Merryshire Detective Club's blend of Hobbit and Midsomer is incoming

Pelgrane Press has been teasing Merryshire Detective Club for months now--and finally this cozy fantasy mystery game is here!

Well, the crowdfunder is, and it's three weeks away, but Pelgrane has started sharing a few more details about the game. We already knew that it was a blend of Hobbit-like villages (it was previously known as 'Shires Out') and mysteries powered by the GUMSHOE system; and we knew it was being designed by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan.

The game is set in a halfling village known as the Riding, and you play amateur detectives. The local Constable is incompetent, so it's up to your plucky band of investigators to solve local mysteries which can range from missing swans to downright murder.

Pelgrane has a publicity campaign underway, starting with a social media based 'Name the Local Pub' contest. More previews and community activities will be shared on the crowdfunding page over the coming weeks.

 

[EternalDungeonMaster]

I can already tell that this is going to be an RPG book that I'm going to buy, and read, and absolutely love. And then I'll never find a group who wants to actually play it.

 

[Committed Hero]

Someone described it as "The Wire meets the Shire."

 

[DrDevidents]

So Brindlewood Bay with hobbits?

 

[Arilyn]

I can already tell that this is going to be an RPG book that I'm going to buy, and read, and absolutely love. And then I'll never find a group who wants to actually play it.

Sorry to hear that. My group definitely will definitely want to play this game.

Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan is one of my favourite designers. His work is versatile and always flavourful.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

If the mistery writter Jessica Fletcher was a halfling living in the cozy-fantasy version of "Midsomer Murders".

I wouldn't want to be an insurance agent in that area

Spoiler: a lot of criminals are "versipelis" (skinchangers) from a twisted domain within the Feywild.

 

[wicked cool]

Interested as mystery's are hard to pull off

 

[Giantrollorc]

Such fantastic production!! But....ZZZzzzzzzz for me. Obviously many people will love this, but a little too boring and tired for my group. I would be all over this if it was just a little grittier.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

So Brindlewood Bay with hobbits?

No, Gumshoe has set solutions to mysteries, rather than Brindlewood Bay's quantum solutions. Tonally similar adventures, possibly.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Sorry to hear that. My group definitely will definitely want to play this game.

Yeah, my players seem interested in this. I've struggled to find good holiday adventures each December -- most of them, IMO, are pretty mediocre adventures disguised with tinsel -- but tromping around the Riding during the holiday season, solving murders while drinking hot chocolate and stuffing their faces with pastries seems perfect, even if we never play more often than that.