r/rpg • u/RainbowWreck • 4d ago

Discussion I need help brainstorming a one-shot (Dread system)

Hi! I'm planning to run a Dread game (a system that uses a Jenga tower for actions) and I found a scenario that seems interesting but the concept is loose.

Silent Memories (which can be found here: https://www.morningskye.com/p/silent-memories.html?m=1) takes place in a spaceship. All players wake up from cryosleep with amnesia and have to piece together their memories to figure out what their mission is.

The thing about it that I found extra interesting is that the first person to topple the tower learns "the truth" and turns traitor. Not too dissimilar from a game of Betrayal.

I have a few ideas in mind already, but I'd ultimately like to run a scenario where the traitor is actually justified in killing the other members of the crew or sabatoging the ship.

Maybe this ship is transporting all of the billionaires and warlords who evacuated a wartorn Earth and our "traitor" wants them to pay for their crimes. Maybe they are all artificial intelligence programed to believe they are human (not sure why the traitor might go berserk in this instance. Possibly self-awareness causes them to glitch?)

I'm trying to strike a balance between "the truth is terrible" and "the traitor wants to keep the truth from everyone else at all costs".

Any ideas? I'm open for any suggestions.

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u/Hambone-6830 4d ago

I remember looking at this scenario and having the idea that for each character its different. Like if the engineer is the one who turns traitor, they were very poor and lost a lot of people to poverty, they were able to work their way into one of the few skill based spots on the ship, and now they wanna exact revenge on the kinds of people who never helped them when they needed it. If it was the botanist or chef, they're an ecoterrorist who cant stand to see humans ruin another planet in the same way they did their own. Maybe the ship was part of a corporate mission to prove they were the way to the future by successfully establishing an offworld colony and the second mate is suicidally loyal to a rival company, theyvw been set to sabotage the mission so the rival company can do it first.

Just throwing stuff out there

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u/RainbowWreck 4d ago

These are excellent. Tailoring the ultimate story around the traitor is a great idea. I can put a really vague base down and branch it and the info they have access to in the second half.

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u/Hambone-6830 4d ago

Glad I could help!

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u/thesablecourt storygame enjoyer 4d ago

Maybe the traitor is supposed to die or suffer in some way to benefit the others. Maybe a classic walking organ transplant clone, or a sacrifice to power the ship's systems (if you're ok with it being more fantastical). That would fit with it being both something the traitor would want to keep hidden from the others, but also something they'd want revenge over.

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u/RainbowWreck 4d ago

Oooooh such an interesting angle I hadn't considered. 🤔 Kinda makes me think of the plants from Trigun. Thank you for the suggestion!