Shortest Scenarios?

[blackbloodtroll]

I know that scenarios a designed to be finished in about four hours, or so.

Now, I am curious, which Scenarios, have been found to end quite quickly?

Perhaps something about them, makes it highly likely that they will be finished quickly.

I don't mean through TPK though.

[PolydactylPolymath]

I've seen Prince of Augustana over in an hour and a half. The table of The Midnight Mauler that I ran ended within 2 1/2 hours including the optional encounter, with plenty of time for roleplaying. Tide of Morning ran about the same. Mists of Mwangi also has a reputation for being very short.

[The Fox]

It really depends on the group.

Some that have gone quickly for me:
Assault on the Kingdom of the Impossible
The Disappeared
Delirium's Tangle

[blackbloodtroll]

I suppose those, that have a higher frequency of being finished quickly.

I know not all groups are the same.

[The Fox]

blackbloodtroll wrote:

I know not all groups are the same.

Yeah. Sorry. I guess that goes without saying. :)

[Alexander Lenz]

My fastest Module (not scenario) was Emerald Spire Lv 4 (we needed like 7 rounds of Combat and less than an hour realtime)

My fastest scenario was Assault on the Kingdom of the impossible but i think if you run something from season 0-1 with some halfway optimised chars it should be very fast.

[Deussu]

Season 0 scenarios have a lot less words, meaning they are a lot quicker to run. I ran Many Fortunes of Grandmaster Torch in 1½ hours at a local event last November, and many other scenarios are really quick. The retired scenario Stay of Execution was especially quick (and bad), partly due to the fact it is very unfinished.

[RealAlchemy]

If your players are good at puzzles, Library of the Lion can go in two hours or less.

[thistledown]

Song of the Sea Witch I've both played and GM'd in under 2 hours.

[Rei]

I second Delirium's Tangle and The Disappeared as being short. Even with inexperienced players, I've run both in just under three hours.

Oh, and the shortest serious game I've ever run was The Devil We Know 2. That scenario is impossibly short.

[Jawbreaker]

I've played Master of the Fallen Fortress in around an hour - this is a good backup for conventions where players are idle between games.

[blackbloodtroll]

Sometimes your tight schedule, gets a little tighter, and you need something that you hope won't run long, it's good to know what your options are.

[Woran]

Season 0 and 1. Especially with a six persone party its going to be over fairly quick.

[Streamwalker]

We played Goblinblood Dead yesterday. Took us less that three hours.

[Beltin Amorus]

did a full table of the overflow archives in about 2 hours and a table of 4 on the wounded wisp in about 2 and a half hours

[Ms. Pleiades]

If you don't listen to the Venture Captain's suggestion in Mists of Mwangi, the scenario can end very quickly.

[FLite]

Same for penumbral accord, for more or less the same reason.

[Serisan]

Alexander Lenz wrote:

My fastest Module (not scenario) was Emerald Spire Lv 4 (we needed like 7 rounds of Combat and less than an hour realtime)

Spoiler:

In the full credit run? That's pretty impressive. When my players have opted to go the full credit route, it's always ended up being about 4 hours total - they roleplay for a long while, hem and haw about the decision, then have an incredibly chaotic combat with the entire floor while individually separated.

Sure, there's the 15 minute version for 1600 gold, 1 xp and 1 pp, but I've never had a table go for it.

[Flutter]

The price of friendship was, fittingly, a very short run.

[grandpoobah]

In general, season 0 scenarios at low level, with mostly dungeon exploration. Typically, the "time" in those scenarios was the RP from the faction missions (which are now removed)

Mists of Mwangi (for good or bad) can go fast, especially if a small table has a couple of good damage dealers.

For me: Quest for Perfection 2: on hostile waters always runs 2 hours or less.

I have found that low level adventures with simple (i.e. just humanoid NPCs) combats can go VERY fast if I prep them well. I can run the combats in <15 minutes each; especially if the party has a good damage dealer (two handed weapon or a decent archer). 2d6+9 greatsword ends a lot of fights quickly (assuming it hits)

I have found tables of 3-4 players (with at least one good damage dealer) also run faster. More players means more voices talking (and more distractions). More characters means more skillsets likely to succeed at encounters (skills, spells, combat, etc.) - but if your 4 characters have all the skillsets needed for the adventure, it runs fast. Not having a good damage dealer means combats run longer (missing more often, taking longer to drop opponents, etc.).

[Muser]

Rats of the Round Mountain part 1

I think my party had two combats at most and one of those wasn't strictly an encounter but a bait. 1 hour 49 minutes!

[kinevon]

As mentioned, any of the earlier season scenarios, especially where they had faction missions that are not used in the secondary success conditions.

More players will slow things down a bit, but can make combats or puzzles take fewer rounds to play out.

