TEXT: Dark shadows gather in the East. You 
  underestimate the power of the Dark Side. 
  Shining knights, incorruptible in their 
  righteousness. Clerics turning from their 
  gods towards the shadow. 
     The ever encroaching darkness is a 
  theme of many fantasy and sci-fi settings. 
  Our heroes struggle against the dark side, 
  or the ring’s influence, or against 
  overwhelming despair. The battle is 
  between good and evil, light and dark, 
  hope and corruption.  
     In WOIN, this battle is played out on a 
  Shadow Track. As despair takes hold, 
  characters fall down into the dark; as 
  they perform heroic deeds, they rise up 
  into the light. 
     The track works in a very simple way. 
  It’s much like an attribute, except that it 
  can be positive (Light) or negative (Dark). 
  Characters start off with a score of zero, 
  and gain points for goodly acts and lose 
  points for evil acts. They can also gain 
  and lose points for external influences, 
  too — a demon’s psychic influence might 
  push them towards darkness, while their 
  nation’s great victory might lift them into 
  the light. 
  THE SHADOW TRACK 
  You gain and lose Light and Dark points 
  whenever you perform an act that your 
  GM deems worth a point of either light 
  or darkness. When this happens, simply 
  move those involved up or down the 
  Shadow Track. Typically, this will be by 
  just one point, but the GM might deem 
  something worth two points if the deed is 
  particularly despicable or heroic. A 
  knight who stays behind to cover his 
  allies’ retreat with little hope for survival 
  might be worth two points, for example. 
     A good act must be something which 
  costs a character in some way. Giving a 
  penny to a beggar would not earn a point 
  of Light; it’s too easy. Indeed, it should be 
  Light 
  and 
  Dark 
  
  easier to earn Dark points than Light 
  points - after all, isn’t the trope that evil is 
  easier, more seductive? 
     Some acts - including fell rituals or 
  lengthy penance - can add or deduct as 
  much as 1d6 to your Shadow Track. 
     If your Light or Dark points reach 10 in 
  either direction, you automatically gain 
  that virtue, and detect as such. At this 
  point you have truly succumbed to light 
  or the dark. 
  PSYCHIC DAMAGE 
  Psychic (mental) damage from a creature 
  with a virtue (evil or good) pushes you 
  up or down the Shadow Track one point 
  when you take more than 5 points of 
  psychic damage. This only affects you 
  once per day at most. 
  LIGHT
  10
  4d6 + good virtue
  9
  3d6
  8
  3d6
  7
  3d6
  6
  3d6
  5
  2d6
  4
  2d6
  3
  2d6
  2
  1d6
  1
  1d6
  0
  -
  1
  1d6
  2
  1d6
  3
  2d6
  4
  2d6
  5
  2d6
  6
  3d6
  7
  3d6
  8
  3d6
  9
  3d6
  10
  4d6 + evil virtue
  DARK
  Good act
  +1
  Evil act
  -1
  Heroic act
  +2
  Despicable act
  -2
  Regular cursed envirnment
  -1/week
  Extreme cursed environment
  -1/day
  Using a good magical item
  +1
  Using an evil magical item
  -1
  Major act (ritual, penance)
  +/-1d6
  
