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OUR WORLD HAS CHANGED.
A long time ago, our world hoping to die in a way they
was mysteriously robbed of deem "honorable."
its colors; though many have
tried, no explanation has been In a world such as this, where
found. The days are bleak and will you be?
white, the nights dark and
silent. No rainbow ever
graces the sky, no star ever
twinkles in the void.
Desperate and afraid, some
have followed a faint voice
that promised light, one they
believed would guide them to
the end of the tunnel, while
others gave in to the dark,
seeking solace in the dark
magic within, and perhaps
even answers. Neither of
those hopes would ever come
to fruition, as those who
ventured forth never returned
with answers.
The roads connecting towns
and villages have become the
hunting grounds of ruthless
executioners and occultists,
the few who can grasp the
new nature of the world, and
who strike against any who
crosses their path, refusing to
let their guard down in hopes
of living another day.
The ancient dungeons have
been invaded by equally
brave and reckless
adventurers and sorcerers
alike, who gamble their lives
for treasures and secrets,
perhaps trying to satisfy their
hunger or longing, or perhaps
1.
WHAT HAPPENED HERE?
The Candle-Lit’s basic them the secrets of sorcery,
narrative takes place in a but in turn, asked for the
distant era of swords and secrets to remain between
sorcery, though one marred only it and its apprentices - as
by the abrupt disappearance expected, those who came
of the sun and the skies, and back shared all they learned
the subsequent insanity that and wrote down all of the
befell this world. Since the secrets within a grimoire,
calamity of many names - be which became lost after the
it ‘the sun’s murder’, ‘the authors suffered a horrible
silent rapture’ or ‘the rebirth’ - accident during the
occurred, it fractured society inauguration of their library.
into several separate
independent factions. Some These entities are recognized
strive to restore the world to as the strongest among their
its former glory, others revel kind, with several tales of
in the bleakness of the demons running in fear at the
situation, while others just sight of the shadowy figure or
accept things as they are and disappearing after the voice is
focus on their survival, heard. Yet, rumors persist of
regardless. something even more
formidable, rumored to be the
However, the people of this one behind the calamity, the
world are far from alone. Not origin of sorcery, and the
long after the calamity, many demons who roam the land.
began to hear a faint voice Details about this entity
calling out to them, promising remain scarce, as those who
that the light was still in claimed to have encountered
reach: those who went after it it disappeared mysteriously a
vanished in the radiance. The few days later, leaving no
mysterious voice isn’t the trace of their existence behind
only inhuman force at play, - not even the memories of
however… Those courageous those who knew them.
enough went everywhere for
answers, and in their searches,
all of them eventually came
by a tall and shadow-like
figure, who despite its
threatening appearance,
would offer a helping hand to
those following the restless
pursuit for answers. It taught
2.
THOSE WHO VENTURE
Rough executioners. Manic their soul, the soul spectrum,
occultists. Daring ranging from darkness to
adventurers. Wise sorcerers. radiance. To survive, you
The world of The Candle-Lit must maintain balance;
is built out of those and many tipping too far in either
more. Now, it’s your chance direction can lead to your
to step into the shoes of one downfall, as it has to many
of these unfortunate souls. others before you. When you
take damage or perform an
To create a character in The action that could upset this
Candle-Lit, which are referred balance, you receive a point
to as carriers, follow these towards the narrator’s chosen
steps: state. If you have at least one
• Develop a concept and point assigned to a state, you
choose a name. cannot have a point assigned
• Select a faction, noting to the opposite state. Instead,
down the associated skill and any points received for a state
initiative score. are reduced by the currently
• Distribute 7 points between assigned points of its
your two aptitudes: ordinary opposite.
(related to general talents) and
occult (related to magical Example: Agnes faces off
talents). At character creation, simultaneously against a
an aptitude cannot exceed 5. crazed cultist and a zealous
• Revise as needed until knight. She takes radiance
you’re satisfied. damage from the knight twice,
putting her at +2 radiance.
