This is a boring post. Feel free to skim or skip, but I have to ask
(cross-posted to three mailing lists, which makes it extra tedious, I know) :(

Those of you who order from Lulu ... Please drop me an email when the
process is done and tell me how it went. I'm collecting as many reports as
I can because I'm assembling a web-page about it, a kind of consumer's
guide to getting the most from what is, I've found, a very excellent
service overall. I've got my EC softcover and hardcover right here and
they're just adorably cool :) I really like the cream stock, too; very easy
on the eyes. Of course, a Wooky in a bikini top enhances that.

So far, the only "troubles" I've had with Lulu haven't been with Lulu at
all but with the Post Office. The cheapest form of shipping seems fraught
with odd delays and perils ... I had my proof copy of Fief sit in Denver
for 9 days, and in one case a copy of Risus Companion was lost for several
weeks to parts unknown. When that happened, Lulu stepped in and sent me a
replacement by Priority. So they seem very cool all around, but I want to
gather general experiences, info on the gap between ordering and printing,
printing and shipping, and so on, in order to help future customers get
their best from it.



|| S. John Ross
|| Husband · Cook · Writer
|| In That Order
|| http://www.io.com/~sjohn

A groovy new Risus piece submitted by correspondence. This needs a home on the
web, but the author has no webspace! If you've got a Risus site and you'd like
to host it for him, contact him at the info at the end of the article (and let
me know so I can make sure the main Risus page links to it) :)

================================================================================\
================


Risus
Mariachi



A Risus setting created by Dan Suptic ©2006
A note about Risus
Risus is a free and easy to learn role playing game (created by S. John Ross)
that is used to play Risus Mariachi.  Simply go to the freebie page on
http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm and download it there.  The whole system
is 6 pages long, and that’s all you’ll need to play.  Download it, print it,
heck, even put it in a nice 6-page binder.  So long as you understand it, you’ll
be able to play Risus Mariachi.

The world of Risus Mariachi
All across the USA are people who love music.  Some people love rock and roll,
some love rap, and some even love disco.  But you and your companions know the
truth.  The best music in the world is…Mariachi!  Yes, that beautiful Spanish
guitar, the folk harp, and the guitarrón and vihuelas make the perfect musical
performance that people will love.  But a lot of muchachos and muchachas are
lured into less perfect music by many performers around the country.  So it is
you and your band mate’s duty to convert these misled peoples to the wonder of
mariachi, and to also stop the other band’s seemingly endless bids for world
domination.  Yes, you will play for crowds, hone your mariachi playing skills,
and battle the other non-mariachi bands and their minions as they try to take
over the world.  Welcome to Risus Mariachi.  ¡Olé!

Character Creation  Me Llamo Risus
In Risus Mariachi, you play a Spaniard mariachi band member who has come to the
USA to impress and possibly convert the ignorant masses to the great beauty of
mariachi.  You need appropriate clichés to play for crowds, to fight the minions
of other bands, and to speak good enough English to get information to and from
the locals.  Options I and II are both used (hooks and tales, and pumping
clichés).

Musical Clichés  Me Canto
In order to entertain (and hopefully convert) fans of other music types, you
have to have some ability to play music.  In fact, it works better if your whole
group can play, so make sure everyone in the group takes at least 1 cliché in
some type of mariachi instrument playing.  Some example clichés follow.

Spanish guitarist
Bass player
Muted trumpeter
Spanish vocalist
Tambourine or maracas percussionist
Folk harp player
Violinist

This cliché will be quite important as it is used to gain new followers in the
mariachi culture and to deplete other bands of their fan base.
Combat Clichés  ¡Estoy Enojado!
Sometimes you have to beat down a group of angry heavy metal fans to get to your
gig.  Sometimes a rapper will try to bust a cap in your skull for trying to
steal his fans.  Sometimes a group of disco lovers will walk up ready for a
break-dance style beat down.  But fear not, hombre!  Just because you are a kind
and peaceful mariachi player doesn’t mean you can’t fight back!  And taking a
decent combat cliché like the ones below will ensure you come out with your
cajonés attached.

Brawler
Wrestler
Bullfighter
Boxer
Desperado
Bandito
etc.

This is also an important cliché, but it should not be the main focus of your
character.  Even if you can hit a bull’s-eye from 200 feet away with a .22 cal,
your true love and purpose belongs to mariachi!

Special cliché  English Speaker  Yo Hablo Inglés
Your character has just come off the boat/plane/etc from Spain or Mexico. 
Therefore, it can be useful to take the English Speaker cliché.  At least one
character in the group should take this at a reasonable level; otherwise, it’s
hard to get around the good ol’ US of A.  You never need to roll against your
English Speaker cliché  the level of this cliché simply determines how you have
to talk when you’re talking in character.  Whenever you’re explaining actions to
the GM, or explaining things to the other PCs, you may use your normal voice,
regardless of your English Speaker cliché.

English Speaker (0)  You must always speak in Spanish.  If you can’t speak
Spanish, you must talk in as close to Spanish as you can fake.  Most people
outside of your band don’t understand a word you say.

English Speaker (1)  50% of what you say has to be Spanish or fake Spanish.  You
must talk with a heavy accent (rolling your R’s, etc.)

English Speaker (2)  You have a moderate Spanish accent.  10% of what you say
must be in Spanish or fake Spanish.

English Speaker (3)  You have a slight Spanish accent.  Once or twice in a
conversation, you will throw in a Spanish or fake Spanish word.

English Speaker (4)  You may use your normal voice all the time.  A little
boring, but useful if you are not good with Spanish or accents.
Handy Spanish phrases
Yes  Sí
No  No
Good  Bueno
Bad  Malo
Help  Ayuda
Run  Corra
We’re on fire! (as in, we’re rocking hard)- ¡Estoy en fuego!
Hello - Hola
Goodbye - Adios
Hello (city)  Hola, (city)
Goodnight (city)  Beuno noches, (city)
One, two, one, two, three, four  Uno, Dos, Uno, Dos, Tres, Quatro
Prepare to die! - ¡Preparas a morir!

Entertaining and Converting Fans - ¡Escuchame!
One of the most important parts of this game (and your character’s life) is to
entertain and even convert groups of fans to the mariachi type.  Whenever you
and your band play for a group of fans, you use the Teaming Up option in the
main rules.  Whoever is the Leader at that show counts all their dice when they
roll, and the other band members contribute any sixes they roll.  If you don’t
beat the entertain target number, the crowd gets annoyed and forces you off the
stage.  If you beat the entertain target number, but not the convert target
number, the crowd really enjoys the show, but stays true fans to their original
type of music.  If you beat the convert target number, this local of fans is now
a mariachi fan base!  To find the target numbers, just look under Fan Type to
find what type of fans you’re dealing with.  If you don’t see the Fan Type,
select one that is as close to the fan type as possible.

