Casting Shadows

Here we go with my first response for #RPGaDay2026 where we will take a look at a character I enjoyed playing in the Rivers of London RPG by Chaosium. His sheet is available at the end of this post for the curious. Our prompt for today is Discipline. The weekly filter is Drive, and the daily filter is Hard Working. It was this specific combination of traits which brought PC Everett Balcom to mind again, and it is the nuance in BRP which makes these special traits something to actively play with, work toward or against, and have matter.

In the series of urban fantasy police procedural Rivers of London novels by Ben Aaronovitch, our protagonist Peter Grant is the poster child of distraction. Although over the series he does grow and learn some life lessons – often very painfully – he can be thought of as a sort of foil to his mentor, Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale. Around PC then later DC Peter Grant are numerous other characters who represent this same sort of useful, collaborative friction, but there is no shortage of the impulsive and curious types.

Now as the RPG opens the world of the books to the recruitment of player characters as new officers and consultants, which trait will serve them best? Will it be Nightingale’s rigor of disciplined study carefully building a strong and safe foundation of power? Will it be the shifting passion and curiosity of his apprentice? In life, and perhaps not often enough in games, this sort of choice is not given much room to breathe either being made less-relevant due to subject matter or because of the system in play. In the version of BRP used for Rivers of London, it has just enough bite to be present and interesting.

For PC Everett Balcom, formerly of the National Police Air Service, the need for dedication in magical study is obvious and not easy. He is fit, but not exceptional. He is agile, but not exceptional. He is intelligent, but not exceptional. He has a sense of self and purpose, but is not driven. He has a string of important service occupations behind him, but has not stuck with one long enough to start a career. He is still just 25 and starting his third potential career. What he does have, however is a capacity to dig in and learn challenging and technical skills, requiring focus, consistency, and care – with sufficient motivation.

Starting his career young in Search and Rescue, enlisting in the military, joining the Police as an aviator, and now entering the Special Affairs Unit as a magically capable police constable, there is as much shifting of priority evident in his behavior as there is obvious dedication to learning the difficult skills required. Will magic and policing the ever-shifting challenges of the Demi-monde be enough to bring that dedication to the fore?

Time will tell!

Tomorrow is Sunday and will end Week 1 of the 6 calendar “weeks” holding the 31 days of the #RPGaDay2026. The prompt for tomorrow is Stature. The influence of the weekly filter ‘Drive’ remains in play, but the Daily filter replaces Hard Work with Blessed. What will that mean for PC Balcom as we take a look at one of his potential coworkers in the Folly?