By Kevin Kulp

I’ve now run fourteen Merryshire Detective Club mysteries (using three scenarios and a whole lot of playtesters) in preparation for writing several mysteries in The Dreadful Hare, MSDC’s accompanying book of adventures by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan, with additional scenarios by Robin D. Laws and myself. I can’t yet show the actual character sheets I’m using, but I want to reveal our playtest characters. Merryshire is where your charming little halfling village will be, populated by eccentric delightful villagers who hopefully aren’t going to get murdered. The player characters should reflect this.

You can play four types of characters: respectable halflings with their prodigious appetites and numerous cousins; subterranean boggarts who are a little bit TOO helpful, like a retail clerk who won’t leave you alone to shop in peace; sturdy and steady dwarves, the ultimate straight men; and magical pooka, shapeshifting fey spirits of mischief who typically appear as animals. It’s recommended that your mystery club be at least 50% halflings since they’re most numerous.

When creating pregenerated characters for my playtests I went with four halflings, a dwarf, and a pooka. Character creation was fast; MSDC is more about the mystery and far less about tactical combat. Our amateur detective club is Primrose Cheesemoat the librarian and her ditch-digger father Yauncy; the delightfully nosy pie-baker Caducity Minkwiggle and her mischievous son Edwin; Master Squonkelton (aka Squonk), a pooka who spends most of his time in the form of a truly horrible goose; and Vinter Amonssen, a fanatical mystery fan who is particularly bad at picking whodunnit.

Primrose Cheesemoat

Brilliant, precocious, ambitious, curious, kind

You are a young (17-year-old) precocious scholar who is the heart of the Detective Club. You’re keen on mysteries and stories, and you have a sharp eye for detail when you’re interested in something (and usually ignore it when you don’t.) You formed the club this year after you were appointed librarian, and you haven’t regretted it once except for that one time when someone tried to poison you.

You carry a few of your favorite books and notebooks in case you get bored; a magnifying glass; a few snacks; a pretty good whistle since you never learned how to whistle yourself; and a detective hat you always forget to put on.

Your dad is Yauncy; your best friend is Edwin (who unfortunately comes part-and-parcel with Squonk); and his mom is Caducity, the best baker you know. Vinter is a dwarven library patron who loves mystery books more than anyone you know, although he is particularly bad at guessing whodunnit.

Yauncy Cheesemoat

Humble, uneducated, insightful, loyal, charming

You’re a ditch-digger by trade, a middle-aged, solid widower who is just proud as punch of your brilliant daughter Primrose. She’s why you joined this club. You’re not book-learned but you’re good with people, so you tag along and help out in ways that maybe others can’t. It helps you forget that you’re a bit lonely.

You carry a shovel, a flat cap, and not a lot more. You don’t really have a use for fancy clothing. As long as you’re near your daughter, what more do you need?

Your daughter is Primrose, who’s really made good! Her best friend is Edwin, a ne’er-do-well who needs some guidance in his life. Edwin comes part-and-parcel with a horrible goose named Squonk. Edwin’s mom is Caducity, a really lovely widow who’s the best baker you know. Vinter is another craftsman, a good solid dwarf who seems to read a lot.

Caducity Minkwiggle

Kind, helpful, clever, practical, judgmental

You’re a middle-aged widow with an independent son and a talent for making pies – they’re good, you guess, but you can improve.

You joined the Detective Club to spend more time with your son, and because it turns out you love this sort of thing! You’re a little lonely since Mr. Minkwiggle passed, so this is a great way to get you out of the bakery and into the fresh air. Good for gossip, too.

You always have a fresh and delicious pie with you, goodness knows where you keep it or how it stays warm. Probably Pooka magic!

Your son is Edwin, who ran a bit wild but who now shows real gumption with his watchgoose business. Edwin’s goose is a delightful handful of a pooka named Squonk. Primrose the librarian is Edwin’s best friend, and her father Yauncy is a handsome cipher of a man. Vinter is a lovely dwarven stone merchant who’s a bit too serious for Merryshire.

Edwin Minkwiggle

Loyal, irresponsible, adventurous, enthusiastic, grandiose

You are a young miscreant who has as much fun getting into trouble as you do wiggling your way out of it. You like mysteries and secrets, but you REALLY like your best friend Primrose, so you are the biggest supporter of her Detective Club.

You and Squonk have a great grift going; people pay you to keep Squonk from honking all night as a watchgoose! Some people call it “extortion” but that’s only because they don’t understand business.

You have a goose-poking stick, and you carry an Edwin-poking stick for Squonk; half a jam sandwich; a sling-shot; some neat stones; a piece of twine; illegible notes you made for Primrose; a cowlick; a great smile; and freckles. You DON’T have a second set of fancy clothing with you.

Your mom is Caducity (she makes great pies!) and she’s pretty neat; Yauncy is Primrose’s dad and he tells good stories. Vinter is a dwarven stone merchant with no sense of humor at all.

Squonk

Rude, naughty, watchful, endearing, loud

People like you despite yourself. Or else. You’re a pooka, a mischievous fey creature who prefers the form of a horrible goose. Any form you take wears golden pince-nez. You can cast pooka magic.

You joined this club alongside your partner-in-crime Edwin because solving murders is way more fun than being a watchgoose — and as a pooka you’re just going to get blamed for them anyways.

You make Edwin carry anything you might need since he has pockets. He has a goose-poking stick but you have an Edwin-poking stick, so it evens out.

Edwin is a natural at mischief. His second-best friend Primrose doesn’t approve of you. Neither does Primrose’s father Yauncy, bad at nonsense but good at stories. Edwin’s mom Caducity is THE best baker, so you ensure she always has a pie on her. Vinter is a Very Serious dwarf who wants to write mysteries himself – so it’s practically your job to help him have more fun.

Vinter Amonssen

Stoic, patient, implacable, trusting, curious

You’re a dwarven stone merchant here in Merryshire, solid and trusting and dependable and with (for halflings at least) no discernible sense of humor. What you love best in life is mystery stories! You have read every novel in Primrose’s library and tried writing a few yourself. Unfortunately, you are terrible at noticing clues and predicting whodunnit, but you love mysteries all the more because of this and enjoy loudly accusing different possible killers as you read. Now you have a chance to be in an actual detective club, and you’ve never been happier — not that most people can tell.

You carry several mysteries from your favorite author, stone samples, and a keen curiosity. You do not carry any talent for noticing clues.

Other club members are Edwin, a local delinquent who will no doubt mature after a few decades in a coal mine; his mother Caducity, a charming baker; Edwin’s horrible goose, Squonk; Yauncy, a solid ditch-digger and man of business; and his daughter Primrose, the local librarian. They all love mysteries nearly as much as you do!

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Kevin Kulp is a contributing author in The Dreadful Hare for Merryshire Detective Club, and is the co-author of Swords of the Serpentine, TimeWatch, and Owl Hoot Trail for Pelgrane Press. When he’s not writing games he’s either smoking BBQ, watching dubious shark movies, or helping 24-hour companies with shiftwork, sleep, and alertness.