Fan Type                                   Entertain TN      Convert TN
Mariachi                                         0*                      0**
Salsa, Mexican polka, anything Spanish   5                      10
Classic rock, blues, classical, ska             10                      20
Hard rock, alternative, new age         15                      30
Heavy metal, hip hop, rap                       20                      40
Death metal, speed metal, techno                25                      50
Very esoteric regional music, Björk             30                      60

* it takes no effort to entertain mariachi fans
** they’re already mariachi fans  you don’t need to convert them

If another band tries to entertain or convert mariachi fans away from your fan
base, use the same table above, but instead of looking at the fans (which will
be mariachi), look for the performer type in the fan type field.  Therefore, if
a New Age group tried to play for a crowd of mariachi fans, they would need to
get a 15 to entertain them, and a 30 to convert them to New Age fans.
Inevitable Battle - ¡Es el tiempo para muerte!
Mariachi is pure, holy, and el mejor buena música.  Other types of bands hate
mariachi and all it stands for.  While mariachi band members are naturally
peaceful and kind, there comes many times where they must defend themselves. 
Attacks come from many fronts, but the main 3 are from fans, hired security, and
band members.  ¡Es malo multiplica de tres!  The samples provided below are just
samples  feel free to make your own fans, security, and band members.

Sample Fans

Metal head  Brawler (2), Mosher (2)
Hippie  Bottle chucker (2), Drug user (4)
Cowboy  Marksman (3)
Goth  Apathetic fighter (2), Apathetic drinker (4)
Gansta  Gangster (2), Brawler (2)
Rave Junkie  Hyperactive berserker (3)
Old time rocker  Ass kicker (2), Whiner (4)
Alternative rocker  Brawler (2), Whiner (2)
Punk  Thug (2), Skateboarder (3)
etc. etc. etc.

Sample Security Personal

Rent-a-cop  Marksman (2)
Rent-an-actual-cop  Marksman (3), Brawler (2), Taser expert (2)
Big beefy bruiser  Brawler (4)
Karate Cop  Martial arts (3)
Taser cop  Taser expert (3)
Pepper spray cop  Crowd control personnel (3)
etc. etc. etc.

Sample Band Members

While both fans and security can be pretty generic characters, it’s always good
to have your band members be fully fleshed out.  Band members should be built
around 10 dice, so as to present a true threat to your PCs.  The band members
below work well as leaders of their bands; build bands around these iconic
characters.  ¡Qué especial!

Bling-a-thang
Rapper (4), Gangster (3), Legal loophole expert (3)

Dorian Greyblood
Creepy goth singer (3), Actual real life necromancer (4), Whiny goth (3)

Paul McSampson
Country music guitarist (4), Bar room brawler (4), Binge drinker (2)
Attax
Heavy metal drummer (4), All around thug (3), Drug dealer (2), Songwriter (1)

Timothy Salderson
Classical pianist (4), Fencer (4), Poet (2)

DJ Suptic
Techno DJ (4), Mixer (3), Discordian (3)

Sian Sukaru
Asian sitar player (3), Martial artist (4), Zen monk (2), Artist (1)

Björk
Crazy singer (4), Crazy songwriter (3), Crazy Icelandic ninja (3)

Adventure Seeds - ¿Qué haces ahora?
These adventure seeds will help set up a Risus Mariachi campaign, or breathe new
life into an existing campaign.  Feel free to adjust the specifics to your own
group’s liking.

Home base
This is a good seed for the beginning of a campaign.  The PCs enter the USA with
no money or place to live.  They must find a gig, preferably with fans that will
be easy to convert.  Once they find a local with loyal mariachi fans, the PCs
can start to build a power base to spread the music.

Jail break
The PCs have ended up in jail after a really bad show.  They must gather a team
of skilled inmates by converting them to mariachi fans.  First problem, all the
inmates are either heavy metal or rap fans.  Second problem, the PCs have no
instruments.  Third problem, the PCs are set for execution by elevator music in
one week.

The race for the stage
Some huge city has an opening for a band to play.  The catch is, the populace of
the city has been listening to such dull music, that any band that plays for
them will win them over as fans!  The PCs must sign their band in person, and
will have to race against metal head, goths, punks, and hippies to get to the
prize.

Blue man blues
The PCs find out one of their fan bases has been turned into Blue Man Group fans
(use statistics for new age fans).  They found a way to play a show right after
the Blue Man Group, but because of the unique nature of how Blue Man Group
performs, not only must they outplay them, they must also put on a more
interesting and bizarre show.  Good luck!

A plea for help
One night, after a really good rehearsal, one of the PCs finds a note is his
tequila bottle.  It seems a city far away has come under the total grip of Björk
fans.  The writer of the note is sending a desperate plea to free his city from
the grip of the fans.  The PCs must hone their skills until they are ready to
take on the crowd of Björk fans and win them back over to the light.  The light
called...mariachi!

Stage fright
The PCs are on stage performing when out of nowhere, skeletons attack!  For
real!  It’s the work of Dorian Greyblood, the evil, goth singing necromancer. 
Dorian is trying to win back a fan base the PCs recently stole from him, and
won’t rest until the PCs are dead.  Looks like it’s time to pay Señor Dorian a
visit.

Character Example  ¡Hola, Amigo!
Here’s an example of a character ready to jump into the world of Risus Mariachi.
If he can a few band mates and a place to call home, he’ll be ready to start
converting fans to the greatest cause in the world  mariachi!  ¡Bueno trabajo,
hombre!

El Torrido
Bass player (4)
Bandito (4)
Cook (3)
English speaker (1)

Hook  Alcoholic  If El Torrido ever gets his hands on a few drinks, he will
drink himself stupid.  While drunk, all of El Torrido’s cliché roll results are
divided by two, rounded down.

Tale  El Torrido grew up in the town of Meso Pueblo in the northern parts of
Mexico.  His father taught him from a young age to love and respect mariachi
music.  El Torrido was a street punk, who soon learned he had a knack for overly
dramatic criminal flair.  When El Torrido turned 16, he got a job at the local
Wal-Mart (they’re everywhere, aren’t they?).  Once he saved up some money, he
bought himself a 5 stringed bass and started teaching himself some great
mariachi tunes.  On his 20th birthday, he bought a plane ticket to the USA and
landed in Denver Colorado.  He still can’t speak English to well, but when the
going gets tough, he reverts to his younger days as a little bandito and scares
problems away with his two silver plated desert eagles (painted with gold
frillwork to look very impressive).  El Torrido is now looking for bandmates to
help him get going in the strange new world.

Adios, mi amigos
Well, that’s the world of Risus Mariachi.  I hope you enjoy running it.  If you
have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at dantopia5@...
Until then, keep that guitar tuned, muchachos.  ¡Adios!

