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House of the Dread

A dynamic Print & Play Dread campaign by Seth Paxton

Forward
House of the Dread follows a group of would-be ghost hunters as they are invited
to a home in the Pacific Northwest in 2005. The emailed invitation asks them remove a
ghost inhabiting the home for a reward of $5,000 though each character has their own
motivation about the real reason they came. Over this short campaign players will face
death, and some might even walk away. Others will become Ghosts themselves, or
worse.

Dread is a fantastic RPG where the players do not use traditional dice or stats to
account for their success in actions, instead everything is based on pulls from a tower of
wood blocks (commonly called Jenga). If a player successfully pulls from the tower their
action succeeds (you ran away from the enemy), if the player refuses to pull from the
tower their action fails (you trip as the enemy approaches), and if the tower ever falls
that character dies (the enemy catches you, and performs unspeakable horrors).

This campaign was designed to be an introduction to Role-Playing games, and

does not follow the exact formula of other Dread campaigns. Instead of a Questionnaire
players choose a Profession, a Specialty, a Motivation, and a Name for their character,
giving them special abilities that change their potential actions. Players also get Menaces
and Wounds, forcing them to pull from the tower to accomplish specific tasks, leaving
much of the system transparent to the player and allowing the Host to focus more on the
story and atmosphere. If you are trying to get into Hosting or DMing and you have some
friends who aren’t familiar with Dread or Role-Playing games, then this campaign was
made with you in mind.

The whole session is meant to be played in 3 hours, including a short time for
character creation, and in this document you will find everything detailing how to Host
the session, printouts for the players, and ways to customize and further detail your
campaign. Section 2 focuses specifically on the replay-ability of this campaign, and how
you can use this basis to create a different story every time you play not just based on
the players choices but also the needs of characters, the kind of threat players are under,
and how they might overcome that threat.

Due to the tight pacing of this narrative many of the players decisions will be
limited, and advanced players or people familiar with Dread may opt to take a more
liberal approach to this campaign: good! If you have a stand-out experience with this
campaign please let me know, I’d be happy to hear any feedback at
spaxton0492@gmail.com

Have a Horrifying time (:

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List of Contents
Section 1: Quick Reference & Campaign Events
Before we Begin
Character Creation
Role Playing & Taking Notes
Act I: The Plea
Opening Statements
Location: Driveway & Garden
Character: Scruffy
Indictment
Character: Kate
Location: Foyer & Living Room
The Witness
Character: Lucy
Location: Dining Room & Kitchen
Recess
Act II: The Trial
Evidence
Location: The Basement
Location: Upstairs & Study
Habeas Corpus
Event: Meeting the Secondary Antagonist
Characters: Edith & Zach
Deputy’s Statement
Character: Deputy Quinn
Location: The Attic
Collateral Damages
Act III: The Verdict
The Appeal
Location: Secret Passage
Character: Father McKinnon
Judge, Jury, and Executioner
Wrapping up the Sub-Plot
The Defense Rests
Section 2: Replaying & Modifying the Campaign
Broad Strokes vs. Details
Wounds, Menaces, & Initiative
Re-Rolling Characters
Locations & Opportunities
Section 3: Ideas for Details
Themes & Motifs
Example Scenes
Minor Interactions
Timeline of Events Past
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Before we Begin (10-20 minutes)

Character Creation
All players choose a Profession, Specialty,
Motivation, and Name (see Character Creation
printouts). Some specialties come with a starting
item, be sure to hand all players any items that they
start with (see Menaces & Items printouts).
Once all players have their characters, pass
out one Menace card to each player and tell
them to keep it a secret unless it says otherwise.
Some players will get an additional Menace card
because of their Specialty.
To get everyone into character before the
game begins, ask each player to introduce
their character based on their Specialty & Name.
There are questions beside each specialty for
starting-points in characterization which you, the
Host, can use to flesh out characters. Any face-up
menaces can provide additional details.
Once everyone has been introduced get a
feel for the group’s intention – every group is
different, and it’s a good idea to be on the same
page with players when the game begins. I prefer to
have players choose between somewhat opposing
choices: Would you rather see a Horror Movie or
listen to a Campfire Story? Do you like cheesy
Goosebumps-style stories or terrifying
Creepypastas? Did you prefer Scream or the
Exorcist? Is there anything you’re uncomfortable
with or would prefer if it did not come up in this
session (in case anyone is sensitive to gore or
specific subjects).
Role Playing & Taking Notes
Note the Motivation of the
party (Proof of the Beyond /
Search for the Lost / or Touch the
Abyss) as will determine who the
group’s secondary Antagonist is
(Zach / Edith / Lucy, respectively).
Note every players Menace
this is key to making these cards
affect each player. If a player is
Claustrophobic make sure that you
put them in a tight space, once per
act give the player a choice to
interact with their Menace – at
least once per game
Note every players Initiative,
as this will determine turn-order in
tense situations, and allow every
player the same chance to interact
Note anything you can use
later, some players will give key
details in this introduction which
you can use to deepen
consequences and encourage role-
playing. One good trick is to pick a
unique detail that a player states at
the beginning(I am a Priest who
left the Faith) and use it as the
motivation for the primary
antagonist, Father McKinnon

Act I: The Plea (30-45 minutes)

