Updated10February2015(addedlinktoMonsterTraitsandActions)

ThisisthethirdinmyseriesofconversiondocumentsforD&D5thEdition.(Youcanfindthe
oneforNext
here
andtheonefor3.5/3E/Pathfinder
here
.)Icreatedthisdocumentby
comparingthe5Eversionsofmonstersfromthe
MonsterManual
withtheir2Ecounterparts.I
alsoreferredtotwosourcesforconvertingmonstersfrom2Eto3E:Wizardsofficial
ConversionManual
andtheDragonMagazinearticle
HowtoCreateaMonster
.

Iwillonceagainincludetwowarnings:
1. Ifyoucomparethe2Eand5Eversionsofmonstersyourself,youwillnoticethis
conversiondoesnotproduceperfectlyidenticalresults.Iwentforapproximation,not
precision.
2. Iamfallible,sotheremaybemistakes.Ifyoufindany,letmeknow.

Theendofthisdocumentalsoexplainshowtoadjusttheseguidelinesforconverting
monstersfrom1E.

Youwillneedaccesstoatleastthe

D&DBasicRules
andthe
MonsterManual
tomakefull
useofthis.The
DungeonMastersGuide
,whilenotstrictlyrequired,ishighlyrecommended
foritsmonstercreationguidelines(pages273283).

Also,thankstoRussMorrisseyforasimplificationondragonAC,andthepeoplein

this
ENWorldthread
forgeneralhelp!

ChallengeRating

Beforeyougetstarted,youshouldchooseaninitialChallengeRatingforthecreature.Thisis
anestimateofthemonstersCR,whichyoucanusetoguidetherestofyourconversion.
Therearetwowaystodothis:

UsetheCRofasimilar5Ecreature.Ifyouusethisapproach,thecreatureshouldalso
serveasyourreferencemonster(see
AbilityScores
).
UsetheCREstimatorinAppendix1toconvertitsAD&D2EXPValue.

Whenyouarefinishedconvertingyourmonsterto5E,youmaywishtoadjustthisinitialCR
forabetterfit.ThebestwaytodothisistousetherulesfordeterminingCRintheDMG,but
ifyourepressedfortime,youcanjustcompareittosimilar5Ecreaturesonceagain.

Size

5Eappearstouse3.5ssizeranges(slightlytrimmed).Thesedonotperfectlymatch2Essize
categories,soconvertthemasfollows:

2ESize

5ESize

Tiny(2orless)

Tiny(2feetorless)

Small(24)

Small(24feet)

Medium(47)

Medium(48feet)

Large(78)

Medium(48feet)

Large(812)

Large(816feet)

Huge(1216)

Large(816feet)

Huge(1625)

Huge(1632feet)

Gargantuan(2532)

Huge(1632feet)

Gargantuan(32ormore)

Gargantuan(32feetormore)

Youcanalsosimplyusethe2Esizecategoryasis,ifyoudontmindbeingoffbyafewfeet.

Type

2Edidnothavecreaturetypes,soyouwillneedtoassignthoseyourself,basedonthe
monstersdescription.Thetypesareallexplainedinthe5EBasicRules.

Tags

Appendedtothecreaturetypein5E,thesecanbedeterminedfromthemonstersdescription.
Typicaltagsinclude
titan
(forcreatureslikethetarrasque),
shapechanger
,specifictypesof
fiends(suchas
demon
or
yugoloth
),andspecifichumanoidraces(
elf
,
thrikreen
,etc.)If
yourcreatureisntlikelytohaveanyofthetagsabove,skipthisstep.

Alignment

Generally,keepthisthesame.However,creaturesin5Emayalsobe
unaligned
,meaning
theyoperateoninstinctsoyoumaywanttochange
neutral
tounalignedforsome
creatures.


ArmorClass

ItseasiesttorecalculateACfromscratch,basedontheirDexteritybonusandanyarmor
worn.(MakesuretochecktherulesfordeterminingACintheBasicRulesPDF.)

Ifthecreaturedidnotweararmor,andhadanACof6orbelow,theyshouldhavenatural
armor.Inthatcase,givethema+2bonustotheirnewAC.

