Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 sortell May 14, 2010 13:37:37	I am running a FR campaign and am somewhat new to DMing and looking to switch from maptools to miniatures and starting the Cormyr: Tearing of the weave module. Now I dont mind spending some money on the right miniatures for the module, but it would help to know how long the module will take so I can better pace and budget my miniature costs. We meet once a week for 4-8 hours depending on the game situation and the players obligations. So if anyone here ran this module, how long did it take you to get through it. Like I said, Im new to DMing and am not that experienced at judging time by content.
#2 Diffan May 15, 2010 17:19:38	Well met Sortell, I ran this adventure quite a while ago and first i'd like to say I, and my group, had a lot of fun running it. As far as how long it took me to run, it's sort of complicated to give you an exact time table. Firstly, I ran a mini-adventure in Thunderstone to get the PCs together so they'd meet and everything. This led to to them finding a small minor ex-noble house in Cormyr. It was being used as a starting base for an up and coming necromancer using the Shadow Weave and having a few connections to the Cult of Shar from Wheloon. He was aided (more like controlled) by a Medium sized black dragon who was attempting to steal the life forces of captured townsfolk to gain a shadow essence.  Anyways, that took us like 3 or 4 sessions (usually our sessions run about 4 to 5 hours, once a week). So with the full-adventure in swing, it about 4 to 5 months playing once a week for an average of 5 hours per week. But this can swing both directions from the way you role-play to the way you do encounters. My group tends to do about 3 to 4 encounters (battles) a night with light to moderate role-play. Now, our role-play is pretty good (at least I think so) but we're of a more combat oriented group. The only thing I really stress is to keep your PCs on track if you want the campaign to run quick and smoothly. Still encourage role-play but keep them on course.
#3 sortell May 16, 2010 0:15:09	Well met Sortell, I ran this adventure quite a while ago and first i'd like to say I, and my group, had a lot of fun running it. As far as how long it took me to run, it's sort of complicated to give you an exact time table. Firstly, I ran a mini-adventure in Thunderstone to get the PCs together so they'd meet and everything. This led to to them finding a small minor ex-noble house in Cormyr. It was being used as a starting base for an up and coming necromancer using the Shadow Weave and having a few connections to the Cult of Shar from Wheloon. He was aided (more like controlled) by a Medium sized black dragon who was attempting to steal the life forces of captured townsfolk to gain a shadow essence.  Anyways, that took us like 3 or 4 sessions (usually our sessions run about 4 to 5 hours, once a week). So with the full-adventure in swing, it about 4 to 5 months playing once a week for an average of 5 hours per week. But this can swing both directions from the way you role-play to the way you do encounters. My group tends to do about 3 to 4 encounters (battles) a night with light to moderate role-play. Now, our role-play is pretty good (at least I think so) but we're of a more combat oriented group. The only thing I really stress is to keep your PCs on track if you want the campaign to run quick and smoothly. Still encourage role-play but keep them on course. Excellent!  I was afraid my lack of specificity was preventing a response.  I know the rules quite well from FR video games over the years and lots of supplement study, but the players are new so it's going at a slower but reasonable pace. Basically, I was just wanting to know if once a week ~5 hours a session will keep us busy with Cormyr at least throughout most of the summer. Otherwise my miniature budget will need some revising! Your response answered that perfectly. If you are interested in my take on the Cormyr module, along with the Shadowdale and Anauroch modules, check out the thread I started in this forum.  Any thoughts and ideas are welcome!