Opening Statements
It is 2005, you have all been invited to 1447 Stonehedge Dr. with a promise of $5,000 to
dispel a ghost from the premises. You are pretty far from the closest “town” of Pleasant
Valley off of SR 14 near the Columbia River which separates Washington and Oregon.
Everyone pulls up a long driveway and arrives at the house in a tight line of cars,
bumper to bumper, as the driveway allows. Qs: Do you stay in the car and look at the
house? Do you get out and head for the porch? Do you admire the garden or look back at
the well? As the players begin to get out of the cars they are immediately attacked – a
fast car from the very back slams into the farthest-back car in the line, causing the
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airbags to deploy and for all the cars to be Location: Driveway & Garden
crunched together. Pulls: Any player that Description: Up the winding dirt
chose to stay in the car will have to pull to driveway the trees and hills obscure any
remain conscious, and gains the wound “Just view of outside the property. 10 minutes
a Scratch”. from SR 14 road all the players’ cars are
Scruffy gets out of the car and in a tight line. Dirt gives way to gravel as
mumbles a slurred “sorry” before he fast- the sweet aroma of flowers signals the
walks into the garden, avoiding players’ transition from trees and bushes to a
gazes and taking a swig from a flask. If garden. You roll down the window to get
players choose to interact with him they can a better look when something rotten
learn his basic story, though he encourages wafts into the car on a chill wind – you
them to get their information from Kate pass a Well made of old stones and
inside the house. “I’m just a groundskeeper, I weathered wood, covered in vines. The
didn’t ask you to be here.” If players press garden wraps around and behind the
him they can get the full story of what house.
happened (see event The Witness) but he Connections: Driveway connects to
won’t give it lightly. If players choose to Garden and the Front Porch of the
threaten Scruffy then he will pull out his house. The garden connects to the
Weapon to indicate that he won’t be toyed driveway, the Basement through a
with. He leaves the party to attend to his broken window, and the Dining room
work, players can continue to interact with out back of the house.
him, but he will be mum about his direct past Structures: There is a tight line of cars
and his involvement in the incident. in the driveway and the Garden has the
Intensity: 1-2 Well about 20 meters from the house.
Possible Pulls: Staying in the car, trying to
recover from whiplash from the crash,
fighting Scruffy, trying to get more information from Scruffy (investigation or
persuasion)
Choices: How much information to try to get from Scruffy, whether or not they get the
Invitation from Scruffy or Kate

Character: Scruffy
Description: Scott “Scruffy” Denton has been the groundskeeper for Edith and
Zachary Jackson since the late 1960s. He lives “right down the road” and runs a auto-
shop close by. He still cares for the grounds in his spare hours after their deaths. He
has short, brown hear that is greying at the temples and an unkempt beard. His blue
overalls have the name “Scruffy” stitched into them.
Motivations: Superstitious, believes that the house is haunted by the “spirits of the
un-dearly departed” and he refuses to go inside Secretly he was the lover of Zach,
Scruffy stays on the property to help Zach’s Ghost find rest.
Skills/Starting Items: Weapon (Knife/Axe/Gun), Flask, Can feel Zach’s Ghostly
presence
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Indictment Location: Foyer & Living Room

Players are greeted by Kate while she Description: The house is tall, with a
smokes a cigarette. She’s the one who slight bend to the sides as if the house is
invited them all here, and invites them holding its breath. A pair of steps lead to
into the living room. You notice as you the porch which follows the garden around
follow her into the house that Kate has a the house. In the foyer there is a set of
plastic and metal band around her ankle stairs leading up to a balcony and to the left
with an ugly square attached to it. Qs: there is a guest bathroom. To the right
What kind of information do you get from there is a wide hallway with a bar and
Kate? Are you more interested in her glasses and a mirror above it. The hallway
backstory or the House? How does she leads to a recently re-carpeted living room
feel about Scruffy? Kate will be secretive with a fireplace and a painting of a family
about her house arrest, insisting that she on a sunny hill above it. Two old couches
just didn’t pay her taxes for too long and point to the fireplace, while a Lay-Z-Boy
blames her husband, Jason. Kate doesn’t recliner stares directly at an old, knob-and-
pay Scruffy, at least not officially, and switch TV, equidistant to the bar and a pair
they don’t talk much due to Kate’s arrest of double doors to the kitchen.
and Scruffy’s superstition of the house. Connections: The Foyer connects to the
Kate will insinuate that Scruffy knows front porch and driveway, and has stairs
more than he lets on, and urge the that lead to the balcony and bedrooms, the
players to talk with him or explore the living room connects to the kitchen
house. Players can try to press her for Structures: There is a Mirror above a bar
information by pulling, and if they with glasses and hard alcohol in the
haven’t gotten the events of last week hallway, in the Living room is a fireplace
from Scruffy then Kate will tell them the (unlit) with a painting above it, and an old
story (see event The Witness) or where television directly across the room
to get started.
Intensity: 1
Possible Pulls: Minor interactions, mostly, but players will have to pull to get any
significant information from Kate (the real reason for her arrest, Scruffy’s history,
information about the house)
Choices: How much information they get from Kate, whether they accept the
Invitation from Kate or Scruffy, and if they choose to explore the house before the
Invitation

