The Hollowing and Last Light Festival - A Souls, Spines, & Spotlight Update

Devlog: THE HOLLOWING — A Campaign About Memory, Magic, and Manufactured Meaning and LAST LIGHT FESTIVAL — A One-Shot About Memory, Lanterns, and Loss

Hey guys! I'm excited to announce the first campaign and the first one shot for SS&S! I know that it's relatively new- just a few hours ago!- but I'd like for people to have some form of structure.  These modules will be perfect for people new to SS&S!

What Is “The Hollowing”?
The Hollowing is a campaign built around a brutal question:
What happens when sacred traditions are "optimized" until they lose the very soul that made them sacred?

Set in the Beaconverse after the Remembrance Resonance, this campaign throws players into a world where Divine and Folk magic—once the safest kinds—are now the most at risk of Corruption.

Sonata Systems says it's helping.
The Crescent Moon Society says it's preserving.
You know better.
You remember how it used to be when it's about community.

 Themes
• Authenticity vs. Convenience – That new app to “organize your offerings”? Yeah. It just turned your grandmother’s shrine into a Labrynth.
• Community vs. Isolation – They’re not attacking you. They’re severing you from your people.
• Memory as Resistance – The most powerful items in this campaign aren’t swords or sigils. They’re recipes. Stories. Songs.

✦ Structure
Three arcs. One heart.

1. “Something’s Wrong”
You investigate the sudden corruption of a beloved practitioner who just wanted help tending their magic garden.
A corporate “Heritage Helper” app was involved.

2. “The Pattern Emerges”
You trace a thread across continents—modernized rituals, repackaged traditions, and wellness summits built on trauma.
The Labrynths aren’t accidents. They’re assets.

3. “The Hollowing Heart”
The launch of Spirituality 2.0 will overwrite everything. Your home is the beta site.
You choose: salvage the past, or grow a new one—rooted in truth.

Mechanics You’ll Love
• Community Corruption Level – Your actions affect more than your HP. If your town starts to hollow out? You feel it.
• Authenticity Resonance – Real traditions give real bonuses. But only if they're practiced with meaning.
• Memory Anchors – That lullaby your aunt taught you? It blocks corruption better than a firewall.
• Labrynths as Corporate Spaces – Boardrooms made of grief. Escalators that rise through generational trauma.

Who You Play
You’re not just heroes. You’re carriers of living memory.
• A Revived who died with tradition in their hands and returned to find it repackaged.
• A Forge built to preserve folklore, now being asked to "modernize" it.
• A Monster Duelist watching kids fight without rhythm or purpose.
• A Folk Mage whose grandmother’s spells are now "heritage content."
And you fight—not just with magic, but with care. With truth. With what makes you real.

What Is the Last Light Festival?
Last Light Festival is a 3–4 hour one-shot set in the fictional town of Millbrook, New Hampshire, in November 2012.
The town is famous for its Light Festival—a yearly tradition stringing paper lanterns across the streets to guide home lost spirits from a century-old tragedy.
But this year? The lights are going out.
And when a lantern dies, so does the memory it held.

It’s up to your characters—locals, returners, teens, historians, protectors—to figure out what’s happening, why people are forgetting, and what can still be saved.

Why You’ll Love It
• Quick to Run — Character creation takes 10 minutes. The rest? Pure, cinematic story.
• Soul & Spine Ready — Every challenge is dual-track. Talk to spirits or patch the lantern network. Reach hearts or rally the crowd.
• Tradition With Teeth — Behind every cozy light is a painful history—and behind that, a decision about what gets carried forward.

Three Acts of Tension

Act I: “The Dimming Begins”
The lanterns flicker. People forget. A town elder loses her reason to believe.

Act II: “Following the Dark”
Explore the cemetery, the old factory ruins, and town archives to uncover the truth: the festival began to soothe angry spirits. Now, it's the only thing keeping them from breaking loose.

Act III: “Rekindling the Light”
When the council votes to end the festival, all the lights go out. The final confrontation isn’t a fight—it’s a choice. Heal the past, light the future, or lose both.

It’s About…
• Community vs. Convenience — Do you cut ties with grief or learn to hold it gently?
• Tradition as Living Memory — The festival matters because you remember why it does.
• Healing as Heroism — You don’t slay the villain. You help it let go.

For GMs, New and Veteran
This module is beginner-friendly with:
• Quick creation rules
• Tone cards for pacing
• Spotlight rotation prompts
• Backup plans if scenes stall
• Community-driven consequences
You can run this one-shot with minimal prep and still hit powerful narrative beats. And if your table wants more? It’s built to expand.

And If You Want to Keep Going…
This module has hooks for:
• Ongoing campaigns about memory preservation
• NIS investigations into spiritual decay
• Regional folklore adventures across New England
• College-age follow-ups with returning characters who carry the flame forward

✦ Coming Soon....
• More Campaigns!
• Printable cards for Memory Anchors and other mechanics 

• A GM Guide
• And More...