ABOUT THE PROJECT

“I do not delight in your suffering, but it is necessary.” - Hughe, the Dark Ringmaster

The Festival of the Forgotten is coming to your kingdom, and you are invited to attend! To witness the spectacle of your freaks and outcasts when they were nurtured and allowed to thrive. Come see the wonders beyond your high walls and try your skill at unearthly games for prizes that your peers will covet.

This players handbook and adventure campaign is designed to interrupt your current storyline and provide eldritch secrets for your party… or perhaps a new home for them to travel with. If they can pass the test to answer a question every Storyteller is eternally curious about: What really matters to your character?

Warlocks and Patrons are vilified, and now, thanks to the hubris of Coastal Wizards, a Patron can’t even barter for a soul from innocent, fresh-faced adventurers! The audacity… Hughe, The Dark Ringmaster, is one such creature that has been vilified, scorned, and hunted for his menagerie of world-rending arcane secrets. After centuries of traveling the planes, he’s finally ready to take his show on the road and play the role he’s been cast in. Now, your world and characters will never notice a few memories, trinkets, and magic items going missing, will they? After all, they were never TRULY important, right? Are you really willing to fight for the 10-year-old rations plucked from your bag of holding? Or perhaps it’s the memory of your loved ones that will gain your attention…

5E 2024 thought it could stop a real villain? Ha!

Within this book, you’ll find a full carnival and performances perfect for any setting, along with a full storyline designed to make characters question what truly separates them from the rank and file of regular civilians. Or, if they are lacking such drive… perhaps they will be tempted by eccentric and odd arcane secrets from a new Patron who had, until recently, forgotten about your world.

Our adventure begins now. Festival of the Forgotten is a perfect short campaign to run when your party least expects it. Players covet the loot they’ve acquired, and how long will it be until they notice their precious trinkets slowly disappearing? As a Storyteller, you’ll find the eccentric Dark Carnival to be a perfect hub to launch this campaign and plug into any world, OR you can use the traveling carnival as an excuse to launch a multi-planar campaign, expanding travel to new settings like The Shadelands, or even the Sunless Crossing. For better or worse, no world can stop the Dark Ringmaster from showcasing all the Darklings he’s collected.

Features

• ​Over 200 pages, designed with both Players and Storytellers in mind!

• ​Multiple endings and player agency options. Choice matters!

• The setting of the Dark Carnival is a unique spin on those skillful souls who tour for entertainment.

• Introducing The Jackdaws, warlock memory thieves created for a specific goal…

• 13 new eccentric subclasses designed for 5E 2024.

• New Warlock Pacts & Invocations.

• New Carnival Games and NPCs.

• Social and Roleplay Statblocks!

• New Bastions!

• New Backgrounds and Versatile Origin Feats.

• Dynamic encounter design to accommodate Theater of the Mind and Grid Style play. Every fight is epic.

• ADA-compliant multiple formats (pdf, epub, and more!) for digital distribution.

• Soundtrack and music by V is for Villains!

• And of course, a menagerie of NPCs, beasties, magical items, and more!

• ​Written and illustrated by award-winning game designers and artists from around the world!

• Audio Introduction by Michael Angelo, the Eldritch Ringmaster himself.

• A Storytellers Forge campaign designed to empower both experienced and new STs!