Rivers of the Forgotten Realms often have names that get straight to the point, noting the territories or people that border them. These can be really useful in helping players to get a sense of the landscape, as bodies of water often mark boundaries between lands. However, rivers can also be a fun place to exercise some creative flair, as each one will have its own character – ranging from the gentlest streams to roaring flows from a mountain top.
Good River Names
- Summertide
- Moonmirror Run
- Bone Bed Pass
- Chthonic Creek
- Darkswill River
- Feysong Brook
- The Burstbanks
- Silent Rill
- Evershifting Stream
Shardflow
This mighty river cascades from a frostbitten peak, carrying blocks of jagged ice in every season. Any mode of crossing its raging waters has been forgotten, along with the few tribes who had called the mountain home.
- Underflood
- Lilypad Channel
- Stream of Thought
- Wily Run
- Ninth Hell Falls
- Shimmertop River
- Rippled Rill
- Astral Chase
- River of Burnt Bridges
- Everchanging Channel
Reaver’s Run
Only the most desperate travellers choose to navigate this shadowy channel without an escort. Guttural howls and drunken shanties fill the air as colourful vessels of every kind pull into mooring along banks littered with ill-gotten gains.
- Dwindling Beck
- Fireflower
- Waterway of the Wights
- Brook of the Betrayed
- Rainbow Rivulet
- Starscatter Canal
- Glacier’s Tears
- Dawnflow
- Infernum Flumen
- Bloody Banks
Giggling Rill
This crystalline brook seems to be the perfect addition to a quaint village landscape. Only upon stripping off to take a dip in the cool water are visitors aware of ethereal laughter on the breeze, as unseen fey enjoy an eyeful of sweaty adventurer.
- Fisherman’s Foe
- Dire Wolf Straits
- Unfrozen Runnel
- Mistbank
- Waterway of the Winds
- King’s Run
- Cerulean Creek
- Beast Beck
- The Allstill River
- Unseelie Bog
Merrowhold
The true depth of this fabled river remains unknown to most land-dwellers, as the merrow guard their kingdom fiercely. Certain inlets are safe for visitors to request an audience, but wading too far without invitation can have deadly consequences.
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- Rolling Fog Run
- Risky Rivulet
- Champion’s Course
- The Winding Whorls
- Gloaming Banks
- Watery Grave
- Turtle’s Turn
- River of Many Colours
- Unbabbling Brook
- Faerie Falls
- The Borderline
Star Map Run
This system of canals is the only way to safely navigate the vast expanse of barren plains it crosses. Explorers of these lands make their camp by day and travel by moonlight, guided by the constellations reflected in the dark, still waters.
- Dreamer’s Pass
- Vein of the West
- The Unbridgeable River
- Dragonfly’s Den
- Swallowing River
- Twilight Tributary
- Underdark Falls
- Ice Floe Pass
- Elfsong Run
Naming landmarks like rivers is a great way to kick off your worldbuilding, particularly if you’re finding the task overwhelming. You can convey so much about a landscape with just a short title, enticing players to a location or warning them away. Let me know in the comments if my suggestions have inspired you, or share this with your fellow cartographers!