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Rivers of London: the Roleplaying Game
Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game
In Rivers of the Roleplaying Game, players take on the roles of newly recruited members of the London Metropolitan Police Service’s special magic branch, aka “the Folly.” You will solve mysteries, catch criminals, and come to grips with the “demi-monde”―those who have been irreversibly changed by magic.
400 pages, Hardcover
Published April 17, 2023
5 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Ben Aaronovitch
159 books13.4k followersBen Aaronovitch's career started with a bang writing for Doctor Who, subsided in the middle and then, as is traditional, a third act resurgence with the bestselling Rivers of London series.
Born and raised in London he says that he'll leave his home when they prise his city out of his cold dead fingers.
Born and raised in London he says that he'll leave his home when they prise his city out of his cold dead fingers.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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March 8, 2024How? There was a big sale, and I like Chaosium (the company) and Rivers of London (the book series).
What? You know Rivers of London, the big book series where London cop Peter Grant learns that (a) there's magic in the world, (b) there's a police department dedicated to dealing with that, and (c) the magic is growing stronger? Well, I've covered 13 novels & novellas, 1 book of short stories, and 10 graphic novels of widely varying quality (to me), so that's what this is.
Now, given that Peter Grant is described as a nerd and has sometimes referenced roleplaying games, it's not hugely surprising Ben Aaronovitch writes a charming intro here where he flashes some nerd creds, and describes how one of the prime movers of Chaosium pitched him on the idea of an RPG at a book signing. It doesn't actually sound like a hard pitch to make. But what do you get in here?
Given that this book is adapting a popular book series, it's reasonable to me that they've adopted a welcoming tone for new RPG players, including putting several sections into the mouths/voices of characters we know.
I start with that note on tone because it seems like an important indicator: this is not a book for people who love complicated rules. There's only, oh, 2 combat skills, and maybe 9 or so other skills; every roll is alike (a percentage roll against a percentile skill); you only have essentially 3 hit points, but damage is basically 1 or nothing, and if you get hit three times, you are out, but not dead in most cases. Like, when I played through the solo adventure -- adapted from the story "The Domestic" -- I got beat up by some criminals, but I still successfully solved the case (after the old woman I was sent to investigate beat back the criminals all by herself). So that's sort of the tone, reinforced by the mechanics: it's not gentle, but it is welcoming.
And so, after about 200 pages of welcoming rules (8p intro, 26p solo adventure, 33p character creation, 22p skills, 54p on rules (investigation, combat, chase), and 30p on magic), you get nicely welcomed to the world of Rivers of London, which is to say: info on England, on London, on policing, on running the game, on important characters, and a first adventure, based on Aaronovitch's short story, "The Cockpit", followed, finally, by some alternate or advanced rules.
And then, absolutely blowing my mind, there's an ad in the back for a book about the magical world of the US.
Yeah, so? Overall, I have a positive impression of this book/game, with some caveats:
* I like how welcoming this is for new players, while still bringing all the modern improvements we expect in games (or that have been worked over in BRP/Call of Cthulhu 7e, like Luck points).
* I like how excited Ben Aaronovitch seems to be about having an RPG, and I hope he's working with the RPG team on future books.
* I like how obvious it is that the authors are fans of the works, and do a good job balancing out spoilers vs. making it clear. (There's footnotes for almost all the references.)
* I like how simple the game is (and might even want to make it a little simpler: when people attack, both roll, and whoever wins _better_ gets what they want out of that round, which means that every attack involves at least two rolls).
* I don't love that the two adventures are based on preexisting stories, and the information on writing your own seems like it could be expanded.
Lastly, I'm so curious to know how well this is selling. Anyone know?
What? You know Rivers of London, the big book series where London cop Peter Grant learns that (a) there's magic in the world, (b) there's a police department dedicated to dealing with that, and (c) the magic is growing stronger? Well, I've covered 13 novels & novellas, 1 book of short stories, and 10 graphic novels of widely varying quality (to me), so that's what this is.
Now, given that Peter Grant is described as a nerd and has sometimes referenced roleplaying games, it's not hugely surprising Ben Aaronovitch writes a charming intro here where he flashes some nerd creds, and describes how one of the prime movers of Chaosium pitched him on the idea of an RPG at a book signing. It doesn't actually sound like a hard pitch to make. But what do you get in here?
Given that this book is adapting a popular book series, it's reasonable to me that they've adopted a welcoming tone for new RPG players, including putting several sections into the mouths/voices of characters we know.
I start with that note on tone because it seems like an important indicator: this is not a book for people who love complicated rules. There's only, oh, 2 combat skills, and maybe 9 or so other skills; every roll is alike (a percentage roll against a percentile skill); you only have essentially 3 hit points, but damage is basically 1 or nothing, and if you get hit three times, you are out, but not dead in most cases. Like, when I played through the solo adventure -- adapted from the story "The Domestic" -- I got beat up by some criminals, but I still successfully solved the case (after the old woman I was sent to investigate beat back the criminals all by herself). So that's sort of the tone, reinforced by the mechanics: it's not gentle, but it is welcoming.