Dragons
appeartohavestrongernaturalarmorin5E.Fornow,Isuggestestimatingtheir5E
ACbysubtractingitfrom19.

Example:AdragonofsomesorthasAC1.Subtractthatfrom19:19(1)=19+1=20.


HitDice

In5E,thetypeofhitdieisdeterminedbyacreaturessize.
Tiny
creaturesused4hitdice.
Small
creaturesused6hitdice.
Medium
creaturesused8hitdice.
Large
creaturesused10
hitdice.
Huge
creaturesused12hitdice.
Gargantuan
creaturesused20hitdice.

In2E,HitDicemaybedisplayedinformatslike11or5+3.Thefirstnumberisthenumber
ofHitDiceignorethelaternumber.

Tiny
creaturesshouldkeepthesamenumberofhitdiceastheyhadin2E.

Small
or
Medium
creaturesshouldadd
one
hitdie.Forexample,1d6shouldbecome2d6.

Large
,
Huge
,and
Gargantuan
creaturesshouldadd
two
hitdice.Forexample,3d10should
become5d10.

Averagehitpointsforcreaturesshouldberecalculatedasfollows:
Xd4MultiplyXby2.5(rounddown),thenaddtheirConstitutionbonus,timesX.
Xd6MultiplyXby3.5(rounddown),thenaddtheirConstitutionbonus,timesX.
Xd8MultiplyXby4.5(rounddown),thenaddtheirConstitutionbonus,timesX.
Xd10MultiplyXby5.5(rounddown),thenaddtheirConstitutionbonus,timesX.
Xd12MultiplyXby6.5(rounddown),thenaddtheirConstitutionbonus,timesX.
Xd20MultiplyXby10.5(rounddown),thenaddtheirConstitutionbonus,timesX.

Example:Amonsterhas3d8HDandaConstitutionof14(+2bonus).Sotheiraveragehit
pointsare4.5times3,roundeddown:13.ThenyoumultiplytheirConbonusbytheirHD,for
atotalof+6.13+6=19.

Twoexceptions:
Oozes
shouldprobablykeeptheircurrenthitdice.
Dragons
havebeenupgradedalotsince2E,soany2Edragonconvertedlikeothermonsters
islikelytobecomparativelyweak.Butsincewehaveonlyoneexample,Icanonlysuggest
youconvertthemlikeothercreaturesoftheirsize.


Speed

Usethe2E
Movement
stat,thenconvertitasfollowsforeachmovementtype(infeet).

Movementupto12
:Divideby3,multiplyby10,roundtonearest10.
Movementabove12
:Multiplyby2,roundtonearest10.

Forreference,the2EabbreviationsforspecialmovementareFl(flying),Sw(swimming),Br
(burrowing),Cl(climbing),andWb(movingacrosswebs).

Example:AcreaturehasMovement9,Fl21.Itsnewgroundmovementis9/3=3,3x10=30
feet.Itsnewflightspeedis21x2=42,roundedto40feet.

Acreaturethatcanmoveacrosswebs(Wb)shouldreplacethatspeedwiththetrait
Web
Walker
(seeGiantSpiderinthe
MonsterManual
).


AbilityScores

Theonlyabilityscoreprovidedinmost2Estatblocksis
Intelligence
.Youcanusethis
statisticasgiveniftheresarange,gofortheaverageorhighestscore.Ifonlythe
Intelligenceratingisprovided,usethebelowforreference:

Non(0)[whichmustbeincreasedtoatleast1for5E]
Animal(1)
Semi(24)
Low(57)
Average(810)
Very(1112)
High(1314)
Exceptional(1516)
Genius(1718)
Supragenius(1920)
Godlike(21+)

Ifyouarereallylucky,themonstersdescriptionmaydescribeotherabilityscores.Usethem
asgiveniftheyareprovided,withtheexceptionof
Strength
,whichshouldbeconvertedas
follows:

2EStrength

5EStrength

118

Same

18/0118/99

18

18/00(2Eogre)

19

19(2Ehillgiant)

2021

20(2Estonegiant)

2223

21(2Efrostgiant)

2324

22(2Efiregiant)

2526

23(2Ecloudgiant)

2728

24(2Estormgiant)

29

25

30

Foranyabilityscoresmissingatthispoint,youwillneedtochooseareferencemonster.
Thisisanexistingmonstersimilartotheoneyoureconverting.(Forexample,askeletal
undeadcouldusetheskeletonasareference.)IfyoubasedthemonstersinitialCRonan
existing5Emonster,youalreadyhaveyourreferencemonster!

