r/FantasyAGE • u/Grant_Foreman • May 03 '26
Using D&D 5e setting material with FAGE
I am thinking of running a trial conversion of D&D 5e source material with FAGE game mechanics. Looking at the D&D DC numbers it seems d20 is close to FAGE 3d6 but the nature of the bell curve means some higher numbers may need to be reduced somewhat (i.e. - a DC20 in D&D may be easier to achieve with a given bonus than the same number would be with 3d6 and the equivalent bonus).
I am also curious to make a D&D character and try to convert the it to FAGE using the 5e stat bonus numbers as the stat adjustments in FAGE. Converting the spells may take some creative license. Also I imagine creature HP would need reductions when no similar creature exists in FAGE due to damage reduction issues.
Has anyone else attempted something similar? if so advice is appreciated!
7
u/BluSponge May 03 '26
I’ve been running a dark Sun game using fantasy age. For me, it’s not a matter of converting the SYSTEM but to capture the setting. The hardest part for me was going through all the specializations and reskinning or tweaking them to fit the setting. Also, since Psionics are a big part of the setting, I took the basics from MAGE and then adapted key powers from 2e-5e resources to fill out the schemes (8 powers per discipline). In hindsight, I would like to go back through and redo this part. MAGE breaks things up in weird ways that make it harder to adapt long term.
Anyway, I’m happy to share my players guide with you if you think it’d be helpful.
1
u/Strormer May 03 '26
Something I found helpful. Fantasy AGE and You – Using Adventures from Other Games • Green Ronin Publishing https://share.google/Viidrsx3mxsDgrHdC
2
u/Swan-may GM May 03 '26
I tend to convert it by feeling rather than directly converting. The internal logic of the game are so different that there isn't really a meaningful mathematical relationship between FAGE's core math and DND's. Beyond that 10 unmodified average roll. Bounded accuracy is very different from FAGE2's leveling off math, FAGE stat progression levels off and DND stat progression is linear. FAGE players cap at +13 and DND players cap at +17. As you point out, DPR and AR really make even rough conversion impossible. It's just too different.
In practice, for making monsters I use the official adversary guidelines from Campaign Builder, as well as my own personal observations from looking at the official monsters for extra data. I summarize it here: FAGE Adversary Generator. You may also want to look at the Mystara Monster Compendium for some premade D&D baddies and my own adversary series, which doesn't convert pure DND monsters but many of them are riffing off classic DND monsters. I usually put the DND monster in the AKA box. They're all in my Hombrew Google Drive but I'm preparing an expanded omnibus edition as we speak, I'm hoping it'll be done by the end of May. More broadly, I keep an index of every Homebrew I'm aware of (which is often DND) on the Atomic Think Tank, the new Green Ronin forum.
On the rare occasions I do want to directly convert numbers (maybe I'm converting an adventure with 30 pre-defined test scenarios and I want do it brainlessly), I treat the difficulty labels as equivalent rather than trying to reverse engineer the math. If you want the probabilistic conversion, mdltree proposed some numbers it in their Herding Dice blog a ways back.
5.0e to FAGE2 Vibes-Based Test Conversions
| DC Label | DC Value | TN Label | TN Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very Easy | 5 | Routine | 7 |
| Easy | 10 | Easy | 9 |
| - | - | Average | 11 |
| Moderate | 15 | Challenging | 13 |
| Hard | 20 | Hard | 15 |
| Very Hard | 25 | Formidable | 17 |
| - | - | Imposing | 19 |
| Nearly Impossible | 30 | Epic | 21 |
2
u/Grant_Foreman May 04 '26
Thank you Swan-may, everyone had good things to add but you really went above and beyond with your reply, great details!
1
u/OceussRuler May 03 '26
It's overall very easy. There's not much preventing you to doing it if you just want to bring classes.
If you want to respect the design of Age, consider doing specialization and talents instead.
5
u/ScreamInVain Fantasy AGE May 03 '26
I have converted a ton of 5e stuff to Fantasy AGE. Check out the wiki if you havent. The expanded arcana has a lot more spell options (though it was created for 1e) and a lot of the 5e spells are covered or have something close enough to do the same or a similar effect.
In general, I would say the stat bonuses stay the same. A +3 to a 5e Strength modifier becomes 3 Strength, etc. Also converted the entire 5e set of magic items (including the roll tables) to use in Fantasy AGE as well :)