Post originally by Archangel at 2005-04-10 14:46:57
Converted from Phorums BB System

Well, the stat blocks are different, but mostly in their organisation. It will only take a few tweaks in most cases to get them working under 2nd Ed, so I recommend at least trying it.

A few monster statlines have altered slightly, but mainly just to take into account changes in the setting over the past two decades. For example, Wights are no longer ethereal (I think they were under 1st Ed, anyway...).

Wounds has increased slightly, typically by around 50%, to an average of 11 or 12 for humans. This is to take into account rolling a D10 for damage rather than D6.

Strength and Toughness can simply be multiplied by ten to become percentile (the Strength and Toughness Bonus characteristics are simply the tens digit of the percentile stat, so don't change).

On a similar subject, armour is far more valuable in 2nd Edition, with 5 points being absorbed by full plate, rather than 2 under the old rules. Shields no longer provide armour points, but are handy for parrying.

Leadership goes out of the window entirely. I'd treat most Leadership tests as being Fellowship tests in 2nd Edition.

Although I haven't run the numbers on Magic Points, I'd suggest simply dividing the number of Magic Points a 1st Ed character has by ten, and making that their Magic stat. Alternatively, just work out what their Magic stat would be by looking at their career in the 2nd Ed rulebook.

Spells would require redoing, but this will just involve picking a College of Magic in most cases, plus a few Lesser Magic spells for variety. It might be worth jotting down each NPC wizard's favourite spells, so that all the wizards the party encounters don't just recycle the same spell all the time.

Personally, when I run The Enemy Within, I'll be removing most of the less important magic items (there aren't a huge number, but they're still more common than 2nd Edition implies), and replacing them with mundane alternatives, such as best craftsmanship swords instead of magic swords, that kind of thing.