Banger post! The things we've been learning writing CfB mysteries can help shape more trad mystery scenarios & systems too. And this covers a bunch of that.

Hi crowdfunders!

Please please please don’t lock shipping info until you are physically and logistically ready to ship.

When someone moves they may have dozens of things to update addresses on. Having to reach out directly on those is a drag at a stressful time.

Sharksploitation of your choice!

I think you'll have a good game pitch for it once you see it. Good game bones on that one

Abominable Dr. Phibes!

John shared a lot of backstory during the show I went to in LA, so honestly … feels like a non-zero chance of this actually happening.

Nice thing about a giant pterosaur (really any one of them) is it'll fly you wherever you want to go!

The only reason to not have a favorite is that there are just too many giant pterosaurs to choose from.

oh it's u

This is presumably because of the special dividend shareholders will get from the asset sale.

Similar thing happened with the private equity purchase of Vimeo last year: Shares jump in correlation with AI press, and it gets reported as causation.

Growing backer numbers seems incredibly difficult right now. And quantity is still going to be the heart of success.

I wonder how much of the high $ campaigns ends up being something of an illusion, as the cost has to be high for such small runs of the upper tier materials.

Public Access Analog Horror Mystery TTRPG From the creator of Brindlewood Bay and The Between, Public Access is a roleplaying game inspired by analog and found footage horror!

Final hours of the final game in the core Brindleverse trilogy ...

Some very cool shit going on in here.

It is a challenge to game designers to make "misses" as fun as successes.

Side Note: This is why I hate "Be a fan of the player characters" with zero further elaboration. Or one sentence, often a variation on "this doesn't mean let them win but give them challenges!"

Bro why are we here.

The writer/designer’s contribution to “the conversation” is crucial as well.

There are environments where bad things are just bad, regardless of the table’s perspective.

a group of soldiers are standing in a row wearing helmets and armor . ALT: a group of soldiers are standing in a row wearing helmets and armor .

Had the same realization and so just wrote a Trophy incursion that ends with man worms pouring out of a Confederate statue.

Update 17: Secret Stretch Goal #1: Brindlewood Bay Crossover Mystery · Public Access Analog Horror Mystery TTRPG We’ve just unlocked our $450K stretch goal, Gathering Dust, and so now it’s time to reveal our first Secret Stretch Goal! If we can raise more money than Brindlewood Bay did during its Kickstarter campaign, we’ll make a crossover mystery that can be played with both Brindlewood Bay and Public Access. The mystery is called Estate of Affairs. The Brindlewood Bay version is a classic murder mystery involving the death of a wealthy cattle baron in New Mexico… and the greedy heirs trying to lay claim to his estate. The Murder Mavens are in New Mexico on holiday when the local sheriff, aware of their reputation back in New England, ropes them into the case. The Public Access version of the mystery is a Lost Transmission about the filming of that episode of Brindlewood Bay. What starts as a normal day on location for a small group of production assistants turns into a nightmare of ancient pacts and blood sacrifice. The mystery will be presented so that Side Characters, Locations, and Clues account for both the Brindlewood Bay version and the Public Access version. And there might even be a circumstance that causes them to literally crossover with one another…In order to beat Brindlewood Bay, we have to raise $477,518 USD. If unlocked, this stretch goal will be a digital download.

We’re currently working on our Secret Stretch Goal, a Brindlewood Bay crossover mystery called Estate of Affairs! The Murder Mavens investigate a murder mystery; the Latchkeys are behind the scenes of the filming of that episode of Brindlewood Bay!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/gau...

Yup, barriers and rules are a contract that only work as much as everyone agrees to participate.

And be sure to back Public Access while you can in these last few days.

I would haaaaaaate for you to be stuck not knowing how to chase Babaelcroak off.

We’ve hit the point where that can happen … as part of Public Access’s official canon.

I swear to ol’ Babaelcroak this will be a mystery to make your players shudder. Get your wet squelching mouth sounds ready.

Text of a Moment from a Carved from Brindlewood mystery: A dot matrix printer sits in the dirt, endlessly printing a live report of what’s happening seen and unseen around it. “A pocket gopher burrows by.” “A crow flies overhead.” Every so often while you are near, “Babael watches you.”

The Babaelcroak is expanded from another mystery I wrote (likely the first mystery written for Public Access that’s not based on a concept by Jason).

He is such a creepy nightmare of a presence when I run that mystery, I wanted to give him his own story.

a close up of the words you can 't get rid on a piece of paper ALT: a close up of the words you can 't get rid on a piece of paper

Babaelcroak takes inspo from things like The Babadook (of course), The Monster at the End of This Book, and even Slender Man … stories that behave as if they’re not constrained by their pages.

The Wind was its original influence, especially in who Babaelcroak really is.

a person is buried in the dirt with a netflix logo visible ALT: a person is buried in the dirt with a netflix logo visible

In the summer of 2004, a damaged copy turned up at a garage sale.

And the girl who bought it says she and Babaelcroak have been playing all sorts of fun games: mutilating cattle, digging up graves, telling stories about the bad stuff people do behind closed doors …

Oh no.

Certainly not anyone in Deep Lake anymore, or anyone anywhere really.

Despite remembering *remembering* the song, it’s not something you can summon up anymore. And every copy of the book was apparently burned … something your parents’ generation does NOT talk about.

a blue sesame street character is tied up with a yellow rope ALT: a blue sesame street character is tied up with a yellow rope

In the final pages, you’d learn the song and be able to chase away Babaelcroak.

But who’s to say what would happen if you became friends with him before the end and left the remaining pages behind to go play the Babaelcroak’s games?

Until ol’ Babaelcroak found a child who’d never heard the song: You, the reader.

a person peeking out from behind a door with a sticker on it that says ' emergency exit ' ALT: a person peeking out from behind a door with a sticker on it that says ' emergency exit '

There was an immensely popular children’s book in Degoya County about a frog-headed, bespoke-suited fellow going house to house looking for a friend.

Children in the story would sing a nasty little song about him to chase him away.

(Quick note: This mystery is currently an outline, so details may change as I flesh things out and we go through editing.)

Sketch of a toad-headed man in a black suit with a tiny top hat.

We’re still trying to hit some stretch goals in the final days of the Public Access campaign, but we’ve hit already a LOT. (Go stack go.)

One of them: Babaelcroak.

Few years ago I made a little edit of The Simpsons but it's the horror movie Skinamarink

I read Burglar’s Guide to the City at the same time I was processing Bend Bars, Lift Gates and the PbtA ethos.

And that’s most of what you need to know about my approach to game design.