Welcome to the Devil’s Carnival.
No, not like that ridiculous opera. We’re not quite so literal here. There’s no Lucifer, no Hell, and no off-key musical numbers (unless you happen to overhear our Master of Mayhem singing in the shower). There are, however, vampires walking high wires, werewolves taming lions, and fae striking bargains on the midway. If you’re careful, you can come and take a look around, enjoy the show, and return safely home at the end of the night.
If you’re not, you might just find yourself a permanent resident under the big top.
This is Darke and Moreau’s Devilish Fun Fair, where the fiends come out to play.
Game Theme: Aurora - Under the Water
Purpose & Structure: The Devil’s Carnival is intended to be a character study, an exploration of damaged, dark creatures trying to make peace with their pasts and find a place for themselves in a world that no longer has a use for or belief in them. The game will deal with numerous themes, including:
- personal horror
- guilt and redemption
- morality and humanity, including moral ambiguity
- immortality
- escapism vs. confronting the past
- anachronism and purposelessness
- trust and camaraderie
- otherness
- closed communities
We’ll be accomplishing this through a combination of three things: subplots, side quests, and personal narrative.
Subplots will focus on something from your character’s past that haunts them. It might be a person - a past lover, a murderous enemy - or it might be something your character did, witnessed, or failed to prevent. In any case, it should be something that they know will one day catch up with them, and that they live in constant dread of. The threads of these subplots will be woven together to create the game’s metaplot.
Side quests will help flesh out the day-to-day life of the carnival crew and give you some short term drama to work with. I’ll be very open to player requests and suggestions for mini-adventures, unexpected trouble, etc. I’ll also keep an eye out for opportunities to build on players’ moves and drop surprise side quests into ‘social’ scenes.
Personal narrative will be the responsibility of the players, an opportunity to take a deep dive into your character’s psyche and the relationships they’re building with one another as members of the fun fair’s crew.
Mood: The tone of the game will be dark, tense, and occasionally brooding, interspersed with moments of levity, hope, and the occasional thrill. A sense of sloughing off slow decay and creeping towards a modern age will be juxtaposed against the heavy timelessness of being an immortal, supernatural creature.
If you need inspiration, check out:
- The Devil’s Carnival (film)
- Carnivale (TV show)
- American Horror Story: Freak Show (TV show)
- Cirque du Freak (book series)
- The Night Circus (book)
- Black Butler: Book of Circus (manga/anime)
- The World of Darkness supplement Midnight Circus (book)
- Just about anything Rob Zombie or Emilie Autumn related (music)
- The Jim Rose Circus, Cirque Berzerk, and other ‘cirque noir’ groups
Characters don’t need to go to the Jim Rose extreme in their acts by any stretch of the imagination; traditional circus acts, freak show fodder, midway agents, burlesque dancers, ride operators, fortune tellers, and even operations crew are all needed and will have a place here.
NPC CAST:
Priscilla Darke (witch) - Mistress of Mayhem and General Manager
Arséne Moreau (zombie) - Master of Mayhem and Advance Agent
Colette “Lettie” LeRoy (gorgon) - Artist and Wardrobe Mistress
Mary Worth (Bloody Mary) - Operator, House of Mirrors
Darayavausha “Dasha” Konstantinovna, the Swan of St. Petersburg (vampire) - Tightrope Act and Assistant, Knife Throwing Act
Roman Shishkin, the Prince of Thieves (vampire) - Knife Throwing Act
Duke McGrath (cat sith) - King of Beasts Act, Freak Show and Menagerie Manager
Kiki Katerwaul (banshee) - Clown
Jinn (jinni) - Medic and Midway Agent
Tobias Bryson (reaper) - Roustabout
PC CAST:
Daniel Summers (conjugate) - Aerial Acrobat
Vigil (graveyard guardian) - Head of Security
Nessala (mermaid) - Burlesque Dancer and Mermaid Exhibit, Freak Show
No-She (wendigo) - Concessions
Wake (doppelganger) - Medium and Handyman
Zephira West (siren) - Birdcage Act, Burlesque Show
Please check the NPC document for brief write ups on named NPCs. I may add more as we go along, depending on how plot develops and what roles are and aren’t filled. While I haven’t bothered mentioning them here or drawing them up in detail, assume that there is an assortment of ‘extras’ who work the midway and see to the operational needs of the carnival.
While the use of carnival lingo is not required in this game, it’s a heck of a lot of fun. Feel free to use it or not in accordance with your comfort level.
Hosted and narrated by:
CB (roaringdandelion)
Started 08/16/16.
Scenes played: 1
License: Community License
18+
