(Author’s note: One of my article readers suggested looking at Ravenloft’s Carnival, which I did, and expanded the article in certain places. Hopefully, you’ll like the expanded ideas contained herein) Circuses have been around forever as traveling entertainers of acrobats, magicians, jugglers, clowns, freak shows, animal acts, and more. It’s usually fun for the entire family. Yet sometimes there’s more than meets the eye. Using these details you can provide your players with an unforgettable circus experience that will bring this fleeting event alive. If done properly, using these ideas as a base, an entire campaign could be built around this. D20 Types of circus acts & workers This list is a starting point to get your imagination working. In and of itself should this list be considered to be a comprehensive list of the types of entertainers, workers, or miscellaneous other people who are at the circus. Knife thrower: a person who excels at throwing knives at often moving targets Fortune teller: one who uses various methods of foretelling the future. See below for types of fortune telling Contortionist: twisting one’s body in unusual shapes. Sometimes of this can be done by normal methods of training, but other types are only able to result from having a birth defect of some kind. Includes weaving one’s body through hoops, twisting one’s body in awkward poses, and stuffing one’s self in a box. Juggler: someone who is able to keep multiple object in the air. Freak show: someone who is categorically different (see table below) Stage magician & Escapology (see table below) High wire act: a balancing act on a wire. Trapeze Artist/ swinging act might also qualify Swallowers: practitioners know the secrets of swallowing (or eating) either fire or swords. Unicyclist/ bicyclist/ motorcyclist: Someone who rides a cycle to do crazy tricks. Stilt walker: someone who uses stilts to entertain an audience Clown: (usually) white face painted actors with a red nose. Modern clowns typically wear large shoes and colorful outfits. Variations may include the mime, jesters, jokers, and harlequins. In the Ravenloft Campaign setting there are the Skurra Vera who use the magic of the twisting (see below on The Twisting details) Acrobatic or Pole acts – such things including tumbling, non-wire balance acts, Chinese & Russian poles, and the Spanish web Animal act (see table below) Human Cannonball: A person who’s shot out of a cannon Musician: a circus is not complete without sound effects and music, which the musician would provide. Plate Spinning: a person who is able to keep multiple plates spinning at once. Ringmaster: the person who runs the show. May also be called the MC/ Master of Ceremonies General Labor/ Stagehand Setup crew: the people who setup & tear down the circus Ticketmaster: the person who sells the tickets in order to view the show, or rides. In a modern day setting, this person might also inspect the rides for safety, ensuring that the passengers are secured properly for the rides. Magician’s assistant: usually a lovely young woman in a pretty dress to distract the audience while he performs his tricks. Food vendor: a person hawking food for the venue. Roll again, ignoring results of 19-20 Roll twice, combining results, but ignoring new rolls of 19-20 d30 Fortune Telling methods Astrology: by the movements of celestial bodies. Automatic Writing: a method in which the writer holds a pen or pencil, and allows messages to flow through them without any conscious thought or effort. Bazi or four pillars: by hour, day, month, and year of birth. May be considered to be a form of horoscopy Bibliomancy: by books; frequently, but not always, religious texts. Cartomancy: by playing cards, tarot cards, or oracle cards. Ceromancy: by patterns in melting or dripping wax. Chiromancy/ Palmistry: by the shape of the hands and lines in the palms. Chronomancy: by determination of lucky and unlucky days. Clairvoyance: by spiritual vision or inner sight. Cleromancy: by casting of lots, or casting bones or stones. Cold reading: by using visual and aural clues. Crystallomancy: by crystal ball also called scrying. Demonomancy: divination with the aid of demons. Extispicy: by the entrails of animals / Haruspicy: by the livers of sacrificed animals. This would likely only be done in cities where great numbers of animals may be expendable. Elemental Fortune Telling: Geomancy: by markings in the ground, sand, earth, or soil/ Feng shui: by earthen harmony. Hydromancy: by water. Pyromancy: by gazing into fire Aeromancy: is divination conducted by interpreting atmospheric conditions. I Ching divination: by yarrow stalks or coins and the I Ching. This is similar to Ogham rune sticks Lithomancy: by stones or gems. Metal Casting: divining the future from the pourings of molten metals Necromancy: by the dead, or by spirits or souls of the dead. Numerology: by numbers. Oneiromancy: by dreams. Onomancy: by names. This can be seen in the bible. Revelation 13:18 says, “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is 666.” Palmistry: by lines and mounds on the hand. Pendulum reading: by the movements of a suspended object. Psychometry: the faculty of gaining impressions from a physical object and its history. Runecasting or Runic divination: by runes. Scrying: by looking at or into reflective objects. Spirit board: by planchette or talking board. Taromancy: by a form of cartomancy using tarot cards. Tasseography or tasseomancy: by tea leaves or coffee grounds D12 Freak Show Performers Bearded lady: this might be a female dwarf Walking skeleton: could be a sentient skeleton or other simply a animated object in the form of a skeleton Fat man: this could be any class or race that has the “swallow whole” feature. This class might fit the bill Strong man: in this might be a person who has a high strength rating Tattooed person: this might be someone with the “Tattooed monk” class Insect circus: Roll d6 fleas spider/ ant scorpion bees/ wasp roach […]
↧