TEXT: Truths
  Truth is stranger than fiction. Sometimes fiction is truth.
  A Deniable Treatment  
  By Joe Sweeney and jaie T.
  
  2
  Doubtful Truths
  Mode
  “Black Humor”
  Location
  Doubtful County, Delaware
  Time Period
  Contemporary
  Genre
  True conspiracy 
  Theme
  Truth is stranger than fiction. 
  Sometimes fiction is truth.
  The Pitch
  In the perfect neighbourhood, four 
  imperfect people are unsatisfied with 
  the official explanations and decide to 
  investigate. Are they crazy? Or more sane 
  than you and I? Who is watching?
  Inspirations
  Twin Peaks, X Files, The Lone Gunmen
  
  3
  Hey stranger.  You’re not from around 
  these parts, are ya?  Well, that’s ok. Folks 
  around here are mighty accommodating, bless 
  ‘em.  Give you the shirt off their back. 
  But there are secrets in this town. Some new. Some 
  old. Some really, really old. My suggestion? Don’t ask 
  questions. You may not like the answers.  You don’t want 
  to end up like... well... best not to talk about her.
  None of your big-city learning amount to squat here. 
  So keep your head down.. and enjoy the scenery...
  
  4
  Family 
  (The protagonists employment, network and family).
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  1  Married 
  to the ‘perfect’ 
  partner
  to an old 
  sweetheart
  to the heir/
  heiress of the 
  town’s richest 
  family
  to homecoming 
  king/queen
  with extended 
  family living with 
  you
  to a local 
  celebrity 
  2 
  Roommates/
  housemates
  with the nosy 
  journalist
  with the new 
  school guidance 
  counselor
  with the 
  suspicious 
  ‘delivery’ guy/
  gal
  with amateur 
  paranormal 
  investigator
  with an ex-lover
  with a foreign 
  chic whom you 
  rarely see
  3  Neighbors 
  with the tech 
  startup
  with the pastor 
  and his extended 
  family
  the president of 
  the homeowners 
  association
  with paranoid 
  ex-military man
  you suspect are 
  supernatural or 
  alien beings
  lady running an 
  underground lab
  4  Unwanted 
  attention
  Occultist 
  librarian has 
  crush on you
  Alcoholics 
  Anonymous 
  sponsor  insists 
  you need him
  Private  
  investigator 
  following you
  Paranormal 
  investigators 
  watching your 
  home
  Amateur 
  photographer is 
  stalking you
  Cop thinks you 
  did it
  5.  Romantic 
  relationship
  with a 
  recovering addict 
  undergoing 
  experimental 
  therapy
  with a married 
  coworker
  with the local 
  sheriff's ex
  with an amateur 
  photo journalist
  with the pastor 
  who hears the 
  word of God
  with a con artist
  6.  It’s 
  complicated
  you’re 
  involved with 
  a recovering 
  mental patient 
  you’re in love 
  with the  shady 
  businessman's 
  wife 
  you live 
  with your 
  overprotective 
  sibling
  your sibling is 
  the Mayor and 
  is obsessed with 
  their ‘image’
  you and your 
  lover are both 
  undercover 
  agents
  you had a sex 
  change and are 
  yet to tell your 
  current partner 
  about it
  
  5
  Suspicious Activity 
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  1
  Big furniture 
  moving trucks go 
  in and out of the 
  city
  A local celebrity 
  disappears
  Lights in the 
  cornfield at night
  There’s something 
  behind the 
  waterfalls
  Strange chants 
  coming from the 
  forest
  A mysterious 
  hatch at the 
  church belltower
  2
  Ghost in the 
  Machine
  Children are 
  disappearing
  Crop Circles
  An Amish-like 
  community 
  springs up
  Looks like there’s 
  a party going on 
  at the Asylum
  Some kids find a 
  body in the ‘love 
  tunnel’ ride
  3
  Teenage kids are 
  joining a cult
  Bullets graze 
  a fugitive and 
  reveals that he 
  has green blood
  Ten year olds 
  sleepwalk and 
  gather at the field
  A ‘cursed object 
  collector’ shows 
  up in town
  Lights at night at 
  the abandoned 
  hospital
  An ex-famous 
  child star reports 
  seeing things in 
  the mirror
  4
  News reports of a 
  woman who tried 
  to operate on 
  herself
  20 yr old 
  brunettes who 
  look almost 
  identical are 
  disappearing
  Unusual bones 
  have been 
  discovered at the 
  football field
  Scared townsfolk 
  report seeing a 
  slender-man like 
  figure
  Cops talk about 
  apprehending 
  someone who 
  steals human 
  organs
  Ghost broadcast
  5
  A viral video that 
  causes big trouble
  Haunted house
  Ghosts in the 
  church
  Lawnmower runs 
  amok
  Giant footprints 
  at the edge of the 
  lake
  Homeless person 
  claims that angels 
  are telling them 
  what to do
  6
  Lake water stays 
  very still even on 
  a very windy day
  Will-o-wisps 
  appearing outside 
  city dwellers 
  windows
  Coroner reports 
  bodies getting up 
  and walking away
  Cult rumored 
  to be operating 
  out of the local 
  abattoir 
  Too perfect 
  husbands begin 
  appearing with 
  towns’ top women
  Circus sideshow 
  shows up in town 
  and people go 
  missing
  
