Venture-Agent, Indiana–Marion
|
Hello Everyone!
So having had the chance to play in PFS format at IndyConJunction 2016 and following up this past weekend hosting my first "The Confirmation" scenario I am eager to start building my PFS GM collection. After having grabbed a handful of Evergreens (including the entire "We Be Goblins!" collection) I noticed that the "Cult of the Ebon Destroyers (PFRPG)" was a sanctioned module for PFS, which has been in my collection for some time though sadly I have yet to be able to run it.
Knowing that it is 7-9 Tier adventure, I was wondering how well received running a module like this has been for others, and how much time such modules typically take up at the table (I would image between two and three 4 Hour sessions). I am eager to get enough games under my belt to where any players who have played with me would be able to enjoy and play through such a module.
Thank you in advance for any and all input!
Sincerely,
- DicesMuse
Venture-Captain, Minnesota
|
Modules go over well, but you have to have either people willing to RSVP for two sessions or have a store location that can give you a long weekend slot to pull them off. Traditionally, most of the sanctioned modules run in two 4-5 hour sessions for me. If you do one extended session, please be sure to include a nice meal / stretch break in the middle!
Here's a question for you: is there a lot of PFS in your area already? If so, you may have enough of a player base to run the mid and higher level adventures yet. If there's not a lot of PFS going on, start with all the lower level stuff and build your community up first.
You could start with a bunch of evergreens like Confirmation and Consortium Compact. One evergreen module that I particularly enjoy is Murder's Mark. There are also a ton of absolutely wonderful 1-5 scenarios to choose from.
We'd be happy to help you pick some out!
Hmm
|
I can't imagine running these 9-10 hour modules in a store setting, but be my quest.
It took us about 11 hours to finish CotED, but we had quite a bit of back-and-forth and some actual roleplaying too. It was a hoot for my Vudran assassin/tracker.
When I ran it, we were starting to hit 9 hours when disaster struck and the cult won. Two dead, the rest ran. I think there was maybe an hour and a half left of the final act.
|
Venture-Agent, Indiana–Marion
|
Modules go over well, but you have to have either people willing to RSVP for two sessions...
Hello Hilary and thanks for the prompt response!
I absolutely need to sit down and go through the scenario again one more time. I just recall it was one of the few adventures I've seen that spotlight Jalmeray, one of the continents that peaked my interest when I got my hands on the Inner Sea World Guide Hardbound. I love my monks, and an island devoted to internal discipline? Count me in!
That being said, I've only just started Game Mastering, and I now have ran at least "The Confirmation" and hope to follow it up with Ambush at Absalom and the Wounded Wisp. Hoping to get my local crew high enough level (likely level 8ish) before I run the Module. There are a few Tier 1-5 adventures I hope to get my hands on to get me prepared for the trip as well. So many seasons and so many to choose from I'm finding I'm having to deal with choice paralysis.
Thanks again for the input!
|
Venture-Agent, Indiana–Marion
|
I can't imagine...It took us about 11 hours to finish CotED, but we had quite a bit of back-and-forth and some actual roleplaying too...
See this is good to know, as the people I tend to play with (and part of my GMing style) emphasizes on RP and good story telling. Was this with a group of friends you knew or was this one that your RSVPed for and just held at a private location?
I'm curious as to your setting, our point on playing at a store is a valid point and I'm curious what your situation was.
Thanks for your input!
|
Replying along with Hmm, since we're in the same area:
I've had great luck making weekends work at a local game store that serves food. We show up a bit before noon and play until we're done, usually into the evening. Regular stretch breaks are common, especially if there are lots of map transitions or long battles.
On the other hand, doing a two part works as well. Determine a few good checkpoints throughout the module so you can keep track of how fast you're going and make sure you can stop at a good pause point so you don't have to save initiative or anything. Make sure everyone understands that it's intended to be played completely when they sign up.
There are also plenty of lower level modules that are fun to play - Murder's Mark and Fangwood Keep are two that I've enjoyed in single sessions.
|
|
Phoenix has had success scheduling module-only game days at our most popular store. We usually run two slots there, so scheduling full modules isn't a big deal. The newer, 64 page modules tend to take multiple weeks to run through. But the 32 page ones generally take 8-10 hours. GM style and player participation can greatly effect that of course.
|
Venture-Agent, Indiana–Marion
|
Hello Keith and Steven!
First off thank you for the pointers on checking into gauging the adventure, it was something I neglected in my first run of "The Confirmation" and I ended up pushing the 5 hour mark for my game. Time management is something I'll definitely need to keep an eye on.
Currently I'm mostly trying to put together a good collection of adventures. Currently I have or will be getting the following:
First Steps—Part I: In Service to Lore
Master of the Fallen Fortress
Ambush in Absolam
The Wounded Wisp
The Consortium Compact
Destiny of the Sands Part 1
Destiny of the Sands Part 2
Destiny of the Sands Part 3
Assault on the Kingdom of the Impossible
(I need to check into Murder's Mark per Keith's suggestion)
I plan on playing these games together somewhat as an adventure/campaign, saving any of the "We Be Goblins!" modules for when I simply want to have some fun. I've organized the list above to reflect the sequence of when I plan to run them. If I am lucky enough to get two games going in one day, I'll be a happy camper though no promises there.
