#Brindlewood Bay Game

[mightymur]

[ISBW] The Epiphany of Writing Routines: Embracing Structure in a Creative Life

S20 Ep8: The Epiphany of Writing Routines “The Epiphany of Writing Routines” is brought to you in large part by by my supporters, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon or Substack! Some links below are affiliate links and I may earn some money at no cost to you when you use them.    I Should Be Writing Season 20,…

[vintagerpg]

Get Cozy! This week on the Vintage RPG podcast, we check out Brindlewood Bay. It’s a little bit Murder, She Wrote, a little bit Golden Girls and a little bit The Call of Cthulhu, wrapped up in a Powered by the Apocalypse package. Can you meddle your way to the solutions of these TV-style mysteries?

[subbyfoxelf]

gencon 2024 after action report, part 2: day 2 (friday)

previously on gencon con report.

i had a pretty light day on friday in terms of scheduled events, which i think is something i'll try to do differently if i (hopefully) go back next year. grammy had a gm shift that started basically immediately, and mommy had a game in the afternoon that i wasn't part of, but vi had a couple hours before we parted ways so we decided to spend a couple hours at the boardgamegeek hot games room.

the hot games room is basically a large room with tables for folks to play at and a library of popular new release board games. i think the games were in alphabetical order, i say "think" because literally right at the beginning of the line was a copy of arcs, and we really didn't need to look at any of the other games once we saw that they had it considering the rave reviews it's been getting.

after getting a chance to play it, it's incredibly easy to see why it's been such a critical success. arcs is a game about space colonization and conflict with plenty of optionality in how you approach it. there's a lot of unsurprising mechanics like resource management and earning victory points, and of course rolling dice to resolve space conflict, but also some slightly more unexpected ones like a light trick-taking aspect to resolving actions on each turn.

above all, it's complicated & multifaceted without being intimidating. we were able to pick up the rules in no time, and once we did gameplay was smooth & exciting. this also feels like a game with a ton of replay value, and that's just the base game. there's also a campaign expansion that i'd love to try somewhere down the line when the game is more widely available. (the lgs i work at had it in stock for a minute because we backed the kickstarter, but it sold out basically immediately. again, after playing it it's really not difficult to see why.)

after this there was a rather long gap in my schedule that i made the somewhat ill-advised choice of trying to fill by looking for mtg singles in the vendor hall. it didn't take long for the sensory overload to get to me, and to make matters worse i was basically in the middle of the huge hall and literally couldn't find the exit for a good 30 minutes or so.

when i did finally make it out, i made a beeline for the quiet room, but when i got there it was literally full. if i have one piece of feedback for the event, they REALLY need more than one quiet room. finding literally no respite after that vendor hall honestly kind of broke me and i ended up in pretty rough shape, just kind of wandering aimlessly through moving crowds of people until i finally found a relatively quiet corner of one of the satellite hotels to just kind of collapse in for a while. and honestly if there had just been another quiet room this would have been easily avoidable.

anyway, after a while to recover i met back up with grammy & cj, waited for mommy to finish vir game, and we all got some food before heading to our second game with all four of us together, brindlewood bay.

brindlewood bay is for sure in contention for my favorite rpg we played at the con, though it's difficult to compare to my other favorite for reasons that will become clear when we get to it in the next post. brindlewood bay is a pbta cozy mystery rpg that is something of a marriage between what i imagine golden girls is like (i've never watched it) and murder she wrote. basically, you're a team of old lady sleuths who need to solve various crimes while also gradually learning about some larger eldritch threat lurking in the shadows. (we didn't get too far on that track, it feels like that's more for a longer campaign than on your first sitting.)

during character creation you pick a sort of detective superpower (mine, which i sadly didn't end up using, was encyclopedia brown's ability to use one piece of real-world trivia to help solve the mystery), an overall style (i picked hippy-dippie; see! told you it would come up later), and a "cozy activity" (i picked gardening, because i think that's the old lady activity i'm the most likely to develop later in life). after you pick all your traits and the few stats you need to fill in, you go around the table and suggest some resources for each other to have access to. one of the other players had cooking as their "cozy activity," so the party gifted that player an herb garden, and they gifted my character an "herb" garden since her hippy-dippy style felt at least a bit weed-coded.

another thing that came up rather organically is that my character & mommy's ended up being the "and so, they were roommates!" brand of lesbians, and the entire table including the gm seemed to get a big kick out of that.

this was my first experience with pbta, so i don't have much to compare it to, but i wouldn't be shocked if a lot of these games more or less come down to "if you/your playgroup like the premise/vibe you'll enjoy it," and i really think gencon helped "break the seal" on these sorts of games for me, and i'm hoping that'll translate into me being a bit more adventurous about trying more games instead of just watching the pile of games we own but haven't played get bigger & bigger.

but yeah, that was a wrap on day 2! only two games, but definitely a case of quality over quantity, so no complaints here.

