In RiverBank RPG, comic antics are unavoidable. Indeed, dear backers, they are the very order of the day! Though your Animal characters have a preponderance of skills and experience to rely on, it is a truth universally acknowledged in RiverBank RPG that pother and unintended disaster are always just around the corner.
Animals of RiverBank come in all sorts, and every Animal retains something essential of their animal natures. Strive and succeed though they might at perfecting a proper pudding (delectable!), mastering operation of a motorcar (dreadful, noisy things!), or becoming the best all-rounder to ever grace the pitch (good show!), a tension exists between this nature and an Animal’s dedication to higher pursuits.
The Animality/Poetry range reflects the push/pull within your Animal. Animality encompasses the baser instincts of your character; their desire to nest, hunt, and embrace the call of the wild. At the other end, Poetry is your Animal’s more conventionally “human” behaviors; their love of fine food, literature, and arcadian evenings gathering wool (not literally, thank you) by the shore.
Through action, your character will move between these poles. Embracing each side has advantages, but like a towering platter of treacle tarts, too much of a good thing can lead to calamitous results. Falling completely into one’s animal nature may find a character shredding their finely-tailored waistcoats and making a dash for the woods. Fully embracing your Animal’s poetic side may sound good, but without Animality to ground them an Animal is prone to extended reveries, flights-of-fancy, and ultimately abandoning the adventure to produce reams of positively ghastly art.
Your Animal’s very nature is chaos and whimsy, but this is not the only source of farce and kerfuffle available. Game Masters can always throw a well-timed wrench into the proceedings! Every situation (what folk outside RiverBank call adventures) evolves and becomes more complicated as they proceed – mishaps pile up, and one dashed thing after another threatens to undo your Animals’ best-laid plans.
Haphazardry Cards allow your GM to introduce these complications at the drop of a, well, card. At a predetermined time in any situation, one of these confounded cards will make an appearance, bringing an irate landlord, burnt scones, or some other unexpected twist to bear.
The Betweentimes are moments outside of regular play. Each situation begins by recounting the Betweentimes of your Animal characters. Perhaps they made an ill-advised trip to the city, returning with tales of coal smog, disreputable city-folk, and news from abroad. Or perhaps your character spent time chipping away at their latest literary achievement or passion project.
This time outside of the situation is worked out between you and your GM, but once it’s settled upon – chaos strikes again. This time, it comes in the form of Betweentimes Cards, unique complications or unexpected events that create new opportunities and story hooks to pursue, like an unwanted telegram from a best-left-forgotten relative, an awkward marriage proposal, or catching one’s well-groomed and impressive tail in a quick-closing door. How your character deals with these unexpected events is, as always dear backers, up to you!
Indeed, though both Haphazardry and Betweentimes are essential mechanics, the cards themselves are intended to expand this aspect of the game, and are not required for play (the book's tables can address these elements as well). Doubtless many of you will find plenty of your own complications to introduce, with that inclination towards kerfuffles and calamity being a most commendable quality in any RiverBank RPG player!
