DEAD FREQUENCY - Horror Survival RPG One-Shot

DEAD FREQUENCY: A Horror Survival RPG One-Shot

"The signal is calling. Don't answer."

A group of friends breaks into KDRK, a radio station in the Blackwood Forest that has stood abandoned since its night-shift crew vanished during a live broadcast in 1987. The door locks behind them. The old equipment powers up on its own. And a calm voice on the PA already knows their names.

DEAD FREQUENCY is a complete, self-contained horror one-shot for one evening. No rulebooks, no miniatures, no dice, and no prior RPG experience needed. One person runs the game; everyone else picks a pre-built character and tries to destroy the transmitter before the entity beneath the station takes them into its broadcast.

At a glance

• 4–6 players + 1 Game Master
• About 45–60 minutes of play
• Uses a standard 54-card deck of playing cards (with Jokers)
• Ages 16+
• 41-page PDF, US Letter, print-friendly (light pages, dark text)

What's included

• The full story and backstory for the GM
• Simple card-draw rules: three stats, one rule for every check, a push-your-luck redraw, and a Sanity system
• An optional traitor mechanic for groups who like social deduction
• Game Master tips and a minute-by-minute session timeline
• 6 pre-built characters, each with a backstory, stats, a secret, and a special ability
• 5 rooms with read-aloud text, investigation checks, scare moments, and clues
• A three-task finale and three epilogues (good, bittersweet, and bad endings)
• Printables: 6 character quick cards, 36 Sanity tokens, a one-page GM quick reference, and the Traitor Note

Content note

Psychological horror, paranoia, isolation, disappearances, grief over lost family members, claustrophobia, and an optional mechanic where one player secretly works against the group. No graphic violence or gore.

AI tools helped draft parts of the text of this game. No AI-generated images are used.