And so, after about 200 pages of welcoming rules (8p intro, 26p solo adventure, 33p character creation, 22p skills, 54p on rules (investigation, combat, chase), and 30p on magic), you get nicely welcomed to the world of Rivers of London, which is to say: info on England, on London, on policing, on running the game, on important characters, and a first adventure, based on Aaronovitch's short story, "The Cockpit", followed, finally, by some alternate or advanced rules.
And then, absolutely blowing my mind, there's an ad in the back for a book about the magical world of the US.
Yeah, so? Overall, I have a positive impression of this book/game, with some caveats:
* I like how welcoming this is for new players, while still bringing all the modern improvements we expect in games (or that have been worked over in BRP/Call of Cthulhu 7e, like Luck points).
* I like how excited Ben Aaronovitch seems to be about having an RPG, and I hope he's working with the RPG team on future books.
* I like how obvious it is that the authors are fans of the works, and do a good job balancing out spoilers vs. making it clear. (There's footnotes for almost all the references.)
* I like how simple the game is (and might even want to make it a little simpler: when people attack, both roll, and whoever wins _better_ gets what they want out of that round, which means that every attack involves at least two rolls).
* I don't love that the two adventures are based on preexisting stories, and the information on writing your own seems like it could be expanded.
Lastly, I'm so curious to know how well this is selling. Anyone know?
May 5, 2024
Personally I'd buy this just as a RoL fan as it's packed full of detail on the setting of Ben Aaronovitch's excellent books. However, I'm a big TTRPG fan also so I was glad to get this book last Xmas. It's a sizeable tome, of around 400 pages with some good illustrations and nice layout.
The game system resembles a simplified Call of Chthulu (I've not read Chaosium's BRP but I wonder if that's similar too). It has standard array of stats, skills, and opportunity to be experts in areas. There's a nice narrative that encourages PCs to be 'consultants' to the Folly rather than all be police officers; this creates a nice diversity to characters. Similarly, the ability to cast magic is acquired as an advantage (like feats or special traits) and then a skill. Again, not everyone will play a caster as other skills are useful in investigations.
The magic system is simple and neat, and fits well with the evolution of Peter Grants skill in the books. I like the 'family tree' structure to the system. I'd have to play it see a game to comment on it's utility. The combat system also seems fairly intuitive, based around comparing levels of success (like spirit combat in RQ:G) and has a certain lethality to it which should probably mean it's a rare event. I like the advice on maintaining the drama and danger but using luck and other twists to ensure survival (as often happens in TV dramas and the books).
I'm fact the tone of the whole booked is pitched just right. This isn't Call of Chthulu where cosmic and other horrors typically kill or drive characters insane. This is a much lighter affair as the books have a degree of grisly crime but are essentially fun and very pop and geek culture heavy.
There's a load of background material in here on London and magical London which is excellent. It'd be easy to transpose the world build onto other big cities, like Manchester or Birmingham, or indeed the US cities (with the risk the investigation could get shootier there; indeed there's an upcoming supplement about the USA which I imagine will be based around Agent Reynolds).
Finally, the book details about creating case files (adventures) and this section is well written with advice on which RoL short stories to adapt (the included scenarios are both short story adaptations). I hope we see some product support from Chaosium or, failing that fan-written on Drive through, as the company does seem skewed towards releases for Runequest and Call of Chthulu, it's big sellers.
Overall, a good book and good game and look forward to running some sessions in future.
The game system resembles a simplified Call of Chthulu (I've not read Chaosium's BRP but I wonder if that's similar too). It has standard array of stats, skills, and opportunity to be experts in areas. There's a nice narrative that encourages PCs to be 'consultants' to the Folly rather than all be police officers; this creates a nice diversity to characters. Similarly, the ability to cast magic is acquired as an advantage (like feats or special traits) and then a skill. Again, not everyone will play a caster as other skills are useful in investigations.
The magic system is simple and neat, and fits well with the evolution of Peter Grants skill in the books. I like the 'family tree' structure to the system. I'd have to play it see a game to comment on it's utility. The combat system also seems fairly intuitive, based around comparing levels of success (like spirit combat in RQ:G) and has a certain lethality to it which should probably mean it's a rare event. I like the advice on maintaining the drama and danger but using luck and other twists to ensure survival (as often happens in TV dramas and the books).
I'm fact the tone of the whole booked is pitched just right. This isn't Call of Chthulu where cosmic and other horrors typically kill or drive characters insane. This is a much lighter affair as the books have a degree of grisly crime but are essentially fun and very pop and geek culture heavy.
There's a load of background material in here on London and magical London which is excellent. It'd be easy to transpose the world build onto other big cities, like Manchester or Birmingham, or indeed the US cities (with the risk the investigation could get shootier there; indeed there's an upcoming supplement about the USA which I imagine will be based around Agent Reynolds).
Finally, the book details about creating case files (adventures) and this section is well written with advice on which RoL short stories to adapt (the included scenarios are both short story adaptations). I hope we see some product support from Chaosium or, failing that fan-written on Drive through, as the company does seem skewed towards releases for Runequest and Call of Chthulu, it's big sellers.
Overall, a good book and good game and look forward to running some sessions in future.
August 13, 2023
Excellent adaptation of the novel series. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
May 20, 2025
Simple rules. Cool world. Players not familiar with the setting need a really good introduction campaign though.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews