Carnival Mini Games for my Eldritch Americana Campaign

My group of Eldritch Americana waste-wanderers are having a low stakes filler episode at the carnival. Here are some mini games we did while there. Most of the games are rigged. Encourage players to sneakily screw over the carnies at the midway. It is 1908, the Moon is shattered, the Elder Gods have returned and Centaur President Teddy Roosevelt is on his way out. Time to have fun.

High Striker

Good old hit the lever with the hammer and ring the bell. A straight up and down strength contest…well 1-in-10 times. The other 9-in-10 times its rigged and there is no way in hell you could win. Prize is bragging rights and a jumbo sized stuffed teddy bear.

Coconut Shy
Stack of 6 coconuts knock them down for a prize. Touted as a test of manual dexterity and skill.

Dex test will always result in 1 staying up, Strength test to knock them all down (glued together).

Small Prize- A coconut

Big prize- Chalkware figurine , 1-in-6 chance of being cursed, 1-in-6 chance of being worth a small fortune to a collector.

Ring Toss
Toss rings to get prizes. Attack roll against Chain for random prize, Attack roll against Plate + Shield for a specific prize. This can work with a Balloon Pop game too.

Red– Chinese Finger trap, may require a Wisdom or Strength check to escape.
Orange – Goldfish
Yellow– Beaglepuss glasses, may work as a disguise against particularly dense NPCs.
Green– Living Balloon animal (acts as animal it is modeled after, 1 hp, no defense)
Blue– Tickets for Ferris wheel
Indigo– Big Swirly Lollipop
Violet– Scented Paper Flower
Octarine– Can only be seen by those with Wizard Vision or getting a critical success, win a random Minor Magic Item

Whack a Mole

A Mole-Man in a white jump suit pops up from one of 5 holes around you. Roll under initiative to hit them with a paint soaked foam-bat. The Mole-Man also has a paint-bat and will hit you back if you miss. Least painted after 5 rounds wins. Prize is a folding hand fan painted by the Mole-Man.

Bobbing for Heads 

A carnie with a can stands before a tin tub full of water. “Bobbing for heads,” he hawks, “That’s right bobbing for heads, fun for the whole family!” When approached, he unsheathes his cane sword and cleanly slices off the heads of the interested party members. He rolls the still living heads into the water where they must shout commands to their headless bodies to pick their head back up and attach it back to their body. Remember left-to-right reversal also potential shenanigans for putting the wrong head on the wrong body.

Tunnel of Love

Yeah we had a romantic scene with magic lights and a first kiss between a man and a gooseman. DON’T JUDGE ME BRO IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!

Ferris Wheel

Nice big Ferris Wheel, see your house from the top. 1-in-6 chance it gets stuck with folks at the top. 1-in-6 chance it spins wildly out of control.

Wooden Roller Coaster

Roll constitution to avoid vomiting, immune to similar effects after saving.

Ghost Train
Ride in a mine cart through a “haunted tunnel” while a variety of horrors cause Fear effect, save or react appropriately. Saving against Fear effect here renders you immune to Fear on your next appropriate encounter. I’m personally excited for the potential here because the Fear effects reactions from my party here range from Run Away to Freeze Up to GOOSE ATTACK MODE.

GLOOP! Eating Contest-

Contestants have their hands tied behind their backs and sit in front of a large trough. Gloop! of a variety of flavors is released into the trough. The Gloop wants to be eaten and makes happy cooing noises as they shove and ooze their way to the contestants’ mouths. Roll Con each round to keep down the Gloop,  may have other effects depending on the type of Gloop eaten. Last one standing wins. NPC contestants have 8, 10, 12, and 14 Con. Any vomited Gloops will coo sadly then try to have someone else eat them. Winner gets a 2 HD Gloop pet. 

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2 thoughts on “Carnival Mini Games for my Eldritch Americana Campaign

  1. Goblin Laws of Gaming, GLOG. Some of the various races have differing reactions to Fear Effects rather than run away. In this case Rabbitfolk freeze up and are essentially paralyzed while Goosefolk go into Murder mode and run headlong towards the source of fear.

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