Hand-written translations between systems Phil has actually run. Each one is the version we'd hand a GM at 9pm on a Friday with the table waiting. Upvote the ones you'd want first.
3 entries · last updated this week
E01Pathfinder 2e→D&D 5e
Pathfinder Hero Points → D&D 5e Inspiration
Trade Pathfinder's three-uses-per-session Hero Point economy for D&D 5e's binary Inspiration — without losing the mechanical heartbeat.
Pathfinder hands out Hero Points on a schedule: one at session start, one per hour roughly. Players spend them to reroll a check, to avoid dying, to push a moment. D&D 5e Inspiration is a single binary flag — you have it or you don't, and using it grants advantage.
The translation isn't 1:1. To preserve Pathfinder's tempo, run D&D 5e Inspiration as a count, not a flag: cap at three, hand one out at session start and one for great roleplay, and let players spend them for advantage, a reroll, or to stabilize at 0 HP.
Mechanics
Inspiration count: 0–3 (default cap 3)
Gain: +1 at session start, +1 per ~hour of play, GM discretion
Spend 1: gain advantage on any d20 roll
Spend 1: reroll a failed save
Spend 2: stabilize at 0 HP without a death save
GM noteDon't let players hoard. Cap at 3 so they spend; a banked Inspiration is wasted Inspiration. If your players already track Inspiration as a flag, run a single session with the count system before committing.
E02Pathfinder 2e→D&D 5e
Pathfinder Conditions vs. D&D 5e Conditions
Pathfinder has graded condition values; D&D 5e has binary conditions. Map them so a Pathfinder-style debuff lands as something D&D 5e tables can adjudicate.
Pathfinder Frightened 1–4 gives a status penalty equal to the value on all checks. D&D 5e Frightened is binary: disadvantage on ability checks while the source is in line of sight.
Map Pathfinder Frightened 1–2 to D&D 5e Frightened. Map Frightened 3–4 to Frightened + disadvantage on attacks (homebrew). At end of each turn, value decreases by 1; in D&D 5e, run a save at end of turn to clear.
Mechanics
Pathfinder Frightened 1 → D&D 5e Frightened
Pathfinder Frightened 2 → D&D 5e Frightened
Pathfinder Frightened 3 → D&D 5e Frightened, disadvantage on attacks
Pathfinder Frightened 4 → D&D 5e Frightened, disadvantage on everything
Clear: save at end of turn (DC = source's spell save DC or 13)
GM notePathfinder sickened, drained, and clumsy all want similar treatment: pick a D&D 5e analog and stack a stage-based modifier. Document the mapping at session zero or you'll relitigate every encounter.
E03D&D 5e→Pathfinder 1e
D&D 5e Bonus Actions → Pathfinder swift/move economy
D&D 5e split actions; Pathfinder has standard/move/swift/free. Most D&D 5e bonus actions land cleanly on Pathfinder swift — but not all.
D&D 5e bonus actions cover three different things: cast-a-spell bonus (e.g. Healing Word), class-feature bonus (e.g. Rogue Cunning Action), and weapon-attack bonus (two-weapon fighting). The Pathfinder mapping depends on which category.
Spell bonus → swift action spell. Class-feature bonus → swift action. Two-weapon bonus → standard action full-attack with two-weapon penalties (already Pathfinder-native).
Mechanics
D&D 5e Healing Word (bonus) → Pathfinder Cure Light Wounds (swift, ×2 cost)
D&D 5e Cunning Action: Dash (bonus) → Pathfinder Swift Dash (swift, +10 ft speed this turn)
D&D 5e Two-Weapon Attack (bonus) → Pathfinder full-attack with two-weapon penalties (standard +)
GM noteThe trap is forgetting that Pathfinder already has a richer economy. Don't double-grant — if a player gets a swift-action spell, they don't also get a swift class feature on the same turn.
Hero's Rise