Hey there,
So I'm about to try running this AP as an intro to PF2 for my kids (side note: wish me luck, I haven't GMed anything in like, 25 years!).
I know that this is supposed to be a more primitive part of the world, and that makes some items tough to justify, moreso for a small group like the Broken Tusks. Like, a steel sword isn't something you can get just any darn place (side note #2: it seems a bit mean to give the Tusks Sarenrae as a patron deity, neener-neener-no-scimitars-for-you-Cleric!). But I wanted some sort of mechanism in place to let the boys have a chance to hunt up the things they might need to make stuff like a composite bow, or a suit of hide armor, or what have you. I started getting an idea in my head, and I was hoping to run it by you fine folks, see if it's worth refining.
What I came to was the idea of, I guess a Downtime activity, whose name I haven't yet decided on. It would basically be like an Earn Income check, probably using Survival (or Hunting Lore if you've got it), and because money isn't really a thing that has a ton of use to the Kellids, you'd take your Income in an abstraction I'm currently calling "Scrounge." The players can then use their stash of "Scrounge GPs" to pay the costs associated with Crafting region-appropriate items.
Is something like this feasible? Is it worth doing? Is there even time in the AP to allow for this? (Like, if there's not time to allow for this AND Crafting, maybe allow these checks to be made incidentally alongside other stuff?) Has someone already come up with a better way and I'm needlessly trying to reinvent the wheel? Am I even making a lick of sense?
Look, if you made it this far, I appreciate your time and patience. Thanks, and if you've got any constructive criticism, I'm all ears.
Have a great day.
Sincerely,
Redblade
Overall the timetable for book #1 is 1-3 months.
For book #2, there is a blacksmith you'll meet. Book #3 has Hillcross, which is about as close to civilization as you'll get in this AP.
For book #1 though, gear is going to be pretty tight. The best opportunity to acquire gear should probably come from the river (C - Gleaming Sun Lake) since it's confirmed there's international traffic along it. Have a barge sail up the river from Varisia/Irrisen/Belkzen (the river doesn't quite match up with current geography) looking to unload his cheap iron weapons on some barbarians.
Hide armor definitely should be procurable from a local vendor. Bows - ehhhh, hand-crafted composite bows fall apart in the wet and cold environment of the Realm of the Mammoth Lords in my opinion. (the Mongols had a similar problem pushing into eastern Europe)
My other suggestion would be to have each character have a masterwork weapon/armor they're working on day by day, week by week, that they maybe get towards the end of book 1.