Adventures in Rivenshore Rivenshore Adventures in Rivenshore is a Fantasy AGE roleplaying game that I created to run for my nephews, ages 10, 8 and ! "he village of Rivenshore and the world it resides in are entirely my creation! I am sharing this supplement for those adventurers who are passing down our love of rpg#s to the ne$t generation, and for those who have never run a game %ut wish to start for their &ids!
Rivenshore Rivenshore is a small village set in an isolated valley that lies south of an ancient and sometimes dangerous world! It#s surrounded on three sides %y wilderness that leads to the For%idden 'ighlands mountain range, and on the southwest side sits the (horal )ec& river! "he mountains and river %oth protect and isolate Rivenshore! "he entire area is simply &nown as "he *alley! )eyond the mountains to the north lies what is &nown to the people of Rivenshore as "he Great Realm! "o the south,
%eyond the falls, is another village &nown as Fairfall, which is also part of "he *alley at large! A smaller mountain range &nown as )ear (liffs separates the two villages! Rivenshore is a very peaceful place to live! Its people live simply+ farming, logging, and fishing! ince the village is secluded, surrounded %y mountains, and the fact that the (horal )ec& river ends at a giant waterfall, Rivenshore sees few traders! "he traders they do see mostly come from the north down the river! Although it appears that the river ends at the waterfall there is also a cut off to the east! "hose traders who &now the way travel the river south past Rivenshore and then follow it to the east where the river escapes "he *alley through a narrow passage only large enough for small trading %oats! "he traders %y land are usually from Fairfall! Rivenshore has %een in commerce with Fairfall almost from the %eginning! "raders ma&e their way along the eastern pass which runs along the mountain! It#s the safest route %etween the two villages! "o those travelers whose %usiness %rings them %y Rivenshore, the village is &nown for it#s hospitality, a fine mar&etplace and as a great place to get freshly cut lum%er for any %oat repairs that might %e needed! Rivenshore is also &nown to %e home to several races - humans, elves, halflings and even a handful of gnomes! "here#s also a dwarf named 'astreath Grayhelm who stopped for a rest while traveling south to the dwarven town of 'ordohr! "hat was over twenty years ago, and Grayhelm wasn#t the first traveler through the centuries to get lost enroute to one place or another, and wind up settling in this valley %y the water fall! .hat %egan a few hundred years ago as a small fishing camp set up %y a few humans and elves who were tired of fighting the wars in the north, grew into a diverse village of peaceful people! As peaceful as life is in Rivenshore there are plenty of dangers outside of the village that can ma&e their way down the mountain, through the forest or down the river! "he two %iggest threats to the village are wolves and %andits! Although most of the traders are peaceful fol&, there are %andits that find their way to "he *alley and foolishly see the people of Rivenshore as easy mar&s! /p the northwestern passage that crosses the river there is the .olf en! It was discovered over twohundred years ago when the then tiny village had no fence for protection and only a few s&illed warriors, rogues or mages among them! "he village was attac&ed %y a pac& of wolves! "he ne$t day some of the surviving townsfol& trac&ed the wolves up the northwestern pass, over the river then down the western pass to their den! n the west side of the river they were greatly outnum%ered %y what they assumed were demon wolves with red eyes! "hey made a 2uic& retreat %ac& home! "here have %een no wolf attac&s on Rivenshore since! Rumors a%ound as to what e$actly is to the west, %ut all those who have traveled there have never returned! "he western pass is no longer used! 3ot long after the wolf attac& the watchtowers were %uilt, and eventually the fence that walls the entire village in! It was also the %eginning of the tradition of all townsfol& %eing trained in %asic defense from a young age! For the last hundred years those with an adventurous spirit and a sense of duty to their home receive advanced training at the Rivenshore Academy! At the academy the young cadets speciali4e in different fields, learning the tools and techni2ues of warriors, rogues, and even mages - for those who have a predisposition for magic! "hey train and practice daily, even venturing out to the forest and up the mountain for survival training! "hey also help around the town when needed!
"hroughout their academy training cadets may %e called upon %y Guard (aptain 5ac& 'ar&er or heriff Ira &een to help with situations that may arise, such as the recent infestation of giant rats in the tunnels %elow "he 6ur&y Ale "avern! "hese small tas&s help %uild the cadets s&ills so that when they graduate they will %e ready for the much larger adventures to come! Graduates split duties %etween %ecoming adventurers - %ringing %ac& goods and treasures not readily availa%le in the small village - and 7oining the "own Guard which is run %y the Guard (aptain! "here are nine guard posts strategically placed outside of the fence surrounding the village! In their second year, cadets %ecome part of the guard post rotation!
