Curtain Call is a good Adventure Path, bordering on greatness. For the right group (one that prioritizes roleplaying), it may be one of the greatest Adventure Paths. This AP starts off with the idea “what if the PCs were involved in creating a great opera about their own adventures?”, which sounds like an inconsequential romp. And indeed, that part of the story is fun and light-hearted as you schmooze, wine and dine and cajole the powers-that-be in the theater world to support what promises to be a great work of art. But that’s just part of the story. Because another, greater story is unfolding in the background that will soon engulf the PC’s in one of the most consequential events of any Adventure Path.

Curtain Call breaks new ground by referring heavily to your earlier adventures without determining for you what those adventures were. So you can have previously played any AP that ends at Level 10 and be ready to roll right into Curtain Call. For those who don’t know, a curtain call is a theater term for bringing back the actors for one more bow. And in this case, it’s not just your PCs that return! It’s a clever device and I admire how well it is used.

Curtain Call takes place primarily in the city of Kintargo (previously the setting for Hell’s Rebels). The nearby city of Vyre is also an important location. Between them, there is a lot of urban activity in this AP, making it great for certain city-based feats and character options.

What else can I say without some spoilers? Well, I’ll spoil only this much: Curtain Call is about much more than an opera. Your little production becomes the focus of much larger powers, their cults and the future of Golarion. Volume 3 gets quite cosmic.

One of the best aspects of Curtain Call is the significant amount of roleplaying that is possible. Some challenges can only be overcome by roleplaying and some very difficult combats may be solved by roleplaying. So at the very least you’re going to want at least one PC with a high Charisma and some amount of Diplomacy. Make no mistake, though, Curtain Call also has plenty of combat and even some dungeon delving. Your combat-loving players won’t be disappointed so long as they’re also open to role-playing.

Some reviewers have complained about the number of subsystems in use in this AP. I don’t see it that way. I think the subsystems serve as a guide for new GM’s, helping them figure out the complex interactions of NPCs in large social settings, or for tracking the success of an important infiltration. The point of these subsystems is that they’re training wheels. Experienced GM’s can ignore them and just role-play or adjudicate the situations on their own, while beginners may appreciate having mechanics to fall back on where they might otherwise feel they’re in over their heads.

Highlights:

Great opportunities for role-playing.

More opportunities for hamming it up and overacting than any other AP. “No! That’s not how it happened? It was my spell that killed the villain!”

The Opera theme does not fade away.

The PCs become involved in some of the highest stakes of all.

Cool monsters and very cool encounter locations.

Drawbacks:

The plot, though very interesting and coherent, is convoluted. Figuring out what’s happening is a major element of the story, so players who don’t want to figure things out for themselves will be bored.

There are a lot of subsystems in this AP. As I mentioned above, that need not be a detriment, but to a literalist, or someone who doesn’t want to do the prep work, this could be a flaw.