EN5ider Magazine #10: Dark Carnival!

Carnivals are among the earliest examples of the fantastic wrought in real life, traveling the countryside and bringing wonder along the way—a natural fit for medieval fantasy. In realms where dragons soar the skies and horrors dwell below they are perhaps more important and ought not to be rare, the need for their merriment and distraction greater still. This issue of EN5ider Magazine is devoted to adventurers having a good time at the carnival, whether they’re just there for a bit of fun or because something sinister is going on behind the scenes that puts the creepiest of clowns to shame. Nefarious doings are at the heart of the Carnivale de Morti (for 4–5 PCs of 6th Level), a whole settlement trapped within the illusory confines of deathtraps made to seem like games at a fair. The Attenders are hard at work convincing anyone fooled by the glamer to take dangerous risks or do mischief, and the suffering-turned-play continues on in the Flayed Arcade. All that’s rather grim though and it would be in poor taste to only bring macabre offerings, so for a more lighthearted bit of carnival adventuring turn to Fizzwing’s Wagon of Wonderment and the violent Astounding Automated Antagonists spilling out of it. No matter what kind of carnival you roll out at the table remember to keep fun at the fore (at least at first). Delicious sweets, entertaining games of skill, impres sive feats, children running about, and jaunty tunes in the air can go a long way to instilling and maintaining a sense of theater around the party, getting their feet into stirrups on the proverbial merry-go-round before bringing the hammer down so it has the maximum effect. After things go awry—whether from evil unveiled or technology run amok—either twist or endanger whatever part of the festivities most appealed to the PCs for the most engagement possible. That’s it! Have a great time at the carnival!