Game Masters: Adventures in Rivenshore is set entirely on the mechanics of the Fantasy Age roleplaying system! I find that it is simplified enough for young &ids to follow! ou can choose to use as much or as little of the mechanics as you %elieve the &ids can handle and still en7oy the game! "he last thing you want is to get so %ogged down in the mechanics that it is no longer fun! As an e$ample, in our first game session I %egan with my nephews characters at the academy having target practice! "his allowed each of them to go through the mechanics of attac&ing, yet remained fun as a competition of sorts! I also waited several sessions to introduce tunt 9oints, ma&ing sure the %asics of the game were completely understood first! ou may also decide to use another rpg system that wor&s %est for you and your players! "he system isn#t as important as is ma&ing sure it#s fun for everyone! PC's in Rivenshore 9layers %egin as cadets at the Rivenshore Academy! "hey are at the start of their first year! If the characters are teenagers you may ta&e into consideration that all townsfol& are trained in %asic defense and allow the players to create level 1 characters! r they can play characters closer to their real age! Assuming none of the players are teenagers, that means their characters will %e level 0 and have to earn their first level! "his is completely up to the Game 6aster! ther than what level the characters start off at, it#s not too important as to the age the child wants to play as long as it#s under 18 years old! Remem%er, they#re first year cadets! If you#re not sure which way to go, ta&e the average age of the group! If it#s eight or over let them play teenagers! If it#s under eight then they play their own ages! Again, this is completely at the G6#s discretion!
Choosing Adventures 3ow that the characters have a village and world to live in, you need to come up with adventures for them to go on! Always ta&e into consideration the children you#re playing with! .hat do they li&e, what scares them: All three of my nephews had seen The Hobbit so when descri%ing this world I used that as an e$ample! (onse2uently, fighting creatures was e$pected! 'owever, having the four year old in the group, I made sure there was nothing too scary or too confusing for him! Giant rats and spiders wor& really well! I highly recommend 'ero ;id Adventures< for story ideas! =I got the village name Rivenshore from them!> "hey also have they#re own game mechanics %uilt specifically for young &ids! If that wor&s %etter for your players than don#t %e afraid to use it! ou can use any game mechanics in any world! I chose Fantasy Age not only %ecause it was a simpler system than most, %ut also %ecause I &new it was a game my nephews would grow into! "he oldest is already as&ing to run a game? ther story options are old ungeons @ ragons modules! ou#ll have to pair down the story to ma&e it age appropriate and to suit Rivenshore, %ut a lot of the original modules are very straight forward adventures! "hey#re easy to adapt and ma&e easy for &ids to follow! "ry and &eep game sessions around an hour, two at the most and only if they#re really into it! ome &ids will easily get %ored! In that case try ma&ing each adventure a%out a half an hour! Remem%er that the most important thing is that everyone is having fun!
Using Miniatures 3ot everyone uses miniatures for rpg games! I remem%er when I started gaming in the 0#s we never used minis! It was all imagination! I#ve since discovered the fun, as well as practicality of using miniatures for parts of the adventures! It#s a lot clearer to see who#s standing where and how far away that dragon is when the miniatures are set up in front of you! I %elieve that helps a lot with young players and even ma&es the game more fun, and more, well, game li&e! My nephews painted their own miniatures. The 4 year old also painted the spider :-)
ne of the complaints with minis is the e$pense! ne way to get around that is %y using paper minis! For the cost of in& and paper you can ma&e enough rats to fill a tunnel, or fill a mar&et place with people! I made a crude template in 9hotoshop to illustrate how easy it is to ma&e all the miniatures you want! imply find pictures you li&e to replace mine and follow the instructions! 6ini "emplate
NPC's in Rivenshore )eing a small village there aren#t an a%undance of people in Rivenshore! .hen running an adventure remem%er that it#s not a city and doesn#t have lots of alley ways, sewers, thieves guilds, no%ility, etc! It started out as a tiny fishing village and although it#s grown, it has never %ecome over-grown! Est! 9opulationB )etween 1C0-D00 ="hat num%er fluctuates a lot due to academy graduates leaving for long periods of time!> ome more of the %ac&ground of Rivenshore can %e garnered from the %ac&grounds of the 39(#s! I#ve left it vague enough so that it may %e e$panded upon in any way a G6 would li&e! "here#s also a hint at the outside world, namely an Elvin city to the north! "here will %e more a%out that city at a later date as my campaign grows %eyond Rivenshore#s %orders! "hese 39(#s are to help get you started! "hey#re all purposely too strong to %e a%le to adventure with the &ids characters! "hey should %e used at the start or end of an adventure, or if you need an 39( to move a story along, may%e in a different direction! /sing my game as an e$ampleB After target practice they were called into the (aptains office and as&ed to ta&e care of a rat pro%lem at the tavern! nce in the tavern they were sent to the %asement where they found giant rats! From that point on it was entirely up to the &ids to get rid of the rats! Any other village 39(#s should %e considered civilian or no higher than level ! "he only e$ceptions would %e the town Guards who are academy graduates and therefore level or higher!
