HotDQ, how long per chapter?

[JamesT]

From what I am seeing, character advancement in HotDQ is rather fast - you are up to around level 7 by the end. About how long are groups taking per chapter?

[Iolo Morganwg]

My group made it through Chapters one and two over a six and a half hour session.

[Totema]

I'm on session 5 with my group and I think we just finished chapter 1. :smallconfused:

[arclance]

My group has been going for 7 weeks (2-6 hours a week, average 4).
We had one session for character creation because only one person had made a 5th edition character before (me because I was bored).


I think we are still in Chapter One but I would have to wait to check the book on Wednesday when we play.
I think we are 1 or 2 sessions away from finishing Chapter One though if we have not already.

Partly I think it takes so long because our regular DM likes Theater of the Mind but it runs slower than a grid with him since he is bad at making us aware of where we are in relation to the enemies.
The number of enemies in Chapter One does not help this.
We have been averaging about 1 mission per session.

[Falka]

Depends. I've been running this adventure for over a month, we play a session marathon each Sunday (3-4 hours every week). That's about 2-3 sessions for the game.

We just finished Chapter 3 since the party went crazy and TPKed themselves.

[cobaltstarfire]

We're 2, 2.5 hour sessions in, and I think we finished a section? The GM made it seem like it anyway.

We didn't really do as much stuff as I've seen mentioned around various threads though.


We've done 4 combats all against a mix of kobolds, cultists, and mercenaries, brought home some people who were bunkered down near the river, learned that the keep has at least one enemy spy amongst its people, almost got blown up by a loose cart full of oil, and paid off a pack of Cultist mercenaries to join our side and hold the mill for us. I don't know if things have been added or removed, but the gm said that he hasn't looked at the next portion yet.



I feel like we're going slower than the other group (it's an AL game) because we've got a player that likes to faff about doing useless and random things. But maybe we're going faster since we seem to be skipping some combats and stuff.

[TheOOB]

It depends on your group. If your group plays quickly, each chapter could easily be completed in a session, assuming it's long enough, whereas they could also take several sessions. Without spoiling anything, you should gain about a level a chapter, and be around level 7 when you finish.

[Chaosvii7]

I run it for Adventurer's League at my FLGS, and it took about 3 weeks to do Chapter 1 and this last Wednesday we made it about halfway through chapter 2. I'd say 2-3 2 hour sessions should be about the average Chapter. That might change as the adventure reaches higher chapters(I only have 1-4 right now and I'll have to pay for the full adventure to keep it going beyond 4th but I most likely will.)

[TheOOB]

I run it for Adventurer's League at my FLGS, and it took about 3 weeks to do Chapter 1 and this last Wednesday we made it about halfway through chapter 2. I'd say 2-3 2 hour sessions should be about the average Chapter. That might change as the adventure reaches higher chapters(I only have 1-4 right now and I'll have to pay for the full adventure to keep it going beyond 4th but I most likely will.)

The playtime can really vary. Chapter 5,6,and 7 could easily be done in a session each if the players do it right, as most of the encounters are optional.

[Chaosvii7]

The playtime can really vary. Chapter 5,6,and 7 could easily be done in a session each if the players do it right, as most of the encounters are optional.

Good to know. Chapter 1 felt really "Action-packed", and there was so much to do about it that it just felt like it was trying to ramp up the threat really quickly. Chapter 2 is definitely a lot more tame.

[TheOOB]

Chapter 1 is a big event chapter, it's a series of semi-scripted events and very combat heavy. You will get in several fights in it. Most of the fights in future chapters can be avoided if your party is so inclined, with some notable exceptions.

If a party runs headlong into every challenge though, they won't survive.

My biggest problem with the adventure is the incredibly short time scale. With the exception of Chapter 4, the whole book takes about a week, and the last three chapters have no good spot for a long rest among many parties. Hell the whole catching the castle thing is silly in how little time it gives you in the only town you've been in since chapter 4, even though you have two dungeons of loot.