Candlelight

A one-shot horror game compatible with Trophy Dark.

Candlelight is a role playing game about the restless spirits of treasure hunters reckoning with their dark past and seeking hope in a haunted forest that wants to trap them there. It is a one-shot, rules-light game, focusing on collaborative and thematic storytelling and is designed to be flexible in how you bring it to the table:

• An epilogue for any fantasy game following character death - especially a TPK!
• A world-building prologue for any game exploring a haunted place
• A stand-alone game exploring themes of dark fantasy and supernatural horror - with a glimmering of hope and redemption. 

Candlelight is Rooted in Trophy, using the core system of Trophy Dark to tell a story of desperate characters pushing their luck in a place that constantly threatens to overwhelm them. The key difference here is that the characters have already met their doom - while Trophy Dark progresses through a series of Rings and escalating horror, Candlelight starts at that final Ring where the characters have just died. It is at the dark heart of the forest that they will begin their journey, retracing the steps they took while living, seeking hope and an escape from the forest before they become a monstrosity that haunts it forever.

Candlelight is compatible with any of the incursions (scenarios) from Trophy Dark. Detailed instructions are included for adapting your favorite Trophy Dark incursion for Candlelight, and any character creation options from Trophy are easily transferrable to Candlelight.

Here is the Candlelight playlist, including the theme song written specifically for the game, Dirge of the Lost:

https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/5VAbKdJpFKRV2Jdk5brmxU

Reviews:

"After a game of Trophy Dark where everyone dies, Candlelight is the perfect answer to the question: What now? And not only is the answer elegant and satisfying, it provides a surprising point of light in a world otherwise wrapped in darkness. Fans of ghost stories of all kinds will find much to love in Candlelight." 

-Jesse Ross, Creator of the Trophy RPG

“Gabriel is a terrific, evocative writer. There’s a lot of poetry in everything he writes, and I can’t wait to see Candlelight.”  

-Jason Cordova, Founder of The Gauntlet 

"Having played now, smolderingly good. As in breathtaking moments of "Oh, so this is what it is to be a human, and here is what I will miss once I'm gone" good." 

-Brian Sago

Read a preview of Candlelight by Clayton Notestine on The Explorer's Company here: https://www.theexplorersco.com/home/2020/candlelight/zinequest

Actual Plays:

Listen to Gabriel run a game of Candlelight on the You Are Not Alone podcast:

Part 1:  https://www.youarenotalonepod.com/podcast/episode/7e2bb220/candlelight-featuring...

Part 2: https://www.youarenotalonepod.com/podcast/episode/944f221c/candlelight-featuring...