills. If a
creature does have skills, it will usually have proficiency with only a few, generally the equivalents of the
ones they had higher ranks in during 3.5.

If you want to translate a creature’s more notable skills or feats into equivalent 5E skill proficiencies, they
can be translated as follows:

5E Skill
3.5 Skill 3.5 Feat
Proficiency

Climb, Athletics
Athletic
Jump, Swim (Strength)

Balance,
Acrobatics
Jump, Acrobatic, Agile
(Dexterity)
Tumble
 Sleight of
Sleight of Deft Hands,
Hand
Hand Nimble Fingers
(Dexterity)

Hide, Move Stealth

Stealthy
Silently (Dexterity)

Knowledge
Arcana
(arcana, the
Magical Aptitude (Intelligence
planes),
)
Spellcraft

Knowledge
History
(history,
(Intelligence
local, nobility
)
and royalty)

Investigatio
Gather
n
Information, Investigator
(Intelligence
Search
)

Knowledge Nature
(geography, (Intelligence
nature) )

Religion
Knowledge
(Intelligence
(religion)
)

Animal
Handle
Animal Handling Handling
Animal, Ride
(Wisdom)

Sense Insight
Negotiator
Motive (Wisdom)

Medicine
Heal Self-Sufficient
(Wisdom)

Perception
Listen, Spot Alertness
(Wisdom)

Self-Sufficient, Survival
Survival
Track (Wisdom)

Bluff, PersuasiveDeceitf Deception

Disguise ul (Charisma)

Persuasion
Diplomacy Negotiator
(Charisma)
 Intimidation
Intimidate Persuasive
(Charisma)

Performanc
Perform e
Perform (Charisma)
(Instrument) Musical
Instrument

Negotiator, Persuasion
Diplomacy
Persuasive (Charisma)

Appraise,
Concentratio
n, Craft,
Decipher
Script,
Disable
No 5E skill
Device,
equivalent.
Escape
Many of
Artist,
these are
Forgery,
now generic
Knowledge
ability
(architecture Diligent
checks,
and
exclusive
engineering)
class
, other
features, or
fields), Open
background
Lock,
elements.
Profession,
Speak
Language,
Use Magic
Device, Use
Rope

Appraise,
Decipher
Intelligence
Script, Diligent
check
Knowledge
(other fields)

Concentratio Constitution
Combat Casting
n check

Craft or Artisan's
Profession Tools
(various) (various)
 Craft Poisoner's
(Poison) Kit

Disable Thieves'
Device, Nimble Fingers Tools
Open Lock (Dexterity)

Disguise Deceitful Disguise Kit

Escape
Dexterity
Artist, Use
check
Rope

Forgery Kit
Forgery Deceitful (Intelligence
)

Speak background
Language features

Thief
Use Magic
archetype
Device
feature

If a creature has proficiency in a skill, their bonus with that skill is equal to the relevant ability bonus, plus
their proficiency bonus.

Example: A monster has a Dexterity of 15 (+2 bonus) and proficiency in Stealth. This means that they
should have a +4 bonus with Stealth (Dexterity) checks. If they are a more powerful creature, they may
have a +5 bonus instead.

Some creatures seem to have a higher proficiency in one skill than the others, typically double their normal
proficiency bonus (+4 or +6). For example, doppelgangers have a +4 on Deception (Charisma) checks. You
may wish to do the same with a creature’s “signature” skill.
Vulnerabilities, Resistances, Immunities

Vulnerabilities, resistances (such as damage reduction), and immunities are something you either have or
not in 5E. So when you import these from 3.5, you simply list them under the appropriate category:
Damage Vulnerabilities, Damage Resistances, or Damage Immunities.

In the case of 3.5 damage reduction that can be bypassed by certain types of weapon (such as “DR
5/silver”), they are usually described as follows under Resistances:

bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from (magical or nonmagical or [blank]) weapons (that aren’t silvered
or adamantine or etc. or [blank])

You should also note Condition Immunities, which may overlap with resistances or damage immunities.
For example, a creature immune to poison damage should also note that they are immune to the
poisoned condition.

You should also make sure to list any vulnerabilities, resistances, or immunities that were innate to a
creature type in 3.5 in the appropriate sections, with the following exceptions.

The innate immunities of undead in 5E are:

Damage Immunities: poison

Condition Immunities: poisoned
Only add other immunities to an undead creature if they are separate from its undead nature.

Incorporeal creatures should probably have the following resistances and immunities:

Damage Resistances: acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from
nonmagical weapons
Damage Immunities: poison
Condition Immunities: grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained

Magic resistance (spell resistance) has been simplified, and is now listed as a trait - see the flameskull
for an example.

