HAUNTED SHIP an Interactive Drama Live Action Freeform Role Playing Scenario
for 6 players (2 male and 4 female)
written by
Nora Teng, Theresa Tseng, and Robin Li
Written as an assignment in English Conversation One, an English as a Foreign Language course taught for Freshmen by Brian David Phillips in the Department of English at National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China, Spring Semester, 1996.
Copyright 1996 by Nora Teng, Theresa Tseng, and Robin Li.
Please note that this Interactive Drama Scenario has been edited, modified, and restructured from the original by Brian David Phillips for purposes of classroom use and to serve as a model for future student-generated scenarios.
Introduction
You are now on the Haunted Ship which is sailing on the Pacific Ocean. There is a big party and all of you are excited about knowing each other. You should introduce yourselves to one another. Only reveal the information in the Public section of your character sheets. Private information need not be revealed unless you are directly challenged.
Since this is a murder mystery investigation game, all players must tell the truth except for the killer or killers who may lie as much as they like. The guilty parties should try to conceal their identities for as long as possible, hopefully setting someone else up to go to prison for their dastardly deeds.
This game is a little different from other murder mysteries of it's type in that it is set up in Acts with each set of new clues being based upon new events rather than more information about a single event.
(Note from Dr. Phillips: This format, where new clues are related to new events, makes so much more sense than the typical formula where characters learn more about what they should already know that is common in other mystery games of this type. Students are encouraged to use this technique in their own games.)
Ship's Crew
- Captain Brian
- First Mate Michael
- Second Mate Jack
- Third Mate Eric
- Chief Engineer Jackie
- Steward/Waitress Eileen
Characters
Eileen
Public
You are a 21, young, and pretty. You work as a waitress on this ship. You are fond of travelling so you chose this job to satisfy your ambition. You and Jack have fallen in love at first sight.
Secret
You are the killer. You have killed and will kill again because they framed your father for causing a serious ship crash three years ago. Your father was the captain of "King of Dragons" which bumped into the luxury yacht "The Blue Ocean" and caused a large sum of deaths. But it wasn't your father's fault, it was the others who made your father take the responsibility. Everyone on "King of Dragons" was killed except for Eric. So Brian and Michael bribed Eric to give false testimony that your father was drunk at the helm that night. However, you know that your father never drinks on the ship. So you want to revenge.
Crystal
Public
You are 28 years old. You are a photographer but your interest is different from others. You like to take photos of mysterious things. You want to take a rest and also to get some materials, so you took a cruise on this ship.
Secret
You have heard that there is a ghost ship sailing on the sea without anyone controlling it. This ship is the Queen Elizabeth. You are interested in it, so you decided to get passage on this ship.
Jack
Public
You are 23 years old. Your performance on this ship is excellent and the captain trusts you very much, in other words, you are familiar with just about everything about the captain. You have fallen in love with Eileen and feel very deeply about her.
Secret
In fact, you were also on the ship "The Blue Ocean" during a terrible accident a few years ago though you were not on the list of sailors. You should have kept a watchful eye on the ship but you left your duty to join a party when the ship crashed into "King of Dragons", killing most of the people on board. Out of fear and shame, you have never told anyone about this, not even your loving Eileen.
Vanessa
Public
You are 30 years old. You are on a honeymoon with your husband on this ship.
Secret
You used to be a police Captain and had made some serious mistakes when you investigated the ship crash of two ships (Blue Ocean and King of Dragons) three years ago. For this reason, you were demoted and eventually kicked out of the police force. You are a bisexual and recently had an affair with a girl university student named Cindy who now wants things to get too serious and has been blackmailing you for affection with threats that she will send photographs of you and she in bed to your husband. You are very worried about the possibility that your husband might discover this as you love him very much and would not want him to leave you.
Jackie
Public
You are 45 years old. You have worked on the ship for many years. Although you don't like the captain and first mate very much, you still have to work and make a living. You have a daughter who you haven't kept in touch with or seen for a very long time.
Secret
Although you don't like Captain Brian and First Mate Michael, you still have to work for a living.
Anne
Public
You are 18 years old. You are a student who just graduated from senior high school. You want to have a trip with your classmate but she has something important to do. So you have no choices but go alone.
Secret
Actually, your classmate, Cindy, is your lesbian lover who has recently broken up with you because you found out she was having an affair with another woman. Your mother died in a ship crash three years ago and you have not seen your father, a sailor, for years.
Act One
Prior to distributing the clues for this act, read the following to the players:
Event Clue One
After the party, all of you are tired and want to go to bed to take a rest. The next morning, something strange happens . . . the Captain has disappeared! Everyone on the ship is talking about this.....
Act One Clues
Eileen
Act One Clue
I was shocked. last night, the Captain called me to serve some dessert for him. I saw he was talking with the chief engineer, but when I returned to his cabin, both of them were gone. So I put the dessert on the table.
Jack
Act One Clue
I have no idea about the disappearence of the Captain last night.
Crystal
Act One Clue
I know of a phantom event on the same sea route several years ago. The ship, Queen Elizabeth, was found sailing without controling. After investegating, there was no sign of being attacked but all the sailers disappeared. I think that the death of the Captain is related to the ship Queen Elizabeth. It is a phantom event.
