So, my gaming group has just completed Seven Days to the Grave, and is chomping at the bit to do some downtime roleplaying and sidetreks. But I'm a bit confused as to how much actual downtime our heroes have.
Creative Director
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For almost all of the Pathfinder adventure path installments, the amount of time that passes between adventures is left flexible. The next adventure can begin immediately if you want, or it can begin weeks or even months later.
In this case, though, there ARE repercussions.
The next adventure, "Escape from Old Korvosa," is set almost entirely inside the quarantined area. And things inside there have deteriorated FAST. It's almost a post-apocalyptic scene in there, with many burnt buildings and violent gangs roving the street in the service of a new powerful crimelord who calls himself the "Emperor of Old Korvosa."
Now... as for allowing time to pass. The atmosphere in Korvosa after Seven Days to the Grave is grim. The city's (hopefully) survived the plague, but after those events and the riots of the first adventure... a LOT of people are dead or have fled the city. Many of them were members of the Korvosan Guard, and Cressida Kroft is left with a shadow of her former resources. The PCs are her greatest asset, in light of the atrophied guard. The queen's Gray Maidens pick up the slack, patrolling the city and increasing in number every day. Depending on how public your PCs were with their knowledge of Queen Ileosa's involvement in the plague, they may have to contend with semi-regular attempts by the Gray Maidens to arrest them. (If a PC is arrested by the Gray Maidens, he's taken to a building near the Castle for interrogation and torture; if a victim like this isn't rescued in a few days... he'll either be killed by the torture or he'll end up imprisoned under Castle Korvosa, which in some ways is worse than being killed; in THIS case, you'll probably have to have the player make a new character and then re-introduce the imprisoned PC later in the sixth and final part of the adventure.)
Certainly, the queen KNOWS that the PCs are on to her, so even if they don't spread rumors that she was responsible for the plague, the Gray Maidens start following and watching the PCs, waiting for any excuse to arrest them without appearing to be TOO draconian. And all the while, things in Old Korvosa are getting worse.
So! For "Escape from Old Korvosa," giving the quarantined section of the city some time to "ripen" is good. A few weeks or even a month isn't TOO much. But you don't want to wait too long, since it's a little unbelievable that Ileosa holds off on her plans and that events to come don't just happen anyway after too long. If the PCs are really, REALLY itching to get into the quarantined area to check up on friends or other things in Old Korvosa, my suggestion is to hold them off as long as you can, but when they DO want to go in there... that's when you start the next adventure. You can certainly foreshadow this by spreading rumors that the quarantine on this part of the city is growing even more strict, and that NO one is allowed into or out of the place. The periodic plumes of smoke from burning buildings or city blocks should make the PCs ever more nervous, and when you get ahold of Pathfinder #9, they'll be ready to head in there with very little prodding.
So yeah, there IS time for side treks and metagaming and item creation and the like. I wouldn't recommend more than a month, though, and as soon as the PCs try to get into Old Korvosa... the next adventure pretty much begins.
Damn, you run things fast.
Yeah...when your players consist of your roommates, it's not hard to find gaming time. :)
Thanks for the advice, James...I think I should be able to keep them occupied now until Chapter 3.