Senses

There are only four senses established in 5E at this point: blindsight, darkvision, tremorsense, and
truesight. 3.5’s low-light vision appears to have been folded into darkvision. Any other senses should be
used as is.

Also, all creatures have a passive Perception score. This is equal to 10 plus their total bonus to Perception
(Wisdom) checks.

Languages

Generally, these stay the same. There were a few changes, however:
• Dwarven is now called Dwarvish. Likewise, Elven is now Elvish, and Gnome is now Gnomish.
• Mind flayers and beholders now speak Deep Speech; you may decide other monsters should
speak it as well.
Traits

Most of the 3.5 Special Qualities not described earlier in the stat block should be described here, along
with special creature type rules (like Shapechanger). When possible, you should replace any 3.5 traits with
their 5E equivalents, as described in the Monster Manual. When this is not possible, try to use the
Manual’s creatures as examples to follow, or simply use the 3.5 rules as is.

A list of the known Traits in 5E can be found here.

A few further notes:

Fast healing does not appear to be part of the 5E rules.

Spellcasting is more complicated to convert than the others. In addition to being used for 3.5 monsters
with spellcasting class levels, lists of spell-like abilities from 3.5 also tend to be translated as a
Spellcasting trait. (The exception is any spell-like abilities that seem to be signature powers, in which case
they’re usually listed as Innate Spellcasting or broken out as their own trait, action, or reaction.)
The caster level for Spellcasting should probably stay the same (unless it’s above 20, in which case go with
20). However, keep in mind that you will need to follow the rules for spellcasting in 5E, which differ from the
ones in 3.5; refer to the Basic Rules for more details. (For Innate Spellcasting, the spellcasting ability is
typically Wisdom or Charisma.)

Actions with an Attack Roll

These are converted from 3.5 Attacks or Special Attacks. You need to convert three things to make these
into 5E actions - the “to hit” bonus, the damage inflicted by elements of the attack, and any saving throws
required.

A list of the known Actions in 5E can be found here.

To Hit

Like AC, this should probably be recalculated from scratch. In general, the “to hit” for an action is based on
the proficiency bonus. This is combined with the relevant ability bonus (usually Strength or Dexterity).

Note that most natural attacks (claw, bite, etc.) appear to be finesse attacks, meaning they can use either
Strength or Dexterity with attack rolls. Unless you think your creature should be a weak melee combatant,
you should choose the highest of either Strength or Dexterity for “to hit” with natural attacks.

Unusual attacks like the wraith’s Life Drain appear to either have a higher bonus, or are using something
other than Strength or Dexterity. I don’t have any specific recommendations for this right now, but feel free
to experiment with other ability scores (like Constitution or Charisma) if that seems appropriate. You’re
probably safer avoiding that, however.
Damage

For attacks that use a weapon, refer to the damage listed in the Basic Rules PDF. If the creature is large,
increase the weapon’s damage die by one (i.e. 1d6 becomes 2d6). If the creature is huge, increase the
weapon’s damage die by two (i.e. 1d6 becomes 3d6).

Some especially huge creatures, and gargantuan creatures, may increase the damage die by three (i.e.
1d6 becomes 4d6), but you may be safer sticking with adding two.

For natural attacks by tiny or small creatures, you should probably leave the damage dice alone. However,
the minimum damage die appears to be 1d4, so any weaker attacks should probably upgrade to that. (The
same goes for damage dice below 1d4 for other creatures.)

For natural attacks by medium or larger creatures, use the following table:
 3.5 5E
Damag Damag
e Dice e Dice

1d6 (or
1d4
2d4)

1d8 (or
1d6
2d6)

1d10
1d8
(or 2d8)

1d12
1d10 (or
2d10)

2d8 (or
1d12
2d12)

If an attack inflicts more than one die of damage, increase the 5E damage die by that number. For
example, 2d4 should become 2d6 (or 3d4).

Some creatures’ strongest natural attacks seem to add both one die of damage and increase the die type
by one - for example, 1d6 becoming 2d8. This should be used carefully, however, and shouldn’t be used on
more than one attack.

Don’t forget to add the monster’s Strength bonus to melee damage and Dexterity bonus to ranged damage.
You can calculate average damage through the method above under Hit Dice.

Some creatures inflict additional damage on a hit, such as acid or poison - convert this the same as the
above.

Other types of damaging attacks (like the flameskull’s fire ray) seem to be treated much like the “strongest
natural attacks” above, but there aren’t many examples yet. Still, that guideline may work for now. Dragon
breath weapons are upgraded much more than that, but until we have more dragons, I’m reluctant to
recommend any guidelines there.
Saving Throws for Actions

In general, Fortitude saves should be converted to Constitution saves, Reflex saves should be converted
to Dexterity saves, and Will saves should be converted to Wisdom saves.
The average Difficulty Class (DC) for saves is lower in 5E than they were in 3.5. The usual way to
calculate this in 5E is 8 + proficiency bonus + the ability bonus of the creature for the relevant save. For
example, a CR 2 creature with Constitution 13 (+1 bonus) that inflicts a Constitution save effect should
require a DC of 11 (8+2+1).

