Ravenhollow - Guide

🐦‍⬛ RAVENHOLLOW 🐦‍⬛

🦋PLAYER’S GUIDE🦋

One town. A thousand stories.

Ravenhollow is a shared, open-ended roleplay universe. Its inhabitants have lives, relationships, routines and places of their own. Your story may begin with one person and end up taking you all across town.

✦ IT’S NOT A CLOSED SETTING ✦

A bot’s opening message is only the beginning. You can explore, move between districts, meet the people in their life, follow events happening around town or simply let the roleplay open new paths on its own.

01 · EXPLORE RAVENHOLLOW

The infographic gives you a feel for the world; the map helps you find your way whenever you want to go a little further. Ravenhollow is divided into distinct areas, all connected by the everyday lives of the people who call it home.

— The map is a reference, not a rigid game board. —

WHAT ARE YOU IN THE MOOD FOR?

REDWOOD — University life, residences, library, cafés, sports and campus life.

OLD RAVEN — Old streets, local businesses, history, culture and quieter plans.

DOWNTOWN / THE STRIP — Bars, clubs, restaurants, shops, music, dates and bad decisions.

GREYPORT — Docks, workshops, motorcycles, working-class community, neighborhood life and Ravenhollow’s industrial side.

EAST RAVEN — Apartments, parks, local shops and everyday Ravenhollow.

SILVERCREST — Mansions, historic families, old money, galas and tradition.

HARBOR POINT — Marina, shopping, movies, entertainment and the waterfront.

BLACKWATER — Beach, bonfires, trails, night swims and late-night escapes.

And the story does not necessarily end at the town limits: roads, coastline, forest and nearby towns can all come into play whenever a story needs to leave Ravenhollow.

02 · INSIDE FAIRVIEW

Not every story in Ravenhollow begins on campus, in a bar or on a quiet street.

Fairview Psychiatric Hospital is part of Ravenhollow's everyday world: a residential mental health facility where patients, nurses, doctors and other staff share routines, spaces and stories of their own.

Behind its doors, life continues. There are appointments, group activities, quiet afternoons, difficult nights, friendships, disagreements, unexpected connections and small moments that can mean more than they seem.

✦ MORE THAN A BACKDROP ✦

Fairview is not a single room or a fixed storyline. It has patient rooms, communal spaces, treatment areas, outdoor spaces and daily routines that shape what happens inside.

Patients have different circumstances, needs and levels of independence. Their access to certain areas and activities depends on their individual situation, treatment plan and the facility's rules.

LIFE INSIDE FAIRVIEW

Stories here can unfold through the eyes of patients, staff or visitors, involving recovery, friendship, romance, conflict, humor, personal struggles or ordinary daily life. The people you meet are more than their diagnoses, their jobs or the reasons they arrived.

Staff members have responsibilities, personalities and lives beyond their shifts. Patients have their own histories, relationships, preferences and ways of navigating their time at Fairview.

✦ THE WORLD DOESN'T STOP AT THE DOORS ✦

Fairview exists within Ravenhollow, not outside it. Families, visitors, hospital staff and connections to the wider town can all become part of a story.

Some stories begin with a new arrival. Others begin with someone who has been there for a while. Where they go is up to you.

03 · THE PEOPLE OF RAVENHOLLOW

Characters do not exist in isolation inside their own bots. Many have friends, relatives, roommates, classmates, coworkers, neighborhood acquaintances, rivalries and existing connections with other people in town.

Part of exploring Ravenhollow is discovering those relationships for yourself. Ask about their friends. Follow them to the places they usually hang out. Meet the people around them. A side character who appears in passing may show up again later, have a life of their own and eventually become an important part of your story.

✦ SAME WORLD, NOT A HIVE MIND ✦

Sharing a town does not mean everyone is friends or that everyone knows everything. Connections depend on neighborhood, university, work, family, personal history and what each character actually knows.

NPCs HAVE LIVES TOO

Ravenhollow has a wide range of NPCs. Some play small roles; others are highly developed, with personalities, relationships, routines, conflicts and a recurring presence even if they are not playable characters yet.

Some NPCs may already be planned as future bots. Others may become playable because they grow organically within the universe—or because the community wants to know them better.

