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The Dark Carnival Pre-Order Store

Created by Storytellers Forge Studios

Festivals of the Forgotten: Revelations of the Dark Carnival is a 200+ page D&D 5E-2024 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.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Update 5.0: Let's talk Tea.
over 1 year ago – Thu, Mar 20, 2025 at 05:55:00 AM

Rick shambles in.
Rick holds up cup of coffee.

Rick holds up a sign that reads: "As the dirty bean drinker, I was outvoted."

-----

Alright, I'm back to work. Which means updates and conventions. This week, we will be at Garycon!

We are working with our partners (whose logo you see on this project) over at TPK Gaming, so if you see us behind the TPK booth selling the Black Ballad and dice...well...that's why! Don't worry, you'll know it's us by the fact I'll probably be handing out fliers or eagerly flailing my arms like a penguin lost on land. Don't ask.

Today I want to talk about one of the more exciting partnerships that was brought about entirely because of a fictional entity.

Hughe, the Dark Ringmaster, canonically drinks Earl Grey Tea, like a proper mustache twirling villain. Sure, we get this. I of course, made an attempt and manufacturing a bag of proper bean juice with a very frustrated image of Hughe wondering "What the F@!# is this shite?" and the Editorial Staff promptly exiled me off the island.

Enter me blind reaching out to D&Tea.



To quote the illustrious Mr. Gideon:

D&Tea is a passion project co-managed by a small but spirited team of TTRPG enthusiasts, dedicated to bringing together two of the best things in life: tea and games. The idea was born around a tabletop, sparked by the question: "What if the tea we drank while we played gave us in-game bonuses?" This led to countless hours of discussion about which tea ingredients could enhance different aspects of gameplay. Today, D&Tea thrives as a growing collection of high-quality blends, crafted to enrich both gaming sessions and everyday moments with adventurous flavors.

But get this: One of our artists, Olivia Hintz is also their social media manager. (We did not know that when we reached out)



So, what's the deal with collaboration?

Simple... in our loot box tier we are going to uh...engage in "Playtesting" of the Tea and explore some custom blends to find the one that best fits the theme, and how to bundle and package this. We aren't there yet (that's a stage a little later in production) but we have officially decided to team up.

When you are storytelling games, physical sensations add a lot to the table experience (sight, smell, sound, touch...and taste is a powerful memory invoker). Ergo, as our goal is to provide immersive tabletop experiences and we have sight (art), sound (soundtrack and narration), touch (book), taste and smell get covered by the tea!

Every loot box tier will come with the tea we end up choosing but fret not, once the book is ready or even in the middle of this year - we will unlock some extra add on's of different flavors and accessories once they are finalized based on backer's vote.

If you are a backer on this project, there is exclusive voting options below!

That's all for today's update everyone! You can follow D&Tea everywhere @dandteaco or their website, and if you want to see some more options we are exploring and have a say in the tea / add-ons - hop on in! 

I'm out until Garycon is over, so everyone have a fantastic weekend!

-Rick

Who's at the door? Update number 4!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Mar 18, 2025 at 12:23:52 PM

Hello, you magical misfits. This is Pat Edwards, co-founder of Storytellers Forge. I took over the "update" reigns today in an attempt to force Rick to take a little break. I was hoping he'd give himself an entire day... but really I'll settle for him resting the amount of time it takes me to write this update. Real talk, you'd have a better chance stopping the sun from rising than stopping Rick from working.

On our last update, we celebrated hitting our initial funding goal... and here we are, on the very next update, having hit not one but TWO of our stretch goals! Thank you all so much. You are the absolute bestest. Anyone else who thinks they're the bestest is wrong. It's you.

Let's talk about those stretch goals, huh? First, we've unlocked more gorgeous full-color illustrations from Art Director, James Mosingo and the team! The pieces they are creating for this book are so dang good... I am ecstatic they are getting to make even more.

Second! You all have unlocked the Cosmology of the Dark Carnival by Michael Angelo, himself. This is an entire new chapter being added to the book that explores the Threefold Realms and the origins of the Dark Ringmaster's home.

"What's next?!" you ask.

"Thanks for asking," I reply. Our next stretch goal, unlocked at $70,000 is the Bestiary Pack #1. This includes three additional creations for the Festival: The Balloon Slime, the Animated Steam Organs, and the Calliope Golem! Listen, gang, if the phrase "Animated Steam Organs" doesn't you all gassed up, I don't know what will. Let's go out and get it!

Oh! And one more thing...

The folks over at Two Starving Gnolls have launched their horror game The Exorcist’s Codex—a brand-new role-playing experience set in an occult 1890s Europe. This complete game includes a Core Rulebook and a GM’s Guide, spanning 500+ pages with 12 distinct professions, VTT support, and several unlocked stretch goals, including a free scenario collection!

Inspired by Lovecraft and The Exorcist movies – we give you The Exorcist’s Codex.

Update 3.0! Severed Threads and Stretch Goals!
over 1 year ago – Sat, Mar 15, 2025 at 09:10:06 AM

*Steps up to Mic.*

*taps mic three times and stares at the crowd.*


"So we funded..."

Thank you everyone! The carnival is officially live! And we've already hit our first stretch goal to up our art budget!

