May 2013
1 post
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Random generator site
It;s always nice to find a decent random generator site for RPGs. I don’t know how long Chaotic Shiny ( chaoticshiny.com) has been around, but I just discovered the awesome randomness contained herein. It has some interesting generators with some obvious Risus applications. The Class Mashup Generator, for instance, produces some very cliche-worthy results:
Entropy Scholar Hydronight...
April 2013
3 posts
4 tags
Full Contact Magic
Full Contact Magic is a clever little supplement freely available over at the Engine of Thwaak. Basic idea, is that the world was created by magical Lords and Ladies, who for unknown reasons left their creation before it was quite finished (some say a war back in their home world pulled them away).
Of course, the world descended into a bit of chaos, but has settled back down a bit more. It is now...
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An Interesting Hook for a Wizard
Cursed by a rival wizard, you are stuck with an awful stutter. Any magic that requires a verbal component is very difficult for you unless you sing it out. This has led to a nickname of the Crooning Wizard which drives you crazy; you are becoming quite (in)famous for it.
If you try not to sing out your spells, the difficulty of your spell goes way up. If someone calls you the Crooning Wizard,...
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Risus on Reddit →
If you are a Reddit user, you might want to check it out…
March 2013
4 posts
1 tag
RisusTalk Post by h3rne777 on the Death Spiral
This was posted to the RisusTalk mailing list…an amazing example of Risus combat in action:
There have already been some excellent answers to this, but here’s the crux. I would contend that RISUS is one of the few RPGs (please chime in with others but purely narrativist systems are cheating!) that would allow me to have the sword fight that I’ve always wanted to have in an RPG....
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Adventure Kickstart #1332A0F
It is a happy day in the kingdom; the young King has found true love and is to wed his beloved. The brave adventurers are invited (along with most of the nobles and other high ranking officials).
The couple complete their vows. Suddenly, something terrible happens. The King and his new Queen are murdered in front of everyone. It appears as if the culprit is one (or more) of the PCs...
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Making an Addictive Game
I’ve been playing way too much Book of Heroes (available for iOS and Android)…I think what makes it so addictive is that you have multiple “quests” or story lines all going on at the same time. I think that we have to remember that when working on adventures for good old fashioned RPGs.
Let players have more say in what quest they want to work on at a given time....
February 2013
2 posts
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January 2013
4 posts
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Campaign Cover Page →
This is a nifty little cover page you can make to summarize your campaign for any RPG so that potential players know what they need to know (from Dan Suptic).
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Chinese Hacking Assassins?
I don’t know if you listen to the Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe (you really should), but they have a segment in the show called Science or Fiction (where the host comes up with 3 stories where two of them are fact, and one of them is fiction, and you are supposed to figure out which one is the fiction along with the co-hosts).
On a recent episode, the fiction article was that...
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Let's Cook with Risus
This was originally published as a guest post at BerinKinsman.com - I thought I would share it here as well.
Before I explain why Risus is my utility system, here’s a quick review of what Risus is about:
Risus is billed as “The Anything RPG”. It was designed 20 years ago as a beer and pretzel, comedy system. However, once you are all “Kwai Chang Caine” about the system, it works for any style of...
December 2012
2 posts
Risus One Page Chalenge →
This time out, come up with a one page setting for a high magic, non-fantasy place of fun.
Municipal Organs of the Great Lakes
http://sailpunkheroes.wordpress.com/
It’s a blog dedicated to an open source setting for Risus that mashes hand-knit zeppelins, block party politics, the Hypermodern League, and banjo-playing saboteurs. Check it out!
November 2012
4 posts
1 tag
Risusiverse →
The new Risusiverse is alive and kicking complete with the risusiverse.com domain! It looks very nice and actually performs very well.
Dan Suptic did a great job!
You can join in on the fun at the new Risusiverse simply by sending in an email (directions on on the site).
My only wish would be for credits to be displayed; there is no indication who submitted the original article via the old...
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Shhhh →
Take a sneak peek at the new Risusiverse (Dan is doing a wonderful job so far; he must never sleep).
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Risusiverse (WetPaint) Credits
Once upon a time, not so very long ago (early 2006), an idea was sparked on the Risus/RisusTalk email list; wouldn’t it be cool if there were a fanzine out there for Risus.
Guy Hoyle, Hank Harwell, Tim Ballew, Karl Paananen, Stefan Shirley, Gabriel Whitehead, and myself (plus some I can’t name by name: dragonrider9935, ploympolym, and taps128) investigated options to make a Risus...
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Be A Better Player Fourteen →
I wonder what players who have to use all of the latest and greatest rules would do with a game like Risus which is complete in just 6 simple pages…I do agree with the sentiment of the article though.
peteramthor:
A new Be A Better Player article has gone up. Number fourteen and the title is “It costs money dammit”. Give it a read if you would and please give it a share so others can...
October 2012
4 posts
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Share your Risus Thought of the Moment →
Just a reminder that this is supposed to be a group blog. You are more than welcome to become a contributor to the site simply by submitting your Risus Thought of the Moment. You can also ask Risus Questions.
If you want to go all in and join the Risus Thought of the Moment page as a regular contributor, just contact us via the Risus Questions link (point to examples of your writing please; and...
Across all genres, but with a twist: the AMAZING...
Hi guys. Please let me introduce my latest Risus shenanigan to you :) For role players, it’s often disappointing and boring that the experience points of their characters don’t carry over into a new game world, and they have to start from scratch there. The “Amazing Engine” system of TSR shows that there’s another way to handle this. In “Amazing...
