Sweet Dreams

You are Omen-class monsters: seasoned and powerful agents of DIVISION tasked with protecting the world from Harbingers of the Apocalypse. Today, your mission is to investigate a high-level, potentially cataclysmic threat to reality itself:

A small Kansas town has turned into candy.

Sweet Dreams is a horror comedy Apocalypse Keys one-shot, with rules for adjusting the Mystery to span multiple sessions. Featuring suitably colorful illustrations by Sebastian "DubiousArtiste" McKinnon, this Complexity 2 Mystery includes:

• Eccentric NPCs with distinct personalities
• Fairy tale references
• Free housing*
• Horrifying threats lurking beneath sugar-coated façades
• A variety of candy-fied locations to explore

*For the characters, not you. Nice try.

Content warnings: blood, body horror, cannibalism, coma, destruction of books, memory/mind manipulation, self-harm.

Sweet Dreams was made possible by the Omen Project, an Evil Hat initiative to support TTRPG creators in the production and publication of materials related to Apocalypse Keys.

What Is Apocalypse Keys?

For those who have yet to enjoy this system, Apocalypse Keys is a Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) horror-superhero game about Omen-class monsters, or Omens for short. Omens wield dark power that gives them the potential to bring about the end of the world, but with the backing of DIVISION, instead fight against would-be Harbingers. But if Omens don't keep themselves in check, their dark power may run rampant, bringing them closer to transforming into Harbingers themselves.

In terms of gameplay, Apocalypse Keys revolves around investigating threats such as the machinations of Harbingers of the Apocalypse. Each self-contained storyline is called a Mystery. To complete a Mystery, the Omens must gather clues in the form of Keys. The more Keys they find, the more likely they are to succeed. That said, Omens don’t have an unlimited amount of time to investigate. The Doomsday Clock is ticking down, and if it hits zero before they solve the Mystery, the Harbinger kickstarts the apocalypse. Once the Omens have decided they have enough clues, they declare what they think that bigger picture is based on the Keys they’ve found, then roll to see whether or not their theories were correct.

Yes, really: the solution to the Mystery is usually player-created. Narrative-building is a collaborative endeavor that often requires Keepers to improvise. Therefore, premade Mysteries are open-ended by design. One benefit of this model of gameplay is that it's easier to weave in the experiences and backstories of participating player characters. It also keeps groups from getting stuck because they missed a crucial clue, since the solution emerges from interest-driven exploration.

For more info on the system, check out the seven-part blog series I wrote about character creation, using examples such as Batman.

Running Sweet Dreams

If the bulk of character creation is completed ahead of time, this Complexity 2 Mystery can be completed in a single session consisting of approximately three hours. The document includes: 

• A mission briefing, including content warnings
• Beginning the scenario
  • Background info
  • Instructions for introducing the Omens to the scenario
  • Contact: Mother Duckie
  • A Keeper move governing the result of players eating the candy
  • A cheat sheet
• Characters of interest
• Locations of interest
• Fifteen Keys, three Facets, and a 2-part Doomsday Clock
• Threat playboks
• Optional rules for expanding to Complexity 4

Credits

Writing and layout: Julia LaFond

Art: Sebastian “DubiousArtiste” McKinnon

Sensitivity reader: Miya

This project was made possible by the Omen Project, an Evil Hat initiative to support TTRPG creators.

Legal Info

Sweet Dreams • ©2025 Julia LaFond

With proper attribution, you may share and adapt the text of this work according to a CC BY SA 4.0 sharealike license. The text of this work is additionally offered under a license having the terms of CC BY SA 4.0, except: (1) if the Adapted Material is a literary work (such as an RPG book), then the Adapter’s License need only be applied to the text (not, for instance, illustrations) and (2) you must include this and the following sentence in your licensing terms. The CC BY SA 4.0 license is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/.

Only the text is covered by this Adapter’s Licence. The copyright to the art is held by Sebastian 'DubiousArtiste' Mckinnon, the Calenmir’s RPGs logo artwork is copyrighted by Zachary Schwartz, and Evil Hat Productions and the Evil Hat logo are trademarks owned by Evil Hat Productions, LLC. Sword Queen Games is a trademark owned by Rae Nedjadi. Similarly, this does not constitute permission to publish under the brand name Calenmir’s RPGs.

Accessibility

Content warnings: blood, body horror, cannibalism, coma, destruction of books, memory/mind manipulation, self-harm.

A plain text file is available with download, and the PDF includes alt text.

Alt text of the included screenshots:

• Cover. Sweet Dreams. An Apocalypse Keys Mystery from Calenmir's RPGs. A bear made of blue gummy candy bares its fangs, standing up on its hind legs. In the lower right-hand corner of the cover is the Calenmir's RPGs logo, a yellow knight resting their sword across their shoulders.
• Mother Duckie. A woman with blonde curls and wrinkled, tanned white skin wears bright blue and pink clothing, with a white apron over the front. She is holding out a tray of chocolate chip cookies.
• Hobby-Bobby. A tall Black man with close-cropped hair wears a metallic silver vest over a metallic blue suit. He's adjusting his red-and-white tie, which matches his red-tinted peppermint glasses.

Please reach out to Calenmir@CalenmirsRPGs.com for additional information, or if you require accommodations.