Remember that the 6 parts of the Silverhex Chronicles each take about an hour, and can be accumulated on the same PC for regular credit.

[dwayne germaine]

The Horn of Aroden, The Hydras Fang Incident, and The Stolen Heir have all gone fairly quickly for me. Even with generous amounts of RP time they usually don't take a long time.

[Quintin Verassi]

Rise of the Goblin Guild was quick when I played (we broke the GM's Brain on the chase scene)

[Protoman]

I've found the entire Devil We Know series of scenarios to be rather short. 2-3 hours tops. Not a lot of RP but rather a series of dungeon crawl encounters through lower Cassomir.

[The Fox]

Just played #6-18: From Under Ice last night. It took us about 3 hours, and that was with a LOT of roleplaying.

[Ashton Schmitt]

I've run the first floor of Emerald Spire half a dozen times at this point and it's never taken longer than 2.5 - 3 hours. Scenario wise Horn of Aroden, Goblinblood Dead, and most things from season 0-1 are the first things that come to mind.

[Muser]

Horn of Aroden can end in 25 minutes, it's all about how the party chooses to approach Lander.

[Elizabeth Corrigan]

The Fox wrote:

Just played #6-18: From Under Ice last night. It took us about 3 hours, and that was with a LOT of roleplaying.

I also played #6-18 in 2.5-3 hours.

Spoiler:

We also diplomed our way past 4 combats, so I could see it running a lot longer.

I ran Scions of the Sky Key Part II in 2 hours one night, but then it took 3.5-4 when I ran it for a different party the next night.

[The Fourth Horseman]

Elizabeth Corrigan wrote:

The Fox wrote:

Just played #6-18: From Under Ice last night. It took us about 3 hours, and that was with a LOT of roleplaying.

I also played #6-18 in 2.5-3 hours.

** spoiler omitted **

I ran Scions of the Sky Key Part II in 2 hours one night, but then it took 3.5-4 when I ran it for a different party the next night.

Same here.

From Under Ice:

We had a diplomancer and most of the combats were bypassed easily. Though that optional combat was a beast.

[andreww]

I ran Fortress of the Nail tonight in about three hours. It only has two fixed fights and an optional. I used the optional although it was low tier. I could see high tier running longer what with all the fleeing and the death and the pain at the end.

[Jason S]

Veteran's Vault: 2 hours last week.

[thistledown]

Protoman wrote:

I've found the entire Devil We Know series of scenarios to be rather short. 2-3 hours tops. Not a lot of RP but rather a series of dungeon crawl encounters through lower Cassomir.

Part 3 ran long when I played it. Part 4 was right at 4 hours I think, but it was brutal getting there.

[Minos Judge]

I have a bad rep as a Gm because if it can go wrong for me it will so; anything I am running. I suck at making saves. Cannot hit the players.

[Hima Flametinker III]

7-11 scenarios can be broken if the right spells and services are prepared/purchased.

"It's how many miles from <location>? We'll just purchase the Eagles (Wind Walk).

[Netopalis]

Scenarios that I have ran in under 2 hours:

Season 0:
Silent Tide
Mists of Mwangi
Among the Living
The Many Fortunes of Grandmanster Torch
To Scale the Dragon
Perils of the Pirate Pact
Tide of Morning
Decline of Glory

Season 1:
Drow of the Darklands Pyramids
The Beggar's Pearl
Among the Dead
The Infernal Vault

Season 2:
The Penumbral Accords
The Chasm of Screams
Shadows' Last Stand I

Season 3:
The Kortos Envoy
Tide of Twilight
Song of the Sea Witch
Wonders of the Weave I
Wonders of the Weave II
The Icebound Outpost
The Goblinblood Dead

Season 4:
The Cyphermage Dilemma
The Veteran's Vault
Rivalry's End

Season 5:
Library of the Lion
The Horn of Aroden

[Victor Zajic]

I've found most levels of the Emerald Spire run very short, especially for 3xp modules.

[andreww]

Victor Zajic wrote:

I've found most levels of the Emerald Spire run very short, especially for 3xp modules.

We found this was true up to about level 9 or 10 when they started taking about a session and a half.

[TriOmegaZero]

Trial By Machine has the potential to be very short if the party is cowardly or just gets murdered.

[roll4initiative]

I ran Overflow Archives in less than 2.5 hours. 6 players; half of them beginners, the other half veterans.

[BigNorseWolf]

Last nights run of Snakes in the fold, where the party went for a pincer manuever and set off 3 encounters at once...

[Gwen Smith]

I've heard a lot of people running Master of the Fallen Fortress quickly, and I'm really curious as to how you pull that off.

It has 9 separate combat encounters, and combat is always what takes the longest real time, for me. Just getting initiative rolls 9 times is at least 15 minutes total, but having the group stay in initiative the whole time made it take longer.