Caracter development in an AP

[Vaahama]

I'm about to launch the Carrion Crown AP and i was wondering how the players can go on their personnal business while being a pivotal part of an AP.

I mean how do you allow the rogue enough time to "get in touch" with some less than noble caracter in order to found his own crime guild?
How the priest can have enough time to search for remote areas to "convert" to his faith.
How long do you gives the players to built a headquarter or base of opperation.
What if if the wizard wants to craft the rod of yati-yata?

I'm asking this meanly because and adventure path like CC is pretty much a race against time!
If the players decides to stay 6 months in Ravengrow for whatever reason we might very well have Adivion Adrissant releasing the whispering tyrant totally unopposed!

The only solution i see would be to modify the course of the AP reacting only to whatever the players are doin.

What you guys are doin in your AP in order to leave enough room for the pc to go on their personnal business?

[Lincoln Hills]

I don't own the later parts of the AP, so I can't advise you very intelligently except to say that if the BBEG is being active (rather than sitting politely in the big room in the final dungeon waiting for the PCs to track him down), it should be made clear to the PCs as soon as possible. I recall no hint of this looming disaster in parts 1-2 of the AP, so it may behoove you to make the PCs aware of this in some other way. Your best bet may be a vision granted to the divine casters next time they're refreshing spells - nothing to give away major plot points, but enough to rouse their curiosity and hopefully get them to start using divination spells. Once the players realize that they're in a ticking-clock situation, they're likely to hurry through (or delay) their personal business until they can find out how much... or how little.. time they have to spare.

[Ascalaphus]

I think it's a good idea as a GM to read through an AP, assess what kind of game this will be, and tell the players the general style to expect.

Don't leave players with the expectation that CC will be kingdom building; if they make Kingmaker-style PCs they'll be disappointed, while if they make fast-ride characters they'll have more fun.

You can do this without spoiling a lot; just tell them that this is a high-speed adventure where you'll be leveling up fast, moving around a lot and basically have little downtime. Don't invest in item crafting (no time), or in downtime/social heavy characters like a parish-building cleric. Those just aren't the right kind of character for this AP.

[Ermehtar]

Alternatively, you as the GM have leeway to fudge with the AP's timeline, if you wish. The transitions as written are pretty fast-paced, but there's no reason why you can't tweak things a bit, if you want. My suggestions are spoiler-safe, just for politeness.

Transition ideas:

For instance, the AP assumes that the Whispering Way already knows a lot about the items they're searching for and run from location to location in to get them. If you want to add some time, it would be easy if the Way and Adivion have to look for each piece. So, the PCs hang out in Ravengro or head to Lepidstadt while Adivion works out the next clue and his need for the Seasage effigy, hence the start of book 2. Alternatively, figuring out the reference to the Packlord's heart (and the plot of book 3) could again be slowed down as the Way traces the clues, etc. After a certain point (by the 5th and 6th books, I'd say), it definitely helps the dramatic tension of the finale to put the PCs on a more limited timescale. But really, it's about modifying the AP to fit your group. I'm running CC right now, and I've changed and added quite a few things to give the AP a better overarching plot that connects to the really great character backstories my PCs came up with.

Hope that helps!