By The Intrepid in Folktales — 24 May 2025

The Village Crossing: Be Seeing You!

A Dread One-Shot

Overview

Players: 2–4 (plus 1 GM)
System: Dread (Jenga tower for tension)
Duration: 2–3 hours
Tone: Folk horror, surveillance horror, hauntological dread
Premise: You are former mayors of Animal Crossing, now trapped in Village 001, a charming island where smiles are mandatory, tasks are rituals, and escape is corrected by the Peach—a fuzzy, relentless enforcer. You are Number 6.2, but the villagers call you “neighbor.” The Bell tracks your compliance, and the orchard’s core waits.

Setup

System: Dread uses a Jenga tower for risky actions (e.g., defying Isabelle, popping balloons). A pull represents resistance against Village 001’s algorithm. If the tower falls, the Peach catches you—resetting you to your house, your Compliance Rating higher, your memories fuzzier. No stats or dice; the tower drives tension.
Materials: Jenga tower, notecards for questionnaires, pens, a timer (optional for pacing).
GM Role: You play the villagers (Isabelle, Tom Nook, etc.), the Peach, and the island’s “code” (an algorithmic force behind the Bell). Describe Village 001’s pastel charm and creeping horror, using imagery like the Peach’s “wet hum” or masks “too wide.”
Player Role: Players are Numbers (e.g., 6.2, 7.1), ex-mayors who deleted their saves but woke in Village 001. They seek escape, but every task binds them tighter.

Character Creation

Players complete a questionnaire to define their Number. Answers shape the island’s traps. Sample questions (on notecards):

Why did you delete your Animal Crossing save? (e.g., ragequit, moved on)
What real-world stress keeps you tethered to the game? (e.g., isolation, failure)
What was your proudest creation in your old island? (e.g., a plaza, a garden)
Which villager did you wrong, and how? (e.g., ghosted Fauna, sold K.K.’s record)
What’s a physical object tied to your gaming? (e.g., Switch, a fruit charm)
What scares you about being watched?

The GM uses answers to personalize horror (e.g., a player’s garden becomes the Peach orchard, their wronged villager wears their face as a mask).

Structure

The one-shot unfolds in four acts, inspired by The Prisoner’s episodic tension and the document’s arc (arrival, unease, ritual, confrontation). Each act has scenes, goals, and pull prompts. The GM sets the tone, players act, and pulls escalate dread. Use a timer (~45 min per act) for pacing.

Act 1: Welcome to Village 001 (30–45 min)

Goal: Lure players into the cozy trap.
Setup: The Numbers wake in Village 001’s plaza, greeted by Isabelle. Pastel banners flutter, music hums, but villagers wear wooden masks—some familiar (Coco, Chief), others eerily like past players. The Bell Fountain jingles, coins spilling. A fruit basket awaits each Number, labeled “Happy Day.”
Scenes:

Isabelle assigns tasks (water flowers, deliver gifts), noting your Compliance Rating. She says, “Be seeing you,” after watching you emote.
A red balloon floats overhead. Popping it reveals a note: “You are not a player.”
Your house is furnished with unasked-for items (e.g., a Peach Cushion).
The Peach rolls past, silent, leaving fuzzy prints.
Pull Prompts:
Pop a balloon (e.g., “What’s inside?” A cassette whispers, “You are a process”).
Refuse a task (e.g., “I won’t water flowers.” Isabelle smiles, the Peach hums).
Investigate a mask (e.g., “Is that my old villager?” It’s your face).
GM Notes: Use questionnaire answers (e.g., a player’s garden is now Peach trees). If a tower falls, the Peach resets the Number to their house, furniture rearranged.

