I'm going to be running Carrion Crown soon, and I want to get an idea of how long it might take in-game for the adventure to play out. Can anyone who has or is currently running the AP talk about how long the PCs took to get through each book?
I don't want to go into too much detail about why because I've heard that there are, shockingly, players that browse these subforums. But the short, non-spoilery version of it is that I want the BBEG's influence across Ustalav to build up over time, with various bad things happening to the PCs as said influence grows stronger and with some side quests added that will let the party interfere more directly with the BBEG's plot to reduce that influence. I'll be tracking the influence as a number and have certain events/encounters happen when it reaches a certain value, but since I want that number to increase over time I need to get an idea of how much time each section of the adventure should reasonably take the party.
Overall I'd say several months, depending on how urgent the PCs feel chasing the WW. I could see my group hearing that dark riders headed towards X or Y and them trying to rush after them for fear of losing their trail if they dilly dally too long.
also, Looking at the "Rule of Fear" sourcebook map and the locations in the various AP chapters, some of these trips between counties/towns and other locations can take a very long time on foot, slightly less on horse (the trip from chapter 3 to 4 comes to mind).
Easiest way to handle the gradual BBEG influence is to not make them feel rushed to chase after them. If they chase, have them lose the trail and just give them a direction that someone saw these shadowy riders heading. They may have to search a number of other small settlements (there are many cool places to go in "Rule of Fear") to pick up the trail again. This buys you some time.
I'd also suggest you treat Ustalav a bit more like Ravenloft in the sense that there are already dark rumors (already establishing some of the the BBEG's influence) before you even start the AP. The entire country is already in a time of troubles so to speak, that has started months ago or longer. Trails/Roads aren't as safe, Local Militias/Patrols are vanishing at increasing rates, survivors have seen things lurking in the wilderness, etc.
I haven't been keeping a good count lately but the AP runs actually pretty quick depending on some details and amount of time spent between books.
Book 1 - The longest we've played yet by far. You are given 1 month in Ravengro. You will almost definitely finish before then but the will stipulates you remain regardless. It takes about 3-4 days to get to Lepidstadt.
Book 2 - Immediate contrast, you only have 3 days to prove the Beast's innocence. After that there is no time limit but it takes about a day or two to get up to the Schloss and my party spent about 3-4 days assaulting it. I also threw in a week between end of trial and the visit at the Schloss to give the party time to settle.
Book 3 - Whether you go direct from the Schloss or from Lepidstadt, getting to Ascanor should take about a week. There is no timer on the lodge (other than the warden's paranoia) but iirc my party went through in about a week. I think I'd set the next full moon (for the meeting at the Stairs) as a week from their arrival but it ended up being longer than they needed. After the Stairs, it takes something like another week to make it out to Feldgrau. Again, my party cleared the town in about 4 days.
Book 4 - My Sorcerer obtained Shadow Walk at this point so they arrived in Thrushmoor the same day they left Feldgrau. This AP is also very fast, with about 4 days to get to Illmarsh, then once the ball gets rolling they'll probably end up doing most of the AP in the span of 3 days unless they specifically get extra time.
I haven't gotten into Book 5 yet (just finished Book 4 an hour ago) but getting to Caliphas should be like 2-3 days at most gauging haphazardly, then the first thing you do is wait for your audience with the Order for somewhat less than a week. The rest of the AP seems to be completely off the timer but given the above, I guess a week should be enough. Book 6 is a mystery but is also a frantic race to the finish line by some descriptions, and I assume by then you won't be needing more time to build up the big bad.
All told: 1 month + 1-2 weeks + 2.5 weeks + 2-ish weeks (unless travel) + maybe 1.5-2 weeks = 3 months give or take a week or or so at the rate we've been going. Could be much longer if you will it, but mind that the first 3 books as written are spent being approximately 2 weeks behind the cultists running through each area just ahead of you until you catch up to them at Feldgrau. After that point the urgency is still on since they've acquired basically everything they need for the ritual.
Other than that, Sunderstone has good general advice. Perhaps if you revealed to the players sometime in the book 2-3 area that the big climax finale is tied to some cosmological event (when the stars are right etc.) that would dial back some of the urgency to rush through everything.
Thanks for the well-considered responses! I'm not actually setting this up as a way to build urgency, though that will probably be an unintended side effect. I think there's a bit too much "free" XP in this adventure, so I want to add a couple side quests to each book. In order to keep the players from questioning why they should bother with side quests when they have a more pressing main quest, I will tie those side quests in to the cult's activities. By choosing to do those side quests, the party can interfere with what the cult is doing and meet some success, which should also help them feel like they aren't always just a step behind.
The country is already in trouble times and flowing with dark rumors, like Sunderstone says, and that's because of this ritual. It will continue uninterrupted until the PCs reach Gallowspire. Every X number of days, Tar-Baphon will gain one point of influence, and he will also gain points of influence in other ways as the cult acts to bring his reincarnation closer. Meanwhile, if the PCs do their side quests, which will largely be opportunities to interfere with smaller rituals being performed around Ustalav, they can reduce Tar-Baphon's influence.
When his Tar-Baphon's influence hits certain numbers, certain events happen. It starts out small, just ominous things like people feeling robbed of their vitality or macabre trinkets you never picked up finding their way into your inventory. It gets worse as Tar-Baphon's influence increases, undead spontaneously rising from the living and those spooky trinkets turning into cursed items. Nearing the culmination, Tar-Baphon's unfettered influence could even project the Tyrant's Whisphers and Gallowspire weather across broader Ustalav. Rumors spread that these are signs of Tar-Baphon's impending return and even though these aren't the Whispering Tyrant's purposeful actions against the PCs directly, I think it is sure to give the players a sense that something awful is brewing.