2026 plans

Firstly, a recap

So last year I said I would learn Pathfinder 2e and/or Warhammer Imperium Maledictum. Well that didn’t happen (although I did buy stuff and played through the PF beginner box solo scenario).
I also said I would finish my reading pile before starting anything else, which lasted around 3 months and then I just bought loads more books.

I did run some modern-setting horror-related sessions, except it was Brindlewood Bay which was not in my plans at all at the start of the year.

So seein as though my 2025 plans were so accurate (cough) it’s time to talk some plans for this year.

Gaming

Most anticipated game is Warhammer The Old World. Unlike last year’s game, it should actually arrive this year (I’ve already preordered the books). Will it finally be the wfrp game that’s actually got good (as opposed to sort of ok) rules?

Other games of interest include The Lands Remaining, which is Jason Cordova’s Carved from Brindlewood version of Elden Ring. An idea so mad it might just work…

There’s also Cörk Børd, the scandi-noir game from Just Crunch, which, if I recall correctly, has a “what kind of knitwear does your detective wear” table.

As to what I’ll play - probably the same as last year. I may run some more Brindlewood Bay but might try something else… but probably not 5e. 

I do have ideas percolating… I keep looking from the pile of pathfinder books to the pile of Enemy Within books and pondering… can it be done? Should it be done? Can I be arsed to do it?

Other stuff

I’ve already started my first book of the year (Mercy aka The Keeper of List Causes aka Dept Q off of Netflix by Jussi Adler-Olsen). I’m not going to keep count but hope to make a decent dent in the reading pile that is and the reading pile that will be.

Podcasts I’m looking forward to include The Lovecraft Investigation’s Crowley kickstarter which I’m assuming will appear this year (it’s most been recorded) and also Our Wars have Ended by the Silt Verses people.

As to everything else? Who knows. Any recommendations welcome.

2025 review

 So that was 2025 then. Already.

Gaming

From looking back at the blog  seems I ran 15 sessions of D&D and 5 sessions of Brindlewood Bay.

In my two gaming groups I played lots of D&D, a few sessions of Dr Who, quite a bit of Pathfinder 1e and a couple of sessions of Starfinder. Also a session of Troika. At the start of the year, we also got to a pause in the ongoing Space 1889 saga with us planning to take out several  war-of-the-worlds-type Martian bases.

I also managed to get play through one scenario of the Arkham Horror Card Game and one game of Gloom of Kilforth. 

On the video game side of things I managed to finish The Excavation of Hobs Barrow. Good folk-horrory, cosmic-horrory game. 

Visual Media

I managed to go to the cinema once this year (actually the first time this decade) to see Weapons, which was… well it’s a fine line between clever and stupid (RIP Rob Reiner). Anyway Weapons was highly enjoyable. 

I can’t remember if I watched anything on streaming that was new this year apart from the new Knives Out film which was quite good.

It wasn’t a great year for TV really. Severance series 2 had some good bits (goats, ORTBO). Adolescence was technically brilliant but as I don’t have kids I kind of didn’t get the same emotional punch that other people got. The new series of Stranger Things is… well just more Stranger Things but has at least continued the Derek renaissance started by Shrinking.

So my actual favourite TV show of the year was Dept Q, the dark Scottish crime show based upon a dark Scandi-noir book but also quite funny and with MVP Akram, the ‘civilian’ assistant.

I’ve also had a subscription to National Theatre At Home this year as we’re stuck inside for… reasons.  I’ve watched some good stuff on too - a sweary play about the Bronte sisters starring Gemma Whelan, one about Nicola Walker teaching Welsh Miners and London Tides, based on Dickens with some epic music by PJ Harvey’s.

Audio media

This year I have almost exclusively listened to 80s bands - Propaganda, The Cardiacs, Half Man Half Biscuit, Swans, Nine Inch Nails (they count just) - and Doom Folk (Lankum, John Francis Flynn)

I’ve listened to a fair few podcasts too. I noticed that my backlog was up to 324 hours so I’ve made an effort to get through them. And now it’s only… 377 hours.

Anyway, I’ve listened tti lots of good stuff - actual plays of The Between and Brindlewood Bay, Grizzly Peaks Radio (Cthulhu) plus the usual monthly smart party/grognard files/Jackson Elias. 

However, I think the best thing I listened to this year was… The Silt Verses (which finished a year ago I know). Truly excellent nasty horror satire. The river rises!

Books

I’ve managed to read quite a lot this year. I’ve already blogged about Tana French. 

I managed to read a variety of stuff - some of the British Library tales of the weird series. Some Alan Moore and M John Harrison weirdness.  

