Thanks! I'm glad you're excited about the game. I'm fueled by feedback, so please let me know how your Halloween game goes.
As for your question:
You can gain LIGHT in a few ways:
- When you PIERCE THE VEIL and roll 7+, choose to forgo your HOPE and PAY THE PRICE.
- When you FACE DEATH and roll an empty circle, choose to make a noble sacrifice and PAY THE PRICE.
Likewise, you can gain Shadow in a few ways:
- When you PIERCE THE VEIL and roll 7+, choose to claim your HOPE.
- When you FACE DEATH and roll an empty circle, choose ruthless survival instinct.
You start off with 0 LIGHT and 0 SHADOW.
The first time you FACE DEATH, you cannot die. And instead will choose whether you survive while making a noble sacrifice (gaining LIGHT), or survive through ruthless survival instinct (gaining SHADOW).
Later when you FACE DEATH, you may roll a circle with LIGHT. This gives you a choice... do you let your character die now, and BECOME LIGHT, or do you roll 1d6, adding the result to your first roll, for a chance to survive?
If your additional roll lands on an empty circle, then you again can choose between noble sacrifice or ruthless survival... but it MIGHT land on a SHADOW circle, in which case you have no choice but to die and BECOME DARKNESS.
Example:
Johnny got into some trouble with a poltergeist and rolls to FACE DEATH. He gets a 4, but honestly it doesn't matter, all of his LIGHT circles are empty. He decides to make a noble sacrifice, marking +1 LIGHT. For his PAY THE PRICE, uh oh... he rolls FACE DEATH again. He rolls 1, which he just marked.
Now he has a choice... does he want to die and become LIGHT, or roll again? He chooses to roll again, rolling 6, for a total of 7, an empty circle. He decides he doesn't have it in him to make another sacrifice, and chooses ruthless survival instinct, marking +1 Shadow.
Later in the game Johnny gets into trouble with an evil possessed doll, and ends up having to FACE DEATH. His initial roll is a 4, which is a LIGHT circle that he previously filled in. But he is still hopeful to make it out of this thing alive, so he rolls again, getting a 3, for a total of 7... uh-oh. His attempt to survive didn't work, and now he must die and BECOME DARKNESS.
---
I hope that helps!