I've added Dan's original "Risus Mariachi" file (in Microsoft Word .DOC format)
to the mailing-list Files section; it's much prettier than the crude plaintext
paste in my prior post :)

I want to play the Guitarun!




|| S. John Ross
|| Husband · Cook · Writer
|| In That Order
|| http://www.io.com/~sjohn

If you download the Risus Mariachi document, you can go ahead and
change all the text to black color, instead of half red text and half
black text.  I'm red/green colorblind, and my computer seems to like
to randomly change the color of my text.

>If you download the Risus Mariachi document, you can go ahead and
>change all the text to black color, instead of half red text and half
>black text.  I'm red/green colorblind, and my computer seems to like
>to randomly change the color of my text.

Computers learn and exploit our weaknesses; it's all part of the eventual Rise
of the Machines.

My computer is always distracting me with photo wallpapers of my favorite pop
stars and actresses, for example. It's uncanny. Sandra asks me "Oh my god, what
is she wearing?" and I can only shrug in perfect, innocent ignorance.



|| S. John Ross
|| Husband · Cook · Writer
|| In That Order
|| http://www.io.com/~sjohn

Saha!

>Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 16:45:32 -0500
>From: "Risus Monkey" <risusmonkey@...>
>To: "S. John Ross" <sjohn@...>
>Subject: Re: [Risus] Risus Mariachi, by Dan Suptic
>
>
>Risus Mariachi is now being hosted at the Risus Monkey:
<http://www.velvet-edge.com/risusmonkey/mariachi.html>http://www.velvet-edge.com\
/risusmonkey/mariachi.html.
>
>Tim

|| S. John Ross
|| Husband · Cook · Writer
|| In That Order
|| http://www.io.com/~sjohn

As an point of possible interest or momentary amusement, the next person to join
the International Order of Risus (either by ordering the Risus Companion or by
ordering one of the Lulu titles and immediately reporting the order as per the
website) will be assigned #300.

Which isn't to say they'll be the 300th member, or even the 300th customer, or
the 300th card ... We've already got well over 300 members, an
impossible-to-determine number of customers somewhere just over 300 (probably)
and somewhere in the middle-two-hundreds as far as issued cards go (not everyone
bothers).

Wow, quite a lot of fiddly numbers for something Risus!

Anyway, the next person to join is member #300 ... which is to say, the 300th
person added to the regular (non-prefixed) roster. :)

Groovy!



|| S. John Ross
|| Husband · Cook · Writer
|| In That Order
|| http://www.io.com/~sjohn

Here Ye!  Here Ye!

This is an official, honest-to-goodness call for articles for
Risusiverse, the unofficial magazine of all things Risusy!

We ar currently in the beginning of the final stages of planning this
fabulous new project and would like to pick YOUR brains for material.

Below you will find our current guidelines for submissions.  All
submissions should be sent to risusiverseATgmail.com, and not here,
thankyouverymuch.  Oh, and by the way, Risusiverse is FREE!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Risusiverse Submission Guidelines
Risusiverse
A free online magazine devoted to Risus roleplaying

Submission Guidelines
Consider this your invitation to submit something. In order to meet
our deadlines (what's that?), we need material. What kinds of
material? All kinds. Without good material, this `zine would not
exist. So consider this a mutually beneficial opportunity: you send
stuff in to us, we publish it and you can bask in the glory of having
your work published. Here are some things to consider when planning a
submission:

What Gets In
+ Written articles and/or art that relates to Risus in some way or is
of a non-system specific nature that might be of some use to Risus
gamers.
+ Material that has already been published (on a personal webpage,
for example) is acceptable as long as there are no legal issues
regarding our republication.
+ All forms of artwork are acceptable – hand drawn, computer
generated, computer modified photographs, etc. – as long as it is
converted to the proper image format for our use (.gif, .jpg,
or .png). Stick figure art is especially appreciated. Art work
submitted that is not related to a specific article will most likely
be used to enhance the content of another article (full credit will
be given).
+ You must be the legal owner of the submission and you retain
responsibility for it (works released under an appropriate Creative
Commons license will also be considered).

What We Don't Want
+ We don't want your story of the week or other work of fiction
(including but not limited to a play by play of your current
campaign – however, we are interested in publishing interesting
characters; we're just strange that way).
+ All submissions should be appropriate for a general audience (it's
not us, but our mothers might check this out, so try to keep it
family friendly).
+ We aren't really looking for any ongoing, regular thing (column,
series, etc.). However, we won't say no to good content (but if you
really want it labeled as an ongoing thing, you need to contact us
with a darn good proposal first).

How We Want It
+ Plain text (i.e. a .txt file) works best for us (while we might be
cognizant of html, TWiki markup, bbcodes and what not, we really
don't want to have to deal with that here). However, we do appreciate
it if you try to include indicators of what are your headers,
section, subheads, or anything else that might help us format your
file. Try to avoid sidebars if possible (the simpler, the better).

Since your name will be going on the thing (and we're just lazy),
make certain your article:
+ passes a basic spelling check
+ has consistent grammar
+ says what you wanted it to say in a concise manner (this one can be
pretty tricky)
+ All graphics must include the artists signature or other defining
mark (don't expect us to keep track of your art for you).

Standards and Practices
"Risus", not "RISUS"
"Roleplaying", not "Role-Playing"
"Gamemaster" or "GM", not "Game Master" or "Game-master"
"Player Character" or "PC"

How To Send It To Us
+ All submissions should include the authors email address and real
name. Neither of them need to be published, but we need to have them.
If you wish to have your email address suppressed or your work credit
to a handle or nickname, include that information in your email
message. Unless you specifically tell us otherwise, we will list your
real name and email address with the article.
+ All submissions should be included in the body of the email,
attachments can cause unnecessary difficulties
Article submissions should be emailed to risusiverse at gmail.com –
please put "[SUB] Title of Submission" in the subject line of your
email. For example: "[SUB] Rock-Scissor-Paper Risus Resolution". If
you have associated art to submit, attach it to your message
(compressed with .zip compression to save on server space and
bandwidth).
+ If you have an independent art submission you should email
risusiverse at gmail.com – and attach your images (compressed
with .zip compression to save on server space and bandwidth).
Once you have submitted your article, please do not send updates
later on. Once the article has entered the editing process, it is a
great deal of work to incorporate your changes. Make sure you are
happy with your article before you submit it.

What You Get
+ All the glory of being published in the premiere Risus fanzine.
+ You retain all copyright to your material, but grant Risusiverse
perpetual non-exclusive rights to publish your work online and to
edit/update it as necessary.
+ No payment or compensation is available for authors or artists (or
staff for that matter). No other rewards are promised or implied.
Sorry.

What Happens Next
All authors and artists should receive an email within 7 days about
the status of the article. If you do not receive a reply in 14 days
please send a follow-up email to risusiverse at gmail.com. Be sure to
mention the title of the article you are asking about.

