Kobold Press Announces 'Cozy' RPG Riverbank

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Kobold Press--known for its D&D 5E compatible products--is diversifying into the world of cosy TTRPGs with Riverbank, a game of 'elegant animals, chaos, & whimsy'. The game has a page on Backerkit already, and launches in April.

Illustrated by Kathleen Jennings, and designed by Kij Johnson, the game allows you to attend tea parties, compete at the village fair, and dance at fancy balls. It uses a new game system which utilises a balance between the Animal and Poetry sides of your character.

In a RiverBank game, you join an intelligent society of anthropomorphic Animals and enter their life of cake and teatime by the slow part of the river. Here, the charm of cottagecore meets the whimsy of sophisticated critters as they navigate the intricacies—and often the bedlam—of polite Animal society.

Riverbank is a game about roleplaying, where your character choices directly impact the narrative. Weave farcical or dramatic tales of elegant characters on curious quests as you celebrate friendships, navigate social niceties, and weather the unique dynamics of Animal life. Attend tea parties, stroll through gardens, dance at fancy balls, and win the prize at the village fair—all while trying to keep a stiff upper lip and dodging difficult relatives.
 

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When my girls were young I tried roleplaying these sorts of games of small drama simulating the world of make-believe that small children play in - skinned knees, pickup games of baseball, going fishing at the pond behind the house, having tea with the neighbors, helping groom your best friends horse and clean the stable, cleaning your room, doing homework so you can go catch fireflies, etc.

I don't think it will endure. It might be fun for a one shot to play pretend as children do using the sophistication of ourselves as adults, but you don't really need a system for that and it becomes stale rather quickly. This is the reason that before RPGs most people moved on from make believe long before they reached adulthood. No matter how much they love Jane Austin, most adult participants will prefer to roleplay in the world of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies so that they can kick in the doors and slay the monsters.
This game does promise chaos, though...
 

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I think this is a really good idea. Unfortunately I don't think that the core 5E chassis is especially good for this use, but I will be happy to look at what they do with it. I think that WotC wants to move in this direction with D&D itself from the core dungeon bashing experience, so I think they may be ahead of the curve in this area. I'm interested, even though this is likely not what my group will want to play with. I frankly think this is a good direction to go in the hobby.
Riverbank is going to have its own system, not related at all to 5e. Even if it's just used for a few sessions as a palette cleanser, I agree, that these kind of games are catching on. And for some, this genre will be more engaging than killing monsters.
 

It's not based on 5e.

Kobold Press is putting down its shields and picking up some spats with the RiverBank RPG. This brand-new system is optimized for 3 to 5 players, using standard dice (d4, d6, d12) to resolve decisions while players keep the balance between their characters' Animality and Poetry sides. Fall too far into one side or the other, and total disaster may follow!
Are d12s becoming the new favored dice? I see them being used as the major die type in a lot more games now than I used to.
 

When my girls were young I tried roleplaying these sorts of games of small drama simulating the world of make-believe that small children play in - skinned knees, pickup games of baseball, going fishing at the pond behind the house, having tea with the neighbors, helping groom your best friends horse and clean the stable, cleaning your room, doing homework so you can go catch fireflies, etc.

I don't think it will endure. It might be fun for a one shot to play pretend as children do using the sophistication of ourselves as adults, but you don't really need a system for that and it becomes stale rather quickly. This is the reason that before RPGs most people moved on from make believe long before they reached adulthood. No matter how much they love Jane Austin, most adult participants will prefer to roleplay in the world of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies so that they can kick in the doors and slay the monsters.
There is a market for cozy games. In my solo FB groups, many women play cozy RPGs; men also play them. They are looking for a different, non-violent experience.
 


I'm talking about the responses of my wife and daughters. Make believe cozy gets old fast. Door kicking takes much longer.

My suspicion is that the audience for most RPG books is not participants in play, but people who read RPG books. I have far more RPG books than I've ever used in play, and yet I keep buying them anyway. Most ironically, out of two of the three game systems I do play, I tend to rely almost entirely on my own notes and house rules, forgoing for the most part any official books.
There's also people who don't have the time, energy, or interest in longer campaigns and enjoy one-shots. And people who don't want violence but do want to RP.
 




Yep. Lots of people get tired of or are not drawn to killing monsters or fighting horrors.
Exactly.

I get why RPGs started as predominantly action-adventure games regardless of the setting-genre. That action-adventure has utterly dominated the RPG industry until today is something of a mystery. There are more kinds of stories. Why is it either action-adventure fantasy/sci-fi or mystery-horror? There are more genres than that.
 

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