Usetheabilityscoresofthereferencemonstertofillinanyblanks,possiblytweakingthem
asneededtofitthemonstersconceptorknownabilityscores.

Whenchoosingareferencemonster,usethesesources,inthisorderofpreference:
1. TheD&D5E
MonsterManual
.
2. MonstersfromD&DNextmaterial.
3. D&D3.5sMonsterManual.Youcanusethissiteasaquickreference:
http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/monsters.htm
4. TheHowtoCreateaMonsterarticle(linkedabove).

Notethatin5E,creaturesalwayshaveallsixabilityscores.Ifyouusea3.5reference
monsteranditismissinganyofthese,youshouldlookatthenextclosestNextor5E
monster,orusetheguidelinesforfillinginblanksfrommy
3.5conversiondocument
.

Alternatively,the2Esourcebook
DungeonMasterOption:HighLevelCampaigns
providesa
methodfordeterminingmonsterabilityscores,ifyouwanttofillintheblanksfromthe2E
side.Theyrecommendrollingrandomlyandconsultingatable,butIwouldusetheaverage
resultonthetableinstead(results912).Another2Eresourcetoconsideris

TheComplete
BookofHumanoids
.NotethatanyresultingStrengthscoreswouldstillneedtobeconverted
to5E.

SavingThrows

Ignorethe2Erulesformonstersavingthrows.In5E,savesareassociatedwitheachofthe
sixabilityscores,somostcreaturesjustusetheirabilitybonusforsaves.

However,afew5Emonstersdoappeartoapplytheir
proficiencybonus
tothesesaves.You
maywishtodothesameforyourconvertedcreature,iftheir2Edescriptionsuggestsit
should.

Inmostcases,though,youshouldprobablypassongivingyourcreatureproficiencywith
savesitsmucheasierwithoutit.

Skills

Themajorityofmonsterswillhavefewornoskills,especiallymonstersdrivenbyinstinct.
Consultthe2Emonstersdescriptiontoseeifithasanytalentsthatmightmatchaparticular
5Eskill.Forreference,the5Eskillsare:

Athletics
(Strength)
Acrobatics
,
SleightofHand
,and
Stealth
(Dexterity)
Arcana
,
History
,
Investigation
,
Nature
,and
Religion
(Intelligence)
AnimalHandling
,
Insight
,
Medicine
,
Perception
,and
Survival
(Wisdom)
Deception
,
Intimidation
,
Performance
,and
Persuasion
(Charisma)

FulldescriptionsoftheskillscanbefoundintheBasicRulesPDF.

Ifacreaturehasproficiencyinaskill,theirbonuswiththatskillisequaltotherelevantability
bonus,plustheir
proficiencybonus
.

Example:AmonsterhasaDexterityof15(+2bonus)andproficiencyinStealth.Thismeans
thattheyshouldhavea+4bonuswithStealth(Dexterity)checks.Iftheyareamorepowerful
creature,theymayhavea+5bonusinstead.

Ifacreatureishardtosurprise,itshouldprobablyhaveproficiencyinPerception(Wisdom).If
thecreatureisgoodatsurprisingenemies,itshouldprobablyhaveproficiencyinStealth
(Dexterity).

Somecreaturesseemtohaveahigherproficiencyinoneskillthantheothers,typicallydouble
theirnormalproficiencybonus(+4or+6).Forexample,doppelgangershavea+4on
Deception(Charisma)checks.Youmaywishtodothesamewithacreaturessignature
skill.

Vulnerabilities,Resistances,Immunities

Lookatthe2Ecreatures
SpecialDefenses
anddescriptionthisshouldgiveyouanidea
whatthecreatureisvulnerableagainst(listedunder
DamageVulnerabilities
in5E),whatthe
creatureisresistantagainst(listedunder
DamageResistances
),andwhatthecreatureis
immuneagainst(listedunder
DamageImmunities
or
ConditionImmunities
).