  6
  The Objective 
  (An element of the main mission)
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  1
  Personal 
  revenge 
  Prove your 
  innocence
  Prove the 
  alien’s did it
  Prove the 
  cultists did it
  Prove the cops 
  did
  Prove the CIA 
  did it
  2
  Stop someone
  Steal an 
  artefact
  Expose a 
  conspiracy
  Surveillance
  Find an 
  abducted 
  person
  Rescue the 
  sacrifice
  3
  Destroy alien 
  base
  Destroy cultist 
  shrine
  Find something
  Hide something
  Escape the law
  Steal a 
  manuscript
  4
  Make contact 
  with a secret 
  organisation 
  Protect an 
  artifact 
  Steal the 
  schematics
  Get the town 
  to take this 
  seriously
  Get video 
  evidence
  Swap 
  something
  5
  Organise a safe 
  house
  Deliver 
  something
  Escort someone Broadcast the 
  ‘truth’
  Exorcism
  Expose 
  something 
  6
  Hide a body
  Pass on secret 
  plans
  Pin it on the 
  neighbor
  Trade 
  technology
  Destroy 
  something 
  without leaving 
  evidence 
  Get the town 
  to focus away 
  from something
  
  7
  A Location
  (An element of the main mission)
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  1
  Space uplink 
  radio
  Petrochemical 
  plant
  Airforce base
  Army base
  Naval Base
  Private airfield
  2
  Pool hall
  Bowling alley
  Football field / 
  Stadium 
  Baseball field
  Greyhound 
  track
  School gym
  3
  Hospital 
  Mental health 
  facility
  Private health 
  spa
  Medical 
  research facility
  Sewers
  Observation 
  tower
  4
  Docks
  Behind the 
  waterfalls
  Abandoned 
  asylum
  “Island of the 
  Dolls”
  School grounds
  Heart of the 
  forrest
  5
  Graveyard
  Madam Etta’s 
  Palmistry Parlor
  Circus 
  Church
  Abattoir 
  Library
  6
  Swamp
  Lakeside
  Picnic area
  Kissing point
  Forest
  Park
  
  8
  A Complication
  (An element of the main mission)
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  1
  Wrong person
  Mistaken 
  identity
  Clones
  Transport out 
  of action
  Love 
  intervenes 
  Blackmail 
  2
  Wrong 
  location
  Gender 
  confusion
  Storm
  Martial law 
  declared
  Enemy within
  Betrayal
  3
  Bad timing
  Wrong thing
  Time loop
  Innocents in 
  the way
  Solar flares
  Full moon
  4
  Followed
  Military 
  ‘Intelligence’
  Friday the 
  13th
  Halloween
  Broken device
  5
  Watched
  Bad 
  equipment
  Trapped
  Temptation
  Leak
  Drugged
  6
  Suspect goes 
  missing
  Missing page
  Meteor 
  Shower
  Flashbacks / 
  odd dreams
  Self 
  medication
  Total eclipse
  
  9
  An Antagonist 
  (Need not be the main “target”and in fact doesn’t need to be actively working against the Protagonist . 
  Sometimes, they are just in the wrong place at the wrong time)
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  1
  Intergalactic 
  cop
  Rogue AI
  Pesky journalist
  Corporate 
  criminal 
  Alien parasite
  Foreign Spy
  2
  Military police
  CIA
  Assassin
  Cultists
  Cult leader
  Mad scientist
  3
  Religious zealot
  Horde
  Local crime 
  boss
  Interdimensional 
  being
  Otherworldly 
  bounty hunter
  Ex lover
  4
  Media barron
  Shapeshifter
  Undead
  Alien infestation
  Psyker
  Evil genius
  5
  Evil clone
  Genetically 
  engineered 
  child
  Otherworldly 
  bandits
  Medical 
  personnel
  Supernatural 
  being 
  Monster of 
  science
  6
  Insectoids
  Cybernetic 
  lifeform
  Witch/Warlock
  Forrest entity
  The possessed
  Boogeyman
  
  10
  Group Therapy
  You never know where she will turn up. She just appears. 
  Nobody knows her. Nobody knows where she goes. But she 
  knows things. She knows what has happened. She knows 
  who all the players are in the game. She has resources 
  that she husbands carefully. Nobody knows who she works 
  for. Is it the Government? A private interest? Nobody 
  knows. She turns up, debriefs everyone and then leaves.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Deniable (PbtA)/Treatments/Deniable Treatment 05 - Doubtful Truths.pdf