Vanessa
Act One Clue
I have heard some sailers say that the first mate and the third mate disagree with the captain because the captain trusts the second mate very much and regards them as garbage.
Jackie
Act One Clue
The only thing I know is that a few days ago, Eric and Michael were scolded by the captain for directing the ship toward the wrong sea route.
Anne
Act One Clue
I heard some serious quarrels between the captain and the chief engineer when I passed the Captain's cabin last night.
Act Two
Prior to distributing the clues for this act, read the following to the players:
Event Clue Two
There is still no news about the captain. What is worse is that a couple days later, a sailer found Eric dead in the control cabin at 6:30 in the morning. There was a poison needle stuck in his right palm. Also, the radio has been destroyed.
- Helm Duty Roster:
- First Mate: 22:00-6:00
- Second Mate: 6:00-14:00
- Third Mate: 14:00-22:00
Act Two Clues
Eileen
Act Two Clue
I really flet sorry about the third mate's death. On the other hand, I'm glad that Jack and I made love so late the night before so that Jack slept late in the morning and wasn't killed by the murderer. Oh, my poor Jack, he might have died!
Jack
Act Two Clue
I feel very sorry that I missed my turn at the helm but for some reason my alarm clock was out of order and I slept late. Then again, if I had been on duty, I would have died.
Vanessa looks a lot like a police investigator who asked the other crew members questions after the accident three years ago (you need to let others know this without exposing your involvement with that case).
Crystal
Act Two Clue
Poor Eric! Why would you make a mistake like that and not know the time? You died because of this.
Vanessa
Act Two Clue
You accidentally saw Eileen's handkerchief when she was crying. It is embroidered with the name "Eileen Simth." You felt this was very strange because her name is "Eileen Phillips."
Jackie told you that he left his wife with her infant child many years ago, abandoning them but now he wishes he'd done the right thing and was with them still.
Jackie
Act Two Clue
I have found that the third mate is a person who habitually oversleeps so that he often misses his time at the helm so that others will cover for him.
Last night you found a photograph accidentally left in the galley. It was a picture of a nude young girl of about eighteen years which was signed, "My Captain, My Captain! With all my love, C."
Anne
Act Two Clue
When you were talking with Eileen, you found out that her father was a Captain and he died several years ago.
Act Three
Prior to distributing the clues for this act, read the following to the players:
Event Clue Three
A sailor was sent to the first mate's cabin to find First Mate Michael. However, he could not find Michael but found a suicide note instead.
I now know that I have cancer and a terrible death will come to me soon.
I want to take revenge on Brian and Jack because they have pushed me away from command and they want to kick me off of the ship.
Therefore, I killed the Captain first and threw his body into the sea. Then I framed it on Jackie. Afterwards, I set the poisoned needle on the wheel of the helm. I intended for Jack to come to the controls at 6:00 in the morning so he would die. I never intended to hurt anyone else.
May God have mercy on my soul. I cannot face anyone and have decided to take my own life. Goodbye cruel world.
Michael (This note is written in Morse Code)
Act Three Clues
Eileen
Act Three Clue
You wish the ship would reach harbor quickly so you can escape from this nightmare with your sweethart, Jack.
You heard Michael scold Vanessa the night before his disappearance, saying that the Captain had told him about her and that was running a "decent ship" with no room for "women of her type" on board and that he was going to tell her husband "everything" he knew and have her publicly humiliated regarding her "unnatural desires" as soon as the ship reached port.
Jack
Act Three Clue
When you woke up the day Eric died, you rushed to the control cabin and you found Eric dead. You also found that the ship was sailing in the opposite direction from it's designated course.
You had been playfully flirting with Anne and found it strange that she didn't seem to be attracted to you at all. You've never had this sort of response from a woman before. You suspect she was closer to her classmate than she says.
Crystal
Act Three Clue
When you took a picture of the sunrise at 6:00 A.M. this morning. Jackie saw the picture and he said, "What a beautiful sunset." According to this, I guess Eric may regard 6:00 A.M. as 6:00 P.M.
Anne mentioned that she was secretly hoping to one day meet her father on a sea voyage as she wanted to pay him back for all those years of neglect.
Vanessa
Act Three Clue
You found a photograph accidentally dropped by Eileen, it was of Captain "KENNY SMITH" who died in the ship crash three years ago.
Anne looks a lot like the woman in a photograph Jackie showed you of the wife he abandoned many years ago.
Jackie
Act Three Clue
You heard that Brian and Michael caused the ship crash because of their carelessness three years ago. In court,they blamed the accident on the other ship's captain. All the sailers died on that ship except for Eric but he was bribed by Brian and Michael and no one can know the other Captain's story.
You discovered that Anne's classmate, Cindy, was originally suppossed to come on the voyage with her but may have decided not to come because she was having an affair with someone else on the ship who is already involved in a relationship.
Anne
Act Three Clue
You suspect that Michael's letter left by suicide may be fake because it is written in Morse Code not in letters.
End Game
Once the players have shared their clues, they should vote with secret ballots for the person they believe is the killer. The character with the most votes is arrested and sent to prison when the boat docks at the next port.
The arrested character should then let the players know if they arrested the right person. If not, the guilty person(s) should admit the crimes and explain why - alternatively you can have the other players guess the real reason for the crimes.
