I wouldn't count it as a failure if you didn't finish them within an hour. Even with an experienced AL DM, some of these can take 1 1/2 to two hours at a leisurely pace, and even longer if your players are inexperienced and need to be taught how to play or are more interested in roleplay. If you want more feedback you will have to tell us what happened; did your player characters argue with each other for an hour before opening every door? That said, read the room; as long as the players are having fun and you do have time to spare it shouldn't matter whether it takes one hour or four. If you are going into the PHB for every little thing you may want to brush up and internalize a few rules. If one person is hogging the air, so to speak, and the other characters are frustrated, think up ways to either force them into the next encounter; maybe the monsters open the next door instead of the players, maybe the room begins to flood. There are subtle things we as DMs can do to push the tempo without rewriting the whole storyline, but it takes a bit of artistic license.
Good luck!
Adrian- AL organizer for Dice City Games in Wheaton, MD
As Adrian mentioned, it'd help if there were more specific reasons as to why you felt this went too slowly.
Reading over DDAL07-01, I noticed this on the front cover: "Five Four-Hour Mini-Adventures for 1st-4th Level Characters." I'm confused why you'd try to complete each of these missions in one hour when they're written to each be played for at least four.
EDIT: As pwhimp pointed out below, I suppose there was a typo on the adventure cover. So ignore what I thought. -_-
As Adrian mentioned, it'd help if there were more specific reasons as to why you felt this went too slowly.
Reading over DDAL07-01, I noticed this on the front cover: "Five Four-Hour Mini-Adventures for 1st-4th Level Characters." I'm confused why you'd try to complete each of these missions in one hour when they're written to each be played for at least four. Changing your pacing wouldn't help here, you'd have to completely cut out encounters from the missions to make these less than an hour.
That's definitely a mistake. The runtime on each is 1 hour. In the few of these that I've run, I think most took about an hour and a half, but they are designed to be finished in an hour each.
Ah, I stand corrected. In truth, that makes a lot more sense given that all the previous AL introductory modules were meant to be 1-hour missions. I haven't yet ran the most recent season of AL myself, so I just assumed that the cover was correct.
It's really hard to read the room online because we're not using our faces at all. We're using only speach. I can't see their faces. I usually DM a lot better in person.
I was trying desperately to make the adventure interesting but usually my players are kinda inexperienced .
I think what would help is playing with people from level 1 to level 10. This way they know their characters really well and the game runs faster because of it. And also, it helps me get a grasp on what the spells do by heart because I'll have experienced it with them for as long as we've played.
I wouldn't sweat it. There's no hard and fast rule when it comes to Adventurers League, only that you DM approved, published adventurers. Anything is fair game and you don't have to use all of the material. In my experience the constraints of AL override expectations. I'm not there to run a character with the same party week after week. If that happens, cool. Typically the Table changes. Characters drop in and drop out. AL is not intended to be a commitment, more like a hangout. A lot of effort has been put into the adventures, which is why it may seem that you have to hit all the Benchmarks. Don't. THey're all guidelines. They're meant to inform you the DM. Give you as much as you need. I've been to an AL session where the DM at the Table next to our group read the boxed text straight from the adventure. He followed the module word for word. His players like that style. They keep coming back. I would have fallen asleep. I need more interaction.
And I guess that's where I was headed. At the end of every session I DM, I ask the Table for feedback. My regular group is honest and fair. AL players are blindsided. They don't know how to answer. So I reframe my questions. I'm not trying to put anyone on the spot. I honestly appreciate the feedback; makes me a better DM. What worked? What didn't? What area of the story was slow? What could have been slowed down? What was too fast? Was combat enjoyable? I usually get three or four constructive comments from new players once they figure out that I'm not asking them anything uncomfortable.
I would suggest you might do the same. Take a few mental notes. The only way to be a better DM is to DM. Remember the old adage: A doctor who graduated at the bottom of his class is still a doctor. Don't beat yourself up. No one remembers that stuff, only that they had a good time. Be funny. Use the Game System to create a memorable experience. Be an actor if you like that stuff. I know my Table likes it when I switch in and out of creature voices.
How do you keep pacing?
Ddal07-01 can be run REALLY SLOWLY. I failed and my mission took 4 hours.
