D&D 5E Lost Mines of Phandelver question.

[KahlessNestor]

So I was asked to run something next semester for a college group. It's only going to run the one semester, and they wanted to keep it fairly simple in case people get busy and can't make it (college kids and all), so I was figuring homebrewing something up might not be worth it, but running Lost Mines is something I've been wanting to try.

So about how many sessions or hours does Lost Mines run? I want to make sure we can get through it in the semester.

On a related note, I have a friend staying with me for a while and thought I'd run it for him. How difficult would it be to dumb it down for one player instead of the 4/5 it is written for?

Thanks!

 

[strider13x]

The main quest expects 4-5 players to be 3rd level to have a reasonable chance to succeed (4th by the time they reach the lost mine). There are enough side quests to achieve that goal easily. I ran it for 3 players (4 sometimes) and they did fine without having to complete every side quest. For one player I would suggest either giving them henchmen (use the pre-gens) or starting them at 3rd level.
I highly recommend this adventure as a start for any campaign! Even if you change the name or landscape it has well balanced encounters and a sandbox mixed with main quest elements that will make for memorable adventuring!

 

[Rya.Reisender]

3rd level? The campaign is for 1st level and works just fine if you have 5 players. With 4 1st level players, it's still fairly doable, but the group needs to think of good strategies.

I'm not a big fan of solo RPing because it's boring. Sure, he could just control multiple characters, but...

As for length, the campaign has 4 chapters. WotC expect one chapter to be equal to one session, but in reality, it usually takes longer. Maybe if you have 6-8 hour sessions where you fully concentrate on playing. So let's just say total playing time is about 40 hours. Which you could probably put into eight 4-6 hour sessions. If you do shorter sessions, scale up accordingly.

 

[jayoungr]

You shouldn't have any trouble finishing it in a semester. When I ran it last year, I believe it took between three and four months to finish, playing in 2-3 hour sessions with a few interruptions.

 

[aco175]

I really enjoyed Phandelver. I played it with 4pcs and they ended up being able to handle it fairly easy except the fight with the green dragon that they ran away from but managed to get the dragon to retreat. I would think if you played once a week for 4-6 hours per week you would finish it in one semester. You could skip some of the side quests and get to the end if you choose.

It could work for one character. I tend to have a npc go with the party since we tend to have a small group. I would recommend being 3rd level to stard and you may need to remove a monster or two from a few fights still.

 

[strider13x]

Yes Rya, if you only have one PC then 3rd level would be appropriate. Read before commenting...

 

[KahlessNestor]

Thanks for all the responses! Scaling up sounds good for the single player, and good to know I will be able to give them a complete story rather than ending abruptly.

 

[Rya.Reisender]

Yes Rya, if you only have one PC then 3rd level would be appropriate. Read before commenting...

That's not what you said:

The main quest expects 4-5 players to be 3rd level

 

[Ricochet]

We ran it on 5-6 game-days (lunch through late evening).