BRINDLEWOOD BAY is a roleplaying game about a group of elderly women—members of the local Murder Mavens mystery book club—who find themselves solving actual murder mysteries in their quaint New England town. There is no canon solution to the mysteries, instead players must collect and piece together many different clues and come up with a convincing theory, then play to find out if they are right! The specific mystery will be one not played at TTRPG Pickup Con before and is selected based on submitted lines & veils :)
The Mavens themselves are all elderly women whose partners have passed away and whose children have long flown the nest. Now, they’re enjoying their golden years in the picturesque town of Brindlewood Bay, keeping their homes the way they like, pursuing their hobbies, and finding comfort and companionship in each other. Their mystery book club has been meeting on the top floor of The Candlelight Booksellers every Saturday evening for the last ten years. The Mavens are particularly fond of The Gold Crown Mysteries series by Robin Masterson, featuring the globe-trotting super-sleuth, Amanda Delacourt (which only exists in-universe and not in our world).
The Mavens' special interest in these books has resulted in them becoming amateur detectives themselves, and by the time the game starts, they have helped local police solve several high profile crimes. Sometimes people approach them to get their help on a case, but usually the Mavens just stumble onto it—much to the chagrin of the authorities, who almost always resent their meddling.
There are some supernatural elements in play in the background, but those will need to be uncovered through repeated plays and aren't a part of this oneshot. There is also a meta level to the setting, where the Mavens are actually characters in a TV show that the players are watching. If there is enough interest in it, the gamerunner is willing to offer this system at future cons in a West-Marches approach where both of these elements will feature more prominently.
This game will be great if you like cozy murder mysteries, PbtA games, collaborative storytelling, improv, Murder She Wrote, Riverdale, Pretty Little Liars, One Of Us Is Lying Players should build characters ahead.
Characters who played 0-2 sessions (this system has no levels). Character creation is a really quick multiple choice process. The gamerunner will contact players in advance to share handouts (rules reference & character sheets) and make your selections
New players are welcome., Players need to have played some RPGs.
The game runner is very familiar with this system.
Tone: Silly⚪⚪⚪⚬⚬ Serious
Combat: ⚪⚬⚬⚬⚬
Role Play: ⚪⚪⚬⚬⚬
Exploration: ⚪⚪⚬⚬⚬
This game will be hosted in room #4 of the TTRPG Pickup Con Discord Server. Spectators are welcome in the Discord room.
CW: Murder will be featured (but without gory details) and all mysteries may contain hints of cults and the supernatural. The mystery will be selected based on everyone's submitted lines & veils. Examples of potentially triggering content could include terminal illness, mental illness including mentions of attempted suicide or other self harm, bullying, substance abuse (alcohol/drugs), abandonment, kidnapping of humans or pets, imprisonment and infidelity. Not all of these are part of the same mystery, so I will work around your boundaries to provide a great game for everyone.