If your group loves a murder mystery but could do without the grimdark, Pelgrane Press has something for you. Merryshire Detective Club is a new cosy-fantasy roleplaying game where you play amateur halfling sleuths poking into the suspiciously high body count of an otherwise idyllic village. The British studio has just taken it to BackerKit, and the pitch is gloriously simple: The Wire meets the Shire.
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Find events near youIt runs on GUMSHOE, the investigative engine Pelgrane built for mystery roleplaying. The clever bit of GUMSHOE is that you never fail to find the core clue; the fun comes from what you make of it. Merryshire leans all the way into that, swapping forensic dread for gossip, nosiness and a good deal of cake. Designer Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan, a Pelgrane regular, has built abilities like Nosiness and Gossip into the heart of play.
You and your fellow detectives design the village together, fill it with idiosyncratic neighbours, and then start turning over the hedgerows to see what crawls out. Alongside halflings you can play dwarven artisans, shape-shifting pookas and watchful boggarts. A scenario anthology, The Dreadful Hare and Other Tales, ships alongside the core book with mysteries spanning a spectral hare, a double murder and a pastry-stealing conspiracy.
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Set up your group for freeCosy gaming has been one of the hobby's biggest growth areas, and a low-prep investigative game is an easy sell for a relaxed evening. If a village whodunnit sounds like your group's cup of tea, it is a tidy excuse to organise a one-shot night and see who can crack the case first.
Sources: Pelgrane Press | Wargamer | BackerKit
