How would you convert these 4E characters to OD&D?

[chronoplasm]

I'd like to play OD&D, but I was wondering if it would be possible for me to port my characters over.
How would you guys convert this dude?

Gorlab, the Banished King
The dwarves of Northstill dug far too deep into the earth and released a devil from his molten prison. The king of Northstill, Gorlab IV, sold his soul to this devil in order to save his people. The devil accepted this bargain and turned Gorlab into a living vessel. Now Gorlab wanders the world as a slave in service to his infernal master.

Gorlab is an infernal pact warlock who channels the diabolic power within using an enchanted weapon called a pact hammer.
His constitution score determines the power of both his infernal spells and his hammer attack. He has a lot of hit points and he does a lot of damage at both close and long range, but his defenses aren't exactly impressive for a dwarf and he's pretty slow on his feet. He takes quite a beating most of the time and he has had more near-death experiences than I care to count.
Also, his charisma is in the gutter.

[edsan]

From the description that looks more like an NPC than a PC...

"Warlock", "Diabolical Pact", "Infernal Spells"?

I don't want to discourage you my friend, but if that is the power level you expect to have in a character I don't think OD&D will be for you. Better stick with 4th Ed. And there ain't no warlocks around these here parts, much less dwarf warlocks; unless you are willing to create your own. That's the OS way.

I also note you described Gorlab in terms of his powers, ass-kicking abilitities and their origin. I would be much more interested in hearing about the dwarf himself.

Does he like beer? How does he handle the ladies? What does he think of his fellow adventurers? What are is goals in life (if any)?

A physical description of the PC wouldn't have hurt either.


Edit: I am assuming Gorlab is a 4th Ed character but I just remembered 3rd Ed also has warlocks...

[chronoplasm]

Certainly.

Personality:
Gorlab is a bitter, pessimistic dwarf. He used to have everything. He was a divinely-righted king once, and now he is d**ned to a live of slavery and an afterlife of eternal torment.
He still has his sense of humor though. He likes to play pranks on the elven ranger of the party.

Appearance:
Gorlab is covered in scars from previous encounters.
During one adventure, the party had to chase a bunch of goblins out of a castle they took over. The battle in the kitchen was brutal.
The goblins jumped out of the cupboards throwing dishes and cutlery.
First Gorlab got locked in the freezer with a bunch of reanimated popsicle-zombies hanging from meathooks. That was fun.
After he got out, a goblin managed to grab him and dunk his face into the deep-fryer.
Gorlab's skin now has a very crispy complexion.
Dwarves wear their scars with pride though. That's the only pride that Gorlab has left.
...Well, that and the pride he takes in punking the elf, Mist.
The time that Gorlab put hornets in Mist's horn of calling? Priceless.


*edit*
I don't mind powering the character down to fit in OD&D by the way.

[waysoftheearth]

I'm no expert, but I don't mind having a shot

One of the features of the original game is that PCs start as with very little history or back-story -- they have to carve out a history for themselves by surviving dangerous adventures. Because Gorlab already has quite a bit of back-story behind him he might already be a mid- or even high-level PC in OD&D terms.

Gorlab's "warlock" nature implies that either;
1) He is playing in a campaign where the referee allows dwarfs to become magic-users, or a custom dwarf warlock class, or,
2) He suffers from some form of insanity which make him believe he has these infernal powers, when, in fact, he does not.

The first option requires some special allowances from the referee, but these are by no means uncommon. Referees and players alike love the opportunity to tinker with variations on the PC classes.

However, your description of Gorlab's infernal pact, his pact hammer, his former Kingship, and his despicable charisma all strongly imply the second option. He could quite simply be an utterly insane, and very scary, but otherwise quite regular Dwarf fighting man. In this case he might still be rather low level -- even 1st level.

Doing a lot of damage in melee implies a high strength score.
His high hit-points imply a high constitution score.
Not being quick on his feet implies a mediocre dexterity score.
His despicable personality (and horrid back-story) imply a low charisma score.