Also, more conventionally, the children of time books by Adrian Tchaikovsky and some books by Emma Newman (who also do a rather interesting podcast together about books and things they like).

Bargain of the year was probably the Raymond Chandler book I got from poor dead WH Smiths for £1. Look out for this guy - he can write. 

I’ve also picked up a few graphic novels/comics this year. The Power Fantasy by Kieron Gillen was pretty good as was In the trees where nobody sees. I also liked Helen of Wyndhorn and Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis Everly.

Other stuff

 I signed up for another OU module on Statistics. Sort of wish I hadn’t now but slowly working my way through it.

I ought to have compared what I blogged with predictions for the year ahead with what actually happened I suppose. Maybe next time but that’s probably enough for now.

Brindlewood Bay: The Jolly Bad Baking Show, final part

Part 1

Part 2 

Having been ushered away from the filming site the Maven opted to review the information they had gathered. 

There had a number of clues but the problem was fitting them into a coherent narrative. Rosemary and Margaret both came up with theories.

Rosemary' slightly outlandish theory was that the whole situation was a set-up by Sheriff Dalrymple, who was fed up with the Mavens showing him up all the time. He had gar as far as ensuring that all four of them had made it to the final of the show (which had admittedly been somewhat unlikely) and faking two murders and an attempted killing. Unfortunately, this theory did not explain why the trained medic Laura had not noticed that Paul Riviera was not dead.

The group were left with Margaret's more prosaic theory that Donna Riviera had plotted the entire thing to get rid of Paul, his ex-lovers (Scott and Melanie, the two contestants) and also to get a presenter job on the revamped show by getting Buck to shoot Timothy. Scott had been saved by Daisy noticing the deliberately frayed cable leading to his oven and Laura had saved Melanie. 

With the benefit of hindsight, this theory was not much less outlandish than Rosemary's. Nonetheless, Margaret went off to she the sheriff. He was unsure and reminded her of a case 120 years ago, when a local man had somehow escaped justice for murdering a dozen people despite the overwhelming evidence that he was guilty.

Eventually, he was persuaded and the suspects were gathered. Buck crumbled first, blaming Donna and it was fair to say that their affair was probably over. Donna was unable to run due to her stilettos but Buck tried to flee. However, he tripped over another stray cabled and they were both taken into custody. Luckily, the filming was in America rather than the UK, or else the HSE would have had a field day.

And thus, another mystery was solved. 

GM Notes:

I think this mystery went better than the first case I ran as everyone had a better idea what the game was about. We could have started a new Mystery but I thought we probably needed a bit of a break to recharge our batteries.

I we do continue at some point, then the Mavens will be invited to an event at the local museum.  

 

 

Brindlewood Bay: The Jolly Bad Baking Show, part 2

 Part 1

 The TV show continued with the cake round.

Rosemary made a Vietnamese cake to commemorate her husband’s death there (falling off a bridge while on holiday), Daisy made a version of her daughter-in-laws wedding cake, Margaret made a frightening black cake as a tribute to Paul Riviera and for some reason Laura made fish-cakes.

Margaret snooped around the tent and found a baking tray on a dresser to the side that was sprinkled with something odd. Spotting a nearby empty tub of rat poison she put two and two together but unfortunately was not quite careful enough and became a bit nauseous.

A makeshift judging team of Jane Leaf and the two presenters, Sue and Timothy, rated all of the maven’s cakes quite highly - Tim was especially impressed with Margaret’s got his cake, but in the end Daisy’s local baking rival, Melanie Blair, was judged to be the winner.

After filming ended, Laura and Margaret decided to question the other two contestants (Melanie and Scott) while Daisy decided to go back to investigate the tent. (Rosemary had gone home to sort out her phone)

Scott told Margaret that Paul’s wife Donna was apparently having an affair with Buck the cameraman but then Margaret’s nausea got worse and she had to visit the ladies restroom.

Meanwhile, Melanie started coughing up blood and collapsed. Luckily, she was saved by Laura’s medical training but a suspicious Sheriff Dalrymple arrived on the scene and misunderstanding the situation, arrested the maven.

Daisy entered the tent to search for more on the rat poison but only found a cake with “You’re next!” written in what she hoped was red icing. Still shaken from earlier events she retreated from the tent and finding everyone else gone, she decided to head home.

Laura managed to patiently explain the situation to the police who finally released her and drove her home.

Finally, Margaret had discovered she was locked in the restroom and everyone else seemed to have left for the night. Undeterred she attempted to escape via a small window. It seemed disaster would strike and that she would fall face first onto the concrete below but she was saved by a timely commercial break (for a local lumber merchant).