Some2Ecreaturescanonlybeharmedbymagicalweaponsofacertainbonus(+1,+2,etc.).
Thisshouldbelistedunder
DamageResistances
asfollows:

bludgeoning,piercing,andslashingfromnonmagicalweapons

Ifthecreaturecanonlybeharmedbysomeothermaterial,addthefollowing:

...nonmagicalweaponsthatarent(silveredoradamantineor[othersubstance])

Modifytheaboveasneededforotherresistances.

Whenyounote
ConditionImmunities
,rememberthattheymayoverlapwithresistancesor
damageimmunities.Forexample,acreatureimmuneto
poison
damageshouldalsonote
thattheyareimmunetothe
poisoned
condition.

Theinnateimmunitiesof
undead
in5Eare:

DamageImmunities:poison
ConditionImmunities:poisoned

Onlyaddotherimmunitiestoanundeadcreatureiftheyareseparatefromitsundeadnature.

Incorporeal
creatures

shouldprobablyhavethefollowingresistancesandimmunities:

DamageResistances:acid,cold,fire,lightning,thunderbludgeoning,piercing,andslashing
fromnonmagicalweapons
DamageImmunities:poison
ConditionImmunities:grappled,paralyzed,petrified,poisoned,prone,restrained


Magicresistance
hasalsobeensimplified,andisnowlistedasatraitseetheflameskullfor
anexample.

Senses

Thereareonlyfoursensesestablishedin5Eatthispoint:
blindsight
,
darkvision
,
tremorsense
,and
truesight
.2Es
infravision
,
ultravision
,andsimilarsensesare
equivalenttodarkvision.Anynonvisualreplacementforsightshouldbeblindsightor
tremorsense.Anycreaturewithinnatetrueseeingshouldhavetruesight.

Also,allcreatureshaveapassivePerceptionscore.Thisisequalto10plustheirtotalbonus
toPerception(Wisdom)checks.

Languages

RefertotheBasicRulesPDFfortheknownlanguagesin5E.Ifnolanguageforyourcreature
islistedthere,givethemthenativelanguageprovidedintheir2Edescription.

Traits

TodetermineacreaturesTraits,lookatthe2Emonstersdescription.Whenpossible,you
shoulduseequivalenttraitsfromthe
MonsterManual
ifthisisnotpossible,eitherbasethe
convertedtraitonasimilar5Etrait,orsimplyusetheoriginaltextasis.

AlistoftheknownTraitsin5Ecanbefound

here
.

Spellcasting
isaspecialcase.Inadditiontobeingusedfor2Emonsterswithlevelsina
spellcastingclass,listsofspelllikepowersalsotendtobetranslatedasSpellcasting.(The
onlyexceptionshouldbespecificspelllikepowerswhicharereallyimportanttoacreatures
concept,inwhichcasetheyareeitherlistedas
InnateSpellcasting
orbrokenoutas
individualtraits,actions,orreactions.)

Ifthecreaturelistsacasterlevel,usethat.Ifnocasterlevelisprovided,usetheir2EHitDice.
Makesuretousethe5Erulesforspellcasting,andreplacespellswithclosestequivalentsif
necessaryrefertotheBasicRulesformoredetails.(ForInnateSpellcasting,thespellcasting
abilityistypicallyWisdomorCharisma.)

ActionswithanAttackRoll

Actionsshouldbetakenfroma2Ecreaturesnormalattacks,
SpecialAttacks
,ordescription.
Youneedtoconvertthreethingstomaketheseinto5Eactionsthetohitbonus,the
damageinflictedbyelementsoftheattack,andanysavingthrowsrequired.

AlistoftheknownActionsin5Ecanbefound

here
.

ToHit

IgnoretheTHAC0andrecalculatethisfromscratch.In5E,thetohitforanactionisbased
onthe
proficiencybonus
.Thisiscombinedwiththerelevantabilitybonus(usuallyStrength
orDexterity).