Example: Agnes is a dark However, the cultist strikes
knight who dabbles in the with a horrible curse, causing
occult, and associates herself 3 darkness damage.
with the sunkillers cult, Decreasing her current
therefore making it her radiance damage by her new
faction. She assigns 4 points darkness damage, she is now
to her ordinary aptitude, at +1 darkness.
reflecting her skills as a
knight, and 3 to her occult NOTE: While not obligatory, I’d
aptitude, to indicate her recommend you slightly change
interest in magic. your interpretation of your
character depending on which state
they’re currently inclined to, such as
Each carrier has a spectrum the gradual insanity of the radiance
that represents the state of or the silent despair of the darkness.
 FACTIONS
• Achievers (1): A group state.
known for their unshaking • Sages (6): Wise people who
determination. attempt to learn more and
○ When you have more more about the world.
than one failure on a check, ○ Once per check, you
you may choose to not mark may accept to receive one
down one failure. point to a state chosen by the
• Sunkiller (2): One of the narrator to reroll the highest
most populated cults, formed failure.
to adore whatever caused the
calamity.
○ While you have at BECOMING STRONGER
least one point in darkness,
the aptitude you use in any
check is considered to have To improve your
+1 to it. survivability, you are given
• Blessed Siblings (3): the chance to level up and
Members of a church become gradually stronger,
dedicated to adoring an perhaps eventually being able
unknown idol. to face the entities
○ While you have at themselves…
least one point in radiance,
the aptitude you use in any Leveling up occurs during
check is considered to have rests, and happens when the
+1 to it. narrator declares that the
• Guardians of the Gloom stakes have increased. With
(4): People who are dedicated that, you go up one level, and
to stopping any attempt to you mark your new level on
recover the world to its your sheet, as well as any
former state. other improvements.
○ While under the grave
danger condition due to filling
up your darkness state, you
can only lose one move per
check or damage.
• Hermits (5): Lone
wanderers who often travel
from place to place.
○ You start with 1 state
reduction. When you get
another state reduction, you
can’t assign it to the same
 BECOMING STRONGER
LEVEL REWARD
1 Base level.
2 +1 aptitude point.
3 Unlock combat move.
4 +1 move tally space.
5 +1 aptitude point.
6 +1 state reduction.
7 Unlock combat move.
8 +1 aptitude point.
Example: During rest, Agnes
goes up to level 2, granting
her an additional point to
assign to any ofher aptitudes.
She adds it to her ordinary
aptitude, making it a 5. When
her level goes up to 4, her
move tally now has 5 spaces,
instead of4.

At level 6, carriers are

rewarded with a resource
called state reduction, which
is, in short, an armor that
protects them from direct
damage towards the state they
choose. When damage is done
directly to the soul spectrum,
instead of through the move
tally, apply this reduction to
the damage.
In the next chapter, combat
moves will be explained.
3.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
Very little. FIGHTING OFF HARM
Fight back, run away, calm
others, or accept fate as it is When a conflict can only be
presented to us. Regardless, a resolved by drawing blood,
permanent victory is a distant carriers and adversaries will
dream to the people of this enter combat. The general
world. You’ll figure structure is as follows:
something out, though - • Define the initiative order.
otherwise, why would your Carriers have initiative scores
story, of all others, be chosen based on their places, and the
to be told? group’s initiative order goes
First, The Candle-Lit has from the lowest to the highest
players rolling d8s for their score. If two carrier units
checks, and to define a have the same score, one is
successful result, players chosen to go first.
compare their results to the Adversaries, however, have
aptitude they used for the their initiative order entirely
check; results under the decided by the narrator.
aptitude’s score are a success, Whether the carriers or the
and count towards checks’ adversaries go first depends
target successes. Results on what makes most sense;
equal to, or over, the for example, if the party was
aptitude’s score, however, are ambushed, then the
failures, and are marked down adversaries go first, while the
on the carrier's move tally, party would go first if they
reducing their dice pool had ambushed the
temporarily. adversaries.
