Festivals of the Forgotten: Revelations of the Dark Carnival is a 200+ page D&D Player Supplement and Adventure featuring the Dark Carnival in all its eccentric glory with musical score by V is for Villains. Be Evil. But Be Magnificent.
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 player handbook and adventure campaign is designed to interrupt your current storyline and provide eldritch secrets for your party… or a new home for them to travel with. If they can pass the test to answer a question every storyteller is eternally curious about that is—what really matters to your character?
Warlocks and Patrons are vilified, and now, thanks to the hubris of Coastal Wizards, a proper Patron can’t even barter a soul upon innocent fresh adventurers! The audacity. The Dark Ringmaster, Hughe, 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 bring his show on the road and play the role he’s been cast in. 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 is it the memory of your loved ones that will gain your attention…
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Within this book, you’ll find a full carnival and performance 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 or odd arcane secrets from a new Patron who had, until now, 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 use the traveling carnival as an excuse to launch a multi-planar campaign or travel to new settings like The Shadelands, or even the Afterlife. For better or worse… no world can stop the Dark Ringmaster from showcasing all the Darklings he’s collected.
An establishment as enormous as the Dark Carnival is always hiring, and all someone needs to decide is which job fits best. But fret not! Although the variety of options can be staggering, leading to a score of unused penned creations, it is only a matter of time before the chance is at hand and your true calling is found—with the Dark Ringmaster’s blessings, of course.
Or perhaps, against all wisdom, you do not wish to join the illustrious Carnival but still wish to emulate its flavorful occupations. Fortunate for you then, oh wayward thinkers, for each of these jobs has been likewise translated to exist wholly separate from Hughe’s grand design. Indeed, every one of these options can exist in settings where the inky reach of the Dark Carnival may never find purchase. Or perhaps that is what we want you to believe?
In Festivals of the Forgotten, we introduce 13 new subclasses that are designed for 2024 5E, BUT with a twist! Each of the subclasses featured in the book includes eccentric flaws and magnificent villainous traits that are perfect for both players and Storytellers alike.
A Necrowright can be both a massive campaign villain for your world or a tragic hero for a PC. Here is an example of each of the classes:
Necrowright ("Inventor"):Build nightmare constructs of flesh, bone, and alloy. These constructs are, to the Necrowrights, as much their children as their craft projects, and woe to any who would mock or harm their gibbering, mindless, rotting babies.
Path of the Showstopper (Barbarian): Everyone loves clowns! That same unsettling, uncanny, feeling is quite accurate to how one would feel in the presence of a Showstopper, no matter where they are found.
College of Carnival (Bard): Circuses and carnivals can make for compelling locations in most settings, and within each, there is sure to be a ringleader with a flair for theatrics. After all, just because a carnival exists in a setting does not mean it needs to belong to the Dark Ringmaster. That would be silly, right? ...Right?
Blasphemy Domain (Cleric): While evil deities exist in plenty of settings, these Clerics take it a step further. Given the vast quantity of power that pantheons tend to have, this siphoning is like taking a drop of water from an ocean.
Circle of Null (Druid): Druids are typically made to be mortal manifestations of the natural world. However, what is natural for some may be alien for others, and that is where the Circle of Null can find purchase in a setting. What if your druids turned into aberrant entities, they thought were adorable?
Dread Saint (Fighter): The concept of a warlord-like character is not uncommon in the fantasy genre, and Dread Saints embody this to the edgiest degree. They are the armor-clad force of nature that leaves swaths of destruction in their wake until what they once were becomes lost even to them.
Way of the Daredevil (Monk): Daredevil individuals who have perfected their form to manifest as much speed as possible—something many Monks are known to do anyway, given their ever-escalating movement Speed.
Oath of the Mageguard(Paladin): While other, more traditional Paladin orders strive to protect the innocent and smite those who would bring them harm, there can easily be others who do the same for magic users. The Mageguard protects the strange and occult from harm in stark contrast to other Paladin orders.
Hellhound Tamer (Ranger): Among Rangers, there are a plethora of environments they can call home and creatures to call friends. For Hellhound Tamers, this means both just happen to be more fiendish in nature. These individuals brave the fiery wastes and thrive no different than their peers would a forest or mountain.
