As I was lying in bed last night, it occurred to me … I could be a Murder Maven (gender notwithstanding).
The game doesn’t give a precise age range for the Mavens, just that they are “elderly” and “they each had a life before Brindlewood Bay — they had a career and a partner who is now deceased. They may or may not have children (pets count)” and “The Mavens themselves are all elderly women whose partners have passed away and whose children have long flown the nest. Now, they’re enjoying their golden years in the picturesque town of Brindlewood Bay, keeping their homes the way they like, pursuing their hobbies, and finding comfort and companionship in each other.”
It is a truism, but as one ages, what counts at “old” also pushes forward. I had been thinking of the Mavens as being in their 70s (“elderly”), but …
Angela Lansbury, who played (among many other delightful things) Jessica Fletcher in the game-inspiring Murder, She Wrote, was 58 (!) when she started playing the role. When she wrapped up the last movies in the early 00s, she was in her 70s. She was established early on as being a retired teacher and widow; that might argue for her being in her mid-60s (cough) as a character, at least, unless for some reason she retired early.
(Jessica had no kids, but a remarkable plot-driven family tree. But I digress.)
It’s quite possible Mavens could be in their 70s. Much beyond that starts getting into physical (if not cognitive) restrictions that might interfere with amateur sleuthing. Not of necessity, but something to consider.
Ties to the Real World needn’t be too stringent in a game like BB; these are more bundles of tropes I suspect, than characters who could stand up in a literary work. But it’s worth considering, for example, that a Maven who is 60 came of political and professional age post-Watergate, in the Carter-Reagan era of the late 70s and early 80s. One who is 70 came of age in the late 80s / early 90s, around GHW Bush and Bill Clinton. They might have very different views of personal computers (the Mac was introduced in 1984; an early MSW ep we just watched had an IBM PC/XT on an executive’s desk) and mobile phones (the iPhone was 2007). What they consider baseline “normal” vs “new” could vary a lot.
(For purposes of humor and such, at least.)
Age doesn’t come up often in character planning for RPGs, and I don’t want to focus too much on it now. But as these characters are of an age (range), it’s worth considering briefly what, if anthing, that might mean.