Character: Kate
Description: Kate Jackson owns the house and has been living here for almost 6
months. Kate’s parents lived here, but died and she was put in foster care. Kate
married Jason Chou after their daughter, Debra, was born. Kate has dark skin and
hair, you can see a pack of cigarettes in her jacket, and right now she wears yoga pants
with a metal square strapped to her right ankle. Secretly Kate and her husband
robbed a casino at a local Native American Reservation to pay for her husband’s
mounting gambling debts, Jason got away but Kate was caught. After her trial Kate
filed for a divorce, but Jason is still watching over Debra every other week.
Motivations: Wants peace in her home, wants Debra to be safe, has poor impulse
control, and she doesn’t want to talk about what happened to her parents.
Skills/Starting Items: Cigarettes & Lighter
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The Witness
The overarching goal comes from either Location: Dining Room & Kitchen
Kate or Scruffy, and depending on who Description: Through double doors at
they get the goal from they will be the far end of the living room sits a squat
implored to do things a little differently. dining room in the corner of the house.
In both cases they will describe how the Tall windows allow anyone to see out into
house has always been creepy - Doors the garden, or walk onto the porch out
slam, glass frosts in strange ways, back. Along the inside of the dining room
sometimes you can hear the radio turn to is a row of bookshelves, only the Harry
the Sunday night sermon even when no Potter series (the most recent, the Half-
one else is home – but in particular Blood Prince) aren’t covered in dust. There
players will hear the events of last week. is a swinging door that leads into the
Paramedics came and took the body, but kitchen. The long counter and deep
were unable to determine the cause of farmhouse sink are full of dishes, pizza
death. They know it wasn’t murder, but boxes, and delivery Chinese which is
the Deputy questioned both Kate and beginning to stink. Mounted by the door is
Scruffy for details. a telephone whose cord falls to the floor,
When they hear the story so long it can reach the door to the
from Kate: It will be personal, from her basement.
point of view how she was cooking Connections: The Dining Room
dinner with her daughter Debbie and the connects to the Living Room, the Kitchen,
delivery guy from a Chinese place in and the Back Porch to the garden, and the
town showed up uninvited. After being Kitchen connects to the Basement.
invited in, he dies mysteriously (use Structures: Glass Doors and windows
motivations/motifs of Secondary line the Dining Room, and there is a
Antagonist & Father McKinnon) but Library of books on the other side of the
Kate is convinced that her long- Dining Room table, in the Kitchen there is
disappeared sister was the one that did a Telephone
it. Qs: Ultimately Kate wants Lucy’s
ghost to be rid from the house, which is why she put out the advert, then she asks how
the party plans to do that.
When they hear the story from Scruffy: Scruffy is more detached and
nostalgic, he will first talk about first working at the house and the strange occurrances
(use motivations/motifs of Secondary Antagonist & Father McKinnon), and then talk
about how it stopped when Lucy disappeared and the family left. Since Kate has been
back things have gotten weird again, and last week Scruffy was working late when he
saw an ambulance take a body from the house. Qs: Scruffy believes that Lucy’s ghost is
still here, and he asks the party to put her to rest – no matter what Kate will pay them to
do – and asks if the party will try to help her.
Intensity: 1-2
Possible Pulls: Trying to get more information from the person, trying to remember
exactly how to excise or help a Ghost (depending on profession), or trying to catch the
person in a lie
Choices: Both Scruffy and Kate will ask the players to agree to help Lucy in a specific
way (excise her from the house, or help her to move on) once the group agrees to a
course of action then the character that gives The Witness will be the one to die in Act II,
make a note of who this is.
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Character: Lucy
Description: Lucy Jackson will be met wherever a player decides to investigate first
without the majority of the group. The young girl is playing with a toy (truck, ball,
stick, cell phone). She sits on the ground playing and not looking up. She is shy with
answers, and won’t answer directly but looks like Kate’s daughter, Debbie. She wears a
grey dress with white embroidery along the skirt, her dark hair is pulled tightly back
She will ask for people to play with her, and then hide (in the well?) – if she is the
antagonist she make “play” war and attack them.
Motivations: Does not want to acknowledge her death, but she is always drawn back
to the Well in the garden (or her resting place)
Skills/Starting Items: Can manipulate light and sound to make players hallucinate
Possible Pulls: If the player mentions the Well or Ghosts specifically Lucy will get
scared and run away, if the player tries to follow they might lose her or trip and get
hurt

Recess
After the Witness (with a short time to investigate, or Kate can tell give the Invitation
during dinner) Kate invites everyone into the dining room for some pizza. A young man
(too young) pulls up to the house in a rusty Geo and gives Kate the delivery. Kate admits
that she’s not much of a cook, and only ever tries when Debbie is around, but this week
Debbie is staying with her father after the horrifying events of last week. Use this time to
allow the players a few extra pulls to investigate before the end of the act, but we want to
end on something of a cliffhanger.
The act ends with a question – when a player asks a vital question we can end in a
few different ways: the lights flicker/a cold breeze comes from the outside/everyone
begins to feel drowsy (insinuate that the pizza or drinks may have been drugged)/the
sun sets too early, too quickly/there is a thunderous crash and players are knocked
unconscious. It’s important to note that most players will have to pull just to not be
injured in this event, and elective pulls can give them more information about what’s
going on (see Motifs and Themes).
Their eyes close as Kate says “No! You can’t get everything you want!” If a player
pulls to stay awake they see the glass windows of the Dining Room frost over from the
bottom, as the room seems to get darker. From outside you hear Scruffy yell “Kate!
Behind you!” and as she screams the whole room goes black.
Intensity: 2-3
Possible Pulls: All players will have to pull from the tower or suffer damage, players
can have elective pulls to stay awake longer and see if they can gain any more
information
Choices: Try to get players to reveal their motivations, use their skills to gain
information and come up with a plan to find & help Lucy

Go ahead and take a break between acts, play a song, let the players grab a snack or
use the bathroom. The looming question of what they will wake up to and talking
out-of-game will help heighten the anticipation. Chill yourself, grab a drink, and get
ready for the next Act.
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Act II: The Trial (45–60 minutes)