[galaxywhump]

I don't think I've shared one of my most important possessions here

[utilitycaster]

I know I just reblogged a big group of ttrpgs (and purchased them!) but like...every single internet list of "looking to branch out from D&D? try this!" I read just never gets what I want out of TTRPGs, which, to be fair, is just...what is provided by D&D.

[mortphilippa]

Grandmothership - granny detectives in space!

Grandmothership by Armanda Haller is a silly ttrpg about grandmothers solving mysteries in space.

It's like if Murder She Wrote had a baby with The Expanse and then the baby grew up and wrote a comedy show about it.

Grandmothership is crowdfunding a print run with more art and layout on crowdfunder here! It is one of my sponsored picks for Tabletop Nonstop!

Tabletop Nonstop is Crowdfundr's spotlight event celebrating indie creators and their projects. Support the projects mentioned in this video ans more this month on Crowdfundr here!

Crowdfundr is the creator-friendly crowdfunding platform. It's free to use, offers multiple ways to fund your project, and directly invests in its user's success with spotlight initiatives like this one and resources like the Creator Hub. Get started now at crowdfundr.com

[zombieunicornjewelry]

Brindlewood Bay is a quaint town full of mysteries, with a Hellenic cult emerging from the dark ocean waters. It's hard to create your own mysteries, but we've got your back.

Mrs. Blackwood Presents... (link to itch.io)

is a four scenarios free supplement, spreading through all seasons, perfect for a campain or just to pick and choose whatever floats your boat. The mysteries also contain new crowns and some unique moves. You'll also need Brindlewood Bay core rulebook to play.

[this-curiouscat]

🌀,🌤️,and 🌈 please!

🌀 Post the pitch for a game you’re working on

I have to cheat a little for this one because my games are currently either done or such vague ideas that I can't even pitch them properly.

But let's talk about Bunny, We Bought a Dungeon, which Jasmin Neitzel and me actually wrote first before we hacked it into Dolly, We Bought a Dream House.

Here's the pitch: You're a group of anthropomorphic bunnies who have bought a dungeon to move in there together. As you narrate the exploration and renovation of the dungeon, you draw a map of it together.

Mechanically, we're calling it a GM-less OSR story game. We're using OSR elements like dice drops, random roll tables, and of course a classic fantasy dungeon setting and combine them with GM-less story mechanics, action rolls inspired by Lasers & Feelings (but not exactly like L&F), and the idea that dungeons can also be homes.

We've already published it in German earlier this year and I've recently translated it into English and will release it tomorrow at the latest.

🌤️ Share your favorite mechanic from a game you’re working on

Same disclaimer as above. So let's talk about something I've already published! I'm still proud of my supplement Alternative Crowns of the Queen for Brindlewood Bay.

As in the original game, it's a set of narrative prompts that allow more insight into the characters' backstory and current life outside of investigating murders and supernatural conspiracies (you use them to bump up a roll one level). And as in the original game, they're meant to show the Murder Mavens "as a woman."

However, my Crowns of the Queen cover a lot more ground than the ones in the original because a senior woman's life of course contains many other relevant aspects than being a daughter, mother, or wife/romantic partner (which is what the original game focuses on). Therefore, my Crowns offer you prompts about bodies, aging, and health, female solidarity and friendship, professional successes and failures, and of course an option to tell a coming-out story.

(In case anyone reading along is wondering: Yes, I absolutely think asking questions/giving narrative prompts is a proper game mechanic just as much as rolling dice or drawing cards or ticking boxes on a sheet is.)

🌈 Share your favourite class/playbook from one of your games (name the game, or let me choose)

So far, I only have one game that has something resembling playbooks, so we're talking about my Firebrands game Miss Bernburg's Finishing School for Young Ladies here. It's set in an all-girl upper-class boarding school in the 1950s (located in Western Europe or North America).

It has three cliques to choose from, which function as character archetypes more than social circles: Homemakers, Bookworms, and Rebels (the latter may be renamed in the translation of the second edition I'm planning for sometime in the future). You get a short flavor text, a list of attractive characteristics to choose three from, and some name suggestions. There are further character questions to answer, such as items they've put on display or keep hidden in their dorm rooms (those are partly different in the first and second edition of the game).

