Eyes of the Ten timing question

[GM Abraham]

How much time should I allow for running the different parts of Eyes of the Ten? I'm not the fastest GM and I really want to be sure that the players can enjoy the whole experience without feeling rushed. We are about to schedule our session for part 1 (which is a double scenario) and it looks like our window will be 1pm to midnight (as a hard stop). Is that enough time? My instinct is no, but would like to hear from people who have run it. Thanks!

[cblome59]

The first one seems to be the one that can take the longest, but it was intended to fill an 8 hour slot when it was written.

All of them tend to run longer but they seem to shorten up as you progress.

[Pirate Rob]

Part 1 generally fits pretty well in 8-9 hours.

Parts 2&3 both reasonably fit in a normal 4-5 hour slot.

Part 4 is a bit longer, I'd budget closer to 6 so as to not be rushed.

[Belafon]

It varies wildly depending on how much role-playing your players get into and for certain fights whether or not they have an appropriate counter for the main “effect” or have to use more creative - but slower - alternatives.

I would budget a full day for Part 1 (10-12 hours). Part 2 fights have far fewer moving parts and 4-5 hours is a good estimate. Part 3 again has a lot of intricate fights and can take 5-6. Part 4 is 6-7 hours.

These are for games with a decent amount of roleplaying. You can certainly push them through faster if necessary, but that’s the amount I would budget.

[GM Abraham]

Many thanks, everyone! Much appreciated!

[pauljathome]

We had 4 hour slots (perforce, due to venue) so we just decided that things would take as long as they took.

At least twice we ended a scenario in the middle of the session, took a short break, and started the next.

So the GM had to have the next one prepared and the players had to have made most of their purchase decisions and level up decisions before the session (players were told how much money they'd likely earn).

I think the whole thing took 6 sessions (24 hours or so)

[GM Erich]

The three times I have run it (twice online, once in person) all fell within the time-frames mentioned above. As mentioned, an optimized party (or 6 players instead of 4) will shorten things considerably.

[GM Abraham]

Related question: the group looks like it will be 5 or possibly 6, but no real healing capacity. Possibly no divine caster at all. Otherwise it seems pretty balanced though there’s still some uncertainty about who is bringing what. Any thoughts about this?

[Starglim]

They might want to look into first aid gloves or talismans of life's breath for encounters that can flat-out kill characters in tier. I wouldn't be greatly worried.

[andreww]

GM Abraham wrote:

Related question: the group looks like it will be 5 or possibly 6, but no real healing capacity. Possibly no divine caster at all. Otherwise it seems pretty balanced though there’s still some uncertainty about who is bringing what. Any thoughts about this?

If they are even moderately competent it is likely to be a cake walk. Eyes was written for four players and there is no scope to increase the challenge if you have more.

Given it is season 1/2 the opposition is often rather lacking. There are a couple of encounters in the entire run which remain potentially challenging but that fades very fast as you add more players.

You also need to be careful in your prep. Some of the rules issues in there (particularly part 1) are stright up wrong.

[GM Abraham]

andreww wrote:

You also need to be careful in your prep. Some of the rules issues in there (particularly part 1) are stright up wrong.

Thanks for this suggestion. I'm still prepping for part 1 but anything in particular that you recall as being wrong?

[andreww]

Virtually everything to do with the rogues in their tactics as I recall.

[Gary Bush]

GM Abraham wrote:

Related question: the group looks like it will be 5 or possibly 6, but no real healing capacity. Possibly no divine caster at all. Otherwise it seems pretty balanced though there’s still some uncertainty about who is bringing what. Any thoughts about this?

I played with a party of 4 and GMed a party of 5. My run was a challenge with 4. The 5 person party didn't have too much problems.

Part of the reason is all the option used now than when the scenario was written.

[GM Abraham]

Many thanks for all the help. One more question: does part 1 give 4 prestige (for being a 2 xp scenario) or 2 prestige (for being a single scenario)? I couldn't find any indication in the scenario itself.

[andreww]

I believe it is 2xp and 2pp.

[Starglim]

The Secondary Success Conditions document describes how to award PP for the series. Up to two points for Part 1.

[Belafon]

Starglim wrote:

The Secondary Success Conditions document describes how to award PP for the series. Up to two points for Part 1.

Which can be found here.

One thing I like to do for Eyes is to still pass out the faction missions for all four parts (if you have enough time). If you read the document and scenarios, you'll see why.

[Ferious Thune]

Leveling after the second part makes a difference, too. It was originally for 4 12th level characters the whole way through. I played it with a group of 6, and by part 3 our wizard having 7th level spells trivialized a few things on top of the general overpowered nature of the group. Still a great series, though, and highly recommended.

[Abraham Z.]

Thanks!