Converting Monsters from 3.5e to 4e

I've been looking around online and there isn't a greal deal of information to help someone convert a 3.X critter to 4e--strictly speaking, it looks like there's no magic monster grinder where you plug in a formula and your old critter, turn the crank, and out pops the miniature-friendly 4e version. Bummer, but this is what designers are for, right?

Luckily, the Customizing and Creating Monsters sections of the 4e DMG (page 174 and 184) look to provide most of the rules you'll need to convert a critter yourself. I'll be running through that process with the Giant Pistol Shrimp this week, and I'll show you the results on Friday.

Judging by the comments, the pistol shrimp has been a smash success (ha ha), but I realize I should have provided a bit more information to make your crustacean easier to use in your next session. That is something we shall have to remedy.

Encounter Settings and Hooks for the Giant Pistol Shrimp

• An earthquake has uncovered a coral island, home to an ancient temple. The upheaval has trapped a great deal of water in various portions of the temple and surrounding crevices, and inside of one scuttles a hungry Giant Pistol Shrimp, eager for soft adventurer meat.
• The PCs are rowing to a nearby adventuring site, and their flimsy boat's path comes too close to the home of a Giant Pistol Shrimp (this could be a cave, or the shell of a giant turtle, snail, or clam). The boat is rocked by the shrimp's stunning blow. Roll initiative.
• The PCs are hired to protect a small village bordering a lake which feeds a brackish swamp. The villagers build up in peace, but weeks into settlement their boats, docks, and waterwheels pretty much explode at various times during the day. You know the culprit.

Have fun storming the castle! :)