• Take turns. Declare an
Target successes are the action, and risk your dice
number of successes required from the move tally
to surpass a challenge; one depending on what you’re
success is an easy check; two doing.
successes are a medium • Attack. Perform a check to
check; three successes are a attack your target, and they
difficult check; four successes have to roll the same number
are an impossible check. of dice as you. Compare
results to see whether you
succeeded or not: if had more
successes than your target,
you succeed at attacking, but
fail otherwise. If you’re being
 FIGHTING OFF HARM
attacked by an adversary that At certain levels, you can
can easily threaten your soul unlock a combat move, which
spectrum, such as calamitous allows you to do unique
adversaries, roll 3 dice for actions while taking your turn
your evasion. In case your - and perhaps, even outside of
attack fails, you can choose toyour turn.
do another action, as long as • Parry: When successfully
this action is not intended to attacked, you may mark down
harm your adversaries. one space on the move tally to
• Determine damage. cause 1 damage back, once
Subtract your target’s per round.
successes from your own to • Swift Strike: The first time
calculate the base damage, you declare an attack and
before applying relevant choose your number of dice,
bonuses and penalties, and mark down two spaces on the
then dealing the final damage, move tally to decrease your
either to the life spectrum, iftarget’s dice to avoid your
you are a player targeting an attack by one. You can’t use
enemy, or to the soul this combat move if you have
spectrum, if the attacker is anchosen to use only one dice,
adversary targeting a carrier. even if it’s your last.
If the final damage was 0 or • Daredevil: Choose one
below, you still deal 1 target you can see. This
damage. Weaker adversaries, target’s next attack will be
of the average and brutal against you, and will cause +2
categories, cause damage by damage. However, if you
decreasing the move tally. successfully avoid the attack,
you cause 2 damage against
your target, and may mark
down up to two move tally
spaces to increase damage by
THE BATTLEFIELD IS that same amount.
• Step Down: Mark down
FOR THE SMART two move tally spaces to
become temporarily
As you become stronger, you untargetable.
an attack on
If you declare
any target, or
learn more and more about attempt to perform some other
how far you can go with your action to indirectly harm
talents. Combat starts to make targets, you lose this effect.
more sense to you, and you • Karmatic Retribution:
are willing to try a few new When your move tally is
tricks…
THE BATTLEFIELD IS FOR THE SMART
filled up, you can request the If you were taken by the
narrator to add a consequence radiance: the call of the
that hinders both sides of the radiance now pierces your
fight. mind, as a deafening roar
• Reckless Charge: Mark replaces the quiet whispers
down three move tally spaces and false promises. Your eyes
when attacking. You and your and mouth begin to glow, and
target roll twice the number you feel your life flash before
of dice you would normally your eyes, while the body that
use for the attack. If you once welcomed the light is
succeed, you deal double the slowly reduced into nothing,
damage. If you fail, you take being erased by the radiance.
damage equal to the You become a faded memory,
difference between your a hope that never came true.
successes and your target’s
successes. This can only be If you were taken by the
done once per combat. darkness: the watchful eyes
of the darkness now stare into
your own wet and blurred
eyes, judging your every sin,
THE END OF THE deeming you unworthy, and
opening its maw to swallow
ROAD you whole. Though you try to
resist, warding off the hands
Your wounds are beginning to that bind you to the floor
take over your body. Your briefly, the darkness inside
step becomes gradually you has grown too big to be
heavier, as you struggle to contained, as you are finally
carry your own weight while devoured, consumed by the
your vision becomes blurry… darkness. You become the cog
Is this the end? of despair, another one whose
vices took over.