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Uresia - From the Hip Review
Once upon a time, Guardians of Order arose to protect the roleplaying landscape against the forces of Chaotic Market. Guardians of Order fought valiantly, but in the end, the relentless energy of Chaotic Market slew them. Like fallen armor and weapons of a valiant hero, pieces of Guardians of Order were picked up by others in an attempt to continue the battle. A token fell from the sky. The...
Helden & Abenteuer: German Risus-based fantasy rpg
Dear fellow Risus enthusiasts, a couple of years ago, I published the first edition of “Helden & Abenteuer” (“Heroes & Adventures”), a fantasy rpg based on Risus, in German. A lot of things were not quite right, and I’ve always wanted to write a second edition to my game. Well, last week I began re-writing the rules. It’ll be available as free download...
September 2012
7 posts
2 tags
Uresius - Grave of Anything
Uresius is a new version of the Risus rules, recast for use with Uresia. The layout and everything blends right in with the new All-System-Library version of Uresia; complete with a new sample cliché list to go along with the setting; and a couple of different optional rules that are fairly common in use from the Risus Companion (specifically, Lucky Shots and Questing Dice). It also adds a new...
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“I think a good rule of thumb is to say “in another RPG, would this thing...”
– Karl Paananen via the RisusTalk Mailing List - part of a discussion about tools of the trade vs. using clichés to define things related to your character.
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The Bearable Weight of Being Light-Weight
Risus is a light-weight system. The entire rule set fits within 6 pages in the PDF (complete with a couple of high quality stick figures). However, it is amazing how well the subtitle of the “Anything RPG” actually fits without tweaks.
Sure, it is tempting to want to add more to the system. I have been guilty of that (especially with Ars Incantâtio). However, once you get your head...
August 2012
3 posts
1 tag
I wrote a post about magic and aging in fantasy... →
fuckyeah-nerdery:
It was inspired by three posts about aging caused by magic in RPGs. Basically, the idea is that when a player character is healed by magic, it ages them one day for each HP recovered, with the chance of them aging a year. It gave me the idea for a post about magical aging in fantasy, with that being the reason why there are so many old, white bearded wizards. What if those guys...
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July 2012
1 post
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10 Civilizations That Disappeared Under Mysterious... →
Just in case you needed some inspiration to add some lost civilizations to your campaign, check out this IO9 article that lists 10 from good old Earth.
June 2012
4 posts
2 tags
Gamers Against Bigotry →
wilwheaton:
THE PLEDGE: As a gamer, I realize I contribute to an incredibly diverse social network of gamers around the world, and that my actions have the ability to impact others. In effort to make a positive impact, and to create a community that is welcoming to all, I pledge to not use bigoted language while gaming, online and otherwise. Bigoted language includes, but is not limited to,...
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On D&D Next...
Anyone who is interested has probably signed up for and reviewed the first play test for the next version of D&D. I must say that what I see so far, I like.
However, it is about time that D&D caught up to Risus.
Just look at the characters. Sure, they have a bunch of stats (and Risus has none of that), but look at the rest. You have a Race (your culture), a Class (what you are good...
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comment on Kane Chronicles
(Since Disqus changed the way they do things, I can’t use their comment system anymore; it’s broken no matter what options I use for authentication. So I’m forced to offer my comment as a submission instead.)
re: Gods as sidekicks. Instead of losing dice for using god-powers, go the other direction: every time you use the divine connection, ADD a die to the god-cliché. If the...
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Kane Chronicles Concept...
A basic idea in the Kane Chronicles (by Rick Riordan) is that a sorcerer can channel the power of the gods to go ballistic on their enemies. This seems to be a one god limit (you are basically linked up with a given god and will share many traits with that particular god). However, when using the god’s abilities, the god has a tendency to want to take over, and puny mortal limits mean...
May 2012
1 post
2 tags
April 2012
5 posts
2 tags
In Her Majesty's Service →
A very nifty steampunk style setting for Risus - complete with Player Guide, World Guide, and a map. Go check it out!
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Risus Pre-Gen Character Cards
I saw these at Stuart Robertson’s blog for his Weird West game, and I thought what a great way to introduce new players to Risus at a con or whatever: CCG-style pre-gen Character Cards for Risus!
Take a look!
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RPGNow - Knights of Torque and Recoil Review →
I did another review for Asparagus Jumpsuit - this time for Knights of Torque and Recoil. This is another system-less release. This time, you are in a modern/pulp style setting complete with an evil organization out to get you. A fun addition to any library.
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Risus Hacks, Mavel-Style →
Berin Kinsman put out an idea liberated from the new Marvel game for Risus. Check it out!
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RPGNow - The Compleat Shemp Review →
I have posted a review of the Compleat Shemp over at RPGNow. In a nutshell, this is a terrific supplement for any GM who is looking to streamline the process of creating and managing NPCs. Well worth the asking price.
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March 2012
10 posts
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Risus Roll and Keep →
Imagine if you always rolled 6 dice, and just kept the number of dice that match your cliché level.
Favorite quote of the article: It’s more fun that way” is the best reason to do anything in a roleplaying game.
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Risus Kickstarter Last Week →
Almost enough in the kitty to get 3 adventures out of it…
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Update #4: Scent of Baking Bread →
“In which Q meets A across a friendly ampersand, and they chat.”
A very interesting read for the Risus Kickstarter campaign.
