Over ten years ago, I purchased Risus: The Anything RPG Companion and solidified my place in the International Order of Risus as member #635. The membership card quickly became one of my most prized gaming possessions and I was very proud of it. This is in addition to the Companion becoming a great tool for games across the board and rivaling and even surpassing the power of the 1st Edition Dungeon Masters Guide.
Anyway, in my long distance move my membership card disappeared and could not find it anywhere. I flipped through every book, looked in every box, every drawer, etc. It was nowhere to be found. I reached out to SJR and at the time he was out of cards and as time went on eventually decided to stop doing them so I was never able to get a replacement.
Now that Risus is under new management , I contacted Dave LeCompte about a replacement and he was able to get new cards made and send me a replacement. Not only did he do this, but he has reinstated the membership cards across the board so new members of the order can get their official membership cards. I think this is a very important, noble, and great thing to do. The entire community and I appreciate these efforts. Also, Dave even included stick figure art!!! Woot!
So, after reading this rant, you are probably wondering what in the nine hells is the International Order of Risus? The IOR is an order for fans of the roleplaying game Risus that adhere to the charter as follows:
Article I - Our Purpose & Motto: The purpose of the Order is to promote, encourage and celebrate Risus, those who enjoy Risus, those who contribute to the Risus community, and the philosophy inherent to its design. Our motto is Imprimatur Domi - "Let it be printed at home."
Article II - Membership Standards: Membership in the Order is exclusive. However, the Order does not exclude members on the basis of sex, age, skin color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, wealth, politics, weight, height, eye color, toenail color, mode of dress, species, quirkiness of speech, religion, specific preference between Kei and Yuri and between the Thin Movie Reviewer and the Fat Movie Reviewer, preference for other game systems, or the lack of any of the preceding. In fact, the weirder you are, the better it is for the Order and the more interesting your personal Clichés will be.
Article III - The Membership Card: Members of the Order bear a physical membership document in the form of a card. This card may be used, for example, to provide access to "all-Risus orgies" hosted at science fiction conventions (should anyone choose to host such a thing). This card must legibly identify the member by number, but otherwise may be of any design. A traditional template is customary, but not mandated, so that the card may be a vehicle for personal expression and/or tiny, tiny animals in need of a raft. Membership numbers unadorned with alphabet codes indicate paid-in-full supporters of Risus. Membership codes prefixed by the letter "C" represent complimentary memberships such as those granted to contributing playtesters, co-conspirators, colleagues, and other things beginning with "C". Membership codes prefixed by the letter "X" represent special memberships, which the bearer must explain if asked by a fellow member. Membership codes prefixed by the letter "F" are forgeries.
Article IV - Preservation, Transferability & Edibility of Card: Members must carry their membership card whenever practicable, and keep it relatively dry. Membership cards are non-transferable and probably aren't edible, though the latter is more a matter of theory than policy.
Article V - Use of Motto and Coat of Arms: Members of the Order are exclusively entitled to emblazon their Risus documents, public and private, with the official Coat of Arms, with the Order's motto, and with any related, cheesy web-graphics provided by the Order for such purposes.
Article VI - Psychic Bedrock: Members must think happy thoughts about Risus at least once per month, in order to provide the psychic bedrock of affection and goodwill on which the game stands, towering over the horizon and broadcasting love to the universe.
Article VII - Casual Relationship with Publisher: Any member of the Order is presumed to be a "pal" of Dave LeCompte, and upon meeting him in person, may - without embarrassment, specific rationale or fear of reproach - ask him to remove his pants. Members of the Order recognize that Dave may choose not to comply with this request, but you never know. Members of the Order may remove their own pants as encouragement.
Article VIII - World Domination: Should any member of the Order, by chance or design, become ruler of the world, he will grant all members of the Order favored positions in his regime (including, but not limited to, well-paid but otherwise meaningless positions in his bureaucracy). Should he fail to do so, and also fail to dissolve the Order by whimsical decree, he shall relinquish his membership in the Order. Members of the Order recognize that domination of a larger area or dimensional multiplicity that includes the whole of the planet Earth is, for the purposes of Order policy, equivalent to world domination for this purpose.
Article IX - The Companion: Members of the Order have exclusive and perpetual access to The Risus Companion, but may extend access in the form of hardcopy printouts provided without charge to Risus gamers at their gaming table. Members recognize that floors, decks, beds, swimming pools and trampolines are the equivalent of tables for the purposes of this policy. The Risus Companion also serves - through specific references - as the Order's secret codebook for unlocking members-only archive files, providing passwords for secret gatherings, et cetera.
Article X - Community & Mutual Affection: Members of the Order will maintain a sense of community by gathering at conventions, game retailers and game clubs whenever possible, and by hugging. Individual gatherings may exclude some members of the Order on the basis of age, depending on applicable statute and how much rampant sex and alcohol is meant to be present, or on the basis of the possible successful invocation of Article VII.
Article XI - Maintenance of Mystique: When discussing the Order with outsiders, Members are free and encouraged to invent secret handshakes, code-phrases, and imply connections to the occult in order to maintain the Order's mystique. All such references should be vaguely (or overtly) titillating when practicable.
Article XII - Gentle Conquest: No member of the Order shall create any publicly presented Risus document (supplement, campaign, et al) that implies that the Companion is necessary to enjoy Risus. Furthermore, no member of the Order will ever suggest that any Risus game, played or described by any Risus gamer (member of the Order or not) is being played incorrectly. It is the solemn belief of the Order that we are capable of much subtler, more creative and friendlier ways of imposing our iron will upon an unsuspecting universe.
The next question is, how does one become part of this amazing order? Well, there is three easy steps.
- Purchase the Risus Companion
- Be a Champion of the Charter
- Contact Dave LaCompte with proof of purchase and he will get you sorted out as soon as he can.
Also, do not forget to check out
Risusverse! A great place where the community hosts their content.
