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Written by Jason Cordova

Additional contributions by Calvin Johns, Petra Volkhausen,

and Steffie de Vaan
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Art by Cecilia Ferri

Graphic design and layout by Harald Eckmüller

Editing by David LaFreniere

Published by Jason Cordova

This game’s mechanics are based in part on Apocalypse World

by Vincent and Meguey Baker and The Between by Jason Cordova
 BRINDLEWOOD
BAY

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Introduction e 4

Gameplay Basics 7

Maven Moves 21
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The Keeper - Basics 33

The Keeper - Advanced 45

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The Dark Conspiracy 67

The Midwives of the Fragrant Void 75

Advanced Sendings & Servitors 87

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The Children of Persephone 103

Mysteries 110

Session One 155

Appendix 163
 INTRODUCTION

Introduction
BRINDLEWOOD BAY is a roleplaying game about a group of elderly women—mem-
bers of the local Murder Mavens mystery book club—who find themselves

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solving actual murder mysteries in their quaint New England town. They
become aware of a dark occult conspiracy connecting the murders, and will
eventually have to defeat that dark conspiracy to save their community.

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The game is directly inspired by the television show Murder, She Wrote, but
also takes inspiration from the cosmic horror genre, “cozy” crime dramas,
and American TV shows from the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s.

The Setting
Brindlewood Bay is a small coastal community in Massachusetts. A whaling
town in the 18th and 19th centuries, it is now largely a tourist spot. Many
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locals have turned their homes into bed & breakfasts, and the town has
antique shops, comfy dining spots, and artists and artisans of all kinds.
Guided fishing trips are common.
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The Murder Mavens
The Murder Mavens is a mystery book club that has been meeting on the top
floor of The Candlelight Booksellers every Saturday evening for the last ten
years. The Murder Mavens are particularly fond of The Gold Crown Mysteries
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series by Robin Masterson, featuring the globe-trotting super-sleuth, Amanda

Delacourt.
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
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homes the way they like, pursuing their hobbies, and finding comfort and
companionship in each other.
The Mavens are also amateur detectives, 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.

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 INTRODUCTION

The Midwives of the Fragrant Void

Brindlewood Bay is geographically and historically significant to a dark cult
called the Midwives of the Fragrant Void. At the start of the game, the Mavens
don’t know anything about the Midwives, but as players we know they are a
Hellenic death cult of men and women dedicated to bringing forth the “chil-

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dren” of Persephone—chthonic monstrosities that will usher in the End of All
Things. As the game progresses, the Mavens will become ever-more-aware
of the supernatural connections between the murders they are investigating,
and will eventually come to understand the role of the Midwives of the

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Fragrant Void. They may begin to dabble in the occult in order to combat the
dark forces arrayed against them, come face-to-face with a child of Perse-
phone, or even be tempted to join the Midwives themselves.

Content Warning
On the surface, this game is about little old ladies solving murder myster-
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ies—and it is definitely that! But it is also more than that: the game (and
this text) becomes very dark as you progress through it. Cosmic horror,
graphic violence, ritual sacrifice, and other unsavory things come up quite
frequently. Additionally, this book occasionally touches on sensitive subject
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matter, such as sexism, sexual desire, the violence of America’s gun culture
and consumer culture, and other topics. You may decide that this is not for
you, and that’s ok! There are other excellent mystery-horror games out there
for you to read and play, including Cthulhu Dark, Lovecraftesque, and The
Society of Dreamers.
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 GAMEPLAY BASICS

Gameplay Basics
The Conversation and Moves

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Gameplay in BRINDLEWOOD BAY is mostly a conversation. One participant,
the Keeper, says how the world behaves; they frame scenes and present
challenges to the other participants, the players, who are responsible for
saying how their character, a Murder Maven, reacts. This is all largely done

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via a back-and-forth conversation between the Keeper and the players; the
narrative authority—who gets to say what—changes from time to time, but
it’s always within the confines of the conversation.
The conversation ends when a player describes their Maven doing something
that triggers a move. At that point, you read the text of the triggered move,
do what it says (usually rolling dice and interpreting the results), and then
narrate that part of the story, as needed. Once the move is resolved, you
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return to the conversation. It won’t always be as clean as that when you sit
down to play—the Keeper may prefer to shift the spotlight to another charac-
ter in the middle of resolving a move, returning later when it’s dramatically
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interesting—but that is generally how the game should go.

Abilities
Abilities are the Maven attributes that are applied to most die rolls in the
game. They each have a modifier from -3 to +3. The abilities are: Vitality,
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Composure, Reason, Presence, and Sensitivity.

Use VITALITY if the Maven’s action involves strength, dexterity, endurance,
athleticism, or raw physicality.
Use COMPOSURE if the Maven’s action requires a steady hand, a calm
disposition, or intense concentration; or if they are trying to avoid a fear-
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based reaction.
Use REASON if the Maven is studying books, researching a problem, examin-
ing a crime scene, or otherwise engaging their mental faculty.
Use PRESENCE if the Maven is trying to charm someone, intimidate some-
one, or capture someone’s imagination.
Use SENSITIVITY if the Maven’s action involves occult or supernatural
forces; the Keeper may decide that an action that is seemingly governed by
a different ability is actually governed by Sensitivity because of the supernat-
ural, spiritual, or occult nature of what is being undertaken.