Should I say ahead of time that the missions shouldn't take more than an hour to complete? And will focus on combat more than roleplay?
I love the punished material, but running it has shown a weakness in my DM style.
"All I'm hearing is words... DO SOMETHING!"
Hi,
I wouldn't count it as a failure if you didn't finish them within an hour. Even with an experienced AL DM, some of these can take 1 1/2 to two hours at a leisurely pace, and even longer if your players are inexperienced and need to be taught how to play or are more interested in roleplay. If you want more feedback you will have to tell us what happened; did your player characters argue with each other for an hour before opening every door? That said, read the room; as long as the players are having fun and you do have time to spare it shouldn't matter whether it takes one hour or four. If you are going into the PHB for every little thing you may want to brush up and internalize a few rules. If one person is hogging the air, so to speak, and the other characters are frustrated, think up ways to either force them into the next encounter; maybe the monsters open the next door instead of the players, maybe the room begins to flood. There are subtle things we as DMs can do to push the tempo without rewriting the whole storyline, but it takes a bit of artistic license.
Good luck!
Adrian- AL organizer for Dice City Games in Wheaton, MD
As Adrian mentioned, it'd help if there were more specific reasons as to why you felt this went too slowly.
Reading over DDAL07-01, I noticed this on the front cover: "Five Four-Hour Mini-Adventures for 1st-4th Level Characters." I'm confused why you'd try to complete each of these missions in one hour when they're written to each be played for at least four.
EDIT: As pwhimp pointed out below, I suppose there was a typo on the adventure cover. So ignore what I thought. -_-
Ah, I stand corrected. In truth, that makes a lot more sense given that all the previous AL introductory modules were meant to be 1-hour missions. I haven't yet ran the most recent season of AL myself, so I just assumed that the cover was correct.
1, sorry for the late response
2, yeah the one hour thing was killing me because pacing. I'm graduating and holding five missions in my head was ridiculous.
"All I'm hearing is words... DO SOMETHING!"
It's really hard to read the room online because we're not using our faces at all. We're using only speach. I can't see their faces. I usually DM a lot better in person.
"All I'm hearing is words... DO SOMETHING!"
I was trying desperately to make the adventure interesting but usually my players are kinda inexperienced .
I think what would help is playing with people from level 1 to level 10. This way they know their characters really well and the game runs faster because of it. And also, it helps me get a grasp on what the spells do by heart because I'll have experienced it with them for as long as we've played.
"All I'm hearing is words... DO SOMETHING!"
I wouldn't sweat it. There's no hard and fast rule when it comes to Adventurers League, only that you DM approved, published adventurers. Anything is fair game and you don't have to use all of the material. In my experience the constraints of AL override expectations. I'm not there to run a character with the same party week after week. If that happens, cool. Typically the Table changes. Characters drop in and drop out. AL is not intended to be a commitment, more like a hangout. A lot of effort has been put into the adventures, which is why it may seem that you have to hit all the Benchmarks. Don't. THey're all guidelines. They're meant to inform you the DM. Give you as much as you need. I've been to an AL session where the DM at the Table next to our group read the boxed text straight from the adventure. He followed the module word for word. His players like that style. They keep coming back. I would have fallen asleep. I need more interaction.
And I guess that's where I was headed. At the end of every session I DM, I ask the Table for feedback. My regular group is honest and fair. AL players are blindsided. They don't know how to answer. So I reframe my questions. I'm not trying to put anyone on the spot. I honestly appreciate the feedback; makes me a better DM. What worked? What didn't? What area of the story was slow? What could have been slowed down? What was too fast? Was combat enjoyable? I usually get three or four constructive comments from new players once they figure out that I'm not asking them anything uncomfortable.
I would suggest you might do the same. Take a few mental notes. The only way to be a better DM is to DM. Remember the old adage: A doctor who graduated at the bottom of his class is still a doctor. Don't beat yourself up. No one remembers that stuff, only that they had a good time. Be funny. Use the Game System to create a memorable experience. Be an actor if you like that stuff. I know my Table likes it when I switch in and out of creature voices.
Bottomline: Have fun.
Happy adventuring!
Thank you for the encouragement!
"All I'm hearing is words... DO SOMETHING!"