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Hello you gorgeous Darklings and Cryptids! Hopefully some of you have gotten a chance to crack open the PDF and see how gorgeous this book is! (If you didn't back and want a PDF copy of your own, you can now just order one HERE.)

We enter Phase 4 of the plan. Manufacturing. Getting the UV, sprayed edges, foiled stamped, beauty of a book through all the manufacturing process takes a bit - so bear with us on that. It's a lot of technical bits.

HOWEVER! If you like what we do and you want a good idea to make the transition from 5E into a new system - consider a TPK! The Black Ballad: Second Chances is almost at it's 50% goal for funding over on Kickstarter and it's the herald to our Red Opera: Reforged campaign.

Within this splat book you'll get crossway coins, more music, a reusable oneshot, an all of the Black Ballad converted over into Shadowdark in a wickedly cool stylized fashion.

We need your support to make it happen! This project is already finished creatively, and our goal is to print it at the same time we order the Dark Carnival books.

So if your a Shadowdark fan, or just like helping indie studios and collecting cool stuff...

Click Here to help us get closer to the finish line!

(Don't worry, it's much cheaper and our goal is NOT the same goal we had with Dark Carnival. This is a much simpler project).

Check your emails (promotion and spam) if you didn't see the digital download link from Backerkit a few minutes ago!

The final PDF package is released containing:

Other backers with different digital rewards also got theirs! We officially did it! (Albeit a little later than we wanted to, but hey, who is complaining about more art!)

If you MISSED your chance during the crowdfunding: You can pick up the PDF right now on our store by clicking here: https://www.storytellersforge.com/shop/p/darkcarnivalpdf

Or, you can still preorder the hardcover right here.

BUT THAT IS NOT ALL!

If you don't know about Black Ballad Shadowdark that we are launching THIS month, we could really use everyone's support on March 17th. If you are reading this, please click the link below and follow along Kickstarter so that you get notified the second we turn the campaign live.

The first 12 hours of a Kickstarter are vital for the whole campaign...and all of you lovely people make up our core supporters!

Click this link right here to sign up! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stforge/the-black-ballad-for-shadowdark-rpg?ref=8d4mgv

If you haven't seen the official trailer for it that David Granjo made: ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5RBJMSaZZc )

Title says it all guys!

There are still a surprising number of people (more than we've ever had!) who haven't filled out their address. We can't even deliver digital rewards (and more are coming REAL soon!) without you filling out your address. Check your SPAM folders or PROMOTION folders! Gmail likes to hide them there now!

-Loot Box's officially passed the print test! This is a good thing! That's one major item fully finished.

-The Dark Carnival final PDF is coming this month. Once we have the final book, we zoom into print production.

Everything cascades very fast after that, and so: You have until Friday to hit the Pre-order store.

---Now---

We've got some cool things coming this year! A lot of push will be on Shadowdark and Daggerheart game systems.

Our very own Jeff Mueller has launched his own Shadowdark: The Curse of Stoneshatter Tomb. Jeff is the man behind "The Lockcross" contract within the Dark Carnival book AND he will be writing some stories set within the Black Ballad. Click HERE to check out the project!

Right this, comes Black Ballad Second Chances. It's a far less ambitious project than the Dark Carnival, but still important to our studio none the less! If you think you will back this project or it sounds interesting! PLEASE FOLLOW (BY CLICKING HERE!). Following helps us determine can we safely launch without losing our butts?

And so..yes...it's handy...please do it :3

Thank you!

Hey everyone! The chaos and fires of 2026 begin to rage around us. Ergo, distraction time!

I wanted to do something a bit different this time. Sometimes, not everything makes the cut in production for the final book (art, layout, page space) for a variety of reasons. So I'm going to put in some content that hopefully you can throw in your home game! Think of this as some extra micro content you can use as inspiration or in case you ever need a random game at your table (regardless of the system you are running. They work for everything). I'll save some carnival games for future updates, and generally chuck one or two in (or maybe a cut monster) if you guys appreciate this form of content. 