When you fill up any state,
you are inflicted with a
condition called grave danger. WHEN THE VOID
You can perform actions as
normal during this condition, REPLACES THE BLANK
but if your move tally is filled
up under this condition, you After the chaos and despair,
face a terrible fate… it’s hard to say whether
there’ll ever be time to rest
WHEN THE VOID REPLACES THE BLANK
and recompose. Catastrophes
continue to happen, enemies
won’t stop progressing, and
the impending doom won’t
get any more distant. Yet, the
carriers may find that,
eventually, they’ll be
rewarded with moments of
peace.
During rests, carriers can
choose to uncheck up to 2
spaces in the move tally or
remove 1 point currently
assigned to a state.
4.
THEY ARE OUT FOR BLOOD
Those who wander are not significant difference between
threatened only by the world’s them is the way they cause
declining state, but by the damage, as while average and
people who have declined, as brutal adversaries harm the
well. The reason why they carriers by filling their move
come to oppose each other tally, calamitous adversaries
wildly varies, be it because of use the same rules of
a personal vendetta, conflicts attacking as the carriers do,
between groups, being utilizing a mostly static 3 for
attacked first or even as a their rolls.
‘divine request’. Regardless
of why they’re here, the most Adversaries also have
important thing is how you’re aptitudes, theirs being called
getting them out. haunt, to hinder and attack
with magic and the
Adversaries are the moving supernatural, and harm, to
obstacles of The Candle-Lit hinder and attack with the
games. Just like you become ordinary and the capacities
stronger as the story natural to our world. Average
progresses, so do your foes enemies get 6 points to assign
and so do the stakes. For to their aptitudes, brutal get 8,
simpler understanding, let’s and calamitous get 10. As
talk about adversaries and with carrier aptitudes,
stakes separately, each at their adversary aptitudes only go as
own dedicated space. high as 8, and both attributes
must be higher than 1.
To determine their remaining
ADVERSARIES ALL endurance, adversaries have a
life spectrum that ranges from
AROUND the states death to life. Just as
with soul spectrums, each
Adversaries are comprised of state has four spaces
the following elements: associated with it, and when a
state is filled up, two things
First, the choice that defines a can happen, depending on the
significant part of the adversary: one, nothing. The
adversary; its classification. adversary remains fighting,
The three classifications are and has even more endurance;
average, brutal and two, they’re defeated, in case
calamitous. The most the state filled up is their
defeat state, which is defined
 ADVERSARIES ALL AROUND
by the narrator for each RAISING THE STAKES
adversary depending on their
nature. For example, a
skeleton, an undead being, For one reason or another, the
would have to get its life state stakes of the story within the
maxed out to be defeated, game have increased. Not
while a knight would have to only does this mean that the
get his death state maxed out. carriers become stronger, but
Additionally, adversaries get a the enemies do too. When the
small incline towards the state stakes increase, a narrator is
opposite to their defeat state, confirming that things are
referred to as an opposite taking a turn for the worse, or
state, depending on their the consequences to failure
classification: Average have become even more
adversaries are created with a crushing. Below, there are a
+1 point to the opposite state, few sample ideas for how the
brutal adversaries get a +2, stakes can increase. Narrators
and calamitous adversaries may choose to roll on the
get a +3. table or pick an option they
While adversaries can declare find satisfactory, at their own
attacks without needing to leisure.
spend anything, they have a
set of general actions they
may perform by spending
reactions, such a resource that
they get by stealing away
failures from carries.
Whenever the adversaries’
turn starts, one adversary may
choose to spend their whole
turn to steal failures,
unchecking those failures
from the chosen targets’ move
tallies. Reactions are shared
among all of the adversaries,
including subtractions.
RAISING THE STAKES
RESULT CONSEQUENCE
1 Enemy group’s plan has
succeeded, or taken a big
step towards success
2 Carriers or loved ones are
threatened by a force not
known to mess around
3 Lose something important
that aided the , such as a
person or a location
4 Something big has come into
play, and its destruction or
creation may spell disaster
5 Demons have become more
powerful or plentiful

6 A rival wants to get the

same rewards as the
carriers do, and is ahead
7 Former allies turn against
the carriers

8 An unknown entity is
preparing a catastrophe for
the carriers
 OPPOSING TACTICS
Similarly to carriers, another adversary of the same
adversaries have special classification to help. This
actions that they can take by can only be done once per
spending their reactions, combat.
named adversary actions. • Hinder [Brutal]: Spend 2
While some can be used by reactions to complicate the
any adversary, others are carriers’ situation in combat
exclusive to each somehow, such as warning all
classification, and even to guards about their position or
specific adversaries. cutting off a bridge.