The next morning the mavens spent the morning reinvigorating themselves via their hobbies before heading back to do more investigating. This gave Laura the opportunity to remember she had picked up some paper that Melanie had dropped- it was the missing page from the cookbook.

Returning to the crime scene,  an eventful afternoon ensued talking to the cast and crew. Sue Mellon revealed that Melanie had asked her for money and a fairly fruitless discussion with Heath Hendricks, the producer, was interrupted by a commotion outside. In the excitement of leaving the production van, a smashed Britty award was spotted.

Margaret had been attempting to interview Timothy Boosh but just before he could reveal any useful information he was shot by persons unknown.

The police ushered the Mavens off-site for "their own protection" and they were left pondering what they had learnt.

TBC 

. 

 

Brindlewood Bay: The Jolly Bad Baking Show, Part 1

 Cast:

Rosemary, Margaret, Laura and Daisy

We started with Daisy received bad feedback on the Jolly Good Baking Show from judge Paul Riviera for serving him an underbaked pie which contained a live weasel with an eye in its mouth.  However, this just turned out to be a nightmare.

So after a bit of a cosy montage of the Mavens preparing for the show we moved onto the mystery. All the mavens had somehow made it to the televised final of popular British TV programme, "The Jolly Good Baking Show" and they were working through the pie round.

A pear, walnut and blue cheese pie

Daisy's Pork and Apple pie was obviously a triumph (as baking is her cosy move) but Rosemary's pumpkin pie also went down well with the judges due to the large amount of rum included. Unfortunately, Margaret's custard pie had a soggy bottom and was deemed to be a bit of a disaster even though judge Jane Leaf said the fruit preserve was delightful. Finally, Laura's fish pie was also marked down because she had missed the brief that it was meant to be a fruit pie.

Cast, crew and contestants broke for lunch but then disaster struck. Paul Riviera had been found dead in his trailer by producer Heath Hendricks . After a bit of snark about which person's pie had killed him it was determined that he had been murdered by person's unknown. Most of the crew had left the site for lunch, taking Daisy's pork and apple pie with them.

The suspects plus the late Paul Riviera (from the Brindlewood Bay card and dice set)

The mavens sprung (as much as elderly ladies can) into action. Laura grabbed her medical bag as an excuse to examine the corpse. It appeared Paul had been poisoned despite also being tied up and his face covered in flour. She was then ushered from the trailer until the authorities arrived.

Margaret went to the perimeter to determine that the local police force, led by Sheriff Dalrymple had done a surprisingly competent job of keeping people out of the site, limiting the suspect list to the remains judge, two presenters, the contestant, the producer, a cameraman and Paul's wife Donna.

Rosemary went to comfort Donna, who seemed to be taking events in her stride although in need of a stiff drink of cooking sherry plus a ciggie. 

Finally, Daisy went to check on the main marquee, where she found cameraman Buck setting up some establishing shots. Looking around she found that one of the electrical cables in the tent looked dangerously frayed.

She then moved off to the judge's tent but upon entering a mysterious figure attempted to push a dresser on her before fleeing the scene. Visibly shaken she was comforted by Jane Leaf who also revealed that Paul had been putting in unreasonable contract demands that was putting the future of the series in doubt.

Rosemary attempted to find more information about Paul using her phone but it ran out of charge.

Margaret had arrived at the scene of the crime with Sheriff Dalrymple. She scouted around the trailer and discovered an abandoned recipe book. It was authored by Jane and Paul but one of Paul's recipes was missing.

Heath had wandered off but was eventually found to allow Laura to view the outtake footage. He was slightly suspicious of her motives and insisted the Sheriff accompanied her. It seemed despite the perceived friendliness of the show, there was a lot of needle between various cast and crew members.

At that point is was time for the final round of the show (hey, if they won't stop cooking shows due to sexist behaviour of the hosts, why stop when one dies. Plus think of the ratings!). So the bakers prepared for the cake round.

To be continued... 

Part 2

 

Day 7: Journey

 It’s better to travel hopefully than to arrive.

Whoever said that obviously never had to use a rail replacement service bus or had to commute to work.

Let’s face it most journeys are tedious and soul destroying . So that’s another thing that The One Ring gets right with its journey rules.

Otherwise, it’s best to decide on some events for a journey and leave it at that.

In case you had t realised, I don’t really like travelling.

Day 6: Motive

As every amateur detective knows, any scenario needs three things: means, opportunity and motive.

Means: the actors and resources that are in place to challenge or aid the characters.

Opportunity: where and when the scenario occurs, i.e. the setting and timeline.

Motive: why is all this happening? What will happen if the players don’t go blundering through like bulls in the china ship.

Not a bad little theory that I’ve knock up in 5 minutes….