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Carnival (2e)
 
$4.99
Average Rating:4.4 / 5
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Carnival (2e)
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Carnival (2e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Ben l. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/16/2017 14:22:32

Lots of good fluff but found the reading a bit rough. It is almost entirely written as if a person is talking to you. While in parts gives you a good idea of how that NPC will intereact with the PCs, unless you read the whole thing does not give you the highlights. That said it has very interesting concepts and good adventure ideas, just the chapter format is not that great.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Carnival (2e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Billy L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/27/2013 19:23:26

This is an excellent read and an excellent source. I am surprised to see such an all around product for AD&D2E. The characters and campaign setting contained in this book will be an excellent resource in any campaign but add layers of complexity to a Ravenloft campaign in particular.

This is an excellent read regardless of the system you use or if you intend to game with it at all.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Carnival (2e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Edward F. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/18/2005 00:00:00

The crunchy bits are a bit old {AD&D}, but that's an easy fix. What you have left is a story full of gteat fluff! You are guided on a tour through the Carnival by three different characters who live withen it's wagons. The views are loos enough that you can have some leway with the "truth".<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: It gave me a plethoria of great ideas. And some wonderfully colourful characters! <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The plot hooks at the end were weak.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Carnival (2e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by James K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/10/2003 00:00:00

In 1990 TSR, the company that had built DUNGEONS & DRAGONS from an obscure offshoot of a tabletop miniatures game into something of a household name, faced a new generation of roleplayers with new attitudes toward the hobby. Companies like White Wolf were poised to explode into popularity with dark, brooding games such as VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE. Atmosphere and character interaction had become increasingly important parts of the roleplaying experience. TSR?s response: the RAVENLOFT setting.

A spin-off from a classic adventure of the same name, RAVENLOFT was intended to take a horrific approach to the all-too-familiar tropes of D&D. What had been an isolated story about a great castle and its vampiric lord became an entire campaign world dominated by evil figures, one where shadows and mysticism were more prominent than pageantry and sword swinging. Heroic fantasy and visceral horror proved to be imperfect counterparts, but CARNIVAL ? originally published in 1999 as a printed product for ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (2nd Edition), and now re-released in PDF format ? represents everything RAVENLOFT was intended to be, but so often was not.

The eponymous Carnival is an enigma that unfolds by stages and half-truths from behind a veil of illusion. A traveling ?freak show? with a decidedly fantastic twist, Carnival moves from town to town at will, never staying for more than a day or two, preceded by flyers whose designs can hypnotize and enchant those who stare too long at their designs. Led by the mysterious Isolde, whose true identity is unknown even to those privy to the secrets of Carnival, the caravan of bizarre wanderers make a display of their freakishness. These oddities come in realistic (Living Skeleton, Giant) and fantastic (a woman with wings, a living man made of wax) varieties, and the Cthulhoid monstrosities in the Hall of Horrors are straight out of nightmare. All around Carnival are the gypsy-like Skurra, who handle the wagons in silence from behind masks of implacable face-paints.

Rather than laying out the details of Carnival in straightforward fashion, CARNIVAL instead takes the form of a tour. The reader assumes the role of ?the Outsider,? invited into Carnival for the first time. Everything relayed in this fashion is subjective, influenced by the perspective and/or agenda of the speaker. Boxed text scattered here and there gives game stats and a drier interpretation of what?s discussed elsewhere, but even then the authors encourage potential DMs to alter the ?truth? as he or she sees fit. Whatever makes the proceedings scarier.

The wealth of detail about the characters found in Carnival provides enormous opportunity for stories and in-depth roleplay. A group of players could become involved with Carnival and easily enjoy related adventures for a year or more without exhausting everything authors John Mangrum and Steve Miller have prepared. There?s even a suggested story arc included that?s intended for integration into an existing campaign.

If CARNIVAL has any flaws, they are those that were endemic to TSR products during the last decade of that company?s existence. CARNIVAL?s boxed text frequently refers the reader to various other RAVENLOFT products to encourage synergistic sales. Thankfully CARNIVAL can be used without any RAVENLOFT-specific material whatsoever without losing a bit of its effectiveness, so the gratuitous shilling for VAN RICHTEN?S GUIDE TO FIENDS (for example) can be easily ignored. In fact, deleting the overly complicated RAVENLOFT background can improve the gaming experience by freeing Carnival to be what it ought to be: a free-floating night-terror about deformity, madness, death and redemption.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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