Questions regarding these guidelines can be sent to risusiverse at
gmail.com.

Groovy new Risus action in space, by Aaron Breland:

http://aaron.ellery.googlepages.com/home




|| S. John Ross
|| Husband · Cook · Writer
|| In That Order
|| http://www.io.com/~sjohn

I'm running L5R using Risus starting next week and I've cobbled
together this dueling mechanic for my game. What do you think? Too
much? Broken? Not necessary? (Well, duels couls be resolved a lot
easier, sure, but I wanted them to feel "special".)

Dueling:
Duels are a big part of the setting, whether with swords, magic,
kung-fu, or haikus. So I've made up some special rules for them.
These mostly fit for iaijutsu sword duels, but can also be applied
to other duels.
In a duel, both participants roll their cliché they are using for
the duel, but keep their dice secret. They may pump, double pump,
and spend lucky shots on this roll. Then the first round begins and
the duelists can call either focus or strike.
• If either duelist calls strike on the first round, they both
reveal their rolls. Instead of adding dice together, compare the
faces for best of set. Whoever rolled highest on the fewest dice
wins the duel.
• If both call focus, they may each bid one die from their
roll towards their final total, and they go another round.
• Rounds continue until either duelist calls strike. If you
have no dice left to bid, you must call strike.
• When strike is called after the first round, each duelist
reveals the dice they bid and uses only those dice to determine best
of set and high dice. Again, whoever bid the highest on the fewest
dice wins the duel.
• In the event of a tie, both duelists suffer the same result
as if they both lost!
• The loser suffers whatever result was agreed upon before the
duel. So that could mean death, injury, humiliation, whatever
This system will need playtesting.

Let me know what you think!

-Jason

Very sparse for right now, but my house rules are up at:

http://loretech.net/Risus/risus_house_rules.htm

Eventually I'm going to have an entire campaign up there.  Stay tuned!

Heya, folks; this is a new Risus mini-worldbook by Dan Suptic, submitted by
correspondence. If you've got a Web-home where this material might be comfy, or
if you just want to email Dan to thank him or ask him for this in Word format,
check out the email address down at the end (alternately, use
dan.suptic@...) - enjoy!

- Sjohn

================================================




Arcadomai

A fantasy Risus setting created by
Dan Suptic ©2006

A note about Risus
Risus is a free and easy to learn role-playing game (created by S. John Ross)
that is used to play Arcadomai.  Simply go to the freebie page on
http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm and download it there.  The whole system
is 6 pages long, and that’s all you’ll need to play.  Download it, print it,
heck, even put it in a nice 6-page binder.  So long as you understand it, you’ll
be able to play Arcadomai.

The world of Arcadomai
“Such wonders.  Such diversity.  So many ideas, arts, and ways of life.  And we
spend it squabbling about city boundaries and taxes.  My friends, or to those
who hear my words, I leave to search for the one thing this place does not have
– peace.” last words, Dakar Frost, ex-politician.
An old world spins in the aether.  Torn by magic, monsters, and the hands of
men, this world is rugged, worn, and dangerous.  3 great continents mark the
face of Arcadomai – the reasonable peaceful lands of Primeria, the savage and
decaying lands of Sunder,  and the world long strip of unearthly land known as
Cicatrix.  Men work, live, fight and die to make the world a better place (or at
least their own part of the world).  Aristocrats and politicians plan and plot
with merciless efficiency.  Warriors and adventurers seek fame and fortune
battling monsters, fiends and other creatures of alien design.  Wizards and
sorcerers bend reality to their will.  Thieves and beggars try to live day by
day, scrounging up a few meager hex (the currency of Arcadomai).  Metal and
stone, wood and mana, compassion and greed – these are the building blocks of
Arcadomai.

People
“She was a tall one, and a beauty too.  I could tell she would be fun for a romp
in the hay, if you catch my drift ~cough~.  Didn’t know until later she was a
damned pyromancer ~sniff~.  Oh well, any tryst you can walk away from..."
Gulaviar Poetaro, bard.

Character Creation
Characters are created with a base of 10 dice.  Advanced options I, II and III
are all used.  Lucky Shots and Questing Dice may also be used (from the Risus
Compendium) at the GM’s option.  Gear and any spare hex should be determined by
clichés chosen.

Races
The dominant race of Arcadomai is Human.  Countless wars, and natural human
dominance has all but driven the other peaceful races from Arcadomai.  Being an
Elf or Dwarf is possible, but non-human races are regarded with great suspicion
and dislike.  Those races special skills and talents offset this animosity.  GMs
should remember to give extra perks to those who play a non human race –
whatever seems appropriate to the race in question.  Nimbleness for elves,
sturdiness for dwarfs, etc.  Of course, in Sunder, more bestial races seem to
outnumber humans, and on Cicatrix it’s hard to tell if the beings there are even
sentient.
Language
Everyone in Arcadomai speaks the same language – a language so universal, the
world doesn’t even need a name for it.  Other races may remember a word or 2
from their heritage, but usually not enough to have a full conversation in.

Religion
“What do you mean, ‘What do you believe in?’” typically heard in conversations
about religion
A long time ago, there was 3 gods.  Beautiful Primiar, patient Scar, and selfish
Rage.  Primiar created the world with her will and curiosity.  Scar slowly tamed
and stitched the new creation into form and function, while Rage destroyed all
that was unnecessary.  It was balance, not perfect, but workable.  After seeing
races of man and beast rise and fall, and the slow degradation of harmony, the 3
gods grew tired and left Arcadomai.  Now, the world runs on the powers that the
gods left behind, the Light (from Primiar), the Grey (from Scar) and the Dark
(from Rage).  Religion is not diverse here – the gods don’t even care to focus
on Arcadomai anymore.  There are only 3 outcomes to your death based on your
actions in life.  You can merge with the Light, the soothing, healing and
positive force of Arcadomai.  You can be pulled into the Dark, the hateful,
destructive and negative force of Arcadomai.  Or, you can be reborn through the
Grey, the power of fate, destiny, and luck.  Kind, good and just people merge
with the Light, to further help and heal their family and friends from beyond. 
Evil, selfish and unjust people get pulled into the Dark, where their hateful
energies can be driven into still living enemies.  Those who are neither
virtuous nor vile are pulled through the Grey, their life’s experiences taken
away, and are reborn into the world again.

Combat Clichés
“Do you see that?  I’ve never seen anyone carry a two-handed claymore like that
before.  Five hex says he gets killed by the first guy he picks a fight with...”
THUD “...you owe me five hex.” Daeg the Rat, beggar, former mercenary
What follows are some more of the common combat oriented clichés found on
Arcadomai.  While not an exhaustive list, the clichés presented here are by far
the most commonly seen.

