A Synthetic Dream of Strahd

Converting Old School D&D to Other Twenty-sided Worlds

Wanna use an old school monster in Curse of Strahd? Or maybe you wanna meet the darklord of Barovia in the Synthetic Dream Machine? 

Conversions are where to start. 

In general, it’s easiest to convert a monster’s level, and then use the target system to generate the rest of the monster’s stats (if any). 

So if you are taking the Vampire Strahd out of 5e and into a Synthetic Dream, it’s easiest to convert his Challenge Rating into SDM NPC Level. With that done, you can use the original stat block to inspire powers as you see fit, and customize them using the SDM’s open design spaces. 

Here’s a table to guide your conversion process. If you feel like a monster winds up too tough, or too pathetic, split the numerical soup to your heart’s content.

BIG SDM Conversion Table

BECMI HD	BX HD	D&D 5e CR	OSE Attack Bonus	SDM Level
Fractional, NH	Fractional, NH	0	-1	0
1	1	1/8	0	1
2	2	1/4	+1	2
3	3	1/2	+2	3
4	4	1	+3	4
5	5	2	+4	5
6	6	3	+5	6
7	7	4	+6	7
8	8-9	5	+7	8
9	10-11	6	+8	9
10-11	12-13	7-9	+9	10
12-13	14-15	10-12	+10	11
14-15	16-17	13-14	+11	12
16-17	18-19	15-17	+12	13
18-19	20-21	18-20	+13	14
20-21	22-23	21-23	+14	15
22-23	24-25	24-26	+15	16
24+	26+	27+	+16	17
BECMI HD	BX HD	5e CR	OSE Attack Bonus	SDM Level

Note 1: Ignore modified Hit Dice. 1-1 HD and 1+1 HD become 1 HD. If desired, add the modifier to the creature’s hit point total, or use the modifier as an attack bonus. 

Note 2: OSE uses the BX HD column to determine attack bonus. 

Note 3: The OSE Attack Bonus column should be eerily familiar if you are running Pathfinder 2e (hint–creature level).

Here are some formulas that summarize the table above: 

Small Conversions

BX HD to SDM Level

Up to HD 7, BX HD = SDM Level

Beyond HD 7, BX [6 + (HD – 7)/2 up] = SDM Level

BECMI HD to SMD Level

 Up to HD 9, BECMI HD = SDM Level

Beyond HD 9, BECMI [8 + (HD – 9)/2 up] = SDM Level

Pathfinder 2e Creature Level to SDM Level

Just add one to Pathfinder 2e level. Easy-peasy.

Synthetic Dream: Model vB Strahd

Model vB Strahd. Lvl 13 vampire cyborg (sanguinary egotism, mental disruption subroutine, touch inflicts 2d12 or burden: life draining nanites). Caution: The Model vB Strahd can dissemble itself into a nanite swarm in response to catastrophic hylospheric injuries. Seeks to infect other lifeforms with blood-borne nanomachines of presumably Old One origin.  

In SDM, if I know the Level, I can derive attack bonus, damage, AC/DC on the fly (+15 to hit, deals about 30 points of damage on average, beat a 17 to hit him or resist him). I scaled down Strahd’s damage for the life drain because it inflicts a burden, a game element that is harder to heal than hit point damage.

The rest of the synthetic Strahd hinges on the play as it happens at the table. What does being a vampire do? [+] or [-], depending. I decide what [+] or [-] is. Advantage. Disadvantage. Half Effect. And so on.

A Note on Saving Throws

You can flatten BECMI and BX saving throw categories into one saving throw, DC 18. 

A creature’s saving throw bonus across all categories averages out to 2 points higher than its attack bonus in old school editions of the game. Individual classes may have areas of extra resilience, which you can represent as specific saving throw bonuses, if desired. Wizards might get +2 to saving throws versus spells, for example.