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!
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!
