Passing the Torch series runtime?

[Arutema]

How well do Passing the Torch parts 1 and 2 fit in standard 4 hour con slots? Does one part benefit from an extra-length slot? Or should I try to schedule both parts in extra-long slots?

[CigarPete]

I'd say part 1 needs the time, but part 2 probably does not.
I've played part 1 and run it twice at GenCon, and each slot was pushing the 5hr timeslot (second slot running had the table called before end of final fight due to running out of time) and I am generally a quick-running GM.
Part 2 I've only played, but we easily completed within the allotted time.

[Philippe Lam]

I played these inside 5-hour slots (that's what I usually have during conventions), but I'd say doing these inside 4 hours is quite a stretch. You could attempt part 1 like that, but probably not part 2 like CigarPete already replied. The setup of the fights is as such they can be long unless characters have rocket-like power or can deal with the base debuff.

For each of the two parts we finished barely on time. I'd say it fits better outside a convention, or inside extra-long slots

[TriOmegaZero]

At GenCon we timed out on the final fight of part 1. Part 2 was after the con, so we did not have a time limit, but we still managed to finish in about four hours, maybe four and a half. To be fair, we were enjoying some quality drinks in the hotel space and playing a little smooth and fast. (Completely skipping one fight when my oracle negated precision damage for the whole party.)

[pjrogers]

Just to toss in my two cents and confirm what others have said. I've run both twice, and Passing the Torch I is much more likely to go long while Passing the Torch II fit pretty easily in the GenCon time slot. Mind you, I've not run it at level 17-18 or in hard mode, either of which is likely to increase the time required.

[Shea Hoarfoot]

LOL pt1 took us 14 hours to play (2 sessions of 5+ hours at a con and one of 3 hours after the con at a local comic shot) we then scheduled pt 2 for 3 weeks later (luckily all the con players were local)
Pt 2 took 5 hours

When I GMd it 2 weeks later for my home crew it was 7 hours pt 1 and 5 hours pt2 but they all knew each other’s characters well

[Philippe Lam]

Shea Hoarfoot wrote:

LOL pt1 took us 14 hours to play (2 sessions of 5+ hours at a con and one of 3 hours after the con at a local comic shot) we then scheduled pt 2 for 3 weeks later (luckily all the con players were local)

Pt 2 took 5 hours

When I GMd it 2 weeks later for my home crew it was 7 hours pt 1 and 5 hours pt2 but they all knew each other’s characters well

I'm curious to know what took so long to the party in part 1. Not asking in the demeaning way (if I need to precise it)

[Shea Hoarfoot]

Our party was a
bone Oracle (lvl 18) (negative energy specialist)
Swasbuckler (lvl17)
Wizard (magic missile specialist) lvl 16
Fighter/Bard (lvl 16)

Lots of time role playing the social encounter

First round of the first fight the wizard died to dim mak (he did come back due to some trick contingencies involving possession and a familiar... but it effectively neutered him for half the battle
It took about 20 rounds to whistle them down with not much effective damage output

We negotiated the lizard king

Again the ghost bugs just took forever to piecemeal down ( watching a halfling swashbuckler parry a 30ft claw was ludicrous)

Everyone but the Oracle failed the worship save (even the gnome) it took 23 rounds of the Oracle fighting by herself and healing the prostrated party before the cleric ran out of spells and the swashbuckler finally rolled an 18 to come help her mop up the 3 minions left. (3 miracles and 4 mass heals were cast... 5 destruction spells also) the wizard and the bard were dead by the end of the fight... brutal ... oh yeah hard mode...

[Philippe Lam]

I recall we didn't do everything in the social encounter because playing in a convention, timeslot doesn't allow for much extra time. That was luckily still enough to not attract too much attention. I could see where you could have spent more time talking through.

The first fight ... given the group you played with, that doesn't surprise me. Either one has to stay outside that zone, or is unable to cast anything involving verbal components. We were lucky to be mostly martial, so we didn't care about it.

We skipped the lizard king but we would have plausibly dispatched him quick enough.

The ghost mantises ... hell, that was the worst hit and run instance I ever encountered. While it was more brutal, we weren't unhappy the GM decided after a couple of rounds to go full attack but staying on the Material Plane as we could get more active.

Against the cleric, the life oracle got focused-fired (AC was only 21) so we ended up with almost no support as he had to heal himself first, with healing capacity barely keeping him alive. We won because otherwise everyone else had high AC, se we avoided most hits. It was a matter of surviving the early rounds, then settling down and fight back.

We elected to not play hard mode, we were 5 players playing high tier, but with 4-player adjustment as I was the only one at level 17, everybody else was 16 (one was 15). Hard mode would have killed us, clearly