Notethatmostnaturalattacks(claw,bite,etc.)appeartobe
finesse
attacks,meaningthey
canuseeitherStrengthorDexteritywithattackrolls.Unlessyouthinkyourcreatureshouldbe
aweakmeleecombatant,youshouldchoosethehighestofeitherStrengthorDexterityforto
hitwithnaturalattacks.


UnusualattackslikethewraithsLifeDrainappeartoeitherhaveahigherbonus,orareusing
somethingotherthanStrengthorDexterity.Idonthaveanyspecificrecommendationsforthis
rightnow,butfeelfreetoexperimentwithotherabilityscores(likeConstitutionorCharisma)if
thatseemsappropriate.Youreprobablysaferavoidingthat,however.
Damage

In2E,damageisoftenexpressednotindice,butasarange,like16,312,or25.Insuch
cases,youwillhavetofigureouthowmanydicethatisbeforeconverting.(Intheabove
cases,its1d6,3d4,and1d4+1.)

Forattacksthatusea
weapon
,refertothedamagelistedintheBasicRulesPDForStarter
Set.Ifthecreatureis
large
,increasetheweaponsdamagedieby
one
(i.e.1d6becomes
2d6).Ifthecreatureis
huge
,increasetheweaponsdamagedieby
two
(i.e.1d6becomes
3d6).Someespeciallyhugecreatures,and
gargantuan
creatures,mayincreasethedamage
dieby
three
(i.e.1d6becomes4d6),butyoumaybesaferstickingwithtwo.

Fornaturalattacksby
tiny
or
small
creatures,youshouldprobablyleavethedamagedice
alone.However,theminimumdamagedieappearstobe1d4,soanyweakerattacksshould
probablyupgradetothat.(Thesamegoesfordamagedicebelow1d4forothercreatures.)

Fornaturalattacksby
medium
orlargercreatures,usethefollowingtable:

2EDamageDice

5EDamageDice

1d4

1d6(or2d4)

1d6

1d8(or2d6)

1d8

1d10(or2d8)

1d10

1d12(or2d10)

1d12

2d8(or2d12)

Ifanattackinflictsmorethanonedieofdamage,increasethe5Edamagediebythatnumber.
Forexample,2d4shouldbecome2d6(or3d4).

Somecreaturesstrongestnaturalattacksseemtoaddbothonedieofdamageandincrease
thedietypebyoneforexample,1d6becoming2d8.Thisshouldbeusedcarefully,however,
andshouldntbeusedonmorethanoneattack.

DontforgettoaddthemonstersStrengthbonustomeleedamageandDexteritybonusto
rangeddamage.Youcancalculateaveragedamagethroughthemethodaboveunder
Hit
Dice
.

Othertypesofdamagingattacks(liketheflameskullsfireray)seemtobetreatedmuchlike
thestrongestnaturalattacksabove,buttherearentmanyexamplesyet.Still,thatguideline
mayworkfornow.
Dragon
breathweaponsareupgradedmuchmorethanthat,butuntilwe
havemoredragons,Imreluctanttorecommendanyguidelinesthere.
SavingThrowsforActions

5Esavingthrowsareverydifferentfrom2E.Theyshouldprobablybeconvertedasfollows:

2ESavingThrow

5ESavingThrow

Paralyzation,Poison,orDeathMagic

Constitution

Rod,Staff,orWand

Wisdom(orDexterity)

PetrificationorPolymorph

Constitution(orWisdom)

BreathWeapon

Constitution(orDexterity)

Spell

Wisdom

Feelfreetosubstituteadifferentabilityscoreforthesave,ifitseemsmoreappropriate.

Youwillneedtocalculatea
DifficultyClass
(DC)forthesaveyourcreatureinflicts.The
usualwaytocalculatethisis8+proficiencybonus+theabilitybonusofthecreatureforthe
relevantsave.Forexample,aCR2creaturewithConstitution13(+1bonus)thatinflictsa
ConstitutionsaveeffectshouldrequireaDCof11(8+2+1).

Thewraiths
LifeDrain
shouldbeusedinplaceof2Es
energydrain
attack.

Recharge

Someactionsalsohavea
recharge
.TwoexamplesarethegiantspidersWebandtheyoung
greendragonsPoisonBreath,whichbothhavearechargeof56.