Fighter – Generic fighter, can use weapons and armor and fists and feet.
Soldier – Highly trained fighter, able to also plan and strategize an attack
Barbarian – One who loses himself to the rage of battle; a truly frightening foe
Fencer – A swordsman with education, flair, and 3 ½ feet of thin, pointy metal
Guard – A hired combatant, usually pestering adventurers about their habits
Mercenary – A hired combatant, usually pestering adventurers with their habits
Archer – A skilled person who can stop a fight before you get to him
Assassin – A frightful adversary who uses shadows and feints to land a killing
blow
Brawler – Never unarmed, a warrior who uses his own body to hurt you
Paladin – A servant of the Light, his faith gives his weapons great strength

Skill Clichés
“Sure, being a peasant isn’t the most interesting life.  But when I look at
those poor bastards who have to actually learn to read and write?  Thank the
Light my life’s better than that!” Julia Gander, peasant
The clichés present here all focus on a particular skill.  While certainly no
list can encompass every skill worthy of focus, chances are that you’ll run into
a fair amount of the following people before you run into that Cat
Choreographer.

Politician – One who can manipulate bureaucracy to incredible ends
Aristocrat – A ruler of a local area
Thief – One who sees your wealth, and seizes it well
Blacksmith – One who makes your weapons and armor
Merchant – Buy low and sell high.  The merchant’s credo
Sailor – He knows how to sail a vessel across the seas, and that’s just useful
Bard – One who inspires with poem and song, even in situations that seem wrong
Teamster – Getting groups of animals working together is his occupation
Cooks – Give him random ingredients, he’ll give you random ingredient stew
Farmer – He grows and cultivates what you eat
Peasant – Great for manual labor.  Not so great for anything else
Scribe – Read stuff, write it down, hear stuff, write it down.  Fun

Magic Clichés
“Typical ebb and flow in the Dark can be mixed with the vitalizing forces of the
Light to generate effects both spontaneous and destructive.  Here we have a
great text detailing combat and tactical utility of the spell ‘Fireball’”
overheard in the Arcane College
Clichés present here are gathered through the understanding of the powers that
still permeate the world.  While any cliché can be a double pump cliché, magic
clichés tend to be double pump much more than others.  These clichés are the
most studied, but others are certainly possible.

Pyromancer – A fire mage, able to cause great destruction
Cryomancer – An ice mage, subtle, clever and deadly
Hydromancer – A water mage, useful in many ways
Aeromancer – An air mage, can use the power of wind and lighting
Geomancer – An earth mage, can cause even the ground to betray you
Enchanter – Magic item maker, and someone who can turn you into a frog, too
Diviner – One who can read fate, fortune and destiny
Druid – Nature mage, the woods is their playground
Cleric – A healer, with enough training, can pull someone back to life
Necromancer – A user of Dark magic, creating undead and snuffing life is their
skill
Telemancer – A force mage, can move people and things all about
Chronomancer – A time mage, folding cause and effect to his whim
Stasiomancer – An order mage, things always go smoothly for him
Chaomancer – A chaos mage.  Every fight is different with her
Illusionist – An illusion mage.  Hard to defeat when even your senses betray you
Summoner – A summoning mage.  Able to call forth all sorts of interesting allies

Plunder
“Just 40 Hex, that’s right 40 Hex for this authentic God crafted dagger. 
Yessir, it’ll cut, slice, stab and puncture any beast, demon, monster or madman.
No?  How about 35 Hex?  30?  Sir, this is a true God crafted....sir!” nameless
merchant

Bonus Gear
There are three types of Bonus Gear in Arcadomai.  + (number), + (number) pip,
and + (number) dice.  God crafted items simply refer to any item created in the
times where the Gods still watched Arcadomai.  These items will always have one
of the 3 bonus types, along with the ability of being indestructible.  Most God
crafted items are weapons, armor, and magic staves, but it seems like everyone
knows someone who knows someone who owns a God crafted mug or pair of sandals. 
Bonus equipment only add their bonus when used for their implied purpose –
fighting for weapons, magic for staves, picking locks for lockpicks, etc.

+ (number) = These items add the number after the plus to the final result of
the roll.  A +2 sword adds 2 to the final result of any roll with the sword. 
While this definitely appears to be the weakest bonus, some items come with a
great bonus of this type.  Lord Gunther, mightiest Paladin in Arcadomai, carries
a +16 greatsword.  These items typically cost an additional 25 hex per bonus
point.

+ (number) die or dice = These items add dice equal to the number whenever used.
A +2 dice sword would add 2 dice to any roll used with it.  These bonus dice
don’t add to your actual cliché – if you’re a Guard (2), using a +2 dice sword,
you still go down after you lose 2 dice.  These items are powerfully helpful to
those of low cliché levels, but become less important the higher that cliché
becomes.  These items typically cost an additional 100 hex per bonus die.

+ (number) pip = These items add the number for each dice rolled in the cliché
using it.  A +2 pip sword would add 2 for every cliché the wielder had in the
appropriate cliché.  Thus, a Soldier (3) would add a total of 6 to any combat
roll involving the sword.  In the hands of a trained person, this can easily
become the best bonus for equipment.  These items typically cost an additional
250 hex per bonus pip.

Hex
“Take away the happy looks on the crowd’s faces.  Take away the honorable and
skilled combatants.  Take away the cheers, the music, the food, and the glamour.
All I love is the sound of hex being poured in my pockets” Darren Axesmith,
arena master
Hex is the currency of Arcadomai.  Hex (both singular and plural) are 1 inch
wide hexagonal pieces of black glass inscribed magically with an amount (always
1, 5, 10 or 100).  The pieces themselves are taken from the islands that
surround the continent of Cicatrix.  These islands (and Cicatrix itself if
anyone is foolish enough to gather hex there) are composed entirely of this
metal hard black glass.  When enough Geomancer force is applied to it, it
naturally breaks off in these hexagonal pieces.  When new currency is needed, a
team of soldiers sail to one of these islands, bring back some large chunks of
it, and get it to one of the larger cities (usually Corlavi, the biggest city in
Arcadomai) to be broken apart and inscribed.  It takes a TN 25 Geomancer check
to break a main chunk into the single hex pieces and a TN 25 Illusionist check
to inscribe them properly.  130 years ago, an Enchanter infuses these pieces
with a permanent mana supply (TN 30).  Most shop keepers (at least on Primeria)
are giving a null mana box (in exchange for slightly higher taxes) that will
nullify any counterfeit coin put in it by dispelling the illusion cast on it. 
Since all currency now is made with it’s own mana supply, real hex keep their
illusionary notation in these boxes.  Hex is the only official currency in
Primeria, although bartering and IOUs are neither prosecuted nor uncommon.  In
Sunder, hex is nearly worthless; bartering, IOUs, blackmail and debt are much
more useful currency.  In Cicatrix, hex is pointless since 1 – the whole
continent is made of it and 2 – there’s nothing to buy there.

