Carnival

[Dark Whisper]

I just happend to walk into a copy of this book on a flea market and bought it. I'm still reading but I think it would be an interesting thing to introduce it in my campagin.

But before I do this : Has anyone of you already used the Carnival in your games ? What are your impressions of it ? Do you have tips (thinks to leave out, to add, ...) ?

Did anyone use the five adventure ideas at the end ? What are your impressions ?

Or did you use the carnival and just want to tell your story ?

Thx

[Smeazel]

The Carnival played a part in one Ravenloft campaign I ran. I didn't use the adventures at the end, though; I just assumed those events had already happened by the time the PCs encountered the Carnival (so Pacali was no longer around, etc.) This isn't a reflection on the quality of those adventures, though; I pretty much never use published adventures.

FWIW, the way the Carnival fit into my campaign was this: When the PCs got drawn into Ravenloft along with a new domain (yeah, the campaign didn't actually start out in Ravenloft, but the majority of it took place in it), they found themselves stuck there. An enemy of theirs, a fiend named Vorkadaur who had been nearby and drawn into Ravenloft with them, knew enough to recognize what had happened and where they were, and filled the PCs in, proposing a temporary alliance long enough to get out of the "Demiplane of Dread", as he referred to it. (Of course, as I don't need to tell anyone here, getting out of Ravenloft is not an easy task...I think the PCs were around 7th or 8th level when they got drawn in; they were epic level characters by the time they finally found a way out...)

Anyway, the new domain they found themselves in had its borders closed, so they had no way to even leave the domain. (The new domain lord--a titan whom the PCs had inadvertently helped drain the power of a fellow titan into himself to increase his own power, which was the act of betrayal that got him sucked into Ravenloft) was also knowledgeable enough about the planes to recognize what had happened, and wasn't happy about it.) But then the Carnival came to town, and it was by going with the Carnival that the PCs managed to leave the domain despite the closed borders. (I also used the Carnival to foreshadow a few things, like a tarokka reading by Madame Fortuna that hinted at some future events, and a mention by Isolde that "everyone gets a second chance at the Carnival".)

Anyway, after getting out of that domain, most of the PCs parted ways with the Carnival (though one group did stay with the Carnival long enough to be affected by the Twisting), only to seek them out again much later. see, the PCs finally learned of a way they could escape Ravenloft through the Nightmare Lands, and they knew that the Illuminated Man had some connection there and might be able to help them, so they sought out the Carnival so they could talk to him.

Now, in the meantime, through mechanisms not worth going into here, Vorkadaur, the fiend who had been drawn into the Ravenloft with the party and had forged a temporary alliance with them, had regained a memory of his past life. And he had found out that as a mortal, he had been a paladin who had been corrupted by an evil god and turned into a fiend against his will. This occasioned much soul-searching on his part, and he actually started to reform and turn from his evil ways. Which, incidentally, occasioned some visits from the Furies, from which the PCs defended him--by this time they'd actually come to like Vorkadaur, especially when it became clear he was trying to turn from evil. The third and last attack by the Furies took place at the Carnival itself. By this time the PCs had gotten the information they needed from the Illuminated Man and were setting off for the Nightmare Lands in the hopes of finally leaving Ravenloft--but Vorkadaur elected to stay behind with the Carnival. At this point, he no longer wanted to leave Ravenloft, at least not until he was more sure of his own inner strength; he realized that here he was cut off from the evil god who had corrupted him, but he feared that if he left he would fall under that god's power and be turned back to evil. The party was reluctant to let him stay, but eventually consented, and Isolde agreed to allow Vorkadaur to stay with the Carnival for a while--he might be a fiend, but everyone gets a second chance at the Carnival.

So, anyway, there's my long and rambling story. As far as general notes on the Carnival...I think it's got a lot of possibilities, and I don't know that I have any particular tips on what to leave out or add. (Though I do think that a lot more could be done with the Twisting than I did in my campaign.) As I said, I can't really judge the adventures at the end, since I didn't use them, but there's enough at the Carnival to lead to all sorts of plot hooks and campaign uses.

[The Pickled Punk]

I ama big fan of Carnival, although I have only actually used the Troupers in one game I ran. What was to be a Carnival campaign ended when one of the PCs decided to shake hands with Mr. ?. I had Mr. ?. absorb the PCs appearance and memory, and then had the player (unknowingly) play Mr. ?. After a few confusing scenes, the PCs figured out what happened, and decided to abandon the Carnival. (So I did not get a chance to Twist them, though I did play with their heads.)

There are a few ways to run Carnival. One way is for the PCs to fall in with Prof. Pacali, in his crusade against Isolde. Another is for a half-Vistani to become a Skurra, and be forbidden from talking or responding to his old name. And of course you can Twist the PCs. This works best after the Players have played a while, and have given each character a quirk to be amplified by the Twisting.

By the way, there is a poor 3.0 write-up of Carnival in Champions of Darkness. I have attempted to convert some of the characters from Carnival to 3.5. Look for them on the WotC message boards, in the Ravenloft section, under the heading NPC characters. I have posted 3.5 stats for Isolde, Hermos, Prof. Pacali and the Blade Brothers.

