Most individuals affiliate tabletop roleplaying video games with adventurers exploring fantastical lands, however that’s not all of the medium has to supply. In Brindlewood Bay, you’re not barbarians or wizards, however reasonably a gaggle of aged girls in a homicide thriller ebook membership who resolve real-life crimes of their cozy New England city, the place a sinister secret lurks within the shadows. For extra details about the newly-launched Kickstarter for Brindlewood Bay, we talked to creator Jason Cordova concerning the origins of the sport and what makes it such a singular expertise on the desk.
Brindlewood Bay is being revealed by The Gauntlet, a corporation Cordova is part of that’s centered on independently-produced tabletop video games, usually ones revealed by a single particular person or small firm. Brindlewood Bay has been out for some time in a digital-only format and has gained fairly the next, however the Kickstarter will likely be funding a print model with model new, full-color artwork from Cecilia Ferri.
“The Kickstarter is going to be to kickstart two different hardcover books. One is the core rules of Brindlewood Bay, and then another is a supplement book called Nephews in Peril. Brindlewood Bay has the core rules plus six mysteries, and those rules are greatly expanded from what was originally released in the digital-only; it has a lot more guidance for running the game. The Nephews in Peril book has more about the setting of the town, plus ten more mysteries.”.
Aside from the distinctive setup for the sport, Brindlewood Bay additionally stands out from the gang with its fascinating thriller mechanics. Cordova has at all times been an enormous fan of each the thriller and the horror style and desires to seize that concept in a roleplaying recreation. He felt like video games like Call of Cthulhu bought near what he was in search of, however by no means really felt just like the participant has company within the resolution of the case.
“I’ve always loved the idea of being able to experience a mystery or investigation in the context of a tabletop roleplaying game. I think the way Breindlewood Bay does mysteries is really, really different from anything out there and feels like you’re actually solving a mystery.”
Rather than having the Game Master, referred to as the Keeper in Brindlewood Bay, have a predetermined resolution, they as a substitute put together a sequence of clues, places, and suspects that the gamers will uncover as a part of their investigation. Once the gamers collect sufficient clues, they’ll have a dialog to piece the clues collectively themselves and decide who the assassin is. This mechanic helps simulate the traditional scene on the finish of a homicide thriller the place the detective lists off all of the clues and the way they level to the actual perpetrator. While this works completely for the setting of the sport, Cordova initially labored on Brindlewood Bay to assist him resolve an issue with one other recreation he was writing, The Between.
“The Between is the game that came before Brindlewood Bay in development but was published after Brindlewood Bay because Brindlewood Bay was created to solve a problem with The Between. It is a game about monster hunters, both literal and serial killer type monsters, in Victorian era London. I wanted it to have a strong mystery component where players are not just battling serial killers and monsters, but trying to figure out the details. Where do I find them, how do I get them to stop doing this, how do I get this ghost to pass on to the next world? I didn’t know how to present this in a way that other game masters could take it and run it the way I do. So instead of reinventing the wheel over and over again until I got it right, I wrote another game.”
While they each ended up utilizing this identical thriller mechanic, the flavour of horror in Brindlewood Bay strikes a very completely different tone than The Between. Brindlewood Bay is impressed by cozy mysteries, like Murder She Wrote, but in addition has some fairly intense Lovecraftian horror that works its means into the narrative because the marketing campaign progresses. Instead of instantly utilizing Lovecraft’s mythology, Cordova determined to work extra Greek mythology into the cult, referred to as the Midwives of the Fragrant Void, making it really feel acquainted but distinctive. As an enormous fan of horror, he believes that the tabletop roleplaying medium can do issues different media can not.
“What the medium does have is collaborative storytelling. That’s what it can do that films and music and TV shows and books can’t do. I do think there’s something really interesting that goes back to cavemen sitting around a fire telling stories to each other and creeping each other out. You can evoke fear sitting around a table talking to each other and telling stories together. What I think that tabletop role-playing games can do is put a framework around that to ensure that you get a great result.”
Despite the presence of darkish cults and historic gods, Brindlewood Bay additionally leans right into a extra enjoyable and playful facet of the style, particularly given the gamers are all aged girls. Cordova says this mix helps improve the horror by offering launch to the stress.
“I like horror that has a certain camp element to it because I think that horror that has a little bit of humor actually makes the horror better to me. It makes it go down a little easier and keeps me in it more than something that’s just purely bleak.”
While there aren’t conventional lessons like in different video games, every participant has a set of strikes that they’ll select from to present them sure benefits all through play that assist them outline their particular person Murder Maven. In addition, there may be additionally a set of strikes that every one gamers can use as a means of enhancing their die rolls if vital. Not solely do these strikes save a personality from potential hazard, however additionally they give the participant a possibility to develop their Murder Maven’s backstory throughout play.
“The way it works is if you make a die roll and you don’t like the result, you can bump up the result by putting on either the Crown of the Queen or the Crown of the Void. The Crown of the Queen gives the player a chance to explore their character backstory a little bit through flashbacks, and the Crown of the Void shows the character getting more and more taken over by the occult conspiracy. These two crowns together sort of function as your hit points, so to speak, because once you don’t have any more crowns, you are totally at the will of the dice, and sometimes the dice might kill you.”
Another enjoyable means gamers can enhance their destiny is by utilizing the Gold Crown Mysteries transfer, which provides them the chance to work collectively to provide you with one of many novels the Murder Mavens have learn of their ebook membership.
“These characters are fans of a particular series of mystery books in the fiction called the Gold Crown Mysteries. The heroine of those books is a character called Amanda Delecourt. So at any point in the game, once per session, a player can say ‘this reminds me of something that happened to Amanda Delecourt’ and as a group the players come up with the name of the Gold Crown Mystery book, what Amanda Delecourt was facing, and what she did to solve the problem. If they do that, they get a bonus to accomplish something they are trying to accomplish.”
Cordova and firm wished to do one thing particular as an add-on for the marketing campaign, so as a substitute of doing one thing like cube or playing cards, they’re together with the choice so as to add the Brindlewood Bay Community Cookbook to your pledge. This is supposed to be an in-universe ebook that’s a fundraiser cookbook assembled by members of the Brindlewood Bay neighborhood, with a singular twist.
“In the margins of the pages are handwritten notes of a Murder Maven, and there is a murder mystery that’s basically happening in the margins of the cookbook. So it is a functional cookbook, but it’s also a solo mystery roleplaying game.”
You can try the Brindlewood Bay Kickstarter right here , and if you wish to pattern the sport earlier than you commit, it’s at present on DriveThruRPG for no matter value you are feeling snug enjoying, together with free.
The put up [Interview] ‘Brindlewood Bay’ Author Jason Cordova Discusses the Origins of the Unique Murder Mystery Tabletop Game appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
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