“The Show Must Go On” is a Pathfinder Second Edition adventure for four 1st-level characters. This adventure begins the Extinction Curse Adventure Path, a six-part, monthly campaign in which the heroes lead a traveling circus as they unravel a plot to eradicate all life from the Starstone Isles at the heart of the Inner Sea. The adventure also includes advice on how to run a traveling circus, new circus-themed rules, and a menagerie of monsters both wondrous and wicked.
Each monthly full-color softcover Pathfinder Adventure Path volume contains an in-depth adventure scenario, stats for several new monsters, and support articles meant to give Game Masters additional material to expand their campaign.
What is Pathfinder?
Pathfinder in a Role Playing Game somewhat based on the rules of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) version 3.5 – via D&D’s Open Game License. Pathfinder tweaked Dungeon and Dragons 3.5 rules a bit. Pathfinder introduced new character classes, like the Alchemist class. Spells, skills and fighting were also tweaked to the delight of many fans. In 2011, Pathfinder was outselling Dungeons and Dragons. And in August 2019, Paizo released Pathfinder Second Edition.Pathfinder is a fantasy Role-Playing Game from Paizo Publishing. The Pathfinder RPG was first published in 2009.
A Quick Glance at Pathfinder Adventure Path: The Show Must Go On
Basic Storyline: The Circus of Wayward Wonders has just arrived in the remote town of Abberton, and the player characters are the stars of the show! When the ringmaster turns up dead, the fate of the traveling circus and its entertainers hangs in the balance, and the heroes must scramble to put on a successful show and find the killer―all at the same time! Investigations only lead to more questions, and the heroes find themselves center stage in a dangerous, prehistoric plot that threatens not just Abberton, but every inhabitant of the Starstone Isles!
Pathfinder Adventure Path: The Show Must Go On is a new 8.5″ x 11″ softcover book that is being released in early 2020 by Paizo publishing. The book is in full color, and is 96 pages long. The Show Must Go On is a complete adventure for 1st to 4th-level characters.
This adventure begins the Extinction Curse Adventure Path – a six-part, monthly campaign in which the heroes lead a traveling circus as they unravel a plot to eradicate all life from the Starstone Isles at the heart of the Inner Sea. The adventure also includes advice on how to run a traveling circus, new circus-themed rules, and a menagerie of monsters both wondrous and wicked.
A Look Inside
I don’t want to spoil too much here for Pathfinder players. Here is a quick glance at a few of the pages inside of the book, without giving away too many details. This will give you a feel for the book without ruining the adventure.
Final Thoughts for The Show Must Go One
The book is beautifully done, well written, and is of very high quality. The artwork is fantastic.
Again, I don’t want to give away too many details for future players. This adventure path involves a moving circus and some awful villains. The GM has the ability to focus more on the circus, or more on the villains. The “Life in the Circus” chapter gives GM’s the opportunity to dive more into the circus theme by detailing: Circus Basics; Generating Anticipation; Purchasing Ads; Promoting the Circus; Putting on a Show; the Acts; the Tricks, etc. There are 12 pages in this book dedicated to learning how to run a circus.
If players aren’t too keen on the “in & outs” of running a circus, the GM can skew the game more towards defeating the villains.
There are several pages dedicated to the villains. In the spirit of being Spoiler-Free on the meaty details, I’m not going into the villains, but they are all in the book, and they are downright evil.
There are 4 Story Chapters in this Adventure Path book. This Adventure Path is perfect for groups that meet once per week. Finish this book one month, and move on to the next part of the Extinction Curse Adventure Path the following month. The Circus story is a change of pace from the normal dungeon crawl, and this is a nice place to start a new adventure. Heroes will be 1st level entering the story, and should be 5th level at the end of this adventure.