Evidence
Players awake with a splitting headache, the whole room is freezing. The back door is
wide open, and it looks like the screen door has been torn off its hinges. It’s dark
outside, and flies buzz around the cold pizza. It’s after 11 pm, and any cell phones the
player had have no signal. There is a bloody handprint on the door to the living room (or
another location that encourages player to explore into the secondary antagonist –
Basement/Garden/Upstairs). Kate is missing and there’s no answer from anywhere in
the house.
Qs: What do you do? Where do you investigate? Do you try to leave? Find Kate?
Go straight for the ghost? This is a good event to have micro-events happen (see Section
3) and build creepy atmosphere. The players can go a couple different ways: if they
haven’t met Lucy yet then they can do so as they follow a blood trail upstairs. If they go
downstairs to turn on the Circuit Breaker they’ll meet Edith. If they go out into the
garden to look for clues they’ll meet Zach.
Intensity: 1-3
Possible Pulls: Players can make Location: The Basement
elective pulls to get more detail from a Description: From the Kitchen there is a
scene, urging them to meet their set of wooden stairs that make a sharp left
secondary antagonist before finding a with a light switch to your right, it doesn’t
body, or players might just trigger work. The unfinished cement floor is cold,
minor events, feel free to add some all you can see are sheets of plastic hanging
intensity to the situation from the ceiling, an unfinished wall, and
Choices: Where to go, who to meet, sheets of drywall separating one corner.
whether or not the party sticks together There’s a light in the back, a small red flame
that indicates a Furnace, and a pile of wood
Habeas Corpus stocked up beside it. Farther in you can see
Scruffy, Kate, or a player is murdered that there’s a broken window that looks out
(if tower falls early) and some tension to the Garden high up the wall, and
is released – either because now we someone has pushed a pair of crates
know what happened or it’s less likely underneath the window. Next to the
for the tower to fall again so soon. If the Window is the Circuit Breaker.
body is that of Scruffy/Kate then it's the Connections: There is a stairwell
other that gave told the story in The connecting the Basement to the Kitchen,
Witness This is also when the party will and a broken window allows access to the
meet the Secondary Antagonist Garden, if the players find it there is also a
(Zach/Edith/Lucy). This will be the Secret Passage to the Well
first example of outright gore, with Structures: The unfinished Basement
someone being murdered in the contains a Furnace in the inside corner, a
manner related to the Secondary Circuit Breaker next to the window, and
Antagonist (see each below) or by Plastic Sheets related to the construction,
Father McKinnon (hung). there is also a False Wall that the players
Zach: Zach cannot speak, but he won’t be able to find without pulling to
will appear as an apparition in the investigate the walls
garden and attic pointing to the well, if
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the players try to assist him they may trigger a Location: Upstairs & Study
meeting with Father McKinnon, if they attack Description: The upstairs
him he will retaliate. If he is the secondary begins with a balcony overlooking
antagonist he will prevent them from leaving the the entrance, then there is a large
house by attacking them with plants or other hall with 2 bedrooms to the left
natural forces. and a bathroom separating them.
Edith: If the player fiddles with the One bedroom is utilitarian with
furnace they'll hear Edith and her chair asking only dishes decorating it, the
them to "turn up the heat, my bones are cold", if other is clearly a little girl’s room.
they don't they will be branded a Trespasser as Farther down the hall there is a
they try to escape the basement. If she is the bedroom that has been converted
secondary antagonist she will try to force the into a Study. In the middle of the
party to leave, setting fire to their things and hall is a rope that pulls down
trying to stab them. dusty stairs.
Lucy: If the player angers Lucy, or if they Connections: The upstairs hall
try to follow her when she runs away they may has a stair that connects to the
have to save themselves from physical harm by Foyer entrance, and at the other
pulling from the tower. If Lucy is the secondary end of the hall there is a pull-
antagonist then she will want to “play a game” down set of stairs that leads to the
with the party by separating them visually Attic
(different rooms, can’t see through the darkness) Structures: There is a large tub
or vocally (too far to hear one another, won’t between the bedrooms, and an
respond to calls) and lure someone to the well. old dial-up computer in the Study
Intensity: 2-4
Possible Pulls: If a player dies then others can
pull to investigate cause, or they may be forced into the same circumstances, at the very
least a player is wounded, players can try to attack the secondary antagonist or they may
get attacked when around them, players can also pull to try to communicate with the
Secondary Antagonist (Séance, using the Recorder) and get a response
Choices: Level of efficacy against antagonists, some are more effectively dispatched
and require fewer pulls (Zach: Exorcism/ Edith: Burning/ Lucy: Hallowing), where they
find the body

Character: Zach
Description: Zachary Jackson is no more than a ghostly apparition that appears in
the garden wearing torn clothing, murdered by his wife Edith when he was stabbed to
death repeatedly and had his throat slashed, Kate & Lucy's Father, Scruffy's secret lover
Motivations: Wants to keep Scruffy safe, and get revenge on Father McKinnon
Skills/Starting Items: Power over the grounds & plants, poltergeisty

Character: Edith
Description: Edith Jackson is a voice and presence that prefers to stay in the
basement, shot to death in the foyer by policeman after she went “mad”, Zach's Wife,
secretly she was possessed by Father McKinnon's when she murdered Zach
Motivations: Wants Zach to suffer, wants trespassers to leave her home
Skills/Starting Items: Manipulates fire and darkness to strike fear
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Deputy’s Statement
As soon as the body is revealed and the supernatural is Location: The Attic
at it’s worst there is a loud banging at the front door. Description: Almost a crawl
Players should look at each other in confusion, space in some areas, dust fills
questioning what they should do, when a voice cries the air and you can taste moth
out “Open up! This is the police!” Deputy Quinn balls as you move into the Attic.
received a tamper warning from Kate's leg brace and is There is a window on the far
here to investigate. She knows Kate, and is worried for edge that overlooks the roof and
her safety when she sees this group of strangers in her provides some view of the
home with no power and no explanation as to what is Garden below.
going on. Connections: The Attic can
Qs: What do you tell the deputy? Do you show only be accessed by the stair
her the body, even though you have no alibi for the from the upstairs hall, but
past few hours? How do you explain your presence in players can squeeze through the
the house, when you don’t have a copy of the email window to get onto the Roof
advertisement and Kate cannot verify you were with some difficulty
invited? This event is all about making the players Structures: The attic is empty
question their actions and motives – and how those except for cobwebs of spiders
actions and motives would be perceived by the and a solid-wood Wardrobe in
authorities. Especially Deputy Quinn who will take the middle of the room
offense to any jokes and, although patient, will not
hesitate to try to arrest any and all of the players if they do not comply in helping her
find Kate and whomever murdered the body they found just moments ago.
Intensity: 2-4
Possible Pulls: More of an RP break, if the players try to leave via the cop car it will
blow up - pull for dodging, attempting to force Quinn to do anything, trying to lie to the
Deputy, or for attacking her (some parties will try)
Choices: How to act around Quinn (Try to Leave/Try to get her to Leave/Get her to
help), Possession/Killed (Quinn's car explodes w/ her in it/Quinn dies & corpse comes
back/Quinn gets possessed)

Character: Quinn
Description: Deputy Quinn Marie Williams is the youngest of 5, and the first to go
into Law Enforcement in the small town of Pleasantville. Most of her experience has
come from watching CSI and Law & Order, but she refuses to be seen as a joke
Motivations: Wants respect, wants to be a detective, wants to find Kate
Skills/Starting Items: Flashlight, Gun, Walkie-Talkie

