Can you play a module (Lost Mine of Phandelver) using 2E rules?

Old school DM here. I know 2E rules and want to run Lost Mine of Phandelver. Can I purchase the module and run it using 2E? Or is 5E so much different? Thanks!!

You can play just about any adventure using any other edition of D&D, or even some non-D&D games. It is just a matter of how much conversion work are you willing to do.  The creatures and skill checks are going to be the biggest effort to convert to 2e rules.

Thanks! I would have to convert it manually? Or do i enter all the data etc and build it myself?

Hi Derek! You would need to enter data manually. Some modules can be played for the most part with alternative sheets (I believe that the Shaped Sheet can run a Roll20 5e module), but in general game systems are too complex to translate in this manner. It's difficult even for humans to do it. You could use the tokens and maps (with dynamic lighting, if available), and probably some of the rollable tables and macros. And of course, the text of the adventure. But it would be little different than if you had picked up a 5e print module and decided to run it in 2e. The assets and ideas are there, but the numbers and mechanics are largely incompatible.

Derek, to add to what Keith said, if I were doing this the only information regarding creatures I would keep are their tokens and names. All the system information would be gutted and replaced with 2e equivalents. Replace the character sheets with a 2e character sheet, then rebuild all the creatures using 2e stats.  That is actually the simpler part, just time consuming.  The harder part is after doing the above step I would go through and rebalance everything because the balance between editions is way off. I'd use 2e experience and knowledge (which for me was over 20yrs ago now...lol) to rebalance the encounters to where I wanted them.  This would involve numbers of enemies, player levels (maybe the levels will be different), magic item buff, maybe giving the players some assistance in other ways if the enemies were too difficult. 

Thank you for the replies and information! What do i need to purchase? The subscription obviously but also the starter pack of handbooks? I have the module in print, i would probably run it 2e and recreate it online. 

If you have the module in print, and you don't intend to use any 5e mechanics, I don't think you would need to purchase anything beyond the module. You don't need a catalog of 5e spells, monsters and character/rece options. The module will give you all of the monster tokens, maps—already set with dynamic lighting, and the narrative reference material you need.

Derek O. said: Thank you for the replies and information! What do i need to purchase? The subscription obviously but also the starter pack of handbooks? I have the module in print, i would probably run it 2e and recreate it online.  Just the module for the maps, art and adventure. Load the Pathfinder 2e character sheet instead of the 5e one and Ignore and replace all the mechanics on the tokens, creatures and traps. You'll have to rebalance all the the encounters, but that's not too difficult with the number of tools p2e has available.

Teller said:  Pathfinder 2e character sheet instead of the 5e one and Ignore and replace all the mechanics on the tokens, creatures and traps. You'll have to rebalance all the the encounters, but that's not too difficult with the number of tools p2e has available. I think the "2e" referred to AD&D 2nd Edition, since "DM" was specified, whereas Pathfinder would be "GM". there is at least one AD&D 2e sheet, but it is not official, and I have never used it. It would be worthwhile to use it for the benefit of PC creation. NPCs can be run manually (recommended for just getting into the game), or you can create new npc monster sheets and assign the tokens to the new sheets.  But if you are new to Roll20, I would suggest running the monsters manually, and maybe just filling in the token bubbles with AC and HP. Customization can come later.

If this is for AD&amp;D 2E, definitely get in touch with me because I have done this exact idea before, seen some of the pitfalls, and figured out some workaround method. If it's for Pathfinder 2E, not so much, but some of the ideas may still apply. The main obstacle and point is, unfortunately with Roll20 not allowing "2 Character Sheets in 1 game", the problem is that your Characters will be using a 2E character sheet, therefore the Game in Roll20 will be assigned the 2E character sheet. The problem is now the Monsters and the NPC's, that came with "Lost Mines" 5E module. They will only be able to display their stats properly if you used the 5E sheet, and you're not because you wanted 2E characters. Vote +1 for this Suggestion thread to fix the problem: <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/6493089/multiple-sheets-in-a-game" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/6493089/multiple-sheets-in-a-game</a> PM me if you want to discuss my methods to work-around this obstacle. The basic idea is install the 5E game with the 5E character sheet, copy-and-paste the essential stats to the BIO tab of each monster/character. Then change the game's Character Sheet over to 2E and let the Players make their Characters. As an uglier alternative, you can read the "Attributes and Abilities" tab of the 5E monsters/NPC/characters. It is a PITA. Another third optional approach is to install the game twice, and keep separate browser windows open with the 5E game open (for the DM to look at the 5E monsters), while the game is actually played in a 2E-assigned Roll20 Tabletop that has all the players and the DM logged in. Help me build a Custom Character Sheet crossover of 5E x 2E The ultimate alternative would be using a PRO account with a Custom Character Sheet which accommodates the stats of both games, side-by-side. This takes a lot of CODING work, and we aren't there yet. I'm trying, and I'm looking for help from the folks like GiGs, Vince, Scott C, Peter B, Aqua Alex, et al. Heads-up to Gauss and Keithcurtis , on that last point. Please run it through your brain for consideration the possibility of this, how much it could increase Marketplace module sales, how much time it could save for DM's like me and like Derek O (the OP) who want to do something like this. It's something you can easily do at your kitchen table, read the 5E module book and run it for your Players Group who uses whatever game system that you want.

I'd like to do some testing. Is there a 2e AD&amp;D sheet I should use for testing purposes? I have some ideas.

Tested using the not-simple sheet. Here is a quickie workflow, barely tested. Create game under 5e open it and then close it. Switch character sheet to AD&amp;D 2e Open game again. You should now have the ability to make 2e PC sheets. None of your monsters will be the 2e versions, but you will still have their bio pages. To access their 5e stats, run the following macro: /w gm &amp;{template:default}{{name=@{selected|character_name}}}{{Base=@{selected|npc_type} **HP: **@{selected|bar1} / @{selected|hp|max} | ** AC: ** @{selected|npc_ac} | **Spd: ** @{selected|npc_speed} **Languages: **@{selected|npc_languages} &nbsp;**Senses: **@{selected|npc_senses}}}{{Abilities=**Str @{selected|strength}** **Dex @{selected|dexterity}**&nbsp; **Con @{selected|constitution}**&nbsp; **Int @{selected|intelligence}** **Wis @{selected|wisdom}** **Cha @{selected|charisma}**}} &amp;{noerror} This will produce a very, very simple statblock with basic (5e) monster stats in a readable form: This could be improved a lot, but I don't think it really has that much value. The stats (particularly AC) are just not transferrable. You'd be better off just following Gold's options above. If I were to do this, I would just do the monsters manually from my 2e sourcebook versions. I do not foresee a time when being able to run two sheets together in single game in a productive manner will come to pass. Any coding would have to be extensive and extremely specific to the two sheets. It would be far less work to do the whole thing manually, and little different from the amount of work you would need to do at the table with physical books. Whatever you do set up, once you have it the way you like it, make a backup of the game . That way you have a starting point in case you ever decide to try it again.

Amazing information thank you for taking the time. I'm going to get the module and see how it goes. I don't mind entering some stats in fields, this is probably going to save me time just in the maps etc.&nbsp;

and yes i meant AD&amp;D lol