"Initiate Phase 2..."

Alright, real talk, here's what happens next. All sorts of new content and mini-updates will be shared as we get closer and finish each stretch goal.

Our next one is Cosmology. A chapter where we talk about the Dark Carnival finding itself within the vast multitude of universes, and the cosmology of where it originates. Curiously, this chapter strangely finds itself...eerily compatible with the lands of the dead in the Sunless Crossing. The Threefold Reams and the Heavens Above naturally slip right into place.

Either way, this content makes the book BIGGER. Which is good. For everyone. Because when we add things like cosmology to books...we get to flesh out our Black Ballad, Dark Carnival, Red Opera universe one step at a time...

------------------and that lets us create these special events!-----------------

Severed Threads - Notes From the Black Ballad - Premieres tonight right here!


So why is this cool?

See that art? Notice how Festivals also has art? Now you are getting' it...

So right here or at twitch.tv/medmLIVE you'll be able to find the stream! 6:00PT 8CST 9 ET!

Come join us and hang out because we will all be in chat and having a launch party.  Jackdaw Memory Thieves? Noooo...that couldn't have any implications for the Unhallowed or more.

Speaking of memory thieves and warlocks...time for that backer exclusive jump. If you are a backer, I'm posting a sneak peak of the Jackdaw Warlock Class for villains down below!

Update #2.1: Goblins borked the email!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Mar 11, 2025 at 06:25:32 AM

The last update we sent (2.0) looks perfectly fine on Backerkit! But man...did that email turn south with the longest string of digital goblin speak ever.

If you got that email and made the "NaniTF?!" face...just click here:

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/storytellers-forge-studios/festival-of-the-forgotten-a-dark-carnival-5e-2024-setting/updates/18979

It will take you to the pretty window with all the pictures and text that doesn't bork out.

Note to self. The email engine does not like it when you copy paste the images in.

Update #2: Only $2,000 Away! Let's talk Layout!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Mar 11, 2025 at 06:07:20 AM

Hey everyone! Rick Here!

Week 2 officially begins in a few hours and we are so close...like so close. So...wanna help us achieve a milestone? Back today and we at least get to claim the fancy "funded in one week badge". Plus! That means stretch goal territory begins and that's where things REALLY start adding on extra content for everyone.

This week, we will have two updates for you. One today, and one this weekend. The Tuesday one, is about the unsung heroes of the TTRPG industry:

Layout.

I'm going to let Nikki Tantillo have the floor for most of this post, and some of the design process will be hidden down into that exclusive "must be a backer" area. Nikki will walk everyone through all the steps that came up during the design of The Festivals of the Forgotten.

Before we get there...studio allies and friends of the Forge have been helping us spread the word. So we'd like to return the favor.



Ghosts of Wrath by Cawood Publishing only has 8 days left on their funding and they are *also* on Backerkit. It's a smaller pirate themed undead adventure and book...so I can entirely see why Pat Edwards fell in love :3. You can check out their campaign here: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/cawood-publishing/the-ghosts-of-wrath-adventure-for-5e-and-other-ttrpgs#top

Now let me introduce Niki Tantillo!

Hi all! I'm Niki, your resident layout artist here to give you a tour of the design process for Festival of the Forgotten. With each layout I create for Storytellers Forge, the same 3 steps are used from from research to final concept.

Step 1: Research and Ref Building

Before any drawing takes place, I spend a LOT of time on research. Like with The Black Ballad, I wanted to bake the world and themes directly onto the pages. Doing this involves reading and taking notes from the campaign, understanding its underlying themes, then looking at real life examples for inspiration. For Festival of the Forgotten, I studied how carnivals and festivals were represented throughout history, fantasy literature, and modern video and tabletop games, as well as some side topics like jackdaws, textures/materials, layouts, etc. 

The end byproduct of this research is a mood board packed with inspiration and textures to test out (will get to that later), a mind map to tie some concepts together, and some early sketches for layout asset pieces. The mind map is great for picking out pieces from the title to decide what elements to use more literally or figuratively in the final run.

 

Step 2 Concept Mockups:

During research, some ideas for a layout direction started to solidify:

  • A purple overall color scheme to compliment the art already created for the campaign.
  • Iridescence materials/colors as it ties some figurative and literal themes together. The literal being the jackdaws and their feathers, cosmic/eldritch influences over the setting, and the colorful environment of the carnival itself. The figurative being the ever-changing nature that is iridescence when viewed upon at a different perspective. The concept of what is good and evil is constantly twisted throughout the campaign and is heavily dependent on the perspective of the player.
  • A mix of grit and unease without feeling run-down or horror-like.
The big challenge in all of this would be (and was) the how and well….I was stuck on this…for a while. 

The mockup process involves a mix of photo bashing and painting to get a “feel” for the idea. I take references that I’ve saved over time in the mood board, paste them into a photoshop mockup with some text, then cut and mold into multiple different iterations until something starts to take shape. The images used in the mockup stage are NOT used in the final. Everything is reference only and the final assets are always painted from scratch.

Here is an example from The Black Ballad:




To see the rest of the design for Festivals of the Forgotten and the continuation...sign up and pledge your support! All the Festivals behind the scene goodies are below!