Author: S. John Ross
Category: game
Company/Publisher: S. John Ross
Line: Risus
Cost: Absolutely Free
Page count: 6
Playtest Review by Hollis McCray on 06/06/00.
Genre tags: Generic
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Raise your hand if you like getting things for free.
Okay, keep them raised if you like getting good things for free.
Everybody with their hand still up should definitely check out Risus.
Anybody with their hand not raised is just being silly.
Risus describes itself as "The Anything RPG," and it is. It's described by its creator as an RPG-Lite, for those nights when you want to game, but don't want to game hardcore.
Character creation is easy. Simply assign ten dice among 'cliches.' These represent broad catagories of skill, knowledge, or hobbies such as Fighter Pilot, Sorcerer, or Hairdresser. You can't put more than six dice in any cliche. According to the author, this take about 20 seconds. It would be more fair to say a few minutes, as player and GM argue back and forth about what a cliche is good for.
The 'core rules' of the system are really easy. You just want to roll higher than the target number set by the GM, or your opponent. Games of chess, giant space battles, and sorcerer's duels all come under this mechanic.
Neat bit: The winner gets to decide what happens to the loser. You can kill them if you want, or just leave them sitting there looking silly. So a sorcerer's duel could end with the loser being a pair of smoking boots, or a frog. Ribbit, ribbit.
Rules are included for teaming up, using cliches that aren't really appropriate, or for when somebody can't really join in. Using a cliche that really isn't appropriate is possible, "provided the player roleplays or describes it in a really, really, really, entertaining manner." Plus, it's got to be plausible within the conditions of the combat, and the tone of the game. But if it works, your opponent suffers more than if you had hit him with something appropriate.
Character advancement takes about a minute, max, and is handled by advancing the character's existing cliches, or adding new ones with GM approval.
The optional rules are just that, optional. Really simple, too. They include background stories for you character, betting dice to do better, and using dice besides the default six-sided dice.
Admittedly, there are a few holes in the system. It doesn't seem to lend itself well to serious gaming, and the only way character take damage is in a reduction in the level of their cliches.
Risus is available free (See? I told you so!) at http://www.io.com/~sjohn/risus.htm. The page includes Risus in four different formats (HTML< RTF, text, and PDF), as well as a list of links to other Risus pages. It's well worth the quick download.
Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)
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