Thoughts from the Twilight Zone III

As I dig deeper into the first season of the Twilight Zone, I encounter more and more familiar episodes. For my search for new ideas and inspirations this is unfortunate. In addition to that problem I’m also finding many of these stories are weaker, less thought provoking episodes. Still there are a few interesting ideas to be found like And When the Sky Was Opened.

Season 1: Episodes 9-15

I’m skipping many episodes in this post and not just because they don’t inspire me. Some make me want to rant about the dubious morality ("Judgment Night") while others just don’t have much of a twist ("Third from the Sun").

Perchance to Dream

This is such a Beast story. A dream woman stalks a man with heart condition, charming him and then pushing him towards danger. Finally she succeeds in giving him a heart attack by inducing him to leap to his death in a dream. In an odd twist it turns out the secretary of the psychiatrist he is visiting looks exactly like her.

Is the secretary a monster, hunting the weak willed and fragile as prey? Working for a psychiatrist would be a good way to find victims. I may need to remember this when I need a new antagonist.

And When the Sky Was Opened

A team of pilots pass through a forbidden space and afterwards find themselves plucked from reality one by one until at last no trace of them or their mission exists or is even remembered.

This would be a cool opener for a Chronicles of Darkness game. I believe saw something like this in World of Darkness: Urban Legends. People are plucked from reality, removing them not only from the Earth but also from the memories of those around them. But the process is imperfect. Some people remember (like the PCs) and some physical artifacts remains behind (this isn’t how it works in the episode but for the purposes of play this would allow the Storyteller to more easy provide clues).

The story would begin with the event. First those directly involved disappear. A three man mission becomes a solo expedition then an unmanned test. The vessel that broke the dimensional boundaries would remain like some grim wound in reality.

Then the people behind the project - the engineers, the generals, the politicians - would vanish, leaving behind gaps where they once were. Sure the PCs recall the country having a President, they can name all 44...well except for that last one. Odd that they haven’t filled the vacancy. As it spreads outward, the effect endangers the whole human race. Is it a God-Machine plot? An Abyssal Intrusion of epic scale? Who is behind this? A god from the Hisil or Deathlord from the Underworld?

As for the effect, it would probably be too cruel to impose this fate on a PC (at least until the third act). It would however be a nice way to trim the NPC list of a longer Chronicle (especially if you are prone to adding too many NPCs like me).

What You Need

A man who can see the future runs afoul of a man who needs more than he can give.

My first thought was that this was a nice example of the downside of Pacts (demonic or fae) and the ability to see the future (for Mages or Wizened Oracles). My second thought was that you could easily make this a short scenario for such a character in your game.

What if an NPC they’ve aided before decides that they are the solution to all of their problems? What if they keep asking for more and more? How does the PC cut them off? Do they kill them? Curse them? Frame them for a crime? There a lot of options and the choice would tell us a lot about their character.

The Four of Us Are Dying

A shapeshifter takes on the identities of three other men: one to get the girl, one to get the money and third in haste to escape. Unfortunately the last one leads his doom.

Not much to say about this episode except that I love the surreal imagery. The budget for this episode must have been tiny. They crammed an entire city into a sound stage, leading to a strange collage of neon lights above the actor to represent the various bars and establishments he passes along the way. I may need to remember that image for the next time I need a strange lair for a powerful fae or spirit.