Do you have a favorite adventure for another TTRPG? Do you wish you could run that same adventure in There's Glory in the Rip? This series is for you! In Converting the Rip, I'll be going through how to transform NPCs, encounters, and challenges from big-name systems so you can run them with a party of Closers. They won't work exactly the same way, but I'll try to get them as close as possible.

Today's system: Pathfinder 2nd Edition

Skill Checks

Pathfinder 2e modifiers include a character's level, which makes DCs scale fairly high. The system offers two mechanisms to determine a DC; simple DCs that are nominally level independent, and level-based DCs that are meant to apply to objects, creatures, or spells that have a level. Simple DCs are straightforward to convert, but TGitR doesn't really have levels, so the level-based ones need a little bit of hand-waving.

Here's the table for converting each type of DC to a TV. For level-based DCs, consider the difference between the average character level a check is intended for and the level of the check itself:

Note: For example, if you have a module intended for characters level 5 to 10, and a level 6 check, that would translate to a -1 level difference, or a TV 3. For a level 12 check, that would be a +5 level difference, or a TV 7.

Pathfinder in general makes heavy use of a wide variety of situational modifiers granting small numerical bonuses. Those small bonuses don't translate well to TGitR's maximum-4-advantage system. So instead, if the total sum of situational modifiers would be positive, grant an advantage to the roll. If the total sum would be negative, grant a disadvantage.

One last point to mention is graduated success. Pathfinder is built heavily around checks being able to succeed, fail, critically succeed, or critically fail. TGitR only uses a pass/fail system by default. However, if you need ranges for crit fails or successes, use -2/+2 around the TV, which mimics -10/+10 for Pathfinder's D20 system. Don't apply crits on a 1 or 6 on the die. Just keep in mind that players can reroll for actions frequently and even try to fish for crits, so use crit ranges rarely, and that rolling a 6 already bakes in a degree of critical success due to being able to reuse an action die.

Monsters and NPCs

Pathfinder has a very straightforward system for encounter building. You have an XP budget based on how many players you have and how difficult you want the encounter, and each monster has an XP cost depending on its level relative to the party. This makes for a very easy translation to TGitR, which also has a linear budgeting system. It's just that TGitR bases the budget on your party's dice rather than level.

The following sections help you calculate a monster's 3 primary TGitR stats (base TV, max strike count, based strikes dealt).

Base TV

Using a similar baseline to Pathfinder (4 players at moderate strength), use the below to pick a base TV by the monster's relative level and/or XP given. The table also includes a number of actions per refresh to give the monster.

Note: since TGitR characters can gain a fair bit of power over an adventuring day by earning Glory, converted fights will be more difficult for completely fresh characters vs ones that have earned some extra action dice.

Pathfinder uses an action point system, with NPCs getting multiple actions the same as players. In TGitR, however, NPCs get only one action per refresh by default. Therefore, a Pathfinder monster, used as intended, is a little more powerful than a TGitR monster. This is why most converted monsters will have multiple actions per refresh.

Max Strike Count

Once you've looked up the base TV and number of actions, calculating max strike count is straightforward. Just use the below table to look up the strike count per action, then multiply by the number of actions the monster has.

Note: Above numbers assume at least one monster should survive for 3 rounds for standard enemies, or 5 rounds for boss enemies in a full encounter

Base Strikes Dealt

Monster damage in Pathfinder is split into categories, from Extreme to Low. These roughly translate to dice sizes and number of dice rolled, though they also scale by monster level. So if you happen to know which category of damage a monster deals, use that for the below table lookup. If you don't know the category, make a judgement call based on the overall vibe and intention for the monster.

Damage in TGitR is fairly limited from the RC's side of the table. One-shots are effectively impossible (unless the narrative demands it), but healing is extremely difficult to come by. So use 1 strike dealt for almost everything, and only pull out 2 or 3 for monsters that are designed to hit particularly above their weight class. Even if players are unlikely to die in one fight, each point of damage will really matter over time.

Monster Abilities

With Pathfinder's action economy, monsters have many more numbers to adjust for specific feelings and more room for special and flavorful actions. Tags (both for creatures and their abilities) add even more mechanical structure for defining narrative traits.

Ultimately, you can describe your monster acting the way it would in a Pathfinder game, just without the numbers. If they have a special action (like the Goblin Warrior's Goblin Scuttle), try to think about what this ability means for the narrative and how it's intended to be used on an abstract level. Then just have your monster do the same thing, maybe with an advantage or with an additional effect besides damage.

Since Pathfinder adds level to skill checks, only particularly high skill bonuses should translate to an advantage (level + stat + 4 or higher). Anything they don't have a skill value for should be given a disadvantage. Being untrained in a skill means being extremely bad at it.

