VIGIL - Lights in the Dark

In the lightless sky above, the passing souls careen over the deep chasms of the Midnight Vale on their way to the Life After... but not all make it. Some—burdened by some heavy emotion or attachment—will crash into the valley between life and after-life, where shadowy creatures and unpleasant nightmares lie waiting...

But those villains will have to contend with you and your company of vigil keepers. You swore a vow in the final moment of your life. Your vow, like that of all keepers, includes the promise to find and free the heavy, fragmented souls lost in the Midnight Vale.

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What if we shoved heroic, light-empowered teams of oath-speakers into a purgatorial realm filled with punishing, monstrous nightmares, who dive into the subconscious dreamworlds of shackled souls to help free them from what binds them? 

VIGIL: Lights in the Dark is a Forged in the Dark tabletop roleplaying game about a company of vowsworn heroes striving to find their way beyond a purgatorial realm: the Midnight Vale. Core to their vow, vigil keepers will search across this land of darkness—often contesting against corrupted enemies—to rescue souls burdened by great troubles from their lives before. 

These heroes undertake a mission into the soul's psyche: a dreamlike state of fragmented inner conflict, where the keepers can bend reality to gain the soul’s trust and break the chains that keep them from passing to the Life After.

In the process, keepers will also discover lost events from their own memories, and once they are whole again, can ascend to their own final destiny.

• Die and die again; death is temporary in the land after life
• Delve into the mind and dreams of souls to uncover their struggles and gain their trust; help them move beyond their chains so they can pass on
• Harness potent radiance to fend off nightmares and other corrupt denizens
• Regain memories to complete your own journey to the Life After
• Utilize teamwork to build toward powerful narrative combo moves
• Build your own playbook, merging abilities from one of the four vows with one of eight origins to reflect who you were in your Life Before (such as a Killer, Tyrant, Pilgrim, or Counselor)
• Choose between three different companies for your group: Soullinks, Gloomstriders, or Splendorwrights

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Recommended Players: 3-5
Recommended Age: 12+
Playtime: 2-4 hour sessions; one-shots or multi-session journeys

Major touchstones include: Elden Ring/Dark Souls, The Stormlight Archives, and Inception

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By the radiant Light I have seen,
I keep vigil in these lands between
and for those who would themselves condemn

THE ADVOCATE: I speak hope for them...
THE HERALD: I reveal beauty to them...
THE PROTECTOR: I defend the light in them...
THE SEEKER: I discover truth with them...

I will illuminate the way.

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VIGIL is fully playable, but rules may be expanded and edited.
This game is in active development.  

Play materials are in a fully playable state, but may be updated based on playtesting and consumer feedback. Your support helps this project continue development. This game will be offered at a discount until it is out of beta; no timeline is currently set for the final release of VIGIL: Lights in the Dark.

Purchase of this game at any stage entitles you to all future digital updates to the product. 

CURRENT VERSION: Ashcan Beta 0.1.2
Ashcan = No Art, No Frills

The Current Release

• 153 page game text
• Playsheets
  • Company playsheet
  • 4 vow-specific character playsheets (and 4 pregen characters w/ sheets)
  • Google Sheets character keeper, with dynamic look-up fields and clocks
    
  • Basic region division map of the Midnight Vale
• Reference sheets
  • Fragment reference and tables
  • Major procedure flowcharts
• 2 fragment adventures
  • Silver Medal Summit
  • Imposter Syndrome

The Plan 
These are the items that I will work on, time permitting. No concrete release schedule is set for these inclusions.

• Two additional Company types: Shadestrikes and Lightsmiths
  
• More play aides, such as a rules reference and quick-start
• Expanded information about the improvements that your company can make to your sanctuary, and elements of regional expansion for long-term play
• Additional setting material to further detail the Midnight Vale, factions, and other worldbuilding options
• A guide to soulfalls, including random tables for fragment generation
• A Running the Game chapter for GMs (and players)
• A section in the above about Changing the Game with variant and optional rules
• Improved map(s) of the Midnight Vale
• Editing
• Layout and design
• Bookmarked PDF
• (maybe stock art with modifications)

The Dream

These are the items that would require more from me than I currently have (both funding and time). If this game finds unexpected levels of success and support, these might migrate up into the actual plan; for now, they are just a dream.

• Illustrations (cover and internal)
• A Print Version

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Blades in the Dark™ is a trademark of One Seven Design.
The Forged in the Dark Logo is © One Seven Design, and is used with permission.

Cover image used and modified under CC0 license from pexels.com