Determining number of sessions for each adventure

[Rakayla]

I'm new to GMing and have just started running a Pathfinder game. I'm wondering if there's a way to estimate how long it will take my players to get through each adventure. Does it take roughly the same number of game play hours to move between levels regardless of which level your players are at, or does it vary at different levels?

[Dosgamer]

If you think of an adventure as a series of encounters it might be easier. At one point I had calculated how many level-appropriate encounters it would take to make a level and it stayed fairly consistent throughout the course of the climb from 1 to 20.

So if you're throwing level-appropriate encounters I think it takes about 18-20 encounters per level on the moderate xp table? Don't quote me on that. Fast xp track takes around 13-14 encounters iirc. If your players are capable of taking on tougher encounters then their level progression will go faster, of course.

So the real question then becomes how many xp-giving encounters can your players progress through in a session and take it from there. Good luck!

[quibblemuch]

Rakayla wrote:

I'm new to GMing and have just started running a Pathfinder game. I'm wondering if there's a way to estimate how long it will take my players to get through each adventure. Does it take roughly the same number of game play hours to move between levels regardless of which level your players are at, or does it vary at different levels?

Welcome to the Chair of Power! *thunderclap*

In my experience, it varies greatly. At the earlier levels, there aren't as many options (either for the GM or the players), and gameplay for encounters usually goes faster. If you're using the experience points system, it also always seemed to take me longer to give out enough XP to go from, say, 10 to 11 than it did from 1 to 2.

At the higher levels, things get very, very complicated and gameplay takes accordingly longer. To give you some idea:

In the last AP I ran, the PCs got from level 1 to 2 in two sessions. Near the end, there was a single location/running combat that lasted 4 months out of game (~37 minutes in-game), and took them from 14 to 15.

So yeah, it varies. Even if the number of encounters from 1 to 2 is the same as 14 to 15, it just takes (me at least) longer to run each encounter.

One recommendation I would have, if you're running an Adventure Path, is ditching the XP system entirely, and just leveling the PCs up according to the guidelines at the beginning of each chapter. That simplifies things a lot.

[Smallfoot]

For comparison purposes, look at Pathfinder Society organized play. Each scenario has 3-4 level-appropriate encounters and awards 1xp. Three xp and you level up. Nice and neat.

For a home campaign you can go through all the calculations, but you don't have to. I've heard of GMs using several different options, including not bothering with XP at all, just telling players to level up whenever the GM thinks it's thematically appropriate. Don't forget that not every encounter has to be combat. A tricky negotiation, some clever roleplay, good use of skills - any of these can play into how characters work their way through your world and any of them can be reasons to award xp.

Quibblemuch above has the best answer to your question, though. High-level play goes slower as options multiply. Player strategy gets more complex as you attempt to optimize decisions for the entire party. Do you attack an enemy, buff one or more party members, debuff enemies, clear obstacles, clear conditions affecting the party? Do you act immediately or wait for an action that will improve your effectiveness? It's tough, but man is it fun when a plan comes together.