Collateral Damages
While the party is debating with the deputy, force their hand to action (not simply
talking here!) by possessing one of the characters. If a player gets possessed then give
them the “Possessed” menace (See section 5 Printouts) and describe the dark shadow
that crosses into them as seen from the eyes of any Psychics or Priests in the party. If the
party is small, or if someone has already died, then Deputy Quinn is more likely to get
possessed; her demeanor changes, and her motivations becomes that of her possessor
(Secondary Antagonist / Father McKinnon). The possessed will try to attack a player
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(personal description reason/whomever is best equipped to dispatch the possessor) and

the party will have to choose how to continue. Note that although someone is possessed,
ghostly things are still happening from the other antagonist, and the threat is not
isolated even though players might feel that way.
Qs: Do you try to excise the possessed person? Do you just restrain them and
leave them? Do you retaliate when they attack you? The act ends when players have
reached a stable place, either by restraining the possessed, or excising them. We’ll end
the act by denying the players what their next step in the plan is – if it’s to contact the
outside world then as Quinn goes to the police car it explodes. If it’s to confront the
ghost then we have the possessed person reveal that they aren’t the ghost that killed
someone last week, and they were trying to help the party from the real threat. Leave a
lingering question in their mind: What do we do now?
Intensity: 4-5
Possible Pulls: Dodging attacks from the possessed, attempting to attack or excise the
possessed, surviving environmental problems
Choices: How they will go into the next act, how they “resolve” the possession, if they
can keep Deputy Quinn alive until the next act, if they will abandon their quest to try
and escape the haunting
Take another short break and feel the energy in the room. If players are tense that’s
good – force them to stand up and talk out of character before diving back in. If
players are feeling a little lackluster then think about starting off the next act with a
bang and a consequence, a real challenge. Act III is the least set in stone (due to all of
the fluctuations in story so far) so take a moment to look over your notes and decide
a few things: How do they find the survivor? Are you going to force the players into
action against the ghostly threat or are they ready to fight on their own? What is the
party’s driving motivation right now, and how can you challenge them to accomplish
that? What will bring about a satisfying end, even if it’s not what the players
expected?

Act III: The Verdict (30-45 minutes)

The Appeal
We open the final act with the players resolved to try something: Leave or Confront
Father McKinnon. While the players prepare they find The Survivor (Kate / Scruffy,
whomever was not The Witness) or The Survivor finds them – and implores them once
again to help Lucy (Excise / Help move on) by revealing secrets of the past.
If the Survivor is Kate: She speaks personally, about how she and her sister were
playing a game when Lucy disappeared. Kate never told anyone, but she saw the dark
figure of a priest with a rope around his neck, and after Lucy disappeared he put that
rope on her mother, Edith, who went mad. Kate believes that Lucy has been driven mad
as well, and asks the party to please take her soul away from this cursed house with
them.
 12

If the Survivor is Scruffy: He talks of the

past, how Lucy and Kate would play games in the Location: Secret Passage
garden – Scruffy has never told Kate, but he saw Description: A tight, spider-
infested passage travels a ways
Lucy when she disappeared. Lucy was playing
near the Well when a dark priest put a noose from the Basement and leads to a
around her neck and pulled her down. He told space next to the Well. The Well is
not dry, but here there are so
Zach immediately, but when Scruffy went into
the house Edith went into a rage. She accused many rocks that you can clearly
Zach of cheating on her with Scruffy, Zach didn’t see how one would move up, or
down into the black waters where
deny it but tried to get rope to go into the Well.
Edith murdered him, when Scruffy called the a scrap of grey fabric floats,
snagged by a suspicious white
police they gunned her down after she stabbed
an officer. Scruffy believes that all of their souls branch.
are trapped here, and asks the party to lay Lucy Connections: A false wall
connects the Basement to the
to rest at least, “she doesn’t deserve this.”
If Deputy Quinn is still alive she or the Secret Passage, and empties out
Survivor will almost certainly be killed soon, try into the Well. Players may climb
or be pulled up the Well with
to make it related to the players choices or their
lack of choice by waiting. Qs: Where will you go? some difficulty
Structures: The rotted remains
Do you have all the supplies you need? Which
party member is going to perform which task? of Lucy and the bare bones of
Will you assist the Survivor and help Lucy? Father McKinnon taint the water
at the bottom of the Well
Intensity: 2-3
Possible Pulls: Players may try to discern the
intentions of the Survivor, or attack them out of suspicion, or trigger a ghost interaction
Choices: If the party believes the story, how the party will cleanse the house of Father
McKinnon & the Secondary Antagonist (exorcism, hallowing, burning, moving the body)

Character: Father McKinnon

Description: The angry spirit of Father Timothy McKinnon has haunted this land
since he was lynched at the well, and the noose is still around his neck. He wears all
black, and has a wide-brimmed hat that hides his gaunt, whitened face
Motivations: A player will be his primary target (if the character is LGBT+ for
example), he wishes to punish them for their sins (see Themes & Motifs)
Skills/Starting Items: The rope he was hung with, now a supernatural weapon

Judge, Jury, and Executioner

This act is really going to be fast and loose, it is the climax where players will test their
plan with their ghostly adversaries at every turn. Because this can happen in any
location, in the house / at the Well / in the Basement, you will need to keep the
Secondary Antagonist and Father McKinnon right on the players heels. Keep actions fast
(moving from one location to another doesn’t use an action, it just happens) and the
tension high by forcing players to pull often and sometimes multiple times to
accomplish a task (you climb the Well with Lucy’s body, but Father McKinnon’s bones
catch your leg and you will have to make a pull to shake him loose, after you shake him
loose you will have to pull again to climb up the damp wall of the Well successfully).
 13

Force players to choose with every action, and give them direct consequences (a
possessed Kate is clawing at your Priest, do you try to restrain her or perform the
Exorcism yourself?). See Broad Strokes vs Details and Themes & Motifs for more
information on ideas of things to throw at the players in this volatile event. Qs: After
you begin the exorcism you begin to feel a rope tightening around your neck, do you
continue or try to address the threat? While burning Father McKinnon’s corpse with
gasoline from Scruffy’s truck you see a flaming figure stand up, it’s Edith and she’s
screaming for you to get off her land; do you run or do you try to make sure the bones
are burned completely?
Intensity: 5
Possible Pulls: Exorcism, hallowing the ground, burning the bones, or moving the
body off the grounds, all of which will be against the wishes of at least one ghost,
confrontations with Father McKinnon, finding the Secret Passage
Choices: If the players are successful in defeating Father McKinnon (Y/N), Subplots
wrap up neatly/Party is haunted, if players prioritize helping Lucy or just try to escape