  Cursed Environments 
  A new environmental effect, Cursed, also 
  affects the Shadow Track. Cursed regions 
  can include evil nations ruled by dark 
  necromancers, hellish planes of existence,  
  and the lairs of evil demons. This works 
  much like any other environment such as 
  hot, cold, or low-gravity environments. 
  At the regular degree, a Cursed 
  environment inflicts one Dark point each 
  week. At the extreme degree, it inflicts 
  one Dark point each day. Note that entire 
  regions, even worlds, can be Cursed. 
  BLESSED ENVIRONMENTS 
  The Blessed environment is not the 
  diametric opposite of Cursed. Instead it 
  causes damage to those opposed to it. 
  Evil beings are not corrupted by holiness; 
  rather they are burned by it. 
     A creature with the evil virtue takes 1 
  point of holy damage per hour when in a 
  blessed environment. At the extreme 
  degree, the creature takes 1 point of holy 
  damage per minute. 
     Additionally, no creature or character 
  can gain Dark points in a Blessed 
  environment. 
  MAGIC ITEMS 
  You can also gain or lose points by using 
  magical items with a virtue. Using a good 
  item gains you a point of Light; using an 
  evil item costs you a Dark point. 
     The equipment penalty from an item 
  with a virtue opposed to the user is equal 
  to the die bonus noted in the table. For 
  example, a person who is at 5 Light 
  points on the track suffers -2d6 using an 
  evil item; and a person who is at 6 Dark 
  points on the track suffers -3d6 using a 
  good item. Of course, even just using 
  these items pushes them one point along 
  the track. 
     You do not get a die bonus for using an 
  associated item, just a penalty for using 
  an opposed item. This penalty replaces 
  any quality bonuses the item offers; it 
  does not stack with them. 
  “All this last day, Frodo had not spoken, but 
  had walked half-bowed, often stumbling, as it 
  his eyes no longer saw the way before his feet. 
  Sam guessed that among all their pains he 
  bore the worst, the growing weight of the 
  Ring, a burden on the body and a torment on 
  his mind. Anxiously Sam had noted how his 
  master's left hand would often be raised as if 
  to ward off a blow, or to screen his shrinking 
  eyes from a dreadful Eye that sought to look 
  in them. And sometimes his right hand would 
  creep to his breast, clutching, and then 
  slowly, as the will recovered mastery, it would 
  be withdrawn.  
     Now as the blackness of the night returned 
  Frodo sat, his head between his knees, his 
  arms hanging wearily to the ground where 
  his hands lay feebly twitching. Sam watched 
  him, till night covered them both and hid 
  Tailoring to Your Setting 
  Depending on your setting, you may 
  wish to rename Hallow to something 
  else. Below are some examples. 
  Light/Dark 
  Hope/Despair 
  Good/Evil 
  Holy/Unholy 
  Honor/Corruption 
  
  them from one another. He could no longer 
  find any words to say; and he turned to his 
  own dark thoughts.” 
  -JRR Tolkien 
  Resistance and 
  Vulnerability 
  The first thing that being on the track 
  does is grant you SOAK and 
  vulnerability to holy and unholy damage, 
  respectively. 
     Your SOAK to the associated damage 
  type is equal to the number of points you 
  are at on the shadow track. If you are at 4 
  Dark points, you have SOAK 4 to unholy 
  damage. 
     Your vulnerability to the opposed 
  damage type is shown in the table. The 
  same character at 4 Dark points is 
  vulnerable (2d6) to holy damage. 
     You are also susceptible to influence by 
  creatures with your associated damage 
  type, and resistant to influence by 
  creatures with your opposed damage 
  type. This takes the form of a MENTAL 
  DEFENSE bonus or penalty equal your 
  score. 
  Manifesting SHADOW 
  At each point on the Shadow Track where 
  the die changes (1, 3, 6, and 10), 
  characters manifest an element of Light 
  or Dark. The GM should devise a 
  physical manifestation; alternatively, roll 
  1d6 on the following charts. You lose that 
  manifestation if you drop below the 
  threshold which caused it.  
     Remember, if your Light or Dark score 
  reaches 10 in either direction, you 
  automatically gain that virtue, and detect 
  as such. That also means that the secret of 
  good or the secret of evil (if you are using 
  magic rules) work on you. 
  LIGHT 
  1. Your touch heals 1 point of damage. 
  Nobody can benefit from this ability 
  more than once per day. 
  2. You gain an aura of virtue that people 
  can palpably sense. Those with virtues 
  opposed to you on the Shadow Track 
  (i.e. evil creatures if you are on the 
  Light side) can sense your presence 
  within 30’, although they cannot sense 
  your exact location or direction. 
  3. You lose the ability to lie effectively, 
  suffering a -1d6 penalty to all attempts 
  to deceive or bluff. 
  4. Your skin appears to glow healthily, 
  and your hair is slightly more lustrous. 
  
