Injured Ignored

A bloody and dying man dressed like a soldier is resting, slumped against the side of a food shack. The patrons of the shack ignore him as if he's not even there. But they will step over the pool of blood and when he reaches to get the attention of a child, the child just glances at his outstretched hand and goes back to pleading for a treat from his parent. The man will be whispering for help, not because he's trying to stay quiet, but because that's as much effort as he has in him.

Some Potential Brainstorm ideas:

1. A powerful psychic who acts as a censor, preventing the citizens from experiencing anything distressing. Will filter for violence, vulgarity, and maybe even mature topics
2. The entire village is an illusion, set up why?
   1. for one person's benefit? Who, why? Lover, child, immune deficient person? Gamer?
   2. to trap and kill visitors?
   3. an amusement park a la Westworld
   4. a science experiment to observe human behavior in order to what?
      1. improve the illusion for a future planned use?
      2. better serve people as a new self-appointed diety
      3. better corrupt people as a new self-appointed deity
3. It's a fade town? ... but that should work both ways, right? so probably not, at least not as currently written
4. A predator preys on the people of the village and alters their perception and memories so they don't know it's happening? (like a false hydra?)
5. The village is full of people who actually couldn't care less about the violence and heartbreak around them? why? are they possessed? are they just that alien?

Structure

Climax

Why would someone or something intentionally keep its presence hidden from an entire town?
Why would it go through all the effort to make the residents forget it and anything associated with it when it could just go hide somewhere else?

Components

Hooks

A bloody and dying man dressed like a soldier is resting, slumped against the side of a food shack. The patrons of the shack ignore him as if he's not even there. But they will step over the pool of blood and when he reaches to get the attention of a child, the child just lookst at his outstretched hand and goes back to pleading for a treat from his parent. The man will be whispering for help, not because he's trying to stay quiet, but because that's as much effort as he has in him.
If approached, he will helplessly ask what happened to him. The look in his eyes is pleading and dismayed. If not approached, he will shortly perish.

Moral Quandaries

The residents appear happy in their ignorance. Should you shatter it?

Cruel Tricks

If the characters _____________, they too will stop seeing distressing things? Rolling perception checks to know that there's something just right there that gets their attention but they can't sense it.