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One book of an adventure path can take quite a while to get through depending on your group's style of play. I've seen groups that are very progress focused that slam through encounter after encounter and get through a lot in 4 hours. I've seen others that get through two encounters and spend most of the rest of the time planning, debating, etc.
Assuming 4 hour sessions, I'd say each book of an adventure path takes something between 3 and 10 sessions depending on your group. There's a lot in each book.
As Cellion indicated, the amount of time is group specific, but the books are meant to provide multiple sessions of materials.
What AP are you looking at running?
was looking at dead suns. It seems to have the most for new players. I am debating it as it would be over 100 bucks for the thing entirely.As Cellion indicated, the amount of time is group specific, but the books are meant to provide multiple sessions of materials.
What AP are you looking at running?
I ran the first two books of Dead Suns and I have to confess, I don't think that's the best AP to enter with. It has the most new players because it was the "launch" AP. It has a lot of wonky encounters and the overall story isn't very strong. My group chose to end it after Book 2.
I am presently running Against the Aeon Throne. We are just in Book 1, but it has been well-received. I've read and am preparing to run Against the Swarm, and if that mix of military and religious theme is right for your group, that also seems good.
Oh, and if cost is an issue, you really only need the first book of each AP to get a feel for the game. If you like the first book, buy the others!
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Our group has been enjoying Dead Suns, enough that we plan to finish out the AP, and I've bought the last two books recently as we play through book 4.
As far as time, if I remember right, we've easily gotten over 30 hours of play time from Dead Suns book 1. I was new to GMing and we were all new to Starfinder, so it was a little slower than typical, but we spent 3 and a half sessions gaming in the first book. When you consider entertainment for 6 people for 30+ hours, the price isn't too bad. Definitely only buy ahead one or two books at a time as you become certain your group wants to continue in that adventure path.
There's some podcasts out there that have run dead suns if you want to get a better sense of the content and the time to play. I think Glass Cannon took about 25 hours for book 1 but they are also on the slow side of groups I think. I've listened to about episode 45 and the encounters and story seem enjoyable to me as a listener.
GCP's Androids and Aliens is excellent, I agree! I'm a big fan and I actually got some new players who were interested in the game after listening.
The GCP folks did a lot of work behind the scenes to learn rules and incorporate their PCs into the Dead Suns AP. They get a good payoff from that, but I also think the flaws of Dead Suns are present.
To be clear: I am not saying Dead Suns is unplayable. Quite the opposite. There's a lot of good stuff there. I just think Against the Aeon Throne is an easier entry point for new players.
My group were also all new players. We started with Dead Suns. There were 5 of us, so we each decided to take turns being the GM. Someone ran book 1, then someone else book 2, etc.
If we had a guest, they could play the GMs character, otherwise the GM could run it. It's been a lot of fun. we've been playing every other week for a little over a year. Each session is about 3 hours long. So it's been about 81 hours over 54 weeks (27 sessions). We are halfway through AP 5. It's been about 18 hours to complete each book in the AP. I'd say three more sessions and then onto the final book AP 6.
I would recommend the Deadsuns AP because there are plenty of podcasts and streams out there that have played it. It gives you as a GM lots of ideas on how the encounters might take place, and how to handle them. I have only listened after we finished a book - to avoid spoilers. But now that I am running one of the APs, it gives me lots of material to help focus and know what rules we'll need to know for each session.
Also, to bump up the difficulty (since we are a group of 5) we've either added some extra enemies, or bumped up some HPs, or added a few additional encounters involving backstories. Since as written it's set up for 4 PCs.
I am also a new player and I'm almost done with book 2 in the Dead Suns AP and have basically only used the Beginner box as well.
I have found most of the books from Dead Suns (and a couple of other older AP's) on Amazon for about $10 each including shipping. The whole AP might run about $70 total if you keep an eye out for "used - like new" and other deals, which have worked out well for me.
Having finished 1 and (almost) 2 and being new to Starfinder, I would say the encounters can be fun though not intuitive, especially with only the beginner box. I found I could answer questions quickly with a web search and some common sense.
Warning about the final encounter in Book 1: If done... "wrong" or unlucky, it can wipe out the party.
I think its 8+hours if everyone knows what they're doing. So you'll probably have to break up the session.
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I think its 8+hours if everyone knows what they're doing. So you'll probably have to break up the session.
My group meets for 4 hours at a time and it took us about 10 hours over three sessions to finish the first book of an adventure path. But we are new to the game so I think your estimate is probably correct.
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I run for an experienced crowd but there is lots of roleplay going on and I try to make the setting rich. Early on in an AP it takes me 3 4 hour sessions per book. Later on, it may take 4-5 sessions as high level battles kick in. I do run campaign mode though and sometimes throw in extra side adventures or RP episodes where the whim takes me.
Hmm
I'd like to basically ask the same question as the OP, but state that I am new to RPGs in general. I also have 2 boys aged 8 and 12 who want to play. I would GM.
Is this type of game within reason for those ages and all of our lack of experience? Do I need to read every word of the Core Rulebook? We have the Beginner Box. After we do that, we will do the free AP online. Depending on how it goes, we will be getting a paid one and I was wondering if Aeon is still considered strong for new-comers?
I'll say that being young boys, they just wanna fight stuff for the most part, and explore. I don't anticipate a lot of roleplaying. Is there an AP that is exploration and/or combat heavy?
TIA
I was wondering if Aeon is still considered strong for new-comers?
I'd say so. It's not bad for new players.
I'll say that being young boys, they just wanna fight stuff for the most part, and explore. I don't anticipate a lot of roleplaying. Is there an AP that is exploration and/or combat heavy?
Well as the GM that's sort of up to you. You can go through the archives and determine what kind of creatures you want to add as a challenge. That's not how *I* would recommend playing but to each their own. I can tell you the Aeon Throne's middle book is very RP heavy in my opinion.