Southeast Asia's First Social Deduction TTRPG is coming to Kickstarter
The focus is pure narrative: drama, moral tension, and character conflict where players advance their characters by creating dramatic story moments instead of slaying enemies.
One of Us Will Die is a fast, tense, and emotionally-charged tabletop roleplaying game where one player begins the game knowing their character will die, and the others must uncover the truth before the final scene. Created by Filipino game designer Titus Villanueva III and to be published internationally by Lone Colossus Games, the game blends social deduction, cinematic storytelling, and psychological drama into unforgettable 3–5 hour sessions.
At the start of each session, players are secretly assigned one of three roles:
The Mark — destined to die and quietly steering their character toward their fate
The Traitor — who can identify and kill the Mark first
The Adventurer — who can save the Mark at the cost of their own character’s life
To fulfill their role, players must complete “Milestones”, unique story goals tied to their chosen character's Archetype. These arcs drive the tension upward as the doomed ending approaches.
A System Where Story Takes Center Stage
The game uses minimal math, archetype-driven character sheets, and world-building questions to build a unique story every time. The focus is pure narrative: drama, moral tension, and character conflict. It's a game where a character's death is not the result of a bad die roll, but a climactic tragedy that the players build up to through gameplay and narrative.
While not the first social deduction tabletop game, the game is the first RPG to make use of the full toolset of traditional social deduction mechanics such as secret roles, bluffing, and guessing to keep players at the edge of their seats as they approach the inevitable conclusion of their adventure.
Unlike other games where player death is a gaurantee, One of Us Will Die creates its mystery around who among the lead characters will die rather than how they die, relying on narrative gameplay mechanics rather than challenge lethality or forced total party kills. This gives the game a unique twist where what happens to the survivors becomes a very important part of the story. How does the adventuring party move on with their lives after the death of a companion? It isn't just about death. It's about heartbreak, grief, and the bravery it takes to survive them.
A Filipino Spin on Tragedy
The concept is heavily inspired by the concept of "hugot", which means "to draw out" in Tagalog, which is often used as a slang term to describe emotionally charged, often very sad, sometimes poetic, yet relatable lines that tug at the heartstrings of the listener. Filipinos often craft these to vent personal frustrations and struggles.
While "hugot" in the classical sense was often meant to center around romantic heartbreak, many Filipinos have expanded it to comment on politics, family life, death, work, and school. It is a way many in the Filipino community relate with each other so that the weight of heartbreak is borne together by many instead of the one. This ties it to the ultimate message of One of Us Will Die as a game:
Death is unavoidable. Grief will always come. When it finally does, know that you never have to carry that weight alone.
So Many Special Features!
The game offers a complete set of tools for players to craft their dramatic adventures. Each archetype is based on popular tropes in literature and pop fiction! Every scenario's world is built by the players making every adventure unique, with some scenarios even able to vary between medieval fantasy and futuristic cyberpunk settings.
- 15 archetypes for players to choose from
- 10 one-shot scenarios
- 5 cosmic horror scenarios that form a full campaign
- A bestiary with 70+ adversaries, including creatures from Filipino folklore
Chief among these is a campaign mode where characters gain experience through dramatic story moments rather than killing adversaries. Naturally, each campaign ends with one of the player characters dying, whose identity is decided by decisions the characters make during the game.
The game's layout and illustrations are being created by Daniel Comerci, and Cassie Walker, a therapist specialized in trauma, consultant for suicide prevention, Death Doula, and lover of social deduction and horror will be providing sensitivity consulting for the game as a whole.
