A zero-prep system where only one thing is certain – everyone dies
I love running and playing in full campaigns; you get to see plots unfurl and characters develop. The story branches out and you never really know where things will lead in the long term. Unfortunately people’s schedules conflict and every now and then you can’t get enough of your normal group around the table. What do you do, postpone?
No! It’s the perfect opportunity to run a system designed for zero-prep one-shots, just like Ten Candles. You can do absolutely no preparation for this game, none at all. Cooperative storytelling systems like this usually grant a game master little more control than any of the players; we’re simply there to resolve certain conflicts and gently guide the plot. Perhaps also to give it a kick up the rear if the roleplay stalls…
Ten Candles has a core theme – horror, darkness, and inevitable doom. Think Call of Cthulhu where the group makes up the story as they go along. Everyone has equal agency in saying what happens and the rest of the group needs to work that into the tapestry being woven. Playtime wise, a game should take between two and four hours.
Game setting
The stage is set the same way for every game – ten days ago the world went dark. No moon, no stars, just an all encompassing shadow that sent the world into chaos. Five days ago, they came. They are the antagonists of the story; the bump in the night, the scream in the distance. They will harass and torment the players, ultimately spelling their doom – and their doom will come. Ten physical candles act as a countdown to the group’s demise, gradually being blown out as the players fail to perform an action and the scenes end.
This is a very atmospheric game, and I encourage people giving it a try to run it as written. It’s grim, it’s bleak, and everyone should understand that this game isn’t about surviving – it’s about going out in style.
Setup and play
Ten candles and are lit and placed in the centre of the table, along with ten d6 (move over snacks and wine). Every players is given four pieces of paper which will be used to define key character traits:
- Vice (causes more problems than it solves)
- Virtue (solves more problems than it causes)
- Moment (a scenario in which the character might gain hope)
- Brink (when your character is pushed to the edge)
The general advice is that character aspects should be vague enough that they can be easily used to justify a player’s action. Traits (vices and virtues) are filled in by players and then swapped around, virtues go to the right and vices the left. The Moment is a situation where the player can define their character’s single spec of light in a dark and menacing world – they get to keep this one. Brinks are secret details about a character and they are passed to the left; the game master also gets involved here, creating a secret about a player, and receiving a secret about them. Here are some examples:
- Vices: Alcoholism, cowardice, claustrophobia, avarice, jealousy.
- Virtues: Caring, generous, quick-witted.
- Moment: Finding solace in a quiet place, at the bottom of a bottle, or when getting your revenge.
- Brink: I have seen you steal from your friends, or I have seen them manipulating the wildlife.
Players can have a think about their character concept once they have all their cards. The players arrange their cards in a stack, with the brink on the bottom. Your job as a game master is to set the scene for the beginning of the story; there are lots of examples at the end of the PDF if you want a helping hand. They are all quite similar – they characters took refuge at a location when the world fell into chaos, but now the lights are dimming and they need to move on.
Now the lights are turned off and the only illumination is ideally the candles; so romantic. A voice recorder is passed around the table and each character records a message before they leave for their adventure – something to leave behind. This is a really cool mechanic for a few reasons. It gets the players into character, but it also adds a nice touch at the end of the game. Most importantly (in my opinion), it can make people uncomfortable right at the start, which will probably put them more at ease for the rest of the game.
Mechanics
As with all good no-prep games, the mechanics are elegant. You start with ten candles representing the ten scenes of the game, accompanied by ten d6 dice. The number of candles and dice will gradually diminish as players fail and a scene ends. A die lost at the end of a scene is given to the GM, they can use them to roll against the players.
Making a roll
Players declare their intent and roll all available dice; at least one 6 is a success but any showing 1 are removed for the rest of the scene. Nice and simple. A successful player can describe what happens as a result, while a GM will describe the result of an unsuccessful roll. For example, if Jenny is successful then she can state that she searched the house and found some flares, canned food, and a shotgun. On a failed roll the GM might say that she searched the house, finding some stale bread, expired painkillers…. and that she’s not alone in the house. Even on a success, a GM rolling equal or greater successes gets to narrate the outcome.
All is not necessarily lost on a failed roll – traits can be played.
Traits, moments, and brinks
Cards can be played only if they are on the top of a players stack, and a player may only use one per scene. Players will literally set fire to a consumed card and drop it into a pot – how very dramatic. Have a fireproof container at the ready.
Traits (vices and virtues) can be burned to reroll any dice showing a 1. Ideally a player would work the trait into their action; so someone with the vice alcoholic could say that they are searching the house in desperation for a drink.
A players Moment can be used during a normal roll; success grants the player an additional d6 of a different colour, which can be used with their future rolls. A hope die succeeds on a 5 or 6 and is not lost on a 1. Regardless of whether the roll succeeded or failed, the card is burned.
Brinks are every player’s final card, they allow you to reroll all of the dice (including any showing 6). You get to keep your brink card on a successful roll but burn it on a failure; a failed roll also costs you your hope die, if you have one.
Establishing truths
Another cool mechanic! The GM starts by saying ‘These things are true, the world is dark’. The players and GM then takes it in turns to establish something that is true in the world. The number of truths matches the number of lit candles remaining. The truths can be pretty much anything that doesn’t declare a weakness for them:
- They aren’t killing everyone they take
- The voice on the radio wasn’t human
- There’s a working car in the next town
- People are alive and well in the old fort
As you can imagine, this means that the game can turn on a dime. A player’s truth shouldn’t negate a previous truth, but it could build upon it. A final truth is spoken in unison by everyone at the table – ‘and we are alive’.
Progression and ending
As the candles are blown out and players have less dice to roll, failures will become more and more frequent; things can escalate quickly. There will also be less truths and the GM will have more dice to roll against the players. This grants the game master greater narrative control in the final moments. The characters should see the writing on the wall by the last few candles, and be in their death throes at the last.
Only one truth is spoken after the penultimate candle is extinguished – ‘and we are alive’. The next roll is likely to be the game’s last, and when that comes, their demise is described. The last light goes out and the player’s recording from the start of the game is played out.
Post-game thoughts
It’s a great system to have in the bag. The game is gloriously atmospheric, dark, and brooding. The rules are simple, and as with any good collaborative storytelling game, everyone gets to shape the world in which they perish. You can grab the PDF for a measly $10, so it’s a fine price even if you only play it once. If you like horror then 10 candles is a must-have in your collection. I’ll definitely be running it as a cosy lodge game next year at ConTingency!
I’ll also restate my earlier advice that you run this game as written! Low lighting, the players’ recordings, and a quiet environment really, really add to the atmosphere.
Tips
Ideally you want to up the ante as the candles diminish. They might be seen sparingly in the early stages of the game, but they should be interacting with the players more directly by the mid point. Outright assault needs to come in the final stages.
Players should feel free to make the situation even more grim with their truths and outcomes. There is no surviving, so they might as well make the story interesting and dramatic.
I think it’s worth letting people know that this is a collaborative game. You can have a bit of player conflict, but player on player combat should probably be discouraged.