Brindlewood Bay 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.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
US Distribution of the Cookbook Has Started
over 1 year ago
– Wed, May 14, 2025 at 10:11:24 AM
Hello!
We’re very happy to let you know that the Brindlewood Bay Community Cookbook has arrived in the US. Customs are cleared, everything’s in place, and our fulfillment partner is lovingly preparing each package to make its way to you.
If your pledge included the wax-sealed invitation, rest assured—it’s tucked in and ready to be part of your delivery.
Should you need to make any last-minute changes to your address —just drop Harald a quick message at [email protected], and he’ll take care of you.
Just a small note about what’s inside: the cookbook includes mechanics you can bring into any Brindlewood Bay game, adding new flavor to your mysteries. But it doesn’t include a solo mode—we’re still developing that one with care and once it’s ready, we’ll share it with you as a PDF. The solo mode will be designed to work closely with the cookbook, while also giving you a flexible structure to enjoy any Brindlewood Bay mystery on your own.
Thank you, truly, for being on this journey with us. Your support and patience mean the world, and we can’t wait for you to hold this piece of the Brindlewood Bay world in your hands.
As always, we’d like to invite you to join our Discord server. The Gauntlet Discord server is a terrific place to discuss and play our games, including Brindlewood Bay, and can be found here.
–Harald and the Brindlewood Bay team
Community Cookbook Preview
almost 2 years ago
– Tue, Oct 08, 2024 at 08:05:11 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Dice & Cards Update
about 2 years ago
– Tue, Sep 24, 2024 at 09:22:16 PM
This is a quick update to let you know that the Suspect Cards & Needlepoint Dice are currently in production, and should be hitting the warehouses for distribution pretty soon. If you need to update your shipping details, please send us a KS message ASAP (use the messaging system on Kickstarter, not a comment).
Here are some pictures of the final product...
Box closed
Box open
The dice feature a needlepoint/cross-stitch-like pattern. This ended up looking much better than the floral print we were originally going to go with.
The card backs have the illustrations from their respective mysteries—makes for easy sorting.
The backgrounds for the Suspects are either blue, green, or orange, depending on the mystery's Complexity.
The cast of Have Yourself a Merry Little Murder
Though it wasn't part of the original plan, we commissioned character portraits for some folks you might commonly encounter in town. These characters are identified with a map card back, and are not associated with any particular mystery. Use them wherever you need an extra Suspect, or for the broader campaign.
As always, we appreciate your support! The next update will be about the Cookbook, which is nearing production.
-The Brindlewood Bay team
July 2024 Update
about 2 years ago
– Wed, Jul 10, 2024 at 08:09:36 PM
As always, before we begin the updates, we want to invite you to join The Gauntlet Discord server. The Gauntlet Discord server is the best place to play and discuss Brindlewood Bay, The Between, and other Carved from Brindlewood games. You can find the sever here.
Deep Reaver Con
The Deep Reaver Con mysteries are complete and being sent out through DriveThruRPG! You should receive your code within the next day or two. It will be sent to whatever email we have on file for you with BackerKit. If you can't find your copy of Deep Reaver Con within the next couple of days, please message Harald using the KS messaging system. Please include your DriveThruRPG email address.
Here is the beautiful artwork we commissioned from Cecilia:
Community Cookbook
The Community Cookbook is just nearly ready to be sent to the printer. We're waiting for the last bits of calligraphy. Once we have all the calligraphy back, we'll do a QC and make a few more small changes (we're likely to remove the mystery names, as seen in the sample pics below, just to make it more of an in-universe artifact), and then send it to the printer. We'll have an updated timeline for delivery once files are at the printer.
Here are some sample layouts:
Wax-Sealed Letters
The wax-sealed letters are complete and printed. The plan is to send them alongside Cookbooks for folks who pledged at that level. Here's a little peek at the letters (not full screenshots, so as not to spoil anything).
Suspect Portraits
This is just a quick reminder that backers should have received their Suspect Portraits PDF via DriveThruRPG some time ago. If you can't find your download, send Harald a message via the KS messaging system. Please include your DriveThruRPG email address.
Miniseries Campaign
We're making great progress on the Miniseries Campaign. The project is currently in editing and layout. This is a pretty big project, and requires a fair amount of developmental editing (we're essentially creating an entirely new way to play Brindlewood Bay). Our plan is to release the first part (Spring) as a preview as soon as it's ready, so you'll be able to enjoy that while we finish up Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Bed, Breakfast, & Beyond
BB&B is still in development. We don't have anything to share at this time, but should have more to say about it in the next update.
Roll20
We're in the middle of a back and forth process with Roll20. The folks at Roll20 delivered a draft of the Roll20 tools a few months ago, but we have requested a number of changes so that it better fits our vision for the project. Their team has been very accommodating working with us, it's just a slow process. We'll hopefully have something more solid to share soon.
The Darkened Threshold
One of our stretch goals for the campaign was The Darkened Threshold, a discussion podcast focusing on Brindlewood Bay, The Between, and other Carved from Brindlewood games. Our commitment for Kickstarter was 20 episodes, and we just posted up the 20th episode. However, the show has been received really well, and so we're going to keep producing new episodes!
If you haven't yet tried The Darkened Threshold, you should really give it a listen. Each episode, Alex & Jason go deep on different topics connected to these games. It's a terrific companion for folks who are running these games, or designing their own. You can find it wherever you get podcasts.