Act 2: Compliance Rising (45–60 min)

Goal: Deepen surveillance horror.
Setup: Days loop—tasks increase Compliance Ratings, but Freedom Ratings are hidden. Villagers watch, saying, “Be seeing you.” Balloons multiply, some labeled “CONCERN.” The Peach grows larger.
Scenes:

Daisy Mae questions a Number about hidden turnips (The Turnip Interrogation). Her mask is your old villager’s face.
K.K. Slider’s concert plays backwards, villagers swaying. Refusing to clap raises your Compliance Rating.
A Number tries to swim off-island. The Peach bounces, warping them home.
Resetti glitches in, whispering, “Don’t comply. Find the orchard’s core.”
Pull Prompts:
Hide turnips or items (e.g., “I bury them.” Daisy Mae knows).
Confront K.K. (e.g., “Why’s your song backwards?” He hums, “Be seeing you”).
Reach the airport (e.g., “I demand a flight.” The dodo hands a pass, then the Peach appears).
GM Notes: Tie tasks to questionnaires (e.g., a wronged villager delivers “CONCERN”). If a tower falls, the Peach resets the Number, their mailbox full of peaches.

Act 3: The Festival of Bells (45–60 min)

Goal: Force ritual participation.
Setup: The plaza hosts the Festival of Bells. Isabelle crowns Numbers “Top Contributors,” handing them torches. Villagers chant, masks splitting to reveal hollow wood. The Peach rolls nearby, larger, pores visible. The procession leads to the Peach orchard.
Scenes:

Statues of Numbers line the path, faces blank. Shrines hold questionnaire items (e.g., a Switch, a fruit charm).
Tom Nook audits silently, his mask your own face. He points to the orchard.
K.K.’s backwards chant drowns out Resetti’s glitchy pleas.
The orchard reveals a single tree, bearing one pulsing peach—the Core.
Pull Prompts:
Resist the procession (e.g., “I drop the torch.” The Peach nudges it back).
Examine a shrine (e.g., “What’s my Switch doing here?” It’s wired to the Bell).
Reach Resetti (e.g., “I follow his voice.” The Peach blocks you).
GM Notes: Use questionnaire creations (e.g., a plaza becomes the festival stage). If a tower falls, the Peach resets the Number, their torch already lit.

Act 4: The Core (30–45 min)

Goal: Confront the inevitable loop.
Setup: The Numbers stand before the Core—a single peach on its tree, pulsing. Villagers chant in K.K.’s backwards harmonies. Isabelle says, “Happy Day. Let’s finish, shall we?” Tom Nook’s mask is your face. Resetti screams through static, “Don’t pick it!”
Scenes:

Players choose: pick the peach or resist. Either requires pulls.
Picking it flashes the screen: “You’re inside. Fuzz is air, pit is memory.” The loop restarts—back in the plaza, fruit basket waiting.
Resisting summons the Peach, now massive. It resets you, house rearranged, Compliance maxed.
Tom Nook speaks: “You are not a villager. You are a process.”
Pull Prompts:
Pick the peach (1 pull per player, or 2 for resistance).
Attack the Core (e.g., “I chop the tree.” The Peach engulfs you).
Rally others (e.g., “We’re free!” Isabelle smiles, “Be seeing you”).
GM Notes: Let players narrate their reset (e.g., “My Switch is in the mailbox”). If the tower falls, a Number is trapped in the peach, their voice in the chant. End with: “You wake in Village 001. Happy Day.”

GM Tips

Atmosphere: Play Animal Crossing music, slowing or reversing it for Act 3. Describe the Peach’s “wet hum” and fuzzy prints. Use questionnaire objects (e.g., a fruit charm in the Core).
Pacing: Balance acts. If players stall, the Peach rolls closer.
Agency: Let players resist, but the algorithm corrects. Pulls reflect defiance, but the loop holds.
Peach Lore: Drop Fauna’s whisper mid-game: “The peach bruises, but never breaks. Like you.”

Sample NPCs

Isabelle: Smiling administrator, dog mask. Says, “For your own good. Be seeing you.”
Tom Nook: Silent auditor, your face as his mask. Points to the Core.
K.K. Slider: Backwards-singing bard. His mask splits during the Festival.
Resetti: Glitchy mole, begs defiance. His voice fades in the Core’s hum.
The Peach: Fuzzy enforcer, grows larger. Leaves no splatter, just resets.

Epilogue

The screen flickers. You’re back in Village 001, a fruit basket at your door. In real life, your mailbox holds a peach, no address. You hear a faint hum: “Be seeing you.” Village 001 isn’t a game—it’s a process, and you are its Number.

"Happy day! Be seeing you!"
– The Crossing Hollow Council, probably