I always enjoy playing a Homemaker (or seeing them played) because there's so much variety you can bring to this type of Young Lady. You can play her as a naive, down-to-earth person who just enjoys traditionally female activities and responsibilities. Or you can play her as a charmingly manipulative person who sees this role as the best opportunity to at least have some social and political influence in her life. Or you can play her as someone who aims to use a facade of respectability to create space for a relatively unbothered queer life on the side. Or maybe she's just waiting for someone to nudge her out of her conformist comfort zone and discover a curious or rebellious streak?

As always, we play to find out, and the Homemakers nearly always have some of the most interesting story arcs I've played and witnessed in this game. (Ask me again and I will tell you the same thing about the other two cliques, though!)

(Cover illustration by Christiane Ebrecht)

Thanks for asking! 💖

[chaoticblade5]

It's a hot take, but if there is no definite way of incorporating your backstory into the game laid out by the rules, there is no reason to have a backstory.

[ecgarrison]

New Game: Thank You For Being a Fiend!

Sophia recently returned to live at the dreaded Shady Pines Retirement Home. But what’s this? Someone’s dead! And Sophia’s implicated! Can the Girls clear her of suspicion by finding the real killer in time? Will Dorothy forgive herself for putting her ma in this inhumane ‘prison’? Will Blanche find someone to flirt with, even amid the chaos? Was that something unnatural, lurking in the shadows,…

[painedemonium]

Introductions

Hello, Tumblr! I'm a voice actor, game master, podcaster, and streamer finally taking steps to make that a full-time thing. To that end, may I offer some of my wares?

At the link above, you'll find:

Exobytes & Elseworlds: A Superheroic Roleplaying 5e game based on and taking place in the world of DC Universe Online.

Adventures in Middle-Earth: The Other Fellowship: An Adventures in Middle-Earth 5e campaign in which an original party will come together at the Council of Elrond and be tasked with the destruction of the One Ring.

A Disturbance in the Source: A Skywalker Saga "What If?" Campaign: Decide the fate of the Galaxy in this "What If…?" style campaign. Relive or reroll the events of the Skywalker Saga with your own characters, with Session 1 taking place immediately prior to "The Phantom Menace."

A New Era: A Post-Rise of Skywalker Campaign: It has been two years since the destruction of the New Republic, and one year since Emperor Palpatine's death, the Final Order's defeat, and the start of galaxy-wide uprisings against the First Order. For the first time in millennia, there is no central government and no clear direction. Your story begins here.

Power Rangers: Zero Force: Welcome to Angel Grove. You are newly chosen Power Rangers selected by the mysterious entity Zero to protect the world from evil. Venture forth from an ancient command center to defeat Earth's many enemies, and discover more than just the power within.

Adventure Intrepid: A Campaign in Faerun: A Dungeons & Dragons campaign set in classic Faerun, this game is intended for players of all experience levels. Characters start out at level 1 as unknown adventurers who take jobs to make ends meet and, in time, create their own legend.

So, You Went to School for Magic: A Strixhaven Campaign: A "Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos" campaign for D&D players new and old, from a Dungeon Master who prefers diversity and acceptance in their magical institutions. Players take on the roles of students at Strixhaven University, who must complete their education while also protecting the school from darkness.

What We Do in Barovia: A Curse of Strahd Campaign: A "Curse of Strahd" playthrough intended for players of all experience levels, from a DM who enjoys "What We Do in the Shadows" a little too much. Characters start out at level 1 as adventurers swept into the mists of Barovia, and who must defeat Baron Strahd von Zarovich to depart again.

Mavens & Midwives: A Brindlewood Bay Collection: Intended for players new and old, Mavens & Midwives is a complete Brindlewood Bay campaign in which players will develop their Murder Maven characters, solve mysteries, and uncover the Dark Conspiracy.

Star Trek: Time, and Time Again: This Star Trek Adventures campaign is set in an alternate timeline, combining story elements from the Prime Timeline (classic and modern Star Trek), Kelvin Timeline (as established by Star Trek, 2009, dir. J.J. Abrams), and apocryphal media - starting with a reality changing story arc and developing into its own "ongoing series" so long as players are interested! Your story begins in 2161, mere hours before the official founding of the United Federation of Planets. Where it goes is up to you!

And more to come!

[theresattrpgforthat]

What if I told you.... there's a TTRPG for that!

Brindlewood Bay, by The Gauntlet, is  is a tabletop roleplaying game that combines Murder, She Wrote with H.P. Lovecraft. In it, you play a group of elderly women, members of the local Murder Mavens Mystery Book Club, who help the authorities solve murder cases in a picturesque New England Town. Over the course of their investigations, they become aware of a dark occult conspiracy that connects the cases, and will eventually have to face that conspiracy in order to save their community. The game is low-prep and easy to play no matter your experience with tabletop roleplaying games. There are plenty of supplements that are Carved from Brindlewood also available, if you want more mysteries to check out. Have fun playing mystery-solving grandmas on the look out for eldritch conspiracies!