[Episkopos]

First of I want to start by saying carnival if used correctly can be quite magnificent, but like any brilliant idea if used wrong it can go so unnoticed and your players will barely remember they actually ended up on the clatches of Carnival.
So my advice to any who wants to introduce carnival into their campaigns is this... don't do it lightly.
Meaning that carnival should be something you start and end with no interuptions in between with other adventures.
For example, the mistake a friend made was introduce the carnival to a party, let it wonder again and by the time he brought it back again they had already forgotten what the carnival was all about.
Make sure that when you bring carnival to light let the players feel like a major chapter of their IC life is being written as they learn of the carnival and have a feeling that the horrors and anomalies they will see in that carnival will haunt them for life.
Make sure you create on them that feeling the book so well describes of "mutation" while in the carnival and make them fear for their own bodies while they play carnival(making a PC grow a sixth finger definetely raises the tension).
Also make sure they get to know REALLY well the characters of carnival, every one of them is great.
I mean, metagamers will probably go "hey that guy is a half orc" when the see it, still you make sure to puzzle them by saying "is he?"
Don't let them know what they are, besides carnival itself is a set where no "typical" characteristics apply and that will throw players off guard if not for the entire carnival campaign, at least at first.

[Jasper]

I loved every word of Carnival when i got it but I do agree with Episkopos that if you are going to use it go all out.

-Break out the cd player and have loud carnival style music playing in the background (Calliope music for the day time and if you can find it Manceni's "Gypsy violin" for when the Skurra play at night.)

-Get some felt and cardboard from a craft store and make your self a tophat for when you play Tindal. Make all your movement lavish and over done.
The Pcs must be made to feel like this a bright and bazzar chunk of life and chaos in a otherwise bland and scarry world.

-Learn the lingo. The Pcs are outsider and havn't yet earned the right to use "thier' words.

-Use the twisting sparingly. Have it be more of a punishment for those who abuse the good will of he Carnival. Those that stay past thier welcome may find themselves unable to leave at all.

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

I love Carnival, that and The Evil Eye are my all time favourite Ravenloft products

I did plan to use the 5 adventure plotlines in one campaign, but that campaign never happened (the group fell apart).

I did get to use it a couple of times in smaller appearances, ones where the players had their characters go on a tour. It was fun to run through. That group never got to encounter the truths of the Carnival, just saw things at face value and got a little freaked out by some of it, heheheh. In one encounter they had, they did have to meet with Madame Fortuna to have a tarokka reading, so I did use that to forward the plot I already had in motion.

[Big Bad Jack]

Bella ran a wonderful board campaign based around Carnival, but it died shortly after I was forced onto hiatus from the Net, if I have heard correctly..

..I miss poor Jeremiah the Dog-Faced Caliban who would be a Knight.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I touched on the Carnival a bit in my campaign. I planned to use it more, loosely following the adventures in the back of the book, but haven't found the appropriate time to stick it in.

They feature in our backstory, since one PC's dead mentor (the Mad Clockmaker, Gustav Malvoni) used their services to smuggle guns to the Falkovnian resistance. The PC's found them by following a flyer found in his home, and used them to hitch a ride out of Borca, through the closed border. Things seemed to go pretty well. They enjoyed meeting a bunch of the troupers. (Hermos, Tindal, Pacali, the Snake Woman) got freaked out by the skurra, talked to Madame Fortuna, and got a brief glimpse of Isolde. My intent was just to get them a bit comfortable with the Carnival for when they came back later.

Unfortunately later hasn't come yet. I did mention the Carnival once, when they finally contacted the Falkovnian resistance, they learned about the smuggling the Carnival did for Gustav. Also, I placed Blasse in an inn in Port-a-lucine, hoping to run her adventure next time they head that way. But their current travels are leading far away from Dementlieu (Lamordia, to Darkon, a foray into Falkovnia, and then back to Darkon, and off to Nidala...) so I kinda regret that. But I definately want to reintroduce them someday.

[Dark Whisper]

Thanks for your replies.

As I'm in a hurry, I won't comment / ask about them now, since I need to know other things.

For this weekend's game, I need to know a bit about the past of the carnival, the dark "puppeteer" time under the rule of "what'shisname".

I've ordered the novel but unfortunately, it did not arrive yet. So if you can give me a bit of background info about that time, that side of the carnival, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Joël of the FoS]

From somewhere:

The Carnival is one of the oddest domains in Ravenloft, consisting of a wandering freakshow/circus. Originally, the Carnival was a freakshow/prison which was part of a now lost domain called l'Morai, ruled by a monstrous tyrant called the Puppetmaster. Prisoners would be sent here from l'Morai, and would be magically warped in recognition of their crimes, gaining bizarre deformities that indicated that crimes and losing their memories and names, so they would never be able to leave without becoming prey for the townspeople. Eventually a freak by the name of Blind Marie, with the aid of the giant Hermos, led the freaks in a rebellion. They all would have perished had she not sacrificed herself so that they would flee. The Carnival wandered the lands seeking a place to settle for some time, until they were eventually saved in Falkovnia by Lady Isolde, the current "Darklord" of the domain.

[Manofevil]

From somewhere:

Eventually a freak by the name of Blind Marie, with the aid of the giant Hermos, led the freaks in a rebellion. They all would have perished had she not sacrificed herself so that they would flee.

Actually, that's not quite right. Blind Marie had to accept the cursed medallion that would change her from current lynching victim to newest master of the Carnival and allow the Puppetmaster, who had led a similar uprising some years earlier and was now able to become the next member of the city council. Had she refused, she would have had to run a gauntlet of mean and bloody looking townspeople and then be beheaded on the guilotine. Had she chosen this. They undoubtedly would have killed her and started in on her successor, most likely the giant, Hermos. When Blind Marie returned to the Carnival as it's new master, she was murdered by Hermos and he led the rest of the Carnivalians (Carnivalers? Carnies? ) out of the domain. This was all in the Novel 'Carnival of Fear'.

[Manofevil]

And I just turned over! YAY!