Popular Pathfinder Adventure Will Be Converted for Dungeons & Dragons 5E
Paizo has announced plans to release one of its most popular Pathfinder adventure paths as a Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition book. A 5E version of The Abomination Vaults, a mega-dungeon crawler, will be released in November 2022 alongside a version made for Pathfinder 2E. This marks the second time that Paizo has announced a conversion of one its popular Pathfinder adventures for D&D 5E – the publisher previously announced plans to convert the Pathfinder 1E adventure Kingmaker to 5E as part of a Kickstarter campaign last year.
The Abomination Vaults was originally released in 2021 and was the first 3-part Pathfinder adventure path published by Paizo. The adventure charges players with delving into the Abomination Vaults located under the baleful Gauntlight, a mysterious landlocked lighthouse. The original adventure was designed for Level 1-10 Pathfinder characters, which coincidentally is similar in range to most D&D adventures published by Wizards of the Coast.
The announcement raised more than a few eyebrows due to the relationship between Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. The original Pathfinder game was created as a revised version of Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 Edition after Wizards of the Coast announced plans to update D&D to its controversial 4th Edition. Pathfinder and Dungeons & Dragons battled for market share during what fans dubbed "the Edition Wars." At several points, Pathfinder even eclipsed Dungeons & Dragons in sales, although that ended after the release of D&D 5th Edition, which has made Dungeons & Dragons more popular than it has in years.
While some wondered whether Pathfinder was struggling due to the overwhelming presence that D&D 5E has in today's RPG marketplace, it seems that The Abomination Vaults is being converted to 5E in the hopes of drawing more fans into checking out the world of Golarion, where all Paizo-published Pathfinder adventures take place. Last night, Paizo director of game design Jason Bulmahn stated that the new books was a "chance for 5E folks to check out [Paizo's] world and stories."
Sigh... Pathfinder is not in trouble. Doing a 5E version of Abomination Vaults is a chance for 5E folks to check out our world and stories. Pathfinder 2E is doing great and we're excited to put out more material for it in the coming years! You just wait, we have so much in store!
— Jason Bulmahn, Game Designer (@JasonBulmahn) March 30, 2022
The 5E version of The Abomination Vaults will be released in November 2022.