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I love the idea of traveling circuses, magic acts and freak-shows in fiction. I admit to being unsettled by flows in real life, but in fiction there are so many stories that could centre on a circus. So I decided to come up with a campaign where a circus comes to town. But not just any circus. This is the Carnivale, a magical circus that travels far and wide, seeking new curiosities, oddities and assistance. The campaign would have the adventurers get caught up in the Carnivale after being sent to investigate it. And the Carnivale is not something they can destroy, unless they want to be stuck in the middle of dimensional nowhere's-vil . So they will travel the worlds, recruit new members to their circus, acquire new oddities and artefacts, fight bizarre monsters and try to survive the threats of the Carnivale's world, both from it and from other groups that seek its power.
The newest season of American Horror Story is also set in a carnival. Haven't seen it myself yet, but if it's as good as previous seasons I'm sure it's worth the watch.
There is also a 2nd ed supplement for Ravenloft simply titled Carnival. The carnival in the adventure is it's own traveling Domain (similar to other Ravenloft Domains). What you're talking about doing reminded me of it, so it may be worth a look.
Check out the great Witchmarket thread and this thread on the Fraternity of Shadows forums about the Midnight Market.
Also definitely read the Ravenloft Carnival supplement for its style alone. It's a gem. Mortavius converted the Carnival NPCs to PF here. And there's a thread about more Carnies here
Check out the great Witchmarket thread and this thread on the Fraternity of Shadows forums about the Midnight Market.
Also definitely read the Ravenloft Carnival supplement for its style alone. It's a gem. Mortavius converted the Carnival NPCs to PF here. And there's a thread about more Carnies here
It's a damn shame that Paizo did not get the Ravenloft rights after White Wolf. Though I would take a WW Ravenloft for Pathfinder rules, the Gazateer's and a lot of other books they did were amazing.
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Okay, the main 'stable' base(hub) for the party after they get the accursed deed to the Carnivale is the Carnivale circus itself. The circus is almost always in need of things (given the sometimes huge amount of fatalities, both of staff and assorted creatures for the Carnivale, not to mention damage done to the Carnivale itself). To help supplement the numbers and expenses of new hires, the Carnivale has special contracts that can be signed by people you might want as permanent additions of the Carnivale(without no risk of a permanent horrific death). A word of warning to the players that consider signing these contracts. Unless you want to become a permanent part of the Carnivale, with almost no hope of ever leaving again, do not sign these contracts. The Carnivale has many ways to keep its employees in, ranging from simple illusion to full blown resurrection at the Carnivale upon death at the age the contract was signed at.
Also the Carnivale contracts can be a bit... finicky. Some permanent employees of the Carnivale are fanatically loyal to the Carnivale, sometimes to the point of insane love. Others(especially those that are unwillingly made to join) will slowly decend into madness and become murderous towards fellow staff, managers and audience members unless they are able to be converted to turning their efforts towards benefiting the Carnivale, or convinced that you intend to help them escape the contracts binding power. Which is possible, just very difficult.
In addition to the Contracts, there are various artefacts that might prove beneficial for shows, combat, and social situations. Some are simple, others might be more difficult to spot. Some will also only work for certain roles(like a whip for the beast tamer, knives for the knife thrower, the wand/hat for the magician etc). These roles grant a bonus to a skill, and abilities linked to the role but also can put you in danger from the Carnivale's numerous potential acts, which could include(but not limited to) the taming of a dangerous beast, escape acts like the death saw magic trick, high wire over a pit of deadly blades, running through an acrobatics course with pendulum scythes etc.
The Carnivale also works like a town, with places for food and drink, resting spots, a temple of shrines, the gift shop(which sells weapons and equipment), the shack of the mad scientist(for potions and experimental gizmos), and then the animal pens(for mounts and familiars). Then you have the attractions, which might lead to problems if not properly(and carefully) maintained. If people start disappearing in the house of mirrors, then the players might need to deal with the problem personally, going into the house of mirrors.
It's a damn shame that Paizo did not get the Ravenloft rights after White Wolf. Though I would take a WW Ravenloft for Pathfinder rules, the Gazateer's and a lot of other books they did were amazing.
Well there's the fan created Mistfinder and Ryan Naylor's Ravenloft Pathfinder conversion.
Well there's the fan created Mistfinder and Ryan Naylor's Ravenloft Pathfinder conversion.
It's a damn shame that Paizo did not get the Ravenloft rights after White Wolf. Though I would take a WW Ravenloft for Pathfinder rules, the Gazateer's and a lot of other books they did were amazing.
Way to bring the hook up. Well played sir.
Check out The Brain Storm Podcast
They just had an episode about Circuses in RPGs. It was a great podcast. Overall, they have some terrific ideas. And all they do is brainstorm different cool ideas for running RPGs, and they're setting/system neutral.
Way to bring the hook up. Well played sir.Well there's the fan created Mistfinder and Ryan Naylor's Ravenloft Pathfinder conversion.
It's a damn shame that Paizo did not get the Ravenloft rights after White Wolf. Though I would take a WW Ravenloft for Pathfinder rules, the Gazateer's and a lot of other books they did were amazing.
If you want to talk about/play Ravenloft with PF, join us on the Fraternity forums (I'm the Giamarga over there). The community there has lots of PbPs, nice forums, an active netbook line and lots of people that converted to PF from 3.5.