Out Now: New Rivers of London RPG Case Book!


Chaosium has released a new case file for the Rivers of London RPG game! GOING UNDERGROUND is an expansion/add-on for the main game, set in the world created by Ben Aaronovitch. The new scenario is written by Lynne Hardy. Here’s the story…

London, 2016: There’s been an incident on the London Underground and the specialist services of the magic branch of the police force are required — what exactly did a terrified workman see in one of the Tube’s most difficult to access “ghost” stations? And, more importantly, what are the investigators going to do about it?

The main Rivers of London RPG book is, of course, still available.

As mentioned, the RPG is set in the world created by Ben for his novels, novellas, and comics. The next book in the series is THE MASQUERADES OF SPRING, due to be published by Orion/Gollancz (UK), Subterranean Press (North America) and DTV (Germany).

RIVERS OF LONDON RPG Out This Week!


The new RPG based on Ben Aaronovitch‘s Rivers of London novels is out this week! Created/written by Paul Fricker, Lynne Hardy and more, and published by Chaosium, RIVERS OF LONDON is due to be released on Wednesday (November 30th). A must for fans of the series and roleplaying games.

In Rivers of London: 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.

The RPG is available first as a PDF edition. If you purchase the PDF edition directly from the publisher, that price will be deducted from the hardcover edition when it is available.

The best-selling and critically-acclaimed Rivers of London novels and novellas are published in the UK by Gollancz/Orion; in North America by JABberwocky (#1-3), DAW Books (#4 onwards), and Subterranean Press (novellas); in Germany by DTV; and widely elsewhere in translation. The latest novel is AMONGST OUR WEAPONS.

The RIVERS OF LONDON RPG is One of the Most-Anticipated of 2020!


We mentioned a little while ago the fantastic news that Ben Aaronovitch‘s Peter Grant/Rivers of London series is being adapted into an RPG by Chaosium. Well, there is further great news related to this, and that’s the fact that the new game has been picked as one of the Most-Anticipated of 2020!

The game will use some of the company’s Basic Roleplaying game system, but with ‘original, customized rules to reflect the series’ inventive take on the fantastic—from Newtonian magic to the strange powers wielded by the rivers and other supernatural beings that inhabit the popular novels and comics.’

We can’t wait to give it a go!

Ben’s Rivers of London novels are published in the UK by Gollancz, in North America by Del Rey, DAW Books (novels), and Subterranean Press (novellas). They have also been published widely in translation. The eighth novel in the series, FALSE VALUE is officially published this Thursday in the UK!

Don’t forget that Ben is also on an extensive UK book tour celebrating the release of the novel. Full details here, and the poster…

Ben Aaronovitch Announces RIVERS OF LONDON RPG with Chaosium!


This past Saturday, Ben Aaronovitch announced a new RPG based on the world of his acclaimed, best-selling Peter Grant novels! Revealed at Dragonmeet, the game is in development with Chaosium, and they will be working in close concert with Ben to develop a fantastic game. We can’t wait to play!

‘I’ve been an RPG player since the original D&D,’ said Ben, ‘so I’m terribly excited and honoured to have Rivers of London turned into a proper roleplaying game and especially because it’s with Chaosium, who produced Pendragon and Call of Cthulhu and such brilliant adaptations as Elric!’

Here’s what Lynne Hardy, associate line editor for Call of Cthulhu and Rivers project lead, said about the upcoming RPG…

‘I started reading Peter Grant’s adventures a few years ago and knew right away that the Folly would make a marvelous setting for an investigatory fantasy game. Ben was intrigued about the potential for a Rivers of London RPG when I broached the idea at a book signing late last year. After a meeting in London in April, we entered negotiations to secure the license.’

We’ll be sure to share any bits of news about the game’s development as and when we can.

Ben’s Peter Grant novels are published in the UK by Gollancz, in North America by Del Rey and DAW Books, and are also available widely in translation. (See Ben’s page for more information about international editions.)

In case you have yet to read any of Ben’s novels (or the comics that are also based on his characters), here’s the synopsis for the first novel, RIVERS OF LONDON

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit – we do paperwork so real coppers don’t have to – and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluble, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.

Now I’m a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden… and there’s something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.

The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it’s falling to me to bring order out of chaos – or die trying.

(N.B.: The first novel is published in North America as MIDNIGHT RIOT.)

The next novel in the series, FALSE VALUE, is due to be published in February 2020 by Orion (UK) and DAW Books (North America).