Risus is a complete Role Playing Game (RPG) designed to provide an "RPG Lite" for those nights when
the brain is too tired for exacting detail. Risus is especially valuable to GMs assembling a quick game,
or any late-night beer-and-pretzels outing. While it is essentially a Universal Comedy System, it works
just as well for serious play (if you insist!). Best of all, making a Risus character takes only 20 seconds.
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CHARACTER CREATION
Characters are defined by Clichés (sometimes several of them). Clichés are a shorthand which describe
what a character knows how to do. The "character classes" of the Neolithic Period of RPGs were in fact
Clichés: Fighter and Magic-User, Space Marine and Star Merchant. You can take a Clichés like that, or
choose a more contemporary one, such as Biker, Spy, Computer Nerd, Supermodel, or William Shatner
(formerly an actor - now just a Cliché). Which Clichés that are permitted in the game are up to the GM.
Clichés are defined in terms of Dice (by which we mean the ordinary six-sided kind you can scavenge
from your old Yahtzee set). This is the number of dice you roll whenever your skill as a Supermodel,
Fighter, or William Shatner (for instance) is challenged.
Characters are created by naming and describing their Clichés. When designing your character, you
have 10 dice with which to define his Clichés.
GAME SYSTEM
Whenever anybody wants to do something, and nobody is actively trying to stop them, AND the GM
doesn't think that success would be automatic, the players role dice. If the total rolled beats (equals
or exceeds) the Target Number the GM sets, success! If not, failure!