The DMG also includes typical DCs for creatures of a given CR - you may use this instead.

Also, actions that drained Constitution in 3.5 appear to inflict hit point damage instead. The number of Con
points drained should be turned into the same number of hit points of damage (i.e. 1d4 Con becomes 1d4
damage), then converted using the guidelines under Actions with an Attack Roll above. If an attack
inflicted both hit point and Constitution damage, combine those together as best you can before converting
the total damage.

Recharge

Some actions also have a recharge, which is explained in the Monster Manual.

Recharge seems to be limited to strong effects that, in 3.5, could only be used a limited number of times
per day, or required a number of rounds between uses.

My recommendation is to use “Recharge 5-6” for most limited-use actions, and keep “X per day” for
especially strong attacks that should only be used once in a battle.

Actions without an Attack Roll

Many 5E creatures - such as the doppelganger, flameskull, grick, nothic, owlbear, and young green dragon
- have Multiattack, allowing them to take more than one action per turn. If your 3.5 monster could attack
more than once, you should consider giving them Multiattack in 5E. Note that most creatures can only
make two attacks - the only exception is the young green dragon, which can make three.

There are also a few creatures that can take actions not requiring an attack roll or saving throw. If your
monster could do this in 3.5, you can probably use them verbatim in 5E.

Reactions
Any special quality or attack in 3.5 that required some sort of trigger should be a Reaction. Otherwise, treat
it just the same as any other Action.

A list of the known Reactions in 5E can be found here.

Final Notes

Everything not mentioned above should probably be dropped in 5E. Of course, if you feel it’s very important
to the creature’s concept, feel free to port it over anyway.

Also, in general, 5E monsters seem to have slightly fewer attack choices than many of their 3.5
counterparts, so you should feel free to drop any monster abilities that don’t seem essential to its concept.
(This will also speed your conversion up, of course.)
Appendix 1: CR Estimator

The below conversion follows a very broad comparison of the Challenge Ratings for the same creatures in
3.5 and 5E. It’s not perfect, but it works as a rough starting point.

5
E 3.5
C CR
R

⅙
or
0
les
s

¼
⅛ or
⅓

¼ ½

½ 1

1 2

2 3

3 4

+
+1
1

Basically, you subtract one from the 3.5 CR. For amounts less than 1, round it down to the nearest 5E CR,
then reduce it by one step. (For example, ⅙ (3.5) reduces to ⅛ (5E), and then drops one CR down (0).)
Appendix 2: 3E

Converting 3E creatures will generally be the same as 3.5. There are only two notable differences:
• 3E has two creature types dropped in 3.5: Beast and Shapechanger. Creatures of the former type
should become Beasts in 5E, of course, while any Shapechanger should probably become a
Monstrosity (unless you decide they better fit under another type).
• Damage reduction in 3E was broken down by weapon bonus (+1, +2, etc.). This should all be
folded into a resistance to nonmagical weapons in 5E.

Also, 3E has some notable skills that were dropped or merged in 3.5:

5E Skill
3E Skill Proficienc
y

Sleight of
Pick
Hand
Pocket
(Dexterity)

Read Perception
Lips (Wisdom)

Intuit
Directio
n, Survival
Wildern (Wisdom)
ess
Lore

Innuend Deception
o (Charisma)

Alchemy No 5E skill
, Animal equivalent.
 Many of
these are
now
generic
ability
Empath checks,
y, Scry exclusive
class
features, or
backgroun
d
elements.

If you want more details on the differences between 3E and 3.5, check out the official guidelines from
Wizards of the Coast here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20030718a

Appendix 3: Pathfinder

Converting from Pathfinder will generally be the same as converting from 3.5, even more so than 3E. Most
adjustments are minor, and do not change any of the guidelines used for 3.5.

Pathfinder did restore flat XP awards for monsters, but it also retained 3.5’s Challenge Rating system, so
that conversion should be the same.

Lastly, Pathfinder did consolidate some of 3.5’s skills, which can be converted as follows:
 5E Skill
Pathfind
Proficienc
er Skill
y

Acrobatic Acrobatics
s (Dexterity)

Stealth
Stealth
(Dexterity)

Perceptio Perception
n (Wisdom)

No 5E skill
equivalent.
Linguistic This is
s usually a
backgroun
d element.

If you want more details on the changes between 3.5 and Pathfinder, you can find the official conversion
guidelines here: http://paizo.com/products/btpy89m6?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Conversion-Guide