A game about grandmas?

a game about bofa

[richdadpoor]

The Gaming Shelf Feasts on the Undead Third Reich

“Eat the Reich is a tabletop roleplaying game in which you, a vampire commando, are coffin-dropped into occupied Paris and must cut a bloody swath through Nazi forces en route to your ultimate goal: drinking all of Adolf Hitler’s blood. It’s written by Grant Howitt (Honey Heist, Spire, Heart) and illustrated by Will Kirkby (Critical Role, Image, Darkhorse, Boom).” “3 Minutes is a tabletop…

[thesiltverses]

The Silt Verses RPG has just launched from the acclaimed designers of Brindlewood Bay and The Between!

Investigate stray angels, strange haunts, and murderous cults in a world of gods and sacrifice as a disciple of the Saint Electric, Trawler-man, Watcher in the Wings, Cairn Maiden, Pox Martyr, or the Waxen Scrivener.

Delve into backwoods towns, floating markets where sacred relics are bought and sold, bustling clinics where medical 'miracles' come at a hideous cost - and even a towering skyscraper of conjoined steel, glass, and flesh.

You can purchase a copy over on DriveThruRPG, or at the Silt Verses or The Gauntlet Patreon, netting you the rulebook, 8 Assignments, 6 Faith Sheets, 8 Journey Sheets, and more.

This game really is a labour of love from a small team of innovative indie RPG creators, and already a genuine work of art (so we'd be incredibly grateful for your help in playing, giving feedback, and spreading the word far and wide) - we think it's an absolutely fantastic achievement, and we know The Gauntlet are only going to keep building and improving on the game from here.

You can find out more by joining The Gauntlet Discord.

[mortphilippa]

My list of games and supplements on itch.io is slowly growing! You can check them out here!

indie ttrpg designers, lemme see that body of work!!

i just wanna see the vibes! reblog with a screenshot or list of cool stuff you've made/worked on!

definitely drop a link to your stuff, but try not to get too salesy please!

[txttletale]

Do you have recs for combatless rpgs? sorry if someones asked this ! im getting into ttrpgs now and its just pretty hard to find anything non combat focused ?

i recommended wanderhome (melancholy animal roadtrip), dream askew (queer postapocalyptic survival), microscope (collaborative worldbuilding), and crescent moon (kids learning and growing in a fantasy land) in resposne to an ask earlier today. other great rpgs that aren't combat focused include:

chuubo's marvelous wish-granting engine: i'll level with you, if you're just getting into rpgs this one might be A Lot because it's quite mechanically complex. but it's a beautiful game about having ghibliesque coming-of-age adventures in a surreal dreamy world.

nobilis is by the same person (jenna moran, a genuine game design pioneer and genius) -- it's about being godlets, the living embodiments of concepts from the concrete to the abstract. you might find yourself fighting in this game, but it's unlikely to look anything like 'combat'.

brindlewood bay, which is about being elderly women investigating murders.

pasión de las pasiones, a pbta (powered by the apocalypse) game about doing ridiculous romance drama shit based on telenovelas

monsterhearts, about teenaged monsters having weird drama and exploring their sexuality. think buffy or twilight, but queerer

pigsmoke, about being professors at a college of magic and competing to see who can publish the best paper (yes, really)

the girlfriend of my girlfriend is my friend, about... i mean i think the title makes it pretty clear! being gay and poly and kinda broke

it's been a long, long, time, about two people who used to date, their relationship, their lives after it, and their reunion

sagas of the icelanders, about being viking settlers in iceland during the saga period and playing out quasimythical dramas

hieronymous, about being a bunch of sinners making your way across hieronymous bosch's garden of earthly delights

thousand year old vampire, a solo journalling game about being a vampire and living through long stretches of history

blow up hamlet, where your table performs hamlet while changing the plot and improvising new plot beats at semi-random

slugblaster, about being rowdy teens hoverboarding through interdimensional rifts in the spirit of 90s teen movies

woo! that's a fuckin' lot of ttrpgs, but i wanted to give a lot of suggestions because i think it's so important for people getting into the hobby to understand the breadth of games out there and how far from the popular image created by D&D they can go! there are two-player and GM-less and even one-player games on this list. you can do anything! the world of rpgs is so fucking wide and beautiful. good luck and i hope you find something that speaks to you!

(oh, also, my game, most trusted advisors -- about being the untrustworthy privy council to a dipshit king and falling over each other's nested dipshit schemes -- has no combat in it. just saying!)