The Defense Rests

The evil is defeated, or at least everyone Wrapping up the Subplot
escaped, or at least someone escaped. Probably. We want a happy ending for
There’s no need to drag out the ending, the someone, even if it’s not the party
“good” ghosts disappear in a light from above, as a whole. Pick something that
only the light isn’t from Heaven but from (police the players did for the characters
cars / an ambulance / news crew / Kate’s and let them show their
husband) coming up the driveway. appreciation: If Scruffy died then
I prefer a small montage of scenes show a scene where Ghost Scruffy
while the players sigh relief of no more pulling and Ghost Zach are together again.
from the tower. One scene with each player’s If Lucy is saved then she gives her
character after the event, unique with their sister Kate a hug and says goodbye
choices and menaces: other players gathered before disappearing. If Kate died
at their funeral, they enjoy the success of the but Father McKinnon was defeated
ghost hunt, spending the reward money, on trial then maybe Edith will invite her
for Kate’s murder. For Priests maybe their daughters back into the home for a
giving a testimony of the power of Christ, for late dinner. See Themes & Motifs
Psychics maybe they are with a client when one for more ideas.
of the ghosts stops by to thank them in person, Or maybe the party was
for Paranormal Researchers maybe they are really mean, and they left the house
giving a lecture on the real dangers of without helping anyone, perhaps
parapsychology gone wrong, for Ghost Hunters the specter of Father McKinnon
maybe they’ve made a useful connection with will follow them beyond the
other members of the party and are now on grounds to enact his final revenge
another hunt, for Reporters maybe they are hard out of the game.
at work when they look at a framed news story
of the haunting with a happy ending, for Friends maybe they are at a Thanksgiving
dinner when someone asks what they’ve been up to lately and they take a sip of wine
before starting a story of the most scared they’ve ever been. Credits roll.
Possible Pulls: No pulls, unless players try a last-minute stunt to change how their
story ends, risking death for glory.
 14

Section 2: Replaying & Modifying the Campaign

Broad Strokes vs. Details
Every time you play House of the Dread it will be a little different – players will choose
different Professions, the Secondary Antagonist changes based on the players
Motivations, one character becomes The Witness and dies while another becomes The
Survivor and tries to help the party at the end of the campaign, different Menaces will
change how players approach scenarios – but we can do better that the little things that
keep things interesting.
If you are running this campaign with repeat players I strongly suggest broad
changes to give them a scenario that they haven’t seen before, and can’t predict the
outcome of. The next section goes over fluff, making minor interactions and details
different to draw attention to different aspects, but this does not significantly change
how players feel about each situation.
There are three big things that can change to keep this campaign fresh without
writing a lot of: Change the Events, Change the Characters, Change the Places.
I won’t go over rewriting events here, because if you’re at that stage then you probably
don’t need my help to do so, but I will go over some suggestions for Characters and
Locations that will give players a pause before charging headlong into danger.

Wounds, Menaces, & Initiative

Every Character Sheet has a marker for Wounds at the top right for players to keep
track of any damage they acquire. Sometimes, when players go for an action they try to
make a pull from the tower and find that it won’t budge, or that it will surely cause a
collapse. Rather than committing themselves to death for an unfortunate choice, players
can refuse the pull and leave the tower as it is. Their action fails, and they will have to
face the narrative consequences, but there are also damage consequences. Instead of
just failing, players well get wounded.
The first level “Just a Scratch” is everyone’s freebie, and doesn’t have any effects,
but the second level of wounds “Incapacitated” means they won’t be able to move
without the assistance of another player. They remain conscious, but they can’t perform
actions that would require that they get up and go somewhere else. All is not lost,
players can heal a wound with some basic know-how, or just not feeling the pain.
When a player attempts to heal a wound they make a pull from the tower, and if they
succeed then they go back up a level. If they are currently “Incapacitated” then they go
back to “Just a Scratch”.
The third level is “Mortally Wounded” and when players are here they will have
to pull just to stay alive, this will take the players action, but if they succeed then
they go back to only being “Incapacitated”. Using an Intoxicant (like Alcohol) will
allow a player to go back up the wound ladder without pulling, but the Intoxicant is
consumed and can’t be used again (the Grieving Victim can only go up one wound level
once per game).

At the beginning of the game everyone gets a Menace, a card that will make the game a
little harder or a little different for every player. Most of the cards are self-explanatory,
 15

but it will be the responsibility of the Host to keep Death is not the end, when
track of who has what and how often the Menace players die it’s not for good.
comes up during the game. Menaces can be Face- They keep their Initiative and
Up or Face-Down when they are first given to the continue playing, but their
player, and it says at the bottom right how to abilities have now changed and
place your card. Menaces can be revealed if it will be more at the discretion of
says so at the bottom right and another player the Host. When a player knocks
uses their action to investigate them or the player over the tower give the player
chooses to reveal their Menace voluntarily. the 4 “Dead” Menace cards,
Sometimes only specific Professions or and have them draw one
Backgrounds can reveal the Menace to the rest of randomly. If the player is new
the party. Once a Menace is revealed it is Face-Up (or you just want to be nice) you
for the rest of the game. If the Menace is can have them choose what
Unrevealable, then the player will keep that secret kind of Dead they want to be.
from all other players, even if they are Rebuild the tower with 3
investigated. blocks taken out for every dead
player, and 3 blocks taken out
Each Specialty comes with a pre-set Initiative, for each Act that has passed.
and certain Menaces will modify a players Play resumes as normal.
Initiative (for better or worse) based on the
number at the top right of the card. The Host will want to make a note of each player’s
Initiative to keep track of who goes first during tense scenes. It is also useful to make
sure every player gets a chance to perform an action, though for many experienced RP
groups this is unnecessary much of the time. In Dread turn order can mean the
difference of pulling an easy block and dying, so some players will want to pad their
chances of survival with a high Initiative. Give players with the highest Initiative
hard choices, they know what they signed up for. When two players have the same
Initiative, even with the Menaces modifiers, go with the player whose birthday is coming
up next for going first.