[chronoplasm]

Apr 20, 2009 19:40:31 GMT -6 waysoftheearth said:

However, your description of Gorlab's infernal pact, his pact hammer, his former Kingship, and his despicable charisma all strongly imply the second option. He could quite simply be an utterly insane, and very scary, but otherwise quite regular Dwarf fighting man. In this case he might still be rather low level -- even 1st level.

Doing a lot of damage in melee implies a high strength score.
His high hit-points imply a high constitution score.
Not being quick on his feet implies a mediocre dexterity score.
His despicable personality (and horrid back-story) imply a low charisma score.

Actually, I kind of like that idea.
His 'kingship' is just delusions of grandeur.
His diabolic master is but a figment of his imagination.
The boiling blood, projectile vomitting, and spinning head could be...
...some other medical condition.

[kenmeister]

Actually, Dungeoneer #16 from Judges Guild has a warlock class for OD&D, and it is nothing short of awesome. The same issue has a mystic class for AD&D. I definitely rate this issue as a must have.

[waysoftheearth]

Another possibility that occurred to me is that much of the actual power is bound up in the pact hammer -- it could very easily be interpreted as a cursed item.

Clearly it would be up to the individual referee's perspective, but it isn't too difficult to image that our dwarf anti-hero's failings are all due to the cursed hammer, which he is eternally seeking to be free of. Underneath, he might actually a nice guy who is trying to do the right thing. But the infernal curse of the hammer turns every word he speaks to venom, everything he tries to ill, and amplifies any hurt or violence he might commit.

It would be up to the referee's discretion what the game mechanics of the curse might be, but such could easily explain either a dwarf fighting-man who seems to possess some magical firepower, or a dwarf magic-user who seems to possess some grunt in toe-to-toe.

An interesting story if nothing else!

[chronoplasm]

Thanks!

OK, so here is another character I had:

Cecil the half-elf knew since he was a child that he was destined for adventure. His father, a well-to-do elven merchant had other plans; his son was to be sent to a school of wizardry to become a court mage. Cecil didn't have the attention-span for magic though... except for the magic that goes "boom".
Cecil would often shirk his studies to venture out into the woods and pretend to sword-fight against the trees. His books of swashbuckling and romance always interested him more than dusty old tomes.

Cecil grew into a young man with a lean, muscular body like that of a human and a pretty, feminine face like that of an elf. He left school one day without a word and walked to the nearest human town. He set up shop as the town's only alchemist and used his profits to buy a sword.

Cecil was a half-elf fighter, but he had the alchemist feat and he knew a single wizard spell thanks to his half-elf dilettante feature; thunder wave.
Thunder wave had a neat interaction with his fighter's 'combat challenge' class feature; once per encounter, he could fire off his thunder wave spell, and each enemy he attacked would be 'marked'. Marked enemies would be forced to devote all their attention to attacking only him, and any marked enemy that attacked one of Cecil's allies instead of him would suffer a penalty and take some punishment.
Cecil would then run around the battlefield, thrusting and parrying with his sword while throwing vials of alchemist's fire.

[kenmeister]

Cecil is a half-elf f/m-u with a spell that is the opposite of sanctuary called mark person. I guess.

[chronoplasm]

You can multiclass in OD&D?

[chgowiz]

Apr 21, 2009 11:02:08 GMT -6 chronoplasm said:

You can multiclass in OD&D?

Elves are already "multiclassed" in OD&D. Elves pick whether they are a MagicUser or Fighter for the "adventure" (or day or whatever time unit your DM decides to have elves made the decision to switch on.)

If you're curious, go head over and read the Swords & Wizardry PDF, it's closest to OD&D in terms of options and what the classes are like.

[chronoplasm]

I bought the Men & Magic pdf on paizo a while back.
The elven ability to switch back and forth between fighting man and magic user certainly fits the character concept.
I was just hoping to find some way to replicate what I call the "Hey Stupid!" combo for the character.
If not, the character would still work though.

[thegreyelf]

The easiest way to deal with most special 4e bennies in OD&D is to tie them up in magic items. Like your dwarf, this could be a cursed sword--he was taken for a ride when he bought his weapon and now any time he uses it there's a 1-in-6 chance that every enemy is driven to attack him to the exclusion of all others.

