Carnival^2

The German “Carnival of RPG-Blogs” turns 1 year old today.

Others are eminently more apt what the carnival is all about (German only, though, – so here is the short version: A group of German bloggers agree on a topic for a given month, all promising to write one or more articles for said topic and linking them back to the organizer).

We just want to congratulate and say “Thank you!” for what have been really great twelve months, with great article to read and think about and great inspiration to work on ideas (and articles) of our own.

On an anniversary like this, I think its excusable to get a bit nostalgic, looking back and looking inside as well – and so the choice of topic for this month’s carnival fell on… “Carnival”.

So this is the month to talk about the carnival itself: The idea behind it, this first year and its topics, praise (and criticism?) of it, the dynamics driving it, ideas and wishes for the project’s future, and whatever else there might be.

And that could be it if it weren’t for that aspect of, well, inspiration.

The respective topic, after all, is not just an invitation to contribute to a sharply defined question, but also a starting point to get you cooking up ideas which might range far and wide from their origin.

So, what is it we think about when we hear “carnival” and roleplaying and exclude the “Carnival of RPG-Blogs” for a moment?

yennico says:
“Concentrating on the English-language conotations seems a bit boring to me. Carnival as a masque leads either to riddling about identities or to locked room mysteries.

Why not use German carnival in a scenario?
A bodyguarding mission or an investigation during a classic carnival session. The perpetrator of a crime flees into a carnival’s procession.

I could imagine something like the Rio carnival for Blue Planet, complete with Samba groups in hightech (and native made) bikinis.

German carnival doesn’t seem to be very popular amongst German roleplayers. And to make it a major part of a game, you would need to do some research, probably.

Or we might use any number of German public broadcast reports on carnival as an inspiration: Carnival and death, quadriplegic carnival official, carnival and immigrants, carnival university, …”

Pythia says:
“Roleplaying and carnival have a lot in common. You play a role and you can act in ways impossible in everyday life.

The idea of everyone being equal for one day of the year could also make it into the game – either directly as a sort of carnival or in a more abstract fashion.

The origins of banishing winter, darkness and evil spirits with a celebratiion featuring lots of noise and costumes of monsters (as seen in southern Germany) find their way into some games already – where they are not a preset part of things, they might make a good campaign hook.”

blut_und_glas says:
“I wouldn’t necessarily exclude the English carnival-topics. There is just so much stuff out there already, one could build on – the “childeating carnivals” on Luna of Mutant Chronicles fame (which basically scream to be fleshed out some more) for example, or the nice Chais Carnival miniatures from the Warhammer Fantasy range to give another.

Also, using a wider frame of reference for “carnival” gives loads of options for circuses, fairs and masques. A basis to built a circus troupe as a group for German classic The Dark Eye, or a magickal ritual hidden within a celebration in Mage: the Ascension.”

Helau! as they say in Mainz and Düsseldof during carnival. Or Alaaf! if you are in Cologne.