There was a dark time during my disillusion with gaming era that I almost turned my back on gaming. It was one sleepless night that I decided to purview some of the forums I frequent and in one of those threads a role playing game called Risus by S. John Ross was mentioned off handily - it wasn't even what the thread was about. Well, this quickly lead me to ye olde google and I found Risus with little effort.
After reading through the handful of pages I was inspired and instantly my love of gaming was reinvigorated. I cannot stress enough how the game itself and the community was a breath of fresh air. Everyone in the community always offered support or advice for hacking Risus and using it in anyway, shape or form. There is really no wrong way to do Risus.
I have used it to run a zombie survival game/campaign, a Star Wars game/campaign, a sword and sorcery game/campaign, super heroes (it really shines with that genre), beer and pretzel one shots, and even Bunnies and Burrows. Plus, it is just fun to hack and play in general.
You also cannot go wrong with the art either...
I have used it to run a zombie survival game/campaign, a Star Wars game/campaign, a sword and sorcery game/campaign, super heroes (it really shines with that genre), beer and pretzel one shots, and even Bunnies and Burrows. Plus, it is just fun to hack and play in general.
You also cannot go wrong with the art either...
Risus: The Anything RPG can run any genre of game you want and even whatever insane multi-universe game you have always wanted to run but never found a system that would do it without a P.H.D. in mathematics.
I do not want to turn this into a review but the game clocks in at a whopping four pages and uses a single pool of d6's vs. a target number. At character creation you get 10 dice to allocate into cliche's and no starting cliche can be more then 4. Risus describes a cliche as shorthand for the kind of person, implying their skills, background, social role, and more. There are other additional ways you can spend the starting cliche dice such as Lucky Shots, Quest Dice, Hooks and Tales, and Shield Mates/Sidekicks (these are actual all optional rules). This may sound really simple but you can create very detailed and well rounded characters with lots of personality. Here is an example;
I do not want to turn this into a review but the game clocks in at a whopping four pages and uses a single pool of d6's vs. a target number. At character creation you get 10 dice to allocate into cliche's and no starting cliche can be more then 4. Risus describes a cliche as shorthand for the kind of person, implying their skills, background, social role, and more. There are other additional ways you can spend the starting cliche dice such as Lucky Shots, Quest Dice, Hooks and Tales, and Shield Mates/Sidekicks (these are actual all optional rules). This may sound really simple but you can create very detailed and well rounded characters with lots of personality. Here is an example;
In addition to the awesome community, there is a fan club, The International Order of Risus and I am proud member #635. There is even a charter and everything. The secret to getting in is getting your hands on the Risus Companion - which is a 64 page companion for a 4 page game. The Risus Companion has some of the best GM advice and player advice I have ever came across. It is a true diamond in the rough.
I really cannot say enough good things about this game and even attempt to convey how much it has helped me in the past. Do yourself a favor forget to pick up the The Risus Companion (IT'S FREE!) and The Risus Companion. There is also Toast of the Town which is a FREE fantasy pulp adventure and if you want to get crazy there is A Kringle in Time. The entire Risus catalog can be found here from BIG DICE GAMES!
Don't forget the character sheets and this sweet custom character sheet along with its form fillable version made by Mr. Gone.
As far as the community goes, here are some links to help you down the rabbit hole;
MAY IT BE PRINTED AT HOME
How have you handled the master villains clichés in your superheroic campaign, James? How many dice have you assigned to them in order to balance the game?
ReplyDeleteIt all depends on your desired power level. I usually give the big bad two core cliches, then I'll add on other small background/rounding cliches as I see fit to help "absorb" damage.
ReplyDeleteBest. Game. Ever.
ReplyDeleteBut you already knew that. ;-)
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ReplyDelete