Brindlewood Bay is a groundbreaking murder mystery game for 1 Keeper (GM) and up to 4 players. It’s Powered by the Apocalypse but also uses the innovative Carved from Brindlewood mystery system where even the Keeper doesn’t know the solution!
The game is inspired by cozy mystery shows like Murder, She Wrote, but also takes inspiration from supernatural fiction and police procedural shows from the '70s, '80s, and '90s.
In the game, you play a group of elderly women enjoying their retirement in the picturesque New England town of Brindlewood Bay. Their partners are deceased, their children have long flown the nest, and now they find companionship in one another. An important part of the story is that cozy feeling—we get to see these women enjoying their lives, helping and supporting each other, and pursuing their favorite hobbies, which are called Cozy Activities in the game. The game is presented as a TV show, and at the start of each session, you narrate a short "opening credits" montage showing the women enjoying their Cozy Activities. Throughout the game, as a way of removing negative Conditions, you'll have warm, intimate scenes between the characters wherein they get emotionally vulnerable while enjoying their Cozy Activities together.
The women are also members of the local Murder Mavens Mystery Book Club. They have a passion for mystery books, especially those featuring the globe-trotting super-sleuth Amanda Delacourt, and have even acquired real-world detective skills from their extensive reading and discussion. By the time the story starts, the Murder Mavens have already helped the local authorities with several murder cases. Throughout the game, players will be presented with new mysteries to solve, and these investigations are the main focus of the story.
Brindlewood Bay has a number of innovative gameplay elements. First and foremost is the mystery system. The Mavens will gather Clues throughout the game, but no one—not even the Keeper—knows what the Clues mean at the start. Once the players have gathered enough clues, they will Theorize, which is an open discussion about who they think committed the murder. Like much of the game, it's a collaborative process, and even though there are no canonical solutions to any of the mysteries, it actually feels like you're solving a mystery at the table! This approach to mysteries is innovative in tabletop roleplaying games. There are other unique mechanics, as well, such as the Gold Crown Mysteries move, which allows the Mavens to tap into their love of Amanda Delacourt books to get insight into cases, and the Crown of the Queen, which is a meta mechanic that gives you a better outcome on your die rolls in exchange for sharing some of your character's backstory. There's even a Cut to Commercial mechanic, whereby you can save your Maven's skin by narrating a cheesy, mid-afternoon TV commercial.
As the mysteries progress, the Mavens become aware of a Hellenic death cult called the Midwives of the Fragrant Void. This cult is the reason why there are so many murders in Brindlewood Bay—because it's all connected to the cult's Dark Conspiracy. The Dark Conspiracy is the Keeper's campaign framework for Brindlewood Bay. The Keeper uses it to track the progress of the campaign and to make connections between the murders. It's also a countdown—as the Mavens find special Void Clues, they become more vulnerable to the dark forces around them, and will eventually trigger the end game where they face off against the Midwives.
This progression from cozy murder mystery to dark occult conspiracy makes Brindlewood Bay very exciting for extended play. The Mavens themselves can even tap into supernatural power over time in order to fight back against the Midwives. They can use the Occult Move to unlock new, supernatural talents, or they can invoke the Crown of the Void to improve their die rolls—at the cost of being drawn deeper into the world of darkness.
The Brindlewood Bay core rulebook contains everything you need to play a full campaign. The rules have been revised and expanded from the game's original zine release in 2019 (which you can read right now by downloading the preview at the top of this page), and features new Keeper guidelines and advice for running the game smoothly. There is also a new section about the Dark Conspiracy, which details powers and resources of the Midwives of the Fragrant Void. The books also features 6 mysteries (detailed below).
Dad Overboard: In this starter mystery, the Mavens learn about Albert Krause, a wealthy banker whose body just washed up on the beach. His family's yacht is currently anchored off the Bay, and Sheriff Dalrymple suspects one of the Krauses was involved in his death. The Murder Mavens take the case, but as they get closer to solving it, they may come face-to-face with the dark history of the town...
The Great Brindlewood Bay Bake-Off: The Jolly Good Baking Show has come to Brindlewood Bay to find the town's best baker, and the Murder Mavens have made it to the final round of the competition! But chaos erupts when the baking show's popular judge, steely-eyed Paul Riviera, turns up dead in his trailer, his face covered with white powder and his hands tied behind his back with perfectly plaited nylon cord.
All Hallow’s Scream: B-movie director Abner Vidal and his wife, Coco, are throwing a Halloween party in their extravagant, Tinseltown-inspired home. The Mavens are invited, but when Abner turns up dead, his head submerged in a bobbing-for-apples tub, they realize this night is going to be more about tricks than treats.
Jingle Bell Shock: The Mavens are participating in the Brindlewood Bay Lunch Club's annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Carol-a-thon fundraiser when they get drawn into the Hawthorne family's bitter drama involving money and murder. Inspired by the film Knives Out.
A Murder Most Mucky: A lighthouse keeper has taken a suspicious tumble to his death in the nearby burg of Mucky Point. When the Mavens arrive, they discover a town with hostile, secretive locals, and some strange connections to creatures living under the waves...
Exit Stage Death: The Mavens discover that the Midwives of the Fragrant Void have a rival cult in Boston, the Court of the Occluded King, when a young actress is murdered during a performance of a strange play, The King in Shadows.
