# The Between A gothic supernatural investigation TTRPG about mysterious hunters at Hargrave House confronting monstrous threats in Victorian London through Carved from Brindlewood mystery play. ## At a Glance Gothic supernatural mystery - Carved from Brindlewood / PbtA - 1 Keeper + up to 4 hunters - Low prep, high atmosphere - Best as a dark campaign ## Why It Fits The Between fits tables that want Brindlewood-style mystery momentum but with a much darker, more theatrical campaign identity: Victorian monster hunters, Hargrave House secrets, day/night danger, and personal histories that emerge through play. ## Fit Facts - Players: 2-5 players + Keeper - Session length: 120-180 minutes - Prep: Low - Price: Paid ## Facets - Genres: Gothic, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural - Systems: Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) - Mechanics: Campaign, Investigation, Narrative-Driven - Themes: Dark, Psychological, Social Intrigue - Decision tags: Low Prep, Rules Medium ## Scores - Complexity: 3/5 - New GM Fit: 3/5 - Roleplay Focus: 5/5 - Combat Focus: 1/5 - Tactical Depth: 0/5 - Campaign Depth: 5/5 ## Best For - Groups that want gothic supernatural mysteries with troubled monster hunters - Tables that enjoy emergent clue interpretation instead of fixed-solution detective play - Players who want flashbacks, hidden pasts, and campaign-scale personal revelations ## Avoid If - You want the Keeper to prepare one canonical solution for each case - You want tactical monster fights, gear choices, or build optimization to drive sessions - Your table does not want mature gothic horror or character backstory pressure ## Explorer Notes [The Between](https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/the-between.html) is best for groups that want supernatural investigation to feel theatrical, gothic, and character-revealing. It gives the table a circle of mysterious monster hunters in Victorian London, then uses Carved from Brindlewood mystery procedures so clues become the raw material for a theory rather than a fixed answer hidden behind the screen. It is not the cleanest fit for groups that want forensic realism, tactical monster fights, or a Keeper who privately knows every solution before play. The game works because the table accepts uncertainty: the hunters do not fully know themselves, the Keeper does not need to know the final answer to every Threat, and the campaign gains weight as secrets surface in play. ## What the game is The Between is Jason Cordova's gothic horror mystery TTRPG from [The Gauntlet](https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/). The player characters are residents of Hargrave House, a strange London mansion where hunters gather to investigate threats that Scotland Yard cannot or will not handle. The official page frames those cases as monstrous threats in Victorian-era London, with a larger criminal mastermind looming over the campaign. The useful table pitch is Penny Dreadful-style ensemble horror by way of Brindlewood Bay's clue logic. The hunters are capable, stylish, and dangerous, but they are also people with obscured pasts. Solving cases is only half the play loop; revealing who these people were, what they fled, and what future is waiting for them is the other half. ## Publication history and current edition The Between first circulated as a digital game and preview-edition line, with the [DriveThruRPG Preview Edition](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/360858/the-between-preview-edition?affiliate_id=1659151) still useful as a public reference point. The current live product push is the [BackerKit hardcover campaign](https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/the-gauntlet/the-between), which presents The Between as an updated and expanded core book rather than only the older preview text. That current campaign is important for buyers. The BackerKit materials describe three hardcover books: the updated core game, Shadow Society, and Suns of Another World. Until the hardcover line is fully in normal retail, groups should treat the official page and BackerKit preorder as the current-product path and the older DriveThruRPG listing as preview-edition support. ## Product line and what you need to play The core book is the starting point. The current BackerKit description says the updated core includes the rules, seven character playbooks, eleven monstrous Threats, and one Mastermind. That is enough to understand the default Hargrave House campaign frame: a recurring group of hunters, multiple active threats, and a longer arc that eventually points toward a Moriarty-style antagonist. Shadow Society expands Hargrave House play with two more playbooks, additional Threats, a new Mastermind, and more rules for exploring the mansion itself. Suns of Another World branches the game into three alternate settings: Ghosts of El Paso, Unsinkable, and Court of Wolves. Those expansions look valuable for committed tables, but a new group should start with the core game rather than buying into every setting at once. ## Community support and play aids The official page links downloadable materials and an [online character keeper](https://arktosaur.us/character-keeper/the-between), which lowers setup friction for online or shared-screen play. Community support is also visible through third-party and fan-made material on itch.io, including Threats, playbooks, Masterminds, and setting-specific material. The [Sprigs & Kindling](https://sprigsandkindling.com/) anthology has also devoted a volume to The Between, which is a useful signal that Carved from Brindlewood fans are actively making material for the line. ## Core rules and play structure The Between is part of the Carved from Brindlewood family, so it is close to Powered by the Apocalypse in resolution shape but much more specific in investigation procedure. Reviews of the preview edition describe broad 2d6 moves, advantage and disadvantage through rolling an extra die and keeping the best or worst two, and day/night phases that change the danger level of scenes. The core loop is investigation under pressure. During the day, hunters gather information, interview Londoners, examine places, and let the shape of a Threat emerge. At night, resolving or confronting a Threat becomes more dangerous. The Keeper prepares evocative material and pressure, but the final answer is not just a static clue chain waiting to be found. ## Characters, roles, and advancement Hunters are playbook-driven. The BackerKit materials emphasize seven core playbooks, each built around a striking supernatural or pulp-gothic identity. The older preview-era discussion names archetypes such as the American, Explorer, Factotum, Mother, Orphan, Undeniable, and Vessel, but the safest current phrasing is to treat the hardcover as