I will include the short story first as to not bore you with details if you dont want them. Read further down and I will explain the details as to how this happened, but basically I killed everyone in Riverwood except 2 people in the Inn and the children of course. Besides losing the shopkeepers for sales and purchases did I ruin anything? I am only level 23 and have completed the first few quests that stem from Riverwood.

How this happened: A dragon was attacking the town and I was trying to help the townfolk defeat the dragon, and in the midst of shooting a bow at the dragon I hit one of the people in the chest, killing him. His wife immediately attacked me. I turned to run and kicked a chicken, which apparently is a big no no in Skyrim and about 3 to 4 more people started chasing me. At the time I was only like a level 8 or 9 and I was not completely familiar with the town lay-out. I was cornered and either faced death (due to lack of good armor and not a lot of hit points), or fighting the villagers. I was not smart with my last save and it was long enough ago to make it very inconvenient to restart so I fought the villagers. The more I fought though, more people joined in because of me beating their spouses. This happened until no one was attacking me anymore. When I walked around seeing who was left there was not a single person walking the streets. The friendly Nords that I met at the start of the game had been killed as all the shop owners and their families. The only ones left are the people at the inn and the children. Oh and there's a courier wearing nothing but a loincloth too. Dont know where he came from.

well this REALLY should be in the spoilers section. You need the Riverwood trader to advance into the main quest.

people important to quests are invincible, just to let you know, so dont worry about it.

In short. It is.

you cant kill important NPCs, unfortunetly, so your all good (despite kickign chickens, criminal scum )

@phillygirl41: you dont need the riverwood trader for anything

All main quest, civil war quests and guild quests related NPCs are essential. So it's fine to kill everyone in the world save those who are unkillable, and still be able to finish all main quests, civial war quests and guild quests.

no you dont. Dragonreach is all I have to say.

I just got a quest yesterday telling me to go back to the inn at Riverwood.Haven't done it yet.

Yeah true, I guess I spoke too soon. but REALLY it would be easier in the spoiler section. And really easier if not all are killed.
Sorry.

No, you don't. Funny story, OP.

I sympathize. I had a dragon attack Riverwood just after I came out of the trader, so I had an autosave to return to when it killed one of the mothers of one of the children (the smith's wife, actually).

However, as was said, any quest--related NPCs should be essential, so you should be okay, technically. You made it into a ghost town, though.

Riverwood is really Alduin is his final form. He is Riverwood.

Not true.

YES I know.. anyone else wanna say that I was wrong? I got it. I apologized.. I spoke too soon! Sorry Sorry Sorry..

Let it go.. now gently.. let it go.. into the night..

I lost it with the kicked a chicken part. Never mind the dragon destroying the town, just don't hurt the chicken.

I laughed. >_<

Cool. Thanx everyone. I haven't been playing that long due to my job but I cant help but get nostalgic when I pass thru Riverwood. I remember the good old days and the first (and possibly the only) time I passed thru that village while it was populated. The few pieces of wood I chopped, the confusion of making leather, then turning ALL my leather into strips so I had no leather left to create items (cause I didnt know what the heck I was doing yet). Ahhh my time there was short but it left a lasting impact...

And the courier in a loincloth. Priceless.

I hated myself for awhile there too. Stood on a high cliff with a bottle of aspirin and alcohol and really considered ending it all. With my character of course.

Don't take it to heart, phillygirl. A lot of posters do not bother to read all of the posts in the threads they post in. It's something you just have to get used to, if you want to keep your sanity. The world is full of people who are more interested in talking than in listening.

Thanks Pseron, Been here a long time, but don't post alot anymore .
Was just trying to be helpful, but my big mouth got in the way.
Oh well. Thank god this forum isn't my life. I would be toasted. I'm way too sensitive. My apology was sincere though.
I guess I'm getting old.

I haven't tested this, but will the claw itself actually be there if you don't start The Golden Claw? Given Bethesda's tendency to 'baby' the MQ I assume it would be, but as I said I haven't tried it that way so have no data to back that up. Bethesda is also known for not having a related quest object spawn unless the quest it belongs to has been advanced to the proper point, so I'm unsure on this one.

Improtant NPCs can't die? I thought anyone could die. If they died, then their Kids or who ever else would take over from them. Or is this another aspect of Skyrim not in the game again?

Finally, the confirmation that I was not the only one. The 'make a leather helmet & give it to Alvor' quest was one of the most frustrating things in my early Skyrim days. Dragons, no big deal. Make a leather helmet? ZOMG! WUT? *sigh*

quest related NPCs can't die, except for radiant quest givers i think.