• Gore [Brutal]: Spend 4
• Overexertion [Any]: When reactions to cause 2 damage
you declare an attack, spend 2 to the target’s soul spectrum.
reactions to cause +2 damage. • Force to stare
If this attack misses, you have [Calamitous]: Spend up to 5
-1 dice for your next attempt reactions to mark down the
to avoid an attack. target’s move tally by the
• Swarm [Any]: While same amount of spent
there’s more than one reactions.
adversary in combat, you may • Induce insanity
spend up to 3 reactions to [Calamitous]: Spend up to 3
have an additional amount of reactions and choose the same
adversaries attacking one amount of targets, to force
target equal to the reactions them to make a check. If this
spent. All selected adversaries check has at least one failure,
roll against the target, and the the target takes 1 damage to
highest overall results are the soul spectrum.
chosen. • Expose to the darkness
• Pass turn [Any]: At the [The Stalker]: If a carrier has
cost of 1 reaction, you pass at least 2 points towards
your turn to another darkness, spend 5 reactions to
adversary. fill up their darkness state and
• Scram [Average]: If you mark down 2 move tally
have at least one point spaces.
towards your defeat state, pay • Reveal the radiance [The
the same amount of points False Savior]: If a carrier has
you have with reactions to at least 2 points towards
attempt to escape combat. radiance, spend 5 reactions to
• Call reinforcements fill up their radiance state and
[Average]: If you have three mark down 2 move tally
points towards your defeat spaces.
state, spend 3 reactions to call
 SAMPLE ADVERSARIES
Imp - Average adversary The Stalker - Calamitous
DEATH OOOØ|OOOO LIFE adversary
HAUNT ØØØOOOOO DEATH OØØØ|OOOO LIFE
HARM ØØØOOOOO HAUNT ØØØØOOOO
REACTIONS OOOOO HARM ØØØØØØOO
A small demon, more
bothersome than harmful.
REACTIONS OOOOO
A tall figure made of pure
shadow. Though its huge
clawed hands and vacant
Cultist - Average adversary stare may be threatening, it is
DEATH OOOO|ØOOO LIFE not malicious unless angered.
HAUNT ØØØØOOOO
HARM ØØOOOOO
REACTIONS OOOOO The False Savior -
An insane member of an Calamitous adversary
underground cult. DEATH OOOO|ØØØO LIFE
HAUNT ØØØØØØØO
Cult leader - Brutal HARM ØØØOOOOO
adversary REACTIONS OOOOO
A moving statue whose head
DEATH OOOO|ØØOO LIFE is replaced by a shining orb
HAUNT ØØØØOOOO that makes it difficult to stare
HARM ØØØØOOOO into this entity. Though it is
REACTIONS OOOOO reputed as a savior, it intends
The leader ofan underground to trick humanity into despair.
cult who adores a demon.

Insane priest - Brutal

adversary
DEATH OOOO|ØØOO LIFE
HAUNT ØØØØØØOO
HARM ØØOOOOOO
REACTIONS OOOOO
A priest who lost his mind
while following the call of the
radiance.
 CREDITS
FONTS USED:
Nightmare 5 by Filmhimmel
(https://www.dafont.com/film
himmel.d736)
BlackBoard by imagex
(https://www.dafont.com/ima
gex.d2938)
Agressive Winter by wep
(https://www.dafont.com/wep
.d7858)
I know a ghost by Dismantle
Destroy
(https://www.dafont.com/matt
hew-tyndall.d1064)
Fin...?