>>95863258
>>95863293
>The characters have an ally in the carnival: a planeswalking gnome bard named Ellywick Tumblestrum. The characters don't know Tumblestrum, but she knows them because her lute has magic strings that whisper secrets to her as she plucks them.
>These strings guided the gnome bard to the carnival and revealed to Tumblestrum that the characters' fates are intertwined with the fate of Prismeer. She has bought a ticket for each character who isn't a carnival employee. (The tickets are waiting at the ticket booth by the entrance.)

>Tumblestrum can be found in the Feasting Orchard (described later in the chapter) and serves as a helpful guide if the characters need direction.

I remember reading the adventure when it came out, it was very soft but that thats they were going for, not dark fantasy or horror fatasy. The original hook to get the players in is actually cool. If you want to run this module, do something else first. Phandelver, icespire peak etc. and at the start of that module, have the players cursed.

>Lost Things
>Ability to keep secrets
disadvnatage on deception checks
>Ability to smile
disadvtage on persuasion checks
>Artistic creativity
disadvantage on performance and any check that requires a tool
>Cherished doll or stuffed animal
up to you
>Handwriting
no body can read their handwriging without magic. scribing a spell or copying one into a spell book takes twice as long
>Sense of direction
disadvanttage on survival checks made to travel adnm can't benefit from a map
>Sense of fashion
-2 to all CHA rolls.
>Three inches of height
Make it 9 inches, make NPCs comment on it or kinder once help them reach things on higher shelves for them.

Some are harsher than others and some can be largerly ignored depending on the character, but living with these curses for long enough and eventually finding out that they can't remove them with remove curse, might give them a better drive once the carvival rolls around.