“If thou but settest foot on this path, thou shalt see it everywhere.”
― Hermes Trismegistus

There is something wrong with the world. You've known it all your life but you can't quite put your finger on it, or perhaps you chose not to. It's not as if everything is different than the world you know but things are just a little off. Perhaps its those shadows you keep seeing out of the corner of your eye, or the chills you get when you are alone, the feeling of being watched. The feeling that something else is out there waiting for you.

Whatever it is, it's been happening more often and as time goes on you are finding it harder and harder to ignore. Maybe something happened in your childhood or your teens and now you can see the world for how it really is. Whatever happened doesn't matter now that you are here, all that matters now is that you use your perspective to help the legions of humanity who refuse to see the truth. The world is a dark and terrifying place.

There's a lot of us out there if you know where to look, but remember: You will find yourself drawn into strange occurrences increasingly more often. Once you start down this road, you can never turn back. But I suppose it's already too late for any of that, isn't it? Be shrewd, be cautious, stay out of the shadows and never end up alone after dark. You'll probably be safe. That is, until the Light betrays you.

Until the Light Betrays You is a dark urban fantasy which straddles the borderline between Horror, Thriller, Mystery and Action. Expect an unforgiving environment steeped in beings drawn from all areas of mythology and legend. Investigate urban legends and supernatural occurrences in a world where only a few can truly see what's going on just behind the thin veil of comfort that exists for most of humanity.

Light is a place of the subtle supernatural. You won't see a winged creature walking in the streets during the middle of the day, but you may hear rumours of a dark shadow lurking on rooftops at night and a string of missing persons. Perhaps you decide to investigate and before long you are chasing down a Wendigo through an abandoned shipping yard, cornering it and slaying it with a group of others who have chosen to see.

In the end, the status quo must remain and your life will be a thankless and lonely one.

Light will be run with a GM/PC system where I will run the thread, writing as all of the enemies, the world and the NPCs and the players will write as their characters. Posting rounds will generally be started by me and then include one post by each PC and then another post by me. However, some rounds (such as when the players are tasked to solve something or investigate something) may include more rounds by players per GM post. At the end of each GM post I will include how many rounds of player posts must conclude before I'll make another GM post.

There is the bare bones of a story written but because this is collaborative storytelling, things will be subject to change depending on characters actions, just like any roleplaying scenario.

For Light, Character Sheets are not required or even encouraged. What is encouraged is that you create a compelling character for the setting who you think would have a love of investigation and a drive to see something through to the end in the face of horrific odds. It is known among the circles you will be a part of that once you are wrapped up in these things you can't simply turn your back and walk away. The things that lurk in the shadows have a habit of following people who walk away.

Combat-centric characters are not the only kind of characters you can play in Light. In fact, having a group of people with diverse skill sets is more helpful than not. A librarian might not be useful in a subway brawl with a werewolf (unless he possesses some kind of magic, I suppose), but he's a lot more useful than the ex-biker when you need to figure out how to exorcise the spirit who has taken up residence in lakebed and is drowning children on their way home from school.

Be creative.

Characters fall into one of three groups -

The first group are normal people who are not aware, or choose to ignore, the supernatural undertones in the world. In Light, most people will aggressively ignore any comments about the supernatural, almost as if something in their mind is fighting against realizing what might actually be going on around them. They are not ignorant as such, but many people simply are not equipped to deal with the reality of a world full of horrifying things, many of which cannot be understood by the human mind at all.

Humans whose minds are open to the world around them are the second group within the world. Usually people in this group experienced something in their childhood which simply could not be ignored. Many people who live in the world and truly notice the things that lurk in the shadows wind up descending into madness, depression or worse. Humans who practice magic or commune with spirits or other entities fall into this category.

Non-humans who co-exist with humanity, even willing to help or protect them, are exceedingly rare. These could be any number of things, as virtually every nasty critter, spirit, notion and creature of the night exist somewhere in Light. Paramount to non-humans is the ability to blend in to the daily world. The key to participating in Light as a non-human character is subtlety and nuance.



Magic is perhaps the most general term for the supernatural abilities allowed to characters in Light. In everything and everywhere there is the magical essence of the universe. Sometimes known as Aether or Quintessence, it is the energy which allows the impossible to be possible. The use of the primal magic force in the universe requires the wielder to channel that energy through themselves and shape it into the desired effect on the material plane. In Light, magic is not something trivial and common and for human characters it should require years of research and trial. The road to learning the art of magical prowess is a long one but it is rewarding.

In general, when a character uses magic, they can expect to pay a price. Most often this is in the form of fatigue. Non-human characters may have different abilities unique to their species or characters may have abilities granted to them by entities beyond the physical realm. Whatever the origin, all powers come from the same source of primal magical energy and must be channelled through the body of the caster, which always results in some sort of otherworldly exhaustion.

All magical abilities will also tend to attract unwanted attention from beings more attuned to the supernatural. This means that in addition to the fatigue from using magic, you may also draw more entities to you. Magic is perhaps the most useful way of catching prey in Light, just be careful that you don't attract something bigger than the prey you're already hunting.

The exception to these rules are psionic abilities, which you are free to use in Light as well. While they are not considered magic (which can be an advantage or a disadvantage), extensive use of psionic powers can result in intense headaches, aneurisms, strokes and death.

Feel free to be creative with abilities and magic, though as always be sensible, follow mid-power guideline and keep it in theme.

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