Customer Reviews

Midnight Circus (World of Darkness)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While the book had a good premise (a new threat to the world of darkness) it really fell short in the area of game-play. The type of story that is required is for a cross-over campaign and for the Storyteller to have almost every book published by White Wolf. It does not supply any new rules. and the majority of opposition are very tough customers.

While it's true the crossover aspect requires knowledge of many of WoD's denizens to take full use of this book, I think this is a priceless addition to any story tellers collection and one that will have your players shivering when they hear that the circus is in town.

The best use I find for this book is presenting something players aren't always use to, a threat they can't over come ... they must merely survive it. At first the players are curious, by the time the dark truth of the carnival is revealed it's often to late.

I don't think this makes the good focus of a game, but it's something good to fill in time between the start of a game and the climatic conclusion. Often Story Tellers will find there campaigns running a little short and a visit from the carnival will fix that problem.

My suggestion is one of two scenarios to take from this book:

Shock and Awe: The carnival is traveling through and they manage to stumble onto it during the night it's just there when it wasn't there before. The party exploring becomes taped in the traveling carnival and are unable to leave while it's in transit. The carnival at night is a dangerous and scary place, and they must each ether win or buy there way out... perhaps there are kinder souls that can help them as a whole but they would have to find such safe harbors before they lose all that they are.

Full blown event: The carnival comes to town and it's there for the full week, the whole town is under it's spell. Even the most heartless players would be bothered by the fact that many of there servants go to the carnival and never come back. They can't stop the carnival, but can the at least save those they love (or put so much work into)? Maybe they can even find a way to make the carnival move on early? Could it be they even are strong enough to stop the carnival for good, or at the very least beat the clock and release the captured souls before the messenger of Apophis and the Inside out man arrive for there due.... maybe with out there cut of the souls they will take there cut out of the ringmaster!!!

This also gives the ST a chance to tempt the players with quick paths to power or artifacts of vast power unlike they may never see in other games, at the price of corruption. Selling away pieces of there souls for power may not be a bad deal for some people, and in some cases they may not even know the true price if the truth of the carnival hasn't been revealed yet.



This book includes: A short story to set the mood, details and stats on all the big players in the carnival and many of the smaller ones, details on the dark secrets behind the twisted attractions, guide for the corrupting affects and protective glamors of the carnival, some story telling tips, and a full story called the waistlands where the carnival arrives in NY to turn new year celebrations into a hidden threat...the building "atrocity wave".. can the players stop it?

Midnight Circus is a very strange supplement, as supplements go. Part setting book, part adventure, all kreepy circus coolness; it is a crossover book for all the major lines of the original World of Darkness (the book is from '96 I think, so that means 2nd ed. Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, Changeling and Wraith) that deals with an infernal circus and the supernatural creatures that inhabit and run it.

Anastagios Olde Time Lunar Carnival And Midnight Circus (a traveling carnival, circus and freak show ala P.T. Barnum) roams the World of Darkness, ensnaring gullible souls and luring unsuspecting people both supernatural and mundane in. Some leave. Most come back for more..

As a setting, it is a dark fantasy of circus horror. Scary clowns, freaks on display, haunting ghosts and an evil circus conductor from hell all contribute to a delightful aura of spokyness that screams out for being played while listening to Nick Caves' The Carney!

The downside to this book is that it is a total crossover thing.. Which isn't everyones cup of boiled leaves. But I loved it, and I've heard others saying they did too.

Overal, I give this bok five stars, because it hit all the right spots for me. Wonderfully written, great art, and a chilling story. I didn't really care much for the actual adventure provided in the book, but the setting material and the NPC's were brilliant, and I am definately going to use Midnight Circus in the future!

I second the comments of the other reviewers. As someone who turns to supplements like this for inspiration more than for a game-session-in-a-book, I found this one of the best sources I have ever seen.