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It is a bit long for a slot, even of you have all the maps drawn out to scale (my girlfriend really loves me)... I would schedule 2 4 hours slots to be safe unless you are running a replay table built to burn through the adventure.
The follow up levels are pretty solid 1 slots, though one of the last 2 (can't recall offhand ) can be a bit tight on that time.
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First time I ran this it took 4 hours, but that was only because the group all died horrible deaths due to poor tactics and panic... In reality I had planned 2 different days for this, I had to run something else during the 2nd day.
It isn't just that there's a lot of encounters, a lot of the rooms are ridiculously large and prolong combats.
When I played it, the GM hadn't drawn out all the maps in advance, so I started helping draw them. In one combat, there were archers that I otherwise wasn't able to interact with, so I told the group I was going to double move each turn towards the enemies and gave my AC, HP, etc so I could concentrate on doing maps (figuring someone else would mop them up before I could get to them.) Half an hour and several turns later, I finally got into melee.
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If you do rather poorly at it, it can take as little as an hour... *snerk*
Don't even necessarily need to do poorly at it. A couple of those fights are *mean*, especially if you throw a bunch of fresh level 1s in there.
FWIW, IIRC it took around 5 hours each of the three times I've played it. The first time we went in with a pregen... then they died and we replaced them with another pregen... then THAT one died, and we went to pregen #3. The other times were slightly more straightforward :)
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There is also a high variance depending on the order people do the rooms, especially at level 1. The <redacted> that can kill a couple people is a lot easier if you found the <spoiler> .
Oh, and for what it's worth, the Emerald Spire levels take longer the deeper you go, Although for that I've had people speed-run the Tower Ruins in two hours, I've had people TPK in the first room.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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I would recommend two slots.
Here I go again, advocating this particular dungeon level. I like Accursed Halls, but it needs town interaction to shine. Diplomatic discussions with the chief in the goblin slums can help with the goblin encounters. There's a cleric who will sel the party healing at half-price. Clues at the Blue Basilisk can help with the undead encounters. And the arcane academy has clues about the Unopenable Door.
There are clues that set-up the lower levels and tie Thornkeep in to the Emerald Spire. In many ways, this is one of Paizo's most exceptional products, Golarion's answer to Brindleford or Hommlet.
I've seen this level run in four hours, and it's a race to move figures around the map and roll dice. Hells, folks, if all you want to do is open the stupid door, start in town, buy seven [redacted] and insert them in the right places.
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We finished our Halls in 5-6 hours, but had several 2nd level characters to offset the harsher encounters and shorten the length of some of the easier ones. My understanding was that an earlier local run had featured the town in detail and ours was more like a "let's just see what's so dangit dangerous down dere" venture. Like they do in Criminal Minds: Bust the door down, bust the crooks down-er.
Man, those [redacted] pack a whallop. [redacted] on tier 1-2? Several [redacted]?!
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I have run it several times, ranging in duration from 4 hours to 12 hours to complete.
I am sure part of the longer runs is my failing, as a GM, to keep the players on track.
But, yes, it can definitely end early, as there are three potential TPK encounters. And a different encounter that can easily end up with a PC death, if the <redacteds> are not dealt with speedily, and the party acts in such a way that they are forced to gang-up on a single PC. Which is, in my experience, a likely situation, unless the party is travelling backwards. And, other than a few Barbarian builds, is likely to lead to PC death if not dealt with expeditiously.
Wight is CR4, but, typically, a bit easier, IMO, than the Shadow. He is vulnerable to any weapons and many spells, starts prone, and has a fairly low to hit number, if the PCs keep the squishies away from him. If they let him go after a soft target, things can go south quickly, as, like the Shadow, he can create spawn...
The fungal crickets are CR5, and, as mentioned, have a leaping charge/pounce-like ability. While they can't create spawn, they are immune to a lot of spells, including the nice arrow found nearby, and have 3 or 4 attacks, with fair to hits, and a nasty amount of damage against first level PCs.
The 4 Stirges, which is a lower CR encounter, can still kill someone, if they aren't dealt with, as it is likely that a single party member is the one on the columns going to get the ladder, so they can all attack him, and that is 4 Con damage a turn for 4 turns before they are sated and leave. Not that many PCs can take 16 Con damage without dying.
The goblin with Burning Hands and the breath weapon can, in the right circumstances, or with good damage rolls and failed saves, be a serious threat for a first level party, too, of course, but she doesn't often get two rounds to act in...