Re-Rolling Characters
You don’t need to write new side characters or give them a different voice to make a
character new, you can even keep their appearance the same and completely change
their role in the story. For each major character I’ve added a box that you can make
notes on or in for changes you make.
Character: Pizza Delivery Kid
Description: Marc Rodriguez is 16 years old according to his drivers license, but
his Pizza Hut polo hangs on his 1.5 meter high frame like a flag. He looks 12, and the
large pizza boxes make him wish for a growth spurt any minute now.
Motivations: (Wants to get off work early to go on a date / wants Kate to give him
a bigger tip to buy a new video game / wants to help the party hunt ghosts)
Skills/Starting Items: Pizza, (Flashlight / Cigarettes & Lighter / Evidence of the
hidden history of the house)
Changing the description is easy, and can be done on the fly, but if you’re
preparing the campaign for changes I recommend giving the character new
 16

Motivations and Skills. You’ll find some suggestions in the main text, but here are
some further inspirations:
 Take a Menace from the unused deck and give it to the character
 Make them a Red Herring, with motive and opportunity to kill The Witness
 Have the character commit a crime, and lie to the party about it
 Make the character sound like a conspiracy theorist, but they’re right
 Give the character an item the players need, but they want to keep it
 Their primary motivation is to leave, and they want the players to help them
 They can see the dead, and are secretly working with the Secondary Antagonist

Locations & Opportunities

In the base campaign there are several important locations – The Well is the resting
place of both Lucy and Father McKinnon, The Dining room is where Kate brings the
party before they are all mysteriously knocked out, The Basement is where Edith is lying
in wait, The Foyer is where Deputy Quinn will make her entrance – and when changing
the campaign to keep things interesting you can Add Locations, Change a
Location’s Importance, Change Connections, or Change Structures. When
changing which locations are important, you basically want to answer these questions:
 Where did Lucy die?
Directing Players Indirectly
 Where will Act I end?
When changing connections
 Where will players want to go at the
make sure you know how every
beginning of Act II?
location fits into the others. As
 Where will players face off against the you first describe the space,
Secondary Antagonist? make sure that every player
 Where is the body of The Witness? understands where they can go
 Where will someone get Possessed? from where they are. Be ready
 What kind of structures will players be to answer questions the
able to interact with here? players have about the layout
 Where can players go from here? (keep it (right, left, how far, can they
at 2-3 connections) hear me from here) without
Once you answer each of these you should be having to draw them a map. Part
good to go, and you can keep connections and of Dread’s appeal as an RPG is
structures the same unless you really want to how much of the story takes
disorient returning players from what they think place in the players heads and
they know. not on a game map.
You can also add locations that players
haven’t seen in previous games – just make sure to make these locations important in
some way, because players will want to explore or at least discuss anywhere that they
haven’t been before. Just make the answer to one of the questions above one of these
new locations:
 Old Church up the hill  Cliff across the Garden
 Kate & Lucy’s Nursery upstairs  Gnarled Tree out back
 Fallout Shelter in Basement  Laundry Room next to Kitchen
And if you’re really at a loss for what you want to add location-wise, just roll the dice!
Roll once the question of importance from the first list, and then roll again for the
location to add that answers that question from the second list.
 17

Section 3: Ideas for Details

Themes & Motifs
The base story has a lot of themes in it already (Religious overtones, LGBT+ inclusivity,
Mother/Daughter relationships, haunted by the past, haunted by lies) but if you are
running multiple campaigns with recurring players they might not enjoy seeing the
same things over and over. In the previous section we went over how to change the
campaign in large ways (which characters have information, rewriting the history,
motivations, important locations) but it’s also good to change up the way the game feels
through the kinds of ideas and themes the players come across.
My favorite simple modification to this
campaign is “the crooked spiral” – when As you write in motifs and other
Lucy is the Secondary Antagonist I have her changes, go ahead and make notes on
presence signaled by this symbol. Players first the base Campaign Events, edit this
hear of it during The Witness, either Kate Word Document before you print it
says that the blood from the Delivery Guy out, or just make notes here in a
formed a crooked spiral or Scruffy relates the different color before bringing up
story of how it was a game that the two girls your notes on a tablet/phone. I advise
used to play when they were young. They making deviations in a different
would hide a crooked spiral somewhere (like color so they stand out and ensure
carved into the wood of the Well) and the you won’t miss any opportunities to
other would look for it. From there I have a bring the story to life.
symbol of danger and importance – the
back door can have frost on it that forms a crooked spiral, the front door has a crooked
spiral carved into it when you turn your back, or when players are looking for clues they
find a crooked spiral on the kitchen floor… just in front of the basement.
If you want to spice up a session with new details like this you can easily change
what players feel is important, and every new detail you give a returning player is
something that they will pay attention to.

Example Scenes
If you’re unsure of your ability to describe a scene or act as a character, here are some
basic examples from events in the campaign (without any modifications from the base
story). Go over them to get a feel for what a character might sound like, and the kinds of
details that bring a story to live – don’t just read this out loud to players – engage
with players directly and respond directly to their questions for the best experience.
Describing the Drive up to the House: As you pull up through the winding
dirt driveway the trees and hills obscure any view of outside the property. The drive
takes almost 10 minutes from the “main” road, all of your cars begin tightening in on
one another as you go deeper into the shade. Then dirt gives way to gravel and you can
smell the sweet aroma of flowers as the trees and bushes become a manicured garden.
The garden takes a while to drive through, enough time for you to appreciate the designs
of the hedges and the large blooming plants that dot a perfect scene. You roll down the
window to get a better look when something rotten wafts into the car on a chill wind –
you pass a Well made of old stones and weathered wood, covered in vines. Its disuse
sticks out in an otherwise picturesque scene. You follow the garden and come to a stop
 18