"he stats for all of the following 39(#s can %e found here in 9F formatB 39( "A"
Notable People in Rivenshore Head of the Academ: (aptain 5ac& 'ar&er ='uman, 6ale, 6age 18> AgeB CC RoleplayingB trict %ut fair! )elieves in order and discipline %ut at the same time remem%ers the 7oys of his time as a student! Mage !eacher: Garret 6inder ='uman, 6ale, 6age 18> AgeB C RoleplayingB 6ost of Garret#s students remem%er watching Garret when they were little &ids and he would do magic shows around town! 'e may %e getting older %ut Garret is still fun! Rogue !eacher: Faerenal erendil =Elf, Female, Rogue 10> AgeB 8 RoleplayingB he was raised in the north in the Elvin capital city of Esari, until her mother %rought her to Rivenshore when she was 10! At the age of D0 Faerenal traveled north to visit what she thought was her home, only to find a city of pretentious Elves who %elieved they were superior to all others! It was then that she &new her mother was right to have %rought her to Rivenshore! .hen she returned, she too& a position at the Academy to help teach others the %enefits of wor&ing in peace and togetherness! "arrior !eacher: Aeryn Rudel ='uman, 6ale, .arrior 10> AgeB RoleplayingB oves his 7o%! 'e is very protective of the village his ancestors helped create and means to &eep it safe! Aeryn instills that same feeling of duty and pride into his students! Mur# Ale !avern $%ner: 6aise enton ='uman, Female, Rogue 1> AgeB H RoleplayingB A %it over-the-top! 6ade for the stage %ut settled for a tavern! he &nows what her customers want and how to &eep them! Academ &tudent: Roger enton ='uman, 6ale, Rogue 1> AgeB 1C RoleplayingB 6aise#s son! 'e#s a %right student! "he opposite of his mother, Roger is reserved and has a few close friends at the academy! 'e practices his thievery s&ills on his mother! omething she#s currently unaware of! =3ot all Rogues start out as thieves! 'owever, the academy does teach them a%out loc& pic&ing in their etecting and eactivating "rapsJ course!>
Maor: "anner )as&en ='uman, 6ale, 6age 1> AgeB 1 RoleplayingB "anner comes from one of the only real political families in town! 'is grandfather was mayor and his mother is still the head of the town council! 'e#s a friendly man, who has reached the highest pea& in Rivenshore =outran&ed only %y the Guard (aptain>, %ut he &nows everyone li&es him so his future is pretty secure! It helps that in those times of town dangers the Guard (aptain ma&es all the decisions! "anner doesn#t wor& well under e$treme pressure! &heriff: Ira &een ='uman, Female, .arrior > AgeB D RoleplayingB Friendly %ut firm! 'as %een called no non-sense! Ira#s great-great grandfather started the sheriffs office, separating town peace&eeping from the Guard#s village protection! lac#smith: 'astreath Grayhelm =warf, 6ale, .arrior 10> AgeB 80 RoleplayingB Gruff e$terior, %ut heart of gold! topped in Rivenshore D0 years ago and never left! Healer: ;lara swald =Elf, Female, 6age > AgeB C1 RoleplayingB "hin& hippie! ;lara is a th generation healer and %eliever in peace and harmony! he disli&es violence, %ut has %een &nown to use her Arcane )last to protect children from predators =animals> in the past! &hop#eeper: 5une 'ollyfied ='alfling, Female, Rogue > AgeB DC RoleplayingB utgoing and friendly %ut shrewd in %usiness! 6a&esKsells 7ewelry, plus owns the tannery- her families %usiness! on#t e$pect to haggle with 5une! ou#ll wind up paying dou%le!
If you li&e playing in Rivenshore or have any suggestions on how I could ma&e it a %etter place, please let me &now? I#d love to hear from anyone who runs an adventure in Rivenshore! L&ellyeneal on "witter and &ellyeneal on Face%oo&! All octor .ho and "orchwood Easter Eggs were intentional!
Adventures in Rivenshore v!1! (reated %y ;elly 3eal L&ellyeneal
"his supplement is 3" FR AE! It is free for adventurers who are passing it down to the ne$t generation!
Fantasy AGE is a fantasy roleplaying game pu%lished %y Green Ronin!
"he Fantasy AGE Basi !uleboo" is your entry point to ta%letop roleplaying! 3ow you can %e the hero in your own sword and sorcery adventures?J - GreenRonin!com
<"he name Rivenshore came from 'ero ;id Adventures!J Everything else a%out Rivenshore and this world is of my own creation! AR".R; "he map of Rivenshore was originally 6istwood colored %y %laidd! "he picture of "he *alley was found in a Google search and Rivenshore was added to it! Forest ragon %y Mgere4on on deviantAR" (hildren of the Alienage %y inda ;indt
(opyright =c> D01C ;elly 3eal