The Ringmaster and the Stars

The Rules: A Hider hides several shiny objects in one hand, then holds their hands out for the Guesser to choose. Pick the right hand and win.

The Legend: The Ringmaster stole the Stars, and hid them. Then he held out his hands and asked, "In which hand do I hold your Star?" Celestial after Celestial bet their very wings to save the Stars, guessing wrong only to have the Ringmaster show the Stars in the other hand. Finally, the first Celestial of the Threefold Realms answered correctly. "The Stars are in neither hand, you have hidden them in Darkness. From there the Stars will come, and you will go." The Ringmaster vanished as the warm light of the Stars filled the sky for the next century.

The Lesson: Don't get caught playing with no token in your hand.

Your players will likely encounter this game early as it was one of the first games of the Carnival. Easy to play and bet on. It should take a few losses before the players figure out that any Darkling hosting the game never actually puts any shiny objects in their hand and the correct answer is always "none": but don't spoil that surprise early.


Production Update:

-Music MP3's: We've gotten a few questions about music delivery. When the final PDF is released and we do digital distribution of all the assets there will be a MP3 pack that comes with it. Don't worry, we've got you!

-Final PDF: Thank you for the feedback everyone! So far the response on the draft pdf has been overwhelmingly positive. We are bug bashing out a few things and still wrapping up final art (holidays and the chaos of life). It is coming *tm* soon. BUT! We have started ordering accessories and components! The Dark Carnival Stickers, Freckle Dice Trays, and Dice Holders are officially acquired and the loot boxes (as in the actual box) are on the way!

Black Ballad Second Chances!

We are officially accepting Followers for our next Supplement! Sign up to Follow on our Kickstarter HERE!

I have attached a sample of our layout and books spreads below. This way, all of you can see it's not the same book as the Black Ballad by a long mile. It's totally designed for Shadowdark and meant to stand alone entirely from the Black Ballad while adding new content on top of it!

*Slides into frame just before the deadline. The writers hair is all frazzled, the wild racoon eyes betray the coffee intake level, but there is still a mad grin as he holds up a shiny treasure.*

It's officially update time! The kind of update time where we are going to ask you to check your email: find your spam folder / promotion folder and look for something called "The Dark Carnival Early Release".

If you are a Backer who has filled out your pledge survey: you should have an email. If you have NOT filled out your pledge survey over the past few months...you will not have an email. Ergo...check your emails (particularly spam and promotions tabs).

However! Walla! The Dark Carnival PDF - Early Draft. (If you wanna see it, you can still Pre-Order the Dark Carnival for a tiny bit longer!)

What the heck is Early Draft?

Okay...so...this update comes with good news and bad news. Good News! le Shiny! Oooooh....Aaaaaah..!! Seriously, the PDF is 95% complete and it's at this point we release this for one final check from the backers who wanna dive into the content, check for those rogue typos, or layout errors that are glaring.

You'll notice a few "Art Coming Soon" Boxes, and that's where we get into the bad news:

Physical Print is going to be delayed. :(

But for Good Reasons! In layout, we added over 10,000 words of content and more artwork to help round out a few pointy sections. We are still waiting for some of that art to return, and while we wait for that: we run into Chinese New Year where everything shuts down for a month. Which (if you ever calculate logistics, means a 2 month delay) in physical print...well, we had to have at least one update with a delay...right? It was bound to happen sooner or later.

At least all of you will get to see how awesome this project has turned out NOW, offer any final feedback, and then we will be entering production.

Early Draft PDF Enjoyment:

-Please check the QR Codes for the soundtrack! Make sure they work. (Page 6 on the PDF). The full album is behind there!
-Check for any typos or layout graphical errors. Email any findings to [email protected] or just ping us on Discord.
-Head Pats? We accept head pats.

Black Ballad: Second Chances: Official Announcement.

We are gearing up with our next project while the Dark Carnival finishes. This is a WHOLE DIFFERENT BOOK, designed entirely for Shadowdark & The Black Ballad.

You can sign up to follow for along on that project by clicking HERE or the image below.