The Anything RPG?
Really. You can use Risus for any type of roleplaying game. That being said, Risus isn't the everyone roleplaying game. If you are looking for a rules-lite style of game, Risus might be worth checking out.
What is Risus?
huh?
Risus is a pen and paper roleplaying game (you know, one of those games where you take on the role of a character in a given setting and react to the situations presented to you by the other players, roll dice and have fun). This roleplaying game is freely available from the Risus website. How can you go wrong with a free game (especially a game that is very complete at only 6 pages in a PDF file). 
Celebrating 15 years online!
Who Might Play Risus?
Anyone who is looking for a roleplaying game that doesn't require a huge investment might enjoy Risus.- Risus is free.
- Risus can be used for any style of roleplaying - from silly to serious.
- Risus is a universal system - you can use it for any genre you can imagine.
- Risus doesn't require a huge time commitment (you can create your character in minutes).
Risus at Wikipedia
encyclopedic
Risus: The Anything RPG is a rules-light generic role-playing game (RPG) written, designed and illustrated by S. John Ross of Cumberland Games and Diversions. Risus is available for free on the web. It was first published online in 1993. Earlier versions of the game were titled GUCS: The Generic Universal Comedy System (a parody of GURPS) and were distributed privately beginning in 1989.
Risus (Latin for ?laughter?) is a comedy game (often described by its creator as a "joke game") and uses a cliché (character class) system inspired by the broad "career scale" skills in Greg Gorden's DC Heroes RPG (Mayfair Games), and later influenced by Atlas Games' Over the Edge. The core systems of Risus owe their largest debt to the Ghostbusters RPG published by West End Games, and to Tunnels and Trolls by Ken St. Andre. The game itself also cites GURPS as an influence, along with FUDGE, another free RPG released to the web a year earlier. Several more recent games have been, in turn, influenced by Risus.
Despite the game's small size and admittedly joking nature, there are more than 30 fan-authored websites devoted to Risus, some including several rules variants, simple worldbooks, and wholly rewritten adaptations of the game. Risus itself has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, French, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Croatian, Czech, Polish, and Norwegian. In December, 2003, Cumberland Games began to support the free game with commercial supplements, beginning with the Risus Companion and the founding of the International Order of Risus. An example of another commercial product is A Kringle in Time, "an adventure about saving Christmas from ancient evil."
New Risus won the 2001 inaugural RPGnet award for Best Free RPG.
What's in a Cliché?
the power of stereotypes
In a majority of roleplaying games, you can spend hours and maybe even need the assistance of a computer program or calculator in creating and defining your character. Risus skips all of that.In Risus, there aren't any statistics for how strong or how smart you are. There isn't a huge skill list or power list. In Risus, you are defined by clichés. A cliché is a simple short hand way of doing all that work that you do in other roleplaying games.
You simply use the power of a cliché to represent everything your character is good at. Quick, simple, and effective.
Basic Mechanics
roll your dice, move your mice
In basic terms, Risus uses a dice pool to resolve things. Your clichés have a numerical rating of 1-6. That rating determines how many dice you roll to see if you are successful at something. Just roll your dice and see if your total is greater than whatever number represented your target (either a set number or another dice roll from another player or the game master).Of course, there are plenty of options and variations in the rules, but that is the basics of it.
Risus Fu
combat baby
The basics of combat are this: roll the dice for whichever cliché you are using. Your opponent does the same. If you roll higher than your opponent, you win the round and your opponent's cliché rating drops by one. If you reach zero, you lose; if you get your opponent to zero, you win.Of course, this is Risus so combat is really a whole lot more subtle. A cliché rating doesn't equal hit points or anything concrete like in other games. A lowering of cliché simply means that you are being worn down by some means. You aren't as effective as you were a minute ago.
In Risus, combat isn't necessarily deadly. The winner gets to declare what happens to the loser (and combat isn't necessarily about trying to kill someone). A chess match is just as much a combat as a sword fight.
Sample Character (humorous) - Conrad Mulligan
Risus Actual Play
Check out this Domnio: Risus Dungeon Actual Play post.
Risus Support
risus fans are the best fans
Just how great a game is can be seen by the support it gets in the fan community. In the case of Risus, that support is legion (for a freely available 6 page rpg).There are Yahoo!Groups dedicated to Risus. The Risus website lists a ton of freely available settings. And there is Risusiverse - a fan based wiki just for Risus.
Yahoo!Groups
When you really want to discuss Risus
- Official Risus List
- The Official Risus list is primarily an announcement forum where new Risus releases, news, freebies and links are made public.
- RisusTalk
- A fan created list to discuss Risus rules and options.
Risus Voices
rumblings from the Yahoo!Groups
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byRisusiverse
The Anything RPG wiki
Risusiverse is a wiki-based community with a load of Risus information: Optional rules, settings, adventures, and more. Well worth checking out and joining. Risusiverse: Recently Updated Content
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byInternational Order of Risus
let it be printed at home
If you really get into the Risus groove, you might want to join the International Order of Risus. You get all sorts of interesting benefits (including a nifty membership card).In order to join the Order, you simply purchase the Risus Companion - a 64 page guidebook for a 6 page RPG. While the Companion is not required for play, it does provide quite a lot of guidance so that you can really ride on the Zen of Risus.
Cumberland Games at LuLu.com
in case you want to buy Risus in print form
- Cumberland Game's Storefront
- You can purchase everything S. John Ross has to say (so far) on Risus through the Cumberland Games Storefront at the print on demand service - LuLu.com.
What do you think of Risus?
What's Missing?
What would you like to see added to this page so you would really grok Risus?
Pen and Paper Roleplaying Headquarters
- Pen and Paper Roleplaying Headquarters
- Pen and Paper Roleplaying A Squidoo group dedicated to the old fashioned roleplaying games - if you have an RPG lens, add it to the group.
Risus Fans Around the World
pins on a map
If you are a Risus fan, you might want to put yourself on the Frapper map for Risus Fans. Reader Feedback
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Nishith
You really seem to know your stuff....Do checkout my contribution at COMPUTER CARE : Solution to windows problems Posted September 23, 2008 |
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oniyagi
In all of my years as a gamer, I've never heard of this one. I WILL be checking it out now though. 5* and my eternal gratitude! Posted January 17, 2008 |
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JayShaffstall
Great intro lens about one of my favorite RPGs! Posted January 15, 2008 |
