Ten Candles
Elizabeth clung to her flashlight with an iron grip. She frantically looked around the small room she found herself in. Once upon a lifetime ago, it used to be a laundry room for this grand old hotel. Now the barren racks and powerless appliances stood as monuments of what civilization used to be. It seemed almost ridiculous that only ten days ago, this had been a vacation.
Now, it was a living nightmare.
She had found herself holed up with a few other patrons of the hotel, as well as a couple employees. As time went on and supplies had gotten scarce, they went out to find help. None had returned. Desperate for food and water, the group had decided to make for the basement. The kitchen was down there… there was bound to be supplies. Or at least some of the missing people.
The hotel was full of unseen horrors that stalked them from the shadows. God only knows where they came from or just how many there were, but they were relentless. One by one, her companions had disappeared into the shadows, never to be seen again. Now, it was simply her. She and Derek had made it to the kitchen and found it to be devoid of food. Other survivors had already been through there. He had frozen in place and said for her to run moments before he charged into the shadows to fight… something. She had run when she heard him scream.
She quietly cried to herself, wishing she were anywhere else but here. Surely there was a place with hope out there somewhere.
“Beth? Are you in there?”
Elizabeth froze and looked around. There was no one else in here, plus the only person that called her Beth was her sister. She hadn’t heard from her sister since this hell began.
“Jen? Where are you?”
“I’m here, sis. Why are you hiding?”
“They are out there… they’ve made everyone disappear. I don’t want to disappear.”
“You won’t disappear. You’ll be with me.”
The air was filled with whispers that always seemed to be behind her, as she wheeled around, trying to find the source of the voice. “You can’t be here Jen… you were in Boston.”
“You should be in Philly… what’s your point? We’re both here now.”
“Come to the light, Jen. I want to see you.”
“I can’t. I’m in the darkness now. I can’t get back. You could come to me though. Come into the darkness and we can be together.”
“I’m afraid…”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. This madness will be over and we can be together.”
Elizabeth had tears streaming down her face, spinning around, trying to find her sister or a sign that anyone was there. All she could see was the thin spire of light from her flashlight and a sea of blackness that seemed to be looming ever-closer.
With no way out and limited life in her flashlight, Elizabeth let a sob escape her mouth and she lowered her arms. With the light pointed at the floor the whispers got louder in her ears as the darkness moved in. Voices of friends and family, companions and co-workers created a din all around her.
With any hope of surviving fading, Elizabeth turned off her flashlight.
These Things are True:
The World is Dark and We Are Alive.
Keep moving, don't lose hope and stay in the light.
Ten days ago, the sky betrayed us. The world went dark. The Sun vanished. We were alone. The fall into chaos was sudden and predictable. The world was overrun by riots and fear. Radios promised that the Sun would return; that it was out there, beyond the black sky. A new order was established.
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Five days ago, They came.
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Unspeakable horrors lurking in the dark, just beyond the light. The demand for light to stem the tide of the darkness was more than infrastructure could handle and power grids the world over blew out. The promises on the radio about rescue are hollow words and we can hear the screams in the darkness before an eerie silence sweeps in. They are coming for us.
Tragic Horror with a Collaborative Storytelling System
Ten Candles is a low-dice, no-prep system where the fate of the characters is already known: by the end of the game, they will die. The game focuses on the struggle to find hope in the face of oblivion. Played in a dark room lit only by an ever-decreasing number of candles, the GM and players each handle the narration of the game until the final candles is snuffed.
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A session of Ten Candles sees the characters huddled to together for safety until they are forced to move on, in hopes of salvation. Stalked by an unseen evil in the dark, they must push ahead, in hopes that perhaps they will see another day. This is a fun, short system, focused more on telling a good story, rather than combat. While characters are built each session, they will develop as they are tested against the monsters that walk the streets.
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Ideal Group Size: 3-6
Suggested Age Rating: 13+ (PG-13 to R Rating)
System Complexity: 2/5
Character Creation Complexity: 2/5
