@2CONVERSION OF CHARACTERS BETWEEN GAME SYSTEMS
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@1Converting Characters (c) @4Rory O. McLean@1, January 1994

The first thing to remember when converting characters between game systems 
(e.g. AD&D and Role Master, Marvel Super Heroes and Champions) is that it is 
almost impossible to do it exactly. Dont worry about this, as the most 
important thing is that the style of the character is the same. 

One way of starting is to consider what type of character you have. Most 
systems have ways of classifying characters, by Class, by Archetype, by 
Package Deal, or whatever, and you should consider which of these most closely
 fits the existing character. You can follow this by getting a look at a 
"standard" character, some games have write-ups of NPCs, some have classic 
encounters, and the ref may have a file of old/dead PCs that you can look at.
 Work carefully with the ref if there are no standards, at least this will 
give you someone to blame later if things dont work out, and it may persuade 
her to allow later alterations. 

Once you have some general ideas go back to the character description, 
background, and notes, which are not written in the form of the game 
mechanics of the rules you are converting from. If neccessary write some, 
always remembering it is the character's concept and how they fit into the 
campaign, not the mechanics, you are interested in. Refer back to this during 
conversion, to make sure the mechanics of the new game are not distorting the
character too much. 

Now work out where your character differs from the "standard", is it a thief 
who knows far more about armoury than she should, a mage who knows all about 
the spot prices of perfumes, a fighter with a lot of skill as a barman and 
brewer, or a cleric with an intimate knowledge of the "down-and-out" parts 
of town and its inhabitants. Non-fantasy games, of course, are usually a bit 
different, and conversion between two different genres as well as game 
systems, e.g. SF to Fantasy, is even more fun. 

Now the hard bit. You should have some rough idea now of what the character 
will look like under the new rules. Fill in the details, always refering back 
to the background notes as there may be skills or abilities which did not 
exist under the old system that you should take. Dont over-spec your 
character, if the new rules look like forcing your character to be more 
powerful than you think it ought to be talk to the ref about it, and dont be 
tempted to take "freebies", they can really mess-up your character later. 

Refs should note that converted characters are almost always more experienced 
(powerful) than starting characters under whatever game system, and should 
take this into account by being suitably liberal. One major exception is AD&D 
where low-level characters are typically far more fragile and unskilled than 
starting characters under other systems, for example an average 4th level AD&D
 character is probably roughly equivalent to a reasonably balanced starting 
50pt Hero System character, 6th level to 75pts, 8th level to 100pts, etc. 

There may also be problems with converting magic items or high tech, some 
should not be taken off their world of origin (many AD&D artifacts for 
example), some may mysteriously break or get lost after a period of play to 
be replaced by a more reasonable alternative; the player should work closely 
with the ref in this. 

A final problem is absolutes. Some game systems are very fond of these, 
"always hits", "cuts anything", "invulnerable to lightning" and these may not 
exist under the new system. There is almost always a way around these, and 
the basis on which they supposedly work in terms of the campaign rather than 
the game mechanics should be carefully examined, something can almost always 
be worked out. 

Finally look at the character and maybe run though a few dummy combats or 
encounters with the ref. Does the new version of the character "feel" right, 
does it play right under the new rules, are there any obvious holes? If there 
are still problems go back and adjust until it seems right. Some refs may 
allow adjustments even after the character has been played for real, but if 
this still looks necessary after several sessions of play it is probably best 
to give it up as a bad job; some characters are not meant to be converted! 

Remember, what you want is a character that has the same style and is fun to 
play under the new system, not Ultimax the Monsterous Slayer (unless of course
that is what you started with...).