Weapons
“This blade was given to me by my father, and to my father by his father before
him.  It shall go to you one day when I no longer need it’s power.  It has slain
evil men and monstrous creatures by the thousands, and always has kept it’s keen
edge and perfect balance.  Now, son, please describe to me exactly how this
dagger was found stuck point up in the seat of your tutor’s chair...” Johnathael
Lighthand, former soldier
Most basic weapons are standard gear for clichés, and usually only cost 10 to 15
hex to replace if broken, stolen or lost. Bonus gear of all types is available
for all cliché types, and follow normal equipment rules for prices of bonus die
equipment.  A unique set of weapons exists in this world – the Sledge Sword, the
Hammer Axe, and the Twin Maul.  Each of these swinging weapons has an additional
piece coming off the hilt – a thin band of metal with a strong weight attached
to the end.  When swung, these weapons first hit their foe, and then the weight
knocks in the blade or maul head, driving the weapon further into the foe. 
These items are +1 dice equipment, and normally cost around 50 to 75 hex.  The
only downside is if they’re swung to hard – a roll of all 6’s when used causes
the extra weight to destroy the main weapon, making useless.  God crafted items
are +1 pip items that never break or become dull.  They usually range around the
150 to 200 hex range.  Their only disadvantage is that they may not be further
enchanted or improved.

Skill Gear
“I need some oil, metal springs, cogs, tension coils, glue, and flexible metal
rods.  Yes, this purchase is entirely legitimate.” Saria the Quick, master thief
Like weapons, most skill gear (lockpicks, bard’s instrument, etc.) is standard
equipment, costing only about 10 to 15 hex to replace.  Bonus gear of all types
is available for all cliché types, and follow normal equipment rules for prices
of bonus die equipment.  2 examples of bonus equipment follow.

Clockwork Lockpicks - +1 dice lockpicks.  These lockpicks use a combination of
springs, cogs, and coils set in a small wind up box.  The thief inserts the
correct picks into the box and lock, winds the box and then listens while 20 or
30 minutes of work clanks away in second.

Glass Lute - +4 lute.  This lute is made of carefully blown and calibrated
glass.  The tunes it gives off are crystal clear, sharp and melodically perfect.

Magic Staves and Wands
“So I said ‘If you want this ancient staff, you’ll just have to take it from
me!’  What did he do, you say?  He took it from me. Turns out it wasn’t an
ancient Necromancer staff at all....it was a curtain rod, ok?  Shut up about
it.”  Theodynin Blackbone, apprentice necromancer
For magic staves , bonus gear of all types are available for all magical cliché
types, and follow normal equipment rules for prices of bonus die equipment. 
Each staff is connected to a certain cliché of magic, and only adds it’s bonus
to that type of magic.  Thus a Pyromancer staff only adds it’s bonus to the
Pyromancer cliché, etc etc.

Wands may be of any bonus type, but only cost 10 hex per +(number), 25 hex per
+(number) dice, and 100 hex per +(number) pip.  This is because wands only add
their bonus to one particular spell, and only a mage of the appropriate type can
use it.  So only a Necromancer can use a +1 die Wand of Create Skeleton, and
only an Aeromancer can use a +20 pip Wand of Create Soothing Breeze

Magic Cards
“I don’t like them at all.  Magical cards that can give powers to anyone who has
them?  We have enough trouble keeping law and order around here.  Do I use them?
Well, of course.  But, see, I’m a guard.  I’m a good guy.” Thomak, city guard
Magic cards are enchanted slips of stiff parchment that have specific spells
embedded in them.  These can be used by anyone, and vanish after one use.  The
cost for magic cards varies widely, depending on what the spell does.  A card of
Minor Healing may be only 5 or 10 hex, while a card of Extremely Potent
Explosions of Deadly Doom may cost a bit more.  Combat oriented cards usually
let the character act like a magic using cliché for one round, at a level
determined by the power of the spell on the card.  So, a card of Electrical
Spark can let someone act as an Aeromancer (1) for a turn, while a card of
Entomb in the Core of the World would let someone act as a Geomancer (6) for a
turn.  If you have at least 3 clichés total in mage clichés, you know what any
card does when you see it.  Anyone can use magic cards, but someone who has no
magical clichés will have to either study the card for 1 combat round, or know
what the card does and have it prepared in a certain place (left pocket is heal,
right pocket is ice dagger).  They could of course just cast it blindly (I’m
sure that could never go wrong).  Mage characters that have 4 dice in one
specific magic cliché can create cards.  The mage specifies what spell he wants
to inscribe, and what cliché level it will be.  A mage may only make a certain
number of cards a day – he cannot make more cliché levels of cards total than
his mage cliché.  So a Pyromancer (5) can create a total of 5 cliché levels
worth of cards in a day.

Other Items
Other magic items (and mundane items too) exist in this world, of course.  GMs
are free to come up with anything that seems interesting and useful.  A few
items are presented here to help spark that imagination.

Hex Armor
This suit of armor is made entirely of uninscribed hex, fused together to fit an
individual by a powerful Geomancer.  It provides a +5 dice bonus to any combat
situation where being almost unkillable is useful...which is pretty much any
combat situation.  It cost about 1500 hex to get a personalized suit made, even
if you can find a suitably powerful Geomancer to take the time to make it for
you.

Smoking Pipe
This pipe is enchanted to always be full of burning tobacco.  It’s always the
favorite type of the smoker in question, and even persists in keeping lit in
rains and high winds.  A simple command word stops the tobacco from burning. 
These items cost about 20 hex.

Lucky Charm
This small charm gives the bearer a +1 die bonus to one roll.  After that, the
charm breaks and becomes useless.  This plus one must be used before the dice
are rolled.  These charms are usually hex pieces that have been enchanted with a
special luck symbol, and cost 5 hex.

Places
“I’ve been around Arcadomai, but I swear I’ll never understand why every new
place I find has higher inn prices...” Kara Steppes, traveler
The map to Arcadomai need not be precise.  Cities, towns and areas of interest
can be placed wherever the GM feels.  That said, there are certain spots in
Arcadomai that are iconic to this world.

Primeria
“I’d much rather live on Primeria than that horrible continent, Sunder.  They’ve
got horrible beast, robbers, thieves, and all sorts of unpleasantness.  I’ll
gladly take life here, thank you.” Irena DeVault, Corlavi citizen
Primeria was blessed by Primiar when she left the world, giving it’s inhabitants
a great feeling of peace and unity.  Of course, over the countless ages, these
feelings of cooperation and compassion have died down a bit, but Primeria is
still the most civil of the three continents.  The whole continent is ruled by
the Council of 3, located in the city/state of Corlavi.  The council consists of
3 members – a great politician, a great warrior, and a great mage.  These
positions change constantly, but the newcomer to any position must be personally
approved by the holder of the current position.  Underneath each main council
member is their Council Advisory - other politicians, philosophers and other
idea men and women who help the Council make and enforce decisions.  The council
usually promotes members of their own Council Advisory to take their place, but
it is not unheard of to take exceptional people into their position.  Most of
the continent of Primeria is verdant grasslands, with some notable forests,
lakes, and some mountains towards the north.

