Third party DnD publisher Kobold Press has announced a new RPG called Riverbank. This launch is the first real departure from Dungeons and Dragons 5e for the company, which specializes in publishing material for Wizards of the Coast’s popular roleplaying game, and also recently started up its own system, Tales of the Valiant, built on the back of 5e.
Launching on BackerKit in April 2025, Riverbank is about as different from Dungeons and Dragons as you could imagine. Rather than delving into dungeons, fighting monsters, and hauling back treasure, players will be asked to “navigate the intricacies – and often the bedlam – of polite animal society”. The plots seem to be more based on drama than danger.
Though we don’t have that much information about the upcoming tabletop RPG, it sounds like a cross between The Wind in the Willows and Pride and Prejudice. Suggested adventures include attending tea parties, dancing at fancy balls, and competing at the village fair, all without a cupcake mimic or eldritch horror in sight.
Further marking its deviation from DnD, Riverbank does not use a D20. Instead, the system uses a d4, d6, d12 to resolve decisions. Players are also tasked with balancing two stats, Animality and Poetry. “Fall too far into one side or the other, and total disaster may follow,” the press release tells us. That part smacks of Honey Heist, a ridiculous rules-lite RPG where players balance their Bear and Criminal stats to avoid losing the game. But obviously the tone here seems to be rather different.
Riverbank is written and designed by Kij Johnson, a science fiction and fantasy author, who has won the Hugo and Nebula awards for her books, such as the novella The Man Who Bridges the Mist (about a suspension bridge constructed over a magical, monster-filled mist).
While I couldn’t find any previous game design credits to her name, Johnson does have a history in the RPG sphere. Previously she was the managing editor for TSR and then Wizards of the Coast, as well as the creative director for the famous DnD settings Greyhawk and The Forgotten Realms.
Riverbank’s BackerKit crowdfunder begins in April this year. The game is designed for three to five players and promises “whimsy, hilarity, and a hint of drama”. We’ve no idea how it will play yet, but we’re certainly intrigued. Sounds well strange, but you’ve gotta admit: the art is cute.
This is the second tabletop RPG to come out of publisher Kobold Press. Its first, Tales of the Valiant, launched in summer 2024. Announced during the OGL scandal under the codename Project Black Flag, it ended up using the core 5e ruleset released under Creative Commons as a base.
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Source: Wargamer
