Converting D&D to GURPS: Combat Comparison

[Phoenix_Dragon]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

Well, I can't tell you exactly what a 'level 30 red dragon' means, but according the the 3.5 Draconomicon they can grow to SM+7 or +8 (40 yards) and mass 640 tons.

Having done quite a bit of work dealing with dragons for my campaigns and such... A typical western-styled dragon of human size would be about 10 feet from tip-to-tip (With about half that being tail), and weigh 150-200 pounds. Scaling up to 120 feet and keeping proportions the same, the weight goes up to 260,000-350,000 pounds (130-175 tons). 640 tons seems way too high. Working backwards, a 10-foot dragon that had the same proportions would weigh 740 pounds, which is far too high for a tip-to-tip length of 10 feet.

I imagine that 40 yard figure is it's "base" size, as in, how large its base is on the battle map, not its actual tip-to-tip length. 640 tons with consistant proportions seems to be more like 180-200 feet in length.

In either case (And assuming the same proportions, again), ST tends to simplify to about 1 per foot of length, barring supernatural strength. But that would just be a racial average, and a supernatural-by-nature dragon would likely have even higher.

(Basically, this is all assuming square-cube-law holds for weight, and then completely ignores it for purposes of flight, movement, etc. And yes, I probably put too much thought into this.)

In general, I'd recommend taking monsters from D&D and putting them in GURPS as being less of conversion, more of inspiration. Take what D&D presents, lay them out in real-world terms (Size, weight, speed, and descriptives of special powers), and then design that in GURPS. It takes a bit more work, because you can't simply convert some numbers instantly to stats, but it makes for far more detailed and realistic results in the end.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Phoenix_Dragon

Having done quite a bit of work dealing with dragons for my campaigns and such... A typical western-styled dragon of human size would be about 10 feet from tip-to-tip (With about half that being tail), and weigh 150-200 pounds. Scaling up to 120 feet and keeping proportions the same, the weight goes up to 260,000-350,000 pounds (130-175 tons). 640 tons seems way too high. Working backwards, a 10-foot dragon that had the same proportions would weigh 740 pounds, which is far too high for a tip-to-tip length of 10 feet.

I imagine that 40 yard figure is it's "base" size, as in, how large its base is on the battle map, not its actual tip-to-tip length. 640 tons with consistant proportions seems to be more like 180-200 feet in length.

Your numbers may be better, but no, I didn't confuse the information. A D&D monster with a 40 yard space is well into 'no possible way' territory, by the way...the biggest normal base size is 30 feet on a side.

The table line in the Draconomicon for a colossal Red Dragon would have it 120ft total length, 35 ft neck, 35 ft body, 50ft tail, 15ft across the shoulders, 22ft tall at the shoulder, wingspan of up to 150ft, and a weight of 1,280,000 lb.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by abates17

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

I did a D&D 3.5 to GURPS 4e sheet a while ago and I consider much of the information still viable to D&D 4.x.

Note I tend to ignore special features that complicate conversion. Considering that Control Zombie is a lot more acceptable than its D&D counterpart Skeletons are not going to be as much a pain as they are in D&D.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Gollum

The problem with D&D hit points, no matter the edition, is that they don't only mean ability to take injuries. They also mean skill and luck or destiny.

Indeed, a warrior who reaches the level 20 is not far much bigger and stronger than when he was at level 1. He remains an ordinary man, who can be killed by one good axe blow (decapitation). But, during combat, he will loose his hit points much more slowly, which just means that he is harder to kill: he is able to avoid or reduce the effect of much more blows. A blow that was dangerous for him (a sword blow for instance) becomes a mere scratch...

And he is so skillful and lucky that it takes ten times as much healing magic or ten times as many potions to make him whole when he has been injured to the same extent.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by pawsplay

Basic Speed: Use the normal calculation. However, add 0.25 if you have Improved Initiative.

Do the same for Lightning Reflexes. In fact, when unknown, a D&D feat slot is worth about 5 points of GURPS advantages.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by pawsplay

HT: 10 + Con modifier.

For creatures bigger than Medium, you need to pare down some of the size bonus to Constitution to keep the creatures from never failing an HT check. Give back half the bonus, then calculate HT as above.