There aren't any half-elves in OD&D, but he could easily enough just be an elf.

[chronoplasm]

May 7, 2009 6:55:51 GMT -6 thegreyelf said:

The easiest way to deal with most special 4e bennies in OD&D is to tie them up in magic items. Like your dwarf, this could be a cursed sword--he was taken for a ride when he bought his weapon and now any time he uses it there's a 1-in-6 chance that every enemy is driven to attack him to the exclusion of all others.

Like a defender? As long as I'm covering for allies with lower defenses and fewer hit-points I don't really see how that curse is much of a drawback.

4E bennies as magic items though... It makes sense I suppose.

What about Wardens or Avengers?
Would Avengers be like Clerics geared toward stealth and mobility and assassin-type stuff?

[chgowiz]

May 11, 2009 19:53:36 GMT -6 chronoplasm said:

May 7, 2009 6:55:51 GMT -6 thegreyelf said:

The easiest way to deal with most special 4e bennies in OD&D is to tie them up in magic items. Like your dwarf, this could be a cursed sword--he was taken for a ride when he bought his weapon and now any time he uses it there's a 1-in-6 chance that every enemy is driven to attack him to the exclusion of all others.

Like a defender? As long as I'm covering for allies with lower defenses and fewer hit-points I don't really see how that curse is much of a drawback.

4E bennies as magic items though... It makes sense I suppose.

What about Wardens or Avengers?
Would Avengers be like Clerics geared toward stealth and mobility and assassin-type stuff?

I'm not sure that an "ABC to XYZ" approach is going to work. In all honesty, anything can be created in OD&D that is made in 4E - as long as it fits the campaign that the ref has created. If we can make spaceships, robots, Hand of Vecna and all sorts of oddities work, there's very little you can't do from 4E.

The thing is, for you to really understand the conversion, I really think you should go back and read the Old School Primer and then think about how you would make your character work.

In 4E, all that "stuff" is on your sheet so you can do things. It's also about being about 6th level equivalent in power to a 0e character. So then look at the 3 classes/3 races for 0e and think about how you can make these people do similar things - not from a "what's on my character sheet" perspective, but from a "what works in my 0e referee's campaign."

I know that probably doesn't help your conversion thread, but I think you're starting from the record sheet, when you should be starting from the campaign and what you want a character to do.

[theophage]

Here's how I would do it:

Start out with the Idea that Gorlab is a normal dwarf character of whatever level (since he is a current character of yours, I doubt you need to start him at 1st level).

Now, we can treat both the fact that he is a banished king, and a warlock who summoned a devil as merely background. The real secret to his power seems to be the "pact hammer".

So we treat the hammer as such: cursed weapon (can't get rid of it), causes the possessor to be a slave to a devil (perhaps with the devil forcing certain courses of action), but gives the wielder the spell casting powers of a mage equal to the character's level. Perhaps also gives the caster an 18 constitution and extra hit points, or something.

Not too difficult, really, though individual DMs might not dig a character with such a powerful weapon. I don't think it is over powered, though.

[chronoplasm]

May 31, 2009 19:49:22 GMT -6 theophage said:

Not too difficult, really, though individual DMs might not dig a character with such a powerful weapon. I don't think it is over powered, though.

Well, Gorlab did get symptoms like boiling blood and profuse vomiting and nose-bleeds when he cast spells...
How about this:
Gorlab can cast spells, but everytime he does so, he loses a number of hit points equal to the level of the spell plus 1d6.

[Deleted]

That'll kill him.

From what I remember about Warlocks (I playtested 4e), they do a lot of ranged attacks. I'd forget about whether he does a lot of damage (because OD&D doesn't have the concept of "strikers" and other roles) and concentrate on what he can do with his Warlock powers.

I'm willing to bet you can get most of the way there with a dwarf/M-U hybrid with a special list of spells. The rest is just roleplaying and appearance. If the hammer is more than just a focus/wand/flavor, and he has abilities beyond normal dwarves, check out this balrog class: trampledmike.mylha.com/Balrog_class.pdf It's a good example of a weird class with a highly focused set of abilities.