Rechargeseemstocoverstrongeffectsthat,in2E,couldonlybeusedalimitednumberof
timesperday,orrequiredanumberofroundsbetweenuses.

MyrecommendationistouseRecharge56formostlimiteduseactions,andkeepXper
dayforespeciallystrongattacksthatshouldonlybeusedonceinabattle.

ActionswithoutanAttackRoll

Many5Ecreaturessuchasthedoppelganger,flameskull,grick,nothic,owlbear,andyoung
greendragonhave
Multiattack
,allowingthemtotakemorethanoneactionperturn.Ifyour
2Emonstercouldattackmorethanonce,youshouldprobablygivethemMultiattackin5E.
Notethatmostcreaturescanonlymaketwoattackstheonlyexceptionistheyounggreen
dragon,whichcanmakethree.

Therearealsoafewcreaturesthatcantakeactionsnotrequiringanattackrollorsaving
throw.Ifyourmonstercoulddothisin2E,youcanprobablyusethemasisin5E.

Reactions

AnythingthatcouldbeconvertedintoanAction,butrequiressomesortoftrigger,shouldbe
categorizedasaReaction.Otherwise,theyshouldbeconvertedlikeotherActions.

AlistoftheknownReactionsin5Ecanbefound

here
.

FinalNotes

Everythingnotmentionedabove,like
Morale
,shouldprobablybedroppedin5E.Ofcourse,if
youfeelitsveryimportanttothecreaturesconcept,feelfreetoportitoveranyway.

Appendix1:CREstimator

Thebelowconversionfollowsaverybroadcomparisonofthe5ECRand2EXPValueforthe
samecreaturesinbotheditions.Itsnotperfect,butitworksasaroughstartingpoint.

5ECR

2EXP

15to35

65to120

175to270

420

650

975to1400

2000

3000to4000

5000to6000

7000

8000

+1

+1000

Appendix2:1E

Whiletherewereseveralunderlyingchangesbetween1Eand2E,themonsterstatisticscan
beconvertedmoreorlessthesameas2Ecreatures.Thereareafewdifferences,however,
whicharemostlycosmetic.

Movement
ratesarethesameas2E,buttheyareusuallydisplayedinthefollowingformat:

[normal]
/[flying]
//[swimming]
([burrowing])
*[web]
@[climb]

1Eonlyrecognizesthree
size
categories:
S
(small),
M
(humansized),and
L
(large).Mis
definedas57feetSisanythingsmallerthan5feetLisanythinglargerthan7feet.Ifa
specificsizeinfeetisgiven,youmayusethatnumberwiththe2Esizeconversionifnot,you
willhavetochooseanappropriatesizeyourself,basedonthecreaturesdescription.

XPValue
iscalculateddifferentlyfrom2E.Assuch,ifyouwanttousetheirXPValueto
determinetheir5ECR,youcannotuseAppendix1sCREstimator.Instead,usethefollowing
alternativetable(ignoringtheextraXPpermonsterhp):

5ECR

1EBasicXPValue

5orless

5to20

20to50

50to100

100to200

200to350

350to650

650to900

900to1300

1300to1700

1700to2100

2100to2500

2500to3000

10

3000to3500

11

3500to4000

12

4000to4500

13

4500to5000

14

5000to5500

15

5500to6000

16

6000to6500

17

6500to7000

18

7000to7500

19

7500to8000

20

8000to9000

21

9000to10,000

22

10,000to15,000

23

15,000to20,000

+1

+5000

(Notethattheoriginal1E
MonsterManual
doesnotprovideXPValuesatallyouhavetorefer
tothe1E
DungeonMastersGuide
.)

PsionicAbility
islistedformany1Emonsters(aswellasasmallernumberof2Emonsters).
Psionicsrulesarebeyondthescopeofthisconversion,butyoumaywishtoimportany
describedpsionicpowersasInnateSpellcasting(seetheMindFlayerforanexample),oras
othertraits,actions,orreactionsasappropriate.

FYI,the1E
MonsterManualII
hasalistconvertingthedamageranges(28,etc.)todicerolls,
whichmaycomeinhandyforboth1Eand2Econversions.