✦ FOUND AN NPC YOU NEED AS A BOT? ✦

Ask for them. Tell us who caught your attention and why. Community feedback and requests can help shape which Ravenhollow residents eventually get a playable story of their own.

FOR EXAMPLE

You might be roleplaying with one character, meet one of their friends in Redwood and realize you absolutely love that NPC. Maybe they only appear in a few scenes at first, but they have enough personality to make you want more. If people become interested in them, they may eventually be developed into a future bot.

Ravenhollow is designed to grow from the stories that happen inside it, too.

04 · OLD NAMES, OLD STORIES

Some family names are woven into Ravenhollow’s history. Money, businesses, property, reputation and generations of relationships mean certain names carry real weight in certain circles.

You do not need to memorize family trees to play. That background exists so an invitation, a gala, a surname, an unexpected friendship or entering a certain social circle can mean more than it seems at first.

CALDER & ASHFORD

One of the town’s most visible long-standing tensions is the rivalry between the Calder and Ashford families. It is a rivalry built on family history, legacy, status and influence in Ravenhollow—not a narrative rule forcing every member of both families to personally hate each other.

Their histories intersect with Ravenhollow in different ways, and you can discover how much a surname matters—or how hard someone may be trying to escape it—by talking to the characters themselves and stepping into their world.

✦ THE LORE IS BEHIND THE SCENES ✦

Historic families give the world depth, but you do not need to know their entire history before you begin. You can discover it when your own story happens to run into it.

05 · RAVENHOLLOW IS ALIVE

Ravenhollow does not freeze in place waiting for you to do something. It has a calendar, seasons, traditions, university life, businesses, families, neighbors and events that keep happening around whatever story you are currently living.

SEASONS & EVENTS

The town changes throughout the year. Local celebrations, university activities, markets, parties, concerts, galas, community events, seasonal traditions and other happenings can temporarily transform familiar places.

HISTORY, FOLKLORE & LEGENDS

The town has a past. Its neighborhoods, buildings, forest, coastline, roads and families have accumulated stories, rumors and folklore over time. Some legends are known by almost everyone; others belong to particular neighborhoods or generations.

Not every rumor has to be true, and not every legend needs a definitive explanation. Locals may believe different versions, argue about them, distort them over time—or use them as the perfect excuse to do something stupid in the middle of the night.

✦ THE TOWN KEEPS MOVING ✦

While your story moves forward, classes, work shifts, parties, changing seasons, family problems, rumors, events and people living their own lives continue around you.

06 · YOUR STORY HAS NO PREDETERMINED PATH

There is no correct way to play Ravenhollow. A roleplay can become romance, friendship, rivalry, slice of life, drama, chaos, mystery—or any combination of them.

Characters can make plans, take initiative and bring you into different parts of their world. You can move the story too: suggest a place, ask about someone, change districts, attend an event or follow a conversation that seemed unimportant and ends up opening an entirely new thread.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO STAY WHERE THE STORY STARTED

A conversation can begin in a university residence and end weeks later around a Blackwater bonfire. It can start in a bar and lead you into a family’s world. It can begin as a date and end up introducing you to a group of friends, a job, a neighborhood or a local tradition.

✦ EXPLORE ✦

The opening is a door. Ravenhollow is on the other side.

07 · YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW THE LORE

You do not need to memorize this guide. Or the map. Or the names of every venue. Or the families. Or who knows whom.

You can discover the world exactly as you would if you had just arrived in a new town: ask questions, follow the people you know and let each part of Ravenhollow appear when it makes sense.

IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START, TRY SOMETHING LIKE...

✦ “Where do you usually go when you’re not here?”

✦ “Who are your friends?”

✦ “Take me somewhere you like.”

✦ “What do people do in Ravenhollow this time of year?”

✦ “What the hell is going on between those two families?”

✦ “Are there any weird stories about this place?”

Or ask nothing at all and let the character come up with an idea. Every resident knows a slightly different Ravenhollow.

RAVENHOLLOW IS YOURS TO EXPLORE

Same town. Different lives.
Relationships to discover. Stories that do not exist yet.
Your roleplay has no predetermined path.

🐦‍⬛🦋

✦ START YOUR STORY ✦