  5. You gain SOAK to poison equal to 
  your points of Hallow. 
  6. You gain an additional LUC die. 
  DARK 
  1. Your touch causes unholy damage 
  once per day. 
  2. You gain darksight equal to 5’ per 
  point of INT. 
  3. You gain an aura of iniquity that 
  people can palpably sense. Those with 
  virtues opposed to you on the Shadow 
  Track (i.e. good creatures if you are on 
  the Dark side) can sense your presence 
  within 30’, although they cannot sense 
  your exact location or direction. 
  4. Your skin pallor changes to a dull, 
  unhealthy, almost greyish complexion. 
  You look ill. 
  5. You take one point of damage 
  whenever you enter a hoy sanctified 
  place. While this is technically holy 
  damage, your holy vulnerability does 
  not add to it. 
  6. Dogs dislike you. Rats seem to like you 
  just fine, though. 
  Science Fiction 
  Virtues (good and evil) are as much a sci-
  fi trope as they are a fantasy one. Star 
  Wars exemplifies that perfectly with the 
  Force, which features light and dark side 
  users. 
     While virtues are not described in the 
  core NEW rules, they are found in OLD. 
  However, you should feel free to use 
  them in both.  
     A virtue is essentially a trait which can 
  be sensed by those with the ability to do 
  so. In the core rules, the virtues of Good 
  and Evil are used as examples. 
  Use the Force, Luke! 
  This optional rule makes Shadow a very 
  prominent aspect of your setting. 
  Characters will need to constantly ensure 
  they act in accordance with a certain 
  philosophy lest they succumb to the 
  opposition.  
     Your dice pool (not the raw score) on 
  the Shadow Track, positive or negative, is 
  added directly to your PSI, MAG, or CHI 
  attribute (not the dice pool). For example, 
  if you have 6 Dark points, you add 3 to 
  your attribute; if you have 3 Light points 
  you add 2 to your attribute. However, 
  you cannot more than double your 
  attribute in this way - if your PSI score is 
  3, you can only add 3 shadow points to it. 
  If your PSI score is 0, you cannot add any 
  shadow points to it. 
     However, you cannot use your 
  supernatural attribute to commit acts 
  contrary to your current Shadow status. 
  It simply doesn’t work when you try to 
  use the Light side to choke an innocent 
  victim. 
  OPTIONAL: Group Shadow 
  Shadow is tracked for the entire group 
  as one score. After all, if you’re 
  standing by while somebody does 
  something evil, you’re still culpable. If 
  you travel willingly with somebody 
  without morals, you are not opposing 
  them. 
     Therefore, if one member of your 
  group performs an evil act, it affects 
  everybody. If one member performs  
  an heroic sacrifice, that benefits 
  everybody, too.
  
     In order to use this optional rule, you 
  must select the below universal exploit. 
    Universal Exploit 
  Devotee. Your supernatural attribute 
  becomes subject to the above virtue-
  based restriction, and you gain bonus 
  PSI, MAG, or CHI points according to 
  your level of Light or Dark. 
     
  The following exploits may be used by 
  monsters or evil creatures. They require 
  that the creature have the Evil virtue, and 
  so they will rarely be available to player 
  characters who are usually free willed 
  (unless they have taken an exploit which 
  grants them a virtue, or they have 
  reached 10 Light or Dark points on the 
  Shadow Track). 
  MONSTER ExploitS 
  Corruption (requires Evil virtue). Make 
  a CHA mental attack against one target. 
  If you are successful, the target gains 
  one Dark point.  
     Infernal Wound (requires Evil virtue). 
  Your wounds carry the trait of despair 
  and undeath. Each time you do 5 or 
  more damage to a target, it gains one 
  Dark point. 
     Unhallowed Aura (requires Evil 
  virtue). You have an aura (usual radius 
  for your size). Any creature which 
  enters or starts its turn in that aura is 
  subject to a CHA mental attack or gain 
  one Dark point. 
  Divine Power Sources 
  If your power source is a divine one - 
  such as one of the gods described in the 
  fantasy core rules - you should use your 
  free Universal Exploit to take the Devotee 
  exploit above. 
     Additionally, your Shadow status 
  cannot differ from the virtue of your god. 
  If it does, your god will not grant you 
  miracles until you rectify the situation. 
     If your god does not manifest a virtue, 
  then you should endeavour to keep your 
  Shadow points from exceeding 5 (2d6). If 
  it reaches 6 (3d6) in either direction, your 
  god will not grant you miracles until you 
  rectify the situation. 
     Good gods include The Artist, The 
  Builder, The Druid, The Father, The 
  Lighbringer, The Lover, and The Mother. 
     Evil gods include The Devil, The 
  Hangman, The Leper, The Reveller, and 
  The Trickster. 
     Gods which do not manifest a virtue 
  include The Dragon, The Fisherman, The 
  Gambler, The Hunter, The Judge, The 
  Scholar, The Tempest, The Traveller, and 
  The Warrior. 
  Evil Characters 
  Of course, these rules can tempt players 
  to play evil characters. Succumbing to 
  darkness grants them abilities, allows 
  them to use their supernatural exploit to 
  commit evil acts, and more. It is easy to 
  see why that might be tempting. 
     The GM should think carefully about 
  how to handle evil characters. It can 
  make for a fun campaign, but it can also 
  create conflict between characters - and 
  players - which might detract from the 
  overall gaming experience. It very much 
  depends on the players in question. 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/WOIN/EONS Magazine/Eons 49 - NEW, Rules (Star Wars Force) - Light & Dark.pdf