That all being said, I'd like to try running two games in a single day, though being in NE Indiana my options are limited unless I travel out to Indianapolis, which isn't too far off.
If anything I am still very much excited to know that I'll have a possibility of running this module in the future, even if it will require some work. Thanks everyone again for the input so far!
|
|
I can't imagine...It took us about 11 hours to finish CotED, but we had quite a bit of back-and-forth and some actual roleplaying too...See this is good to know, as the people I tend to play with (and part of my GMing style) emphasizes on RP and good story telling. Was this with a group of friends you knew or was this one that your RSVPed for and just held at a private location?
I'm curious as to your setting, our point on playing at a store is a valid point and I'm curious what your situation was.
Thanks for your input!
Righto, it was the former. A local GM had to house sit their mother's bernese and we decided to turn it into a gaming weekend at their house. So one of us ran CotED spread out over three sessions Friday to Sunday. We took it slow which worked great for the initial investigation-based act. The last third ended up being almost pure combat though so I could see some major fatigue on the horizon if this were a single slot session. We definitely felt it but with six characters, including an oracle of life and an evoker, the combats went past pretty fast.
|
I've been in the "same boat" when running a module we normally start in the morning around 9am or 10am and with breaks it takes us till around 9pm at night to finish.
@DicesMuse FYI the newer modules like Dragon's Demand/Daughter's Fury can be run in campaign mode, were as the older ones like Cult of the Ebon Destroyer can't. The sections of the newer modules too don't take as long as the older ones.
Dragon's Demand is pretty good and the characters can start at level 1.
|
Venture-Captain, Minnesota
|
Some thoughts on community building. DicesMuse, don't expect that you'll always have the same players. PFS allows for quite a bit of player flexibility. So you'll have some players that come every time, some that skip weeks and some that pop in irregularly when their schedules work out, and that'll be okay.
One of the things that you may want to do early on is start recruiting other GMs so that you can run a second table. That way you can have a table for lower level characters and one for higher level ones, and people to give you breaks from GMing when you need them... It also helps the community long term if more people share the GM load because then people have some idea of the effort that you'll be putting into this.
Good luck!
Hmm
|
Venture-Agent, Indiana–Marion
|
Thanks again everyone for all the support and help! Been a really intense last week and now trying to get the ball rolling on my second game which won't be till August 20th.
@HMM: I've taken your advice and put together a "kit" for new GMs who are interested to give them ideas on where to start. After I get at least three games under my belt I'm hoping to branch out to my smaller community out here and see if I can't get the local game store to commit to helping sponsor more players/tables for Pathfinder society. I've had a lot of trouble with said stores discouraging games and hoping the organized format of PFS will help change their minds.
|
|
You might want to pick up Crypt of the Everflame. It's a good evergreen to have, and I've seen it run in a single 5 hour slot. Solid dungeon crawl with some puzzles and a few tough encounters.
My experience with Crypt of the Everflame is that it will take longer than a single slot with new players, but more experienced players will be able to move through it pretty quickly. It uses the Dungeon flip-mat, which is unfortunately out of print and not available in .pdf. If you can find a copy of the map from someone, it can make the module a lot easier and faster to run. That said, I agree with Keirine that the module is challenging and fun (although one encounter can be quite deadly if not handled properly).
Edit: corrected reference to "scenario."
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8
|
Just a note that you can pick up the reprinted Dungeon flip mat from the Classics line.
|
|
Just a note that you can pick up the reprinted Dungeon flip mat from the Classics line.
Good catch, Michael. I was not aware of the reprint and had just followed the link from the Crypt of the Everflame site. I posted a suggestion on the Web Site Feedback forum to update the product page.
|
|
You might want to pick up Crypt of the Everflame. It's a good evergreen to have, and I've seen it run in a single 5 hour slot. Solid dungeon crawl with some puzzles and a few tough encounters.My experience with Crypt of the Everflame is that it will take longer than a single slot with new players, but more experienced players will be able to move through it pretty quickly. It uses the Dungeon flip-mat, which is unfortunately out of print and not available in .pdf. If you can find a copy of the map from someone, it can make the module a lot easier and faster to run. That said, I agree with Keirine that the module is challenging and fun (although one encounter can be quite deadly if not handled properly).
Hmm. We just ran through this locally twice (each campaign). Both runs took about ten hours. Moderately experienced GM and one party was very experienced and the other was all moderately experienced players. One run was a marathon Saturday and the other took three evenings.
|
Venture-Agent, Indiana–Marion
|
Wow thanks for letting me know! I've gone ahead and added all the ideas to my Pathfinder "To-Buy" list for future reference. Will definitely need to look into these flip mats as well assuming my efforts as GM in these small towns becomes at all productive. 2nd game is over a month out and just need to get the players.