I'm looking at converting the 5th-level D&D 3E adventure The Speaker in Dreams to the fifth edition and I'm noticing a lot of DCs from 20 to 30. Were difficulty classes higher in 3E or were players able to consistently roll higher checks because of a specific mechanic compared to 5E? Should I be reducing the DCs of checks when converting, if so is there a good fixed value or formula to decrease the DCs by?
Examples:
The characters can scale the 25-foot-high town walls with a series of Climb checks (DC 30).
A successful Gather Information check (DC 20) reveals the following information about the recent murders.
If the party uses the same route into the warehouse (Climb DC 21), proceed with the following description.
A locked chest (average lock, DC 25) kept underneath the stairs holds the treasure the grimlocks cannot easily use:
Best Answer
Yes and yes. DCs were higher and the mechanics of the game allowed much higher bonuses. Mid-level characters would have +15 to +25 in the things they were good at and be completely useless in the things they weren’t.
One of the specific design goals of 5e was “bounded accuracy” to put a stop to all that.
Yes and sort of.
The 3e DC ranges are described here. The 5e ones are here. There’s no exact correspondence but if you look at the qualitative description in 3e and match them to 5e you’ll be close enough.