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Tubby & Coo’s Book Shop in New Orleans is thrilled to announce the book launch of Carnival of Creatures by South Louisiana natives Candice Huber and Alexis Braud, a compendium of monsters of Louisiana myth and legend configured to be played in tabletop roleplaying games.
Author Alexis Braud, a Cut Off native and Nicholls State University graduate, is also well-known for collaborating with South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center Executive Director Jonathan Foret on their recent book, “The Fly that Flew Off the Handle,” which launched in April of 2023. As stated on Nicholls State University’s website, “[Braud] finds inspiration for her work in the characters, critters, and inherent mystery of the bayous, swamps, and marshes that she calls home. Braud realized her calling to be an artist and earned her BA in visual art with a focus on painting and sculpture from Nicholls State University. Her paintings capture the characters of her home state in their animal guises filled with all the mischievous energy, curiosity, and beauty of the wild. The raconteuse enjoys crafting, cooking, exploring her Cajun culture, and learning the ropes on her family’s small South Louisiana farm.”
Inside Carnival of Creatures are 20 monsters straight from Louisiana myth, lore, and legend with vivid illustrations and robust descriptions and stats to guide the roleplaying experience. Based in the Fate Core gaming system, these monsters can be used in any tabletop adventure, or readers can choose to play one of the three provided regional one-shot campaigns using sample characters perfect for fighting monsters. \
Monsters in the book include Louisiana classics like the Loup Garou, the Honey Island Swamp Monster, and Haints, and cryptids you’ve likely never heard of, like the Coffin Cutters, which are “devil crawfish” that eat human flesh, and the Arglefargin, a sexy sasquatch that lures people into the woods. The book also provides sample archetypal characters players can use, like the Book Nerd, the Hunter, and the Agent, as well as out-of-the-box regional one-shot adventures to play featuring New Orleans and the Carter Brothers (vampires), Natchitoches/North Louisiana and the Arglefargin, and the bayou/deep south Louisiana and Broceliande (tree goddess of the swamp). Check out some illustrations by Braud below.
Carnival of Creatures presents the monsters, characters, and adventures to be used by gamers in their roleplaying adventures; however, the beauty of the book is that you don’t need to be a tabletop gamer to enjoy it. Anyone interested in monsters of Louisiana legend will find something to love. As local celebrity T-Bob Hebert says in the introduction, “Be you a history fan, general nerd, Texan, DM, parent buying a gift for your D&D playing child who you don’t fully understand, or just a lover of great stories, this book is for everybody. […] these are your first steps into a world bursting at the seams with sneaks, spooks, and swamps.”
Carnival of Creatures can be purchased via Tubby & Coo’s website here.