the authoritative version while noting that playbooks are central to the game's identity. The most distinctive character procedure is the Janus Mask. Instead of having players front-load a complete backstory, The Between lets the hunter's past and possible future appear through prompted moments in play. That makes character revelation part of the campaign engine rather than a paragraph everyone reads before session one. ## Signature mechanics - Carved from Brindlewood mysteries: clues are interpreted by the table, so cases keep moving even when the Keeper has not authored one hidden solution. - Day and Night structure: investigation and confrontation have different risk profiles, giving sessions a strong gothic rhythm. - Janus Masks: playbook-specific past and future prompts reveal who the hunters were and what may be waiting for them. - Threats and Mastermind: individual cases can run alongside a larger campaign antagonist rather than remaining isolated episodes. - Unscenes: atmospheric cutaway prompts help London feel alive and dangerous beyond the immediate player-character scene. ## What play feels like A good session feels like a prestige gothic television episode. Hunters move between drawing rooms, alleys, theaters, workhouses, occult sites, and private rooms inside Hargrave House. They question witnesses, interpret strange clues, reveal flashes of personal history, and eventually decide what kind of horror they are facing. Compared with [Brindlewood Bay](/item/brindlewoodbay), The Between is darker, more sensual, and more melodramatic. Compared with [Vaesen](/item/vaesen), it is less about folkloric case procedure and more about theatrical London horror, table-authored theories, and character secrets surfacing at exactly the wrong time. ## Running the game The Keeper load is low in prep volume but not low in taste. You do not need a massive clue web, but you do need strong Threats, vivid scenes, confident pacing, and the discipline to let players build meaning from what they uncover. The game rewards a Keeper who can cut between scenes, heighten danger at night, and keep the Mastermind pressure visible without over-explaining it. The most common onboarding issue is expectation mismatch. If players expect traditional mystery solving where the GM protects a canonical answer, they may treat the procedure as too loose. If the Keeper expects the rules to produce gothic tone without careful framing, scenes can become only generic monster-of-the-week play. The first session should explicitly align on emergent mystery, dark personal history, and mature horror boundaries. ## Campaign fit The Between can run a focused mystery arc, but it is strongest as a campaign. Hargrave House, Janus Mask revelations, recurring Threats, and the Mastermind structure all benefit from repeated sessions. A one-shot can show the day/night rhythm, but it will not fully show the pleasure of watching hunters reveal their histories and move toward their reckoning. ## Reception and awards Independent reviews consistently describe The Between as atmospheric and well structured. Plane Sailing Games praised the Victorian monster-hunting mood and the way the rules bring the setting to life at the table. Gnome Stew's review highlights the organized Keeper-facing structure, day/night phases, broad moves, playbook support, and substantial safety discussion in the preview-era text. The most useful reception caveat is not that people dislike the game, but that its pleasures are particular. It wants gothic confidence, collaborative mystery buy-in, and comfort with darker material. Groups that want transparent prep, objective deduction, or tactical resolution may prefer Vaesen, Call of Cthulhu, or Monster of the Week. ## Where it is strongest - Gothic horror campaigns with stylish, troubled monster hunters. - Groups that like mystery answers to emerge from clue interpretation. - Players who enjoy character secrets, flashbacks, and dramatic revelations. - Keepers who want strong scenario ingredients without building a fixed clue maze. ## Where it can frustrate groups - Tables that want the Keeper to know the single correct solution before play. - Groups that want tactical monster fighting or gear optimization to carry scenes. - Players who prefer complete backstories at character creation instead of gradual revelation. - New Keepers who are uncomfortable with tone-setting, scene cutting, and open mystery structure. ## Content and safety notes The Between is mature gothic horror. Expect monsters, serial killers, murder, class violence, sexual threat or implication, graverobbing, occult danger, threat to innocents, body horror, and psychologically loaded character history. Gnome Stew specifically notes that the preview edition includes safety discussion, lines and veils, and advice for reframing sexualized moves when a table wants the same dramatic pressure without explicit sexual content. ## Best starting path Start with the [official The Between page](https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/the-between.html), then check the [BackerKit preorder page](https://the-between.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders) for the current hardcover line. Use the DriveThruRPG Preview Edition only with the understanding that it predates the updated hardcover presentation. For online play, set up the official character keeper before session zero so playbook and Janus Mask material are easy to reference. ## Research notes Last checked: July 22, 2026. - [The Gauntlet: The Between official page](https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/the-between.html) - [BackerKit campaign page](https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/the-gauntlet/the-between) - [BackerKit hosted preorder page](https://the-between.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders) - [DriveThruRPG Preview Edition listing](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/360858/the-between-preview-edition?affiliate_id=1659151) - [The Gauntlet design blog on The Between](https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/blog/the-between-rpg) - [Plane Sailing Games review](https://planesailinggames.com/review/2021-12-22-review-the-between/) - [Gnome Stew review](https://gnomestew.com/the-between-review/) - [Sprigs & Kindling anthology](https://sprigsandkindling.com/) - [itch.io community collection for The Between](https://itch.io/c/6267911/the-between) ## Links - Explorer page: https://www.ttrpg-games.com/item/the-between - Agent JSON: https://www.ttrpg-games.com/api/games/the-between.json - Publisher or official site: https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/the-between.html - Reviews or retailer page: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/360858/the-between-preview-edition?affiliate_id=1659151