Thespian Jack (Rogue):There is always room for spies, be they organized or not. Although they may not go by “Thespian Jacks,” the idea of a master of disguise is by no means a new or original one. Anywhere intrigue and espionage abound, there is a place for these costumed connoisseurs.
Warped Soul (Sorcerer): Humanoid experimentation and magic can frequently go hand in hand depending on the setting, and such places are where these Sorcerers may end up. Not all birthrights are a blessing.
Dark Ringmaster (Warlock): Perhaps the most niche of subclasses present in this tome; it is understandable to view this brand of Warlock as explicitly linked to the Dark Ringmaster. If a Storyteller is willing to allow some fourth-wall-breaking shenanigans, all the better.
Threadmage (Wizard): It makes sense that some practitioners of the arcane would seek to utilize it beyond simply casting great balls of fire into cramped rooms. Although this means Threadmages could win the vote of “least likely to be a villain,” it bears reminding that cursed items exist. Why would we remind you of this? No reason. None at all.
“I know you only just walked in, but we could use a talent like yours. So said the Ringmaster, and so it must be.”
–Luthor, Archvicar
Each of the classes tragically develops quirks unique to their personality to help expand roleplaying options in a flawed way that is sure to make every character stand out.
Storytellers Forge is an indie roleplaying game design studio headquartered in the state of Illinois in the US that focuses on crafting compelling narratives—with a creator-focused spotlight. We create full campaigns, storylines, and worlds adaptable for any storyteller’s home world in evocative and immersive ways.
Our first project, The Black Ballad, was successfully crowdfunded and the full team of amazing creatives and artists who built that project is available by clicking on this link: The Black Ballad by ST Forge.
As a studio, our primary goal is to bring the work of artists, writers, designers, and creatives to light in the roleplaying community.
We empower our teams with the ability to take ownership of the work they create. By allowing this creative pride, we can explore interesting concepts like featuring immersive soundtracks by artists for play at the table or telling stories across multiple game systems. From one-shot horror scenarios, epic full-length campaigns, or collaborative apocalyptic settings, Storytellers Forge can help add flavor to any world setting.
Let's lay out why we are crowdfunding and why we need your support!
Timeline!
We've come as far as we can on the project, but now we need your help to finish the book and get into production! The core manuscript is already written, and after the crowdfunding, we estimate the following timeline:
April-May: Writing and drafting additional stretch goal content. June-August: Copy Edits and Art Production! September-November: Layout and Final Assembly. Preview it at PAX Unplugged with our friends at Gehenna Gaming in November before... Early PDF Release is targeted for December of 2025, with the final PDF release after the last playtest estimated for January of 2026. Physical books should be shipped out in April or May of 2026.
If you want to follow along with the project every step of the way as we get elements completed, joining our discord is the best way! We are constantly putting updates and releasing elements for playtest!
Financials!(Or why we are asking you for support).
The creation of large books such as this consists of many moving parts. We fully understand that Storytellers Forge is a new studio, and we are painfully (and intimately) aware that not every project promised by other creators has come to fruition so; to help allay those fears, we can at least say that we've done this before and have ACTUALLY delivered our project on time and beat the schedule! The Black Ballad fully exists in the world!
You only need to check our website! Plus, the core book is already drafted, and we've gotten a LOT further in production with Festival of the Forgotten than we had with The Black Ballad.
Unless some unforeseen calamity strikes this planet, we are confident in our ability to fill this campaign and get the Carnival in everyone's hands as soon as we finish. Honestly, we can't wait to dive back into full production!
All taxes and shipping fees will be collected once we are ready to ship in early 2026, well after your survey is completed. We are based out of IL, and given recent changes in tax laws in 2022, yes that means even states exempt from Sales Tax have to fork over money to the state of IL. Shipping prices below are a range:
Domestic United States: Hardcover Book: $16-22 Loot Boxes: $30
International: (priced in USD). (These are subject to change based on country and location, but based on the prior experience, these are the averages). Hardcover Books: $25 on average. Loot Boxes: $45 on average.
Shipping and Taxes will be collected after the campaign ends and before the books are delivered.
Novels and Journals: $7-10 based on quantity and version. The Black Ballad: $10-14 based on quantity and version.
