Stories from the Shadows uses the core rules from Stories from the Grave, but with these changes/additions.

Game Length

Each installment is intended to be one session of gaming, typically the length of a movie.

Acts

To aid with longer installments, there are four Acts, each approximately the same length.

Act 1: Setup

• Primary Characters are introduced in stasis
• The main conflict is introduced, and characters respond to the event(s)
• Decisions are made to pull the characters into the conflict
• Grave Intentions are not lethal in this Act
• GM Keys: the Hook, Inciting Event, Key Event, First Plot Point

Act 2: Struggle

• Characters deal with being brought into the conflict
• Exploration of new stakes
• Encounter main antagonist(s)
• GM Keys: First Pinch Point, Midpoint

Act 3: Pursuit

• Characters shift from reaction to action
• Plans are formed and put in motion
• Conflict expands, becomes more pressing
• Grave Intention rolls are -1 in this Act.
• GM Keys: Second Pinch Point, Third Plot Point

Act 4: Conclusion

• Antagonist(s) are faced directly
• Critical decisions are made to impact the conflict
• Outcomes set the facts and tone for further installments
• Grave Intention rolls are -2 in this Act.
• GM Keys: Climax, Climactic Moment, Resolution

Legacies

When a Primary Character dies, they leave behind a Legacy, granting their player some deeper agency on the story following their untimely demise. They initially receive a number of Legacy Tokens as a sum of:

• Grave Tokens collected by the character
• Demise, based on how they died:
  • Heroically: 3
  • Sacrificially: 2
  • Unintentionally: 1

Dead PCs can spend Legacy Tokens by describing how their legacy affects the living, to:

• Edit a scene, based on how others remember them
• Boost someone’s Intention roll by 1 (before rolling), based on knowledge or advice they gave
• Flashback: describe a scene from your character’s past
  • Highlight who else was there, the scene subject, and how it changes things in the present
  • Play out the scene, ending with a changing fact or cliffhanger
• Haunt someone: force a living character to deal with your memory, to:
  • Change action, before rolling
  • Hesitate: reroll and take worse result

Legacy Tokens are not collected once spent—they are permanently removed from the game and cannot affect the dead character if they return to life.

At the end of each Act, a dead PC chooses one of the following:

• Remain dead, and receive 2 Legacy Tokens
• Return to life during the next Act, and does both:
  • Provide a reasonable explanation for the character’s survival
  • Collects any remaining Legacy Tokens (as spent Grave Tokens) when they re-emerge
    • Legacy Tokens can still be spent up until then