Ain't Slayed Nobody: The Between
This isn't directly connected to Kickstarter, but it's nevertheless very cool and we want you to know about it: The Gauntlet has partnered with Ain't Slayed Nobody to produce a beautiful actual play podcast for The Between! This actual play series features a fantastic cast and is run by Jason Cordova, creator of Brindlewood Bay and The Between. It has amazing sound design, a gripping story, and stands as a really excellent example of how to run Carved from Brindlewood games. You can find Ain't Slayed Nobody wherever you get podcasts, or listen to the first episode right here:
Suspect Cards & Dice
We're going to do a separate update for the Suspect Cards & Dice sets. Our production samples are on their way via FedEx at this very moment, and so we're going to do an update with pictures and a new timeline once we have those in-hand.
As always, thanks so much for your support!
-The Brindlewood Bay team
December 2023 Update
almost 3 years ago
– Sun, Dec 03, 2023 at 07:52:23 PM
Hello! We have some exciting updates for you today. But first, as always, we’d like to invite you to join our Discord server. The Gauntlet Discord server is a terrific place to discuss and play our games, including Brindlewood Bay, and can be found here.
New Mystery: Blood & Black Gloves
Brindlewood Bay and Nephews in Peril are landing in mailboxes (more on that below), and we’re celebrating by giving you a new mystery, Blood & Black Gloves! Blood & Black Gloves brings the world of Giallo cinema to Brindlewood Bay. In this new scenario, the Mavens have to solve a murder involving Claudia Oro, the famous Italian author of The Black Glove Mysteries. Colorful characters and weird, Lynchian intrusions are peppered throughout, making this the strangest case the Murder Mavens have ever had to deal with. Blood & Black Gloves was written by Sarah Bolling and features artwork by both Marcus Jimenez and Cecilia Ferri. The stylish layout, inspired by Giallo, is by Ben Mansky. Get it FREE right here.
Blood & Black Gloves. Art by Cecilia Ferri
Brindlewood Bay & Nephews in Peril
Brindlewood Bay and Nephews in Peril are being mailed to backers and pre-orderers. International (non-U.S.) orders are winding their way through post, and many people have received their books. We can’t say for certain when people from a specific country will get their books, so please be patient. If you are an international backer and have not received your books within 14 days from this post going live, send us a BackerKit message or reach out on Discord.
U.S. orders got stuck in the port of Los Angeles for a time, but have made it to the warehouse in Knoxville. Our fulfillment partners have been at PAXU this weekend but should start shipping the books pretty soon after they get back. We’ll post a short update after this one as soon as we hear books are in the mail.
Brazil, South Korea, Singapore, and Norway
If we are shipping your books to one of the above countries and you have not received your books within a few days of this post going live, please contact us via Kickstarter messages. Our international agent ran into some customs issues with those countries, and we may need some help from you to get your books cleared.
Community Cookbook
The Cookbook is well underway! Harald and his team are about 50% complete on layout, and we expect the book to go to the printer early in the new year.
Wax-Sealed Invitations
We have commissioned a calligrapher in Vienna to write the letters going into the invitations. If you are at a backer level receiving a wax-sealed invitation, it will be sent with your cookbook.
Suspect Cards & Dice
Harald is in communication with the Chinese manufacturer of the dice & card sets. We expect to have final proofs early next year, with printing and shipping to take place some time in Q2.
Hargrave House Backers
Jason will be contacting the 8 backers who backed at the Hargrave House level this week (probably Thursday). He will get in touch via Kickstarter messages with instructions on how to participate in the creation of the Turning Over Hargrave mystery, so be on the lookout.
Midwives Backers
Jason will be contacting the 5 backers who backed at the Midwives level this week (probably Thursday) about online game sessions. He will be in touch via Kickstarter messages, so be on the lookout there.
Deep Reaver Con (and the Deep Reaver Backers)
The Deep Reaver Con mysteries are in progress. We expect to have them delivered sometime in late Q1/early Q2. For the 2 backers who backed at the Deep Reaver level, we will get in touch at that time about your game sessions and other special rewards.
Roll20 tools
We are on Roll20’s timeline as far the Roll20 implementation goes. We plan on following up with them before the holidays to get an up-to-date timeline. We’ll let you know when we know.
Bed, Breakfast, & Beyond
BB&B is still in the draft stage. Jason is planning a meeting with Chris and Alicia in the new year to work on developmental issues and put together a detailed timeline for delivery.
The Miniseries Campaign
Jonah is making terrific progress on the miniseries campaign. We have received drafts for Spring and Summer, with Fall and Winter coming soon. We’ll begin editing Spring within the next few weeks. Assuming we get Fall and Winter by the end of the year, we should be able to deliver PDFs by the end of Q1 or early Q2.
The Darkened Threshold
We have delivered the podcast stretch goal in the form of The Darkened Threshold. We have around 14 episodes in the can. You can listen to what’s been published here (or wherever you get podcasts). New episodes hit the feed every few weeks.
The Darkened Threshold logo
Purchasing Brindlewood Bay & Nephews in Peril post-Kickstarter
Brindlewood Bay & Nephews in Peril will be available to purchase through Studio 2 Publishing and Amazon shortly after U.S. orders have been fulfilled. Retailers will also be able to get the books through regular distribution channels.
The Silt Verses Roleplaying Game
Gauntlet Publishing has recently released The Silt Verses Roleplaying Game. Based on the award-winning audio drama, The Silt Verses RPG is a game of folk horror and monstrous divinity. Its mechanics are based on Brindlewood Bay and The Between, as well as Apocalypse World. In The Silt Verses RPG, you play Custodians, employees of the Bureau for the Investigation and Assimilation of Stray Deities. In a world with tens of thousands of gods, your job is to track down the forgotten and stray deities causing trouble in the community and... deal with them. Sometimes that means figuring out how a community can co-exist with the god, and sometimes that means eliminating the god's threat in a more extreme way. Regardless, you are a pawn within an uncaring system, and will eventually be the target of a conspiracy that will try to use your work for its own nefarious purposes. You can learn more here.