as it wraps around and behind the house, all of you park in a straight line, bumper to
bumper, as the driveway allows.
Kate being The Witness: This house has always been a little off, ever since I
lived here as a little girl. Doors slam, glass frosts in strange ways, sometimes you can
hear the radio turn to the Sunday night sermon even when no one else is home, but last
week something happened. I was here with my daughter, Debbie, and we were in the
kitchen cooking dinner when the doorbell rang. I went to the door and saw the delivery
guy, the one from Peking House in town, and I told him I hadn’t ordered anything
tonight but he didn’t talk. I invited him in for a glass of water, when he came into the
living room he fell onto the floor and just started bleeding everywhere.
I called 911 immediately, and the paramedics came, Debbie screamed so loud.
When the paramedics turned his body over, you could see his neck was pressed too
tight, bruised all up and down while he just kept bleeding. They took him away and that
new Deputy questioned me for hours, not that I knew anything. The paramedics said it
wasn’t murder, not by anyone without a noose anyways. After they left I looked at the
carpet and saw that the blood left a distinct word in the floor, “Lucy.” That was too
much, and I put out the invitation to you lot.
Lucy was my sister, and we lived here growing up, until one day she vanished. I
know that she’s still here, one way or another, and I don’t want Debra to grow up in a
haunted house. I don’t want her to take horror stories to school – I need you to get
Lucy’s ghost out of this house. However you do it, I don’t know, I just need to know that
she’s gone so we can rest at night.
Scruffy being The Witness: When I first started tending this garden, this
place was a paradise. Summers that shone down and winters with just the lightest
snowfall you ever seen. Edith and Zach were good people, and their daughters took after
Zach to play all day after doing their chores. Until one summer day, the older daughter
Lucy went missing. They had been playing out here in the garden just like always but
that night she didn’t come back to the house.
Edith went into a rage… the family, what was left of it, moved away but I stayed.
Since that day the house has been getting darker and darker. Doors slam, the glass frosts
in strange ways, sometimes you can hear the TV turn to the Sunday night sermon even
though the power’s not on. A chill wind comes from the house, and last week that wind
took a young boy into the house and never let him out. It was one of those delivery men
that Kate gets all the time, she invited him in and I knew something bad was going to
happen.
Next thing I hear is the sirens, police and paramedics show up and cart his body
out. He was all blue and twisted up, bleeding out of places where there weren’t any
wounds, and his neck looked like it had been put in a compressor. That night I saw her
again, Lucy, in the window of the living room. Kate doesn’t know what she’s doing
asking you here, but if you know what you’re doing at all I need you to help that little girl
move on. She doesn’t deserve to be stuck in that house, please help her to cross over to
the other side.
Meeting Lucy: As you investigate you hear the rolling of plastic wheels, when
you get closer to see a young girl with dark hair playing with a toy truck. She sits cross-
legged and rolls the truck on the ground saying “vroom vroom” almost like she’s
ignoring you. You ask her name and she says “I’m 8 years old and I love Harry Potter.”
At which point you assume that she’s Debbie, Kate’s daughter. She wears a grey dress
 19

with white embroidery along the skirt, her dark hair is pulled tightly back and she asks,
“Are you going to help my mom? She’s really worried about the house.” You respond
that you’re going to try, and wonder if she’s seen anything strange in the house. She
shakes her head violently, “Do you wanna play a game? Let’s play hide and seek! You
gotta cover your eyes like this” and she pulls your hands to your face, “no peeking!” You
can hear her giggle and track her footsteps as she goes under the bed/behind the
wardrobe/behind the well, and quickly count to ten. When you look for the little girl you
can hear her giggle still, but she’s nowhere to be seen, and another member of your
party comes to tell you that pizza has arrived.

Minor Interactions

If the player attempts to leave early they may see someone behind them
Car Mirrors in the mirror of the car, either Zach or Father McKinnon
If there is a Shiner have them see the results of Edith/Zach/Delivery
Guy’s death (blood on the floor) but force them to talk to Kate or Scruffy
Foyer for potential details as to events
As of Act II the fireplace will be smoldering, if a player tries to stoke it or
feed it the fire will greedily grab anything it can but the room will get no
Fireplace warmer
If the player uses the phone in Act I it will work normally, if they attempt
to use it to call for help in Acts II or III it will always respond "That
Telephone number is no longer in service"
The first time a player tries to use the computer they will see Father
McKinnon reflected in the dark screen, if they access the internet after
Act I the power will go out when the dial-up starts but the sound
Computer continues
When the players look at the painting different times the scene will
change and progress, mirroring the story the players believe happened in
Painting the past on these grounds
If a player takes a shower they may be assaulted by a spirit or spooped in
Showering the mirror & steam, depending on the necessary intensity at the time
If someone investigates the well early they will see a carved, crooked
spiral in the wood (if normal) or they will see a hanged body, badly
Well Vision decomposed, whose jaw unhinges as it looks at them
If players investigate the attic they will hear giggling coming from the
Wardrobe in wardrobe, where Lucy likes to play, they may meet Zach here, and the
Attic Wardrobe can be used to talk to Lucy
If a player mixes a drink they will notice something off in the swirling
liquid, upon looking up they will see a darkened figure trying to put a
Bar Mirror noose around their neck and drop the glass
 20

Timeline of Past Events (from the base story without modifications)

Father Timothy McKinnon was lynched here, at his home - he was accused of
murder but claimed he did everything in the name of the Lord. The judge was
merciful, the townspeople were not. McKinnon's corpse was hung from the
well, and his bones were tossed down, condemning his body to unhallowed
1930s ground which he now seeks to use as punishment for evildoers
Early Edith and Zachary Jackson move into the largely abandoned house as a young
1960s couple, they have two daughters here - Kate and Lucy
Late The family hires a groundskeeper, Scott "Scruffy" Denton, who lives down the
1960s road - Scruffy and Zach begin having an affair
Lucy, at the age of 8 when Kate was 6, is playing outside one day when she falls
1971 down the well but is never found
Edith, mad with grief, grills Scruffy about her daughters disappearance and
learns about the affair - Father McKinnon uses her rage to give her
superhuman strength and helps her kill her husband Zach and maim Scruffy
Scruffy eventually restrains her, and the police arrive but she breaks from the
car and is shot dead on the premises, Kate is taken into child services and
Scruffy takes care of the grounds in his spare time
Kate marries Jason Chou and they have a daughter, Debra, they live in Idaho
2000s where Jason wracks up a large gambling debt
Kate tries to relieve their gambling debt by stealing an exuberant amount of
money from a Native American Casino with Jason, but the theft is botched and
Jason gets away, leaving her incriminated
Kates trial goes as well as can be expected, and she is placed under house
arrest - not wanting to spend any time with Jason she moves into her old
2004 family home in Washington and finds it haunted
Kate sends out an open invitation to anyone interested in ghosts or the
supernatural, hoping they will make her next 2 years in the house livable - or
2005 at least survivable