On Community for Merryshire Detective Club

by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan

Back in the day at Irish cons, we had a system where multiple tables would play the same scenario at the same time, tournament-style. One of the joys of this setup came after the game, when the players and GMs met up to compare notes. 

“We killed the dragon in two rounds with a lucky crit!” 

“Oh man, it killed our bard with its first attack!” 

“Really? Our bard seduced the dragon!” 

“There was a dragon? We never met a dragon…”

I’ve always liked that communal aspect of play, where we get to see different takes on the same material from the same starting point. I knew I wanted to do something like that for Merryshire.

I also wanted to have something on the table during play. Not a battle map, obviously, but there’s a virtue in having a focal point, a common referent for the group to gather around.

More recently, many Irish and UK cons have sported maps by cartographer Jog Brogzin. Jog also does these lovely maps showing fantastical versions of real-world cities – I’ve got his map of Cork framed in my hallway. It’s got all these delightful little houses and buildings, each one full of character.

Staring at it, I thought “what if we give all the groups playing Merryshire the same village map, the same starting point, and then encourage them to make it their own?”

And, hot on the heels of that thought, another more practical thought: “what if we got Jog to draw the village map?”

So, as part of character creation, everyone claims a house on the map, and contributes a few details and a few neighbours to the village. The supporting cast gets built up, session by session, mystery by mystery. You’ll build on Jog’s map, discovering who lives where. The village is both home base and the board on which you play. And when the campaign’s done, it’ll be a memento of your adventures.

And for stuff that happens outside your village, there are the Environs, an ambiguous and amorphous realm where guest stars roam. If your idea for a mystery requires, say, a lagoon or a big country hotel or a mountain gorge or a volcano, and your established village is lacking in that department, stick it in the environs.

The basic village map will be a lovely two-page spread in the middle of the book. I’ve seen the draft maps. It’s going to be great…