Finally, many monsters have reaction abilities that let them do extra stuff when it isn't their turn. TGitR doesn't really have turns, per se, so any reaction abilities should be folded into a monster's normal actions as extra effects or as automatic effects against a player. Just make sure to keep such things simple and small.

Loot

TGitR doesn't track mundane items and currency, so don't bother translating those except as part of a narrative situation. Both players and monsters can simply have the items they have (without any bonuses) and use them for actions.

For magical loot, treat any positive numerical bonus as granting an advantage, while any negative numerical bonus grants a disadvantage. Never make an item grant more than one. For the item's non-numerical, non-mechanics-specific effects, consider the intention and story around the item and just narrate the item doing that thing when used.

For effect durations, try to stick to "until the next refresh" for 1-turn or 1-round effects, and "until the next scene" for anything longer.

Examples

As an example for converting an encounter from D&D to TGitR, let's look at one of Paizo's free introductory adventures, Torment and Legacy. The PDF is available for free at the link.

As a short summary, this is a short adventure involving rescuing a wise sage that has been kidnapped by an ogre. The players go on a rescue mission, only to find a deeper intrigue involving a man named Haanar. There are only two real encounters and very few characters to convert, so let's try it out!

First, the ogre Warrior.

The Ogre's stat block labels it a level 3 creature. Since this is a module for level 1 PCs, that puts it at player level +2. That gives it a base TV of 5, with 3 actions At 10 max strike count per action, that gives it 30 max strikes. It has a number of properties on its attacks that imply high damage, so give it a base damage of +2.

For the Ogre's abilities, the most interesting one is its Trip. Trip can deal damage in addition to knocking the target over, but on a crit fail the Ogre falls instead. You have a couple options to try to capture this idea. One is to make the Ogre clumsy in general, lurching and lunging around at targets and having a disadvantage at staying upright or to avoid being baited by a player. Another is to try to use a crit range such that if a player successfully defends with a total of 7 (5 + 2), the ogre falls. That very likely won't happen with fresh characters, so you should opt for the narratively-clumsy option.

Besides the Trip, it should gain an advantage in athletic activities and intimidation according to its skill (making it strong and scary), but get a disadvantage with other types of activities.

Now let's try Haanar, who has some magical abilities.

This is another level 3 creature, so use the same TV 5 with 3 actions and 30 max strikes. This is more of a person, so it should only deal 1 base damage. As for his abilities, the Skills are straightforward, but the spells are the most interesting. Each spell is basically a special action Haanar can take, ranging from elemental explosions to making a staff magical to making magical lights. You can largely use each one narratively the way it is intended to work (such as making Haanar shoot gouts of fire from his fingers at a group of players for Burning Hands), but with ignoring the damage calculations in favor of using Hanaar's base damage.

As a more specific example of interpreting spells, let's take Tanglefoot. The spell causes a vine to extend from your hand to a target, slowing it or even holding it immobile. Instead of trying to use a crit range, make the target player have to roll against Haanar's TV if they try to move during the refresh where this spell is cast. If they fail, that mimics the immobilization. If they succeed, that mimics a successful save. But that's not all. Since it is a vine that shoots out, there's no reason Haanar couldn't try to target a weapon arm instead of a leg. This makes the spell act like the flavor rather than the strict spell description, which can let you be creative in how you use it.

In summary, we have two monsters, one with one example spell defined out of the many it has:

• Ogre Warrior: TV 5, 3 actions, 30 max strike count, 2 strikes dealt on attacks
  • Advantage on athletic and deception actions
  • Disadvantage on just about everything else, especially from being clumsy and lunging at targets
  • Trip: when knocking someone over, also deal a strike
• Haanar: TV 5, 3 actions, 30 max strike count, 1 strikes dealt on attacks
  • Advantage on deception and stealth, medicinal and natural knowledge, and wilderness survival
  • Disadvantage on other things
  • Example Spell - Tanglefoot: summon a vine that reaches out to a nearby target, wrapping around and restraining them

Caveats

A Pathfinder conversion to There's Glory in the Rip suffers most from having to undo the level scaling that's baked into the original system. Luckily, Pathfinder 2e is extremely well structured, so the conversions are possible. They just require some interpretation and a good bit of system knowledge to understand what kinds of modifiers are particularly high or low.

Also, even though both systems have a rough equivalent to an action point system, TGitR does not apply this system to NPCs. So NPCs can be used more freely when converted, but also many of their abilities will be difficult or impossible to translate due to being defined entirely by their mechanical system impact.

Finally, crit ranges with spells are an especially tricky problem. Chances are good the spells just simply will work differently when translated, following their flavor text far more than their mechanical definition. This can lead to some good fun and creativity that isn't as easy in a heavily structured system, but it will also lead to modules and monsters feeling a bit different than the original.

If you happen to try out TGitR and use these conversion rules, let me know! As always, I'd love to hear about how things turn out!