Corlavi
Corlavi is the greatest city in Arcadomai.  It houses about 500,000 people, all
from different walks in life.  The housing districts range anywhere from cheap
slums (20 hex a month for a small 2 bedroom) to giant mansions and manor houses
(300 to 500 hex a month for the smaller ones.  Larger mansions and manor houses
almost always belong to royal or political families, and are available on
heritage only).  Arcadomai has many training facilities, from the royal guard
barracks, to the towering Arcane College.  Finding a job in Corlavi is easy –
anyone is willing to hire simple labor for a few hex a day, and people with more
professional goals will find great places to start almost any career imaginable.
In the giant market square, there are literally hundreds of different shops
selling anything imaginable.  All the laws in Arcadomai originate from the great
Council here, even though the laws are really only respected in Primeria. 
Adventure in Corlavi can keep a group of PCs busy for weeks.  Even with the city
guard making a great presence here, there’s enough small time criminals to
catch, outbreaks of monsters to contain and all sorts of odds and ends to tie up
for anyone willing to sign on.

Talonstrike Mountains
The main mountain range in Primeria is about 3 days travel from Corlavi.  These
great mountains house a lot of interesting creatures, including the main
population of Arcadomai’s dragons.  There are many caves, both up in the
mountains and underneath them.  A few clans of people live near the base of the
mountains in a series of connected camps called Vailan.  These people are always
willing to house travelers, since most visitors come from Corlavi, bringing with
them a lot of hex and dreams of fast riches in the mountains cave network. 
Adventurers must be wary of their travels here – it makes a short life to
accidentally stumble upon a dragon’s lair.

The Plains of Conviction
These great plains are dotted with old temples and churches dedicated to the old
3 gods of times past.  Anything of value has been stripped from these once noble
houses of worship.  Once in a while, a group of people may make a pilgrimage
here to pray to the gods, asking for their return.  Most people scoff at anyone
who thinks the gods would ever return to this neglected place.

Gravelight
This bizarre city is entirely composed of the undead, plus a few living guards
borrowed from Corlavi.  In the middle of this city stands a great obelisk of
black stone, carved with many glowing runes and sigils.  This obelisk is simply
called the Gravestone, and emanates with a strange power.  Any undead within 5
miles of this stone remember their entire life they had in perfect clarity. 
Therefore, the undead of Gravelight are content to live their unlives as they
had in life.  The Gravestone also supplies the undead’s requirement for
continued unlife. Thus, vampires don’t need blood, ghosts don’t need raw
emotion, zombies don’t need fresh flesh, etc.  The town guards here are giving
quite nice housing to stay in this land of the living dead.  Their job is to
corral any stray undead found outside of Gravelight into the city (so they stop
causing trouble and just live like normal),  and to stop anyone from destroying
the Gravestone.  A very powerful necromancer on Sunder loves sending ringers in
to Gravelight in hopes of destroying the Gravestone and having the once
controlled undead run amok.  She sends in undead that were murderers or
anarchists in life, and tells them she’ll give them lichdom if the succeed.  No
one has thankfully even gotten close.  Much to the disappointment of the
peaceful undead, Gravelight has become a bit of a tourist attraction for the
wealthy and the vogue.  Right now, the current leader of Gravelight (a ghost
named Fior Litar, a once powerful member of a royal family) is trying to get a
law passed requiring that visitors have a special pass.  While not disposed to
dislike the living (a couple taverns in Gravelight even have potable water and
non-perishable foods on demand), the undead are sick of being viewed as an
exhibition.  They just want to live in piece.


Port Towns
Port towns are plentiful on the edges of Primeria.  The ones leading to the
islands around Cicatrix bring in the raw hex for Corlavi to process.  These port
towns are built more like forts, in case creatures from Cicatrix find a way to
hitch a ride back to Primeria.  The port towns leading to Sunder take people
with an exaggerated sense of adventure, and those criminals whose crimes are not
ever, but likely to be repeated (repeated theft and vandalism, and certain
crimes of passion).  Being exiled to Sunder is a little embarrassing, but most
common criminals get used to the lawless lands of Sunder pretty quick.

Other Places
Primeria has many towns and cities, and many other places of interest.  When
building places in Primeria, keep in mind that a respect for life and order
permeates the general areas.  Even dungeons and caves have a structure to them
here.

Sunder
“I’d much rather live on Sunder than that boring continent, Primeria.  There,
it’s all politics and rules.  Nothing interesting ever happens, and you can’t
even come up with anything to do that doesn’t break at least 5 laws.   I’ll
gladly take life here, and the Dark can take those who think different.” Vek
Bloodpaw, Sunder barbarian
Scar left the world without so much as a backward glance.  He felt that the
people of the land now known as Sunder should be left to their own fates.  When
left to their own will, the people here became more savage and brutal – honor
and prestige are foreign notions in Sunder.  There is no law, other than what
few rules and restrictions local rulers set up.  It is a dangerous land to be a
traveler in, as theft and murder are largely unchecked.  The guards of Primeria
make no presence here, as whoever has power in this land are the ones who rule. 
Most of the lands in Sunder are wastes of desert or swamp, with cities and towns
springing up around any areas of drinkable water and usable vegetation.

Chaocisca
This is the largest and most hospitable city in Sunder.  It is currently ruled
by a warlord named Kurias.  His law is simple – do what you like, but when times
of war come, stand by my side.  He constantly conducts small raids on nearby
towns, and keeps those willing to fight as new soldiers for his city.  Chaocisca
is a port city, and most visitors come to Sunder through here.  The city boasts
a great arena, where most of it’s populace spends it’s free time.  Bets are
taken on winners, and the arena masters always find new and interesting monsters
to fight.  Once in a while, they sometimes even find a creature from Cicatrix
that they can goad into battle.  Housing here is cheap and dirty – the only nice
place to live is in the fortress of Kurias.  Shops sell whatever they can
scrounge up, and usually have to be haggled down before prices look anything
close to reasonable.  It’s unwise for visitors here to be out after dark, as
thievery is rampart in this town.  Most natives of Chaocisca know to carry
expendable valuables for the thieves here.  The city here also has a small
non-human population.  Half-orcs, goblins and even ogres and trolls can be seen
from day to day.  An assassins guild of elves also reside here, and a small
group of gnomes and dwarves make their living by engineering the expansion of
the city.

The Broken Lands
There was a time, long ago, when 3 archmages waged a great war against each
other.  They all perished in the final battle, but the lands are still
devastated and the 3 great castles and their surrounding cities still lie in
ruins.  Lorua (a great Pyromancer) died when her castle was cast into a giant
fissure.  Her castle ruins are all underground, scattered in the bottom of a
giant pit drilled into the earth by magic.  Kato (a powerful Geomancer) died as
demons summoned from some unknown realm swept through his castle, killing and
eating most of the inhabitants.  His castle stands well and whole, heavily
populated by the furious devils who now roam the Broken Lands.  Shilneous (a
skillful Summoner) died as fireballs, flame spears and burning clouds rained
upon his castle and lands.  His castle reeks still of smoke, and the burnt and
melted halls still hide great treasure.  The land around this area is incredibly
hostile.  Mile deep fissures are everywhere, anything that grew has been burnt
to ashes, and demons and devils freely roam the land.  There is treasure here,
but also great danger to those adventurers brave enough to search these lands.

The Necropolis, Termniar
This is what a city of the dead should look like.  Built like a graveyard, this
city hosts a varied range of powerful undead, all under the control of Marika. 
She is one of Arcadomai’s most powerful necromancers, and has every undead
creature here under her iron clad will.  She revels in death, and wants nothing
more than to take control of Gravelight and the undead there.  Thankfully, she
spends all her time trying to figure out new ways to cause Gravelight to fall,
so the other residents of Sunder rarely see her legions outside the wall of
Termniar.  If Marika ever succeeds in taking control of Gravelight, all of
Arcadomai will likely fall.

Other Places
Sunder has many small towns and villages and other interesting places.  There
are even small camps entirely composed of non-humans.  When creating places in
Sunder, keep in mind that the strong rule, and that chaos and conflict permeates
the land here.


Cicatrix
“That place has creatures I could never imagine.  By night, their howls and
strange language dance on the air and chill the bones.  I miss those I took with
me, but am glad I returned to tell the tale.  12 hex?  Thank you sir, just put
it right in my cup here –  I’d shake your hand if I still had arms.  4 more hex?
You’re a saint.  May the Light be with you.”  Adam Tirkin, former adventurer
Cicatrix was formed when Rage attempted to destroy the world with his leaving. 
Rage pulled down a star from the heavens and crashed it into Arcadomai.  This
boiled the seas and left a world long continent of land dotted on each side with
small islands composed of some unearthly material, known as hex.  Whatever star
Rage pulled down already teemed with life, and now the strange and alien
creatures of Cicatrix call this place home.  At night, wavering arcs of deep red
and purple lights can be seen over the main lands of Cicatrix from the islands,
and bizarre howls, groans and screams carry over the water from the large
continent.  No one knows what the denizens of Cicatrix are doing, and aside from
the hex, there is nothing to be gained from travelling there.  The only time
anyone has anything to do with Cicatrix’s natives are when they are sometimes
found on the small islands or when a creature manages to make it’s way to
Primeria or Sunder.

The Fortress of Damnation
There exists one place of note on Cicatrix.  The Fortress of Damnation is a
giant building comprised entirely of hex that sits in the southern area of the
continent.  The only person who has ever seen it is a ghost name Rachela, who
now resides in Gravelight and takes much coercion to even talk about it. 
Nothing is known about the fortress, for all who have even caught sight of it
has been torn apart by the seemingly endless supply of guardians that surround
it.

Creatures
“Can I keep it?” often heard request from children
Aside from mundane creatures like lions and wolves, Arcadomai hosts a number of
unique creatures.  The creatures below are present in whichever continent they
are native to.  In both Primeria and Sunder, any creature below may be found. 
In Cicatrix, non-native creatures tend to have very short life spans, and are
not usually found here, save for a few bones.  The dice presented for the
creatures are the average dice for a creature of that species – they can
certainly have more or less, depending on the age and skill of the individual. 
The creatures below are not a full list of Arcadomai’s bestiary – anything the
GM feels appropriate may be included.


Primeria
“Watch for turtles” a Primeria cautionary saying

Dragonblood Turtles
These turtles have dragon-like wings on their shells.  They rarely fight, unless
someone disturbs a nest.  Then they take to the air, recede into their shell,
and drop like a rock onto the interloper with surprising accuracy.  On the first
round of combat, they always pump their cliché up to the point of leaving them 1
die left (representing their dive bomb attack), then snap at the enemy on the
ground.

Dragonblood Turtle
Accurate Rock-hard Projectile from the Skies (3)

Elder Dragonblood Turtle
Accurate Rock-hard Projectile from the Skies (5)

Dragon
Dragons come in all shapes and sizes, and all different types.  They tend to be
hostile and solitary, but a few goodhearted ones have known to exist.  They are
all intelligent and cunning, and very protective of their homes.  They usually
reside in the Talonstrike Mountains.  All their dice are double pump dice, and
they are built like characters, save that they usually have more dice

Gorvexis
Acid Spewing Dragon [5]
Raging Reptilian Beast [4]

Wallcat
These bizarre cats are found in city areas.  Not only are they smarter than
regular cats, these cats can also walk on walls and ceilings.  They make oblique
surface to surface jumps, raking enemies with razor sharp claws.  The can be
identified from regular cats in that their tail splits in two from about 1/3 of
the way to the end.

Wallcat
Gravity Defying Mass of Claws and Fur (2)


Golem
Golems are created by mages and usually perform menial task.  While normally
under the control of their creator, golems sometimes go berserk because of
wayward spells or deliberate magical curses.  Golems can be made from any solid
material, but stone and wood are the most common.  Golems can only be harmed by
magic, or magically enchanted weapons – if you succeed a round of combat with a
non-magical weapon, it only counts as a tie.

Wood Golem
Mindless and Powerful Automaton (2)

Stone Golem
Mindless and Powerful Automaton (3)

Steel Golem
Mindless and Powerful Automaton (4)

Gem Golem
Mindless and Powerful Automaton (6)

Burning Wasp
These little bastards ignite whatever they sting.  While quite weak, their
flammable venom lets them have a bonus in combat.

Burning Wasp
Stinging Insect with Flaming Venom (1) +2 dice

Sentipede
These man-sized centipedes tend toward the caverns and caves found in Primeria. 
They are intelligent, and can use weapons and armor.  A few have even been found
using enchanted gear.  The walk on half their legs, and carry anything useful in
the other half.

Sentipede
Man Sized Insect Warrior (3)


Sunder
“Oh, that’s a good one!  Catch it, it’ll fight like mad!” Elvirae Crule, arena
herder

Saddle Gator
These overgrown and surprisingly swift alligators have a dip in their back,
perfect for sitting in.  While normally violent and uncontrollable, they can be
trained, if training is done from hatching.  These make terrific mounts, and
also capable combatants on their own.  Most fighters who use them as mounts ride
them quickly into battle, then dismount and fight alongside these creatures.

Saddle Gator, Untrained
Viscous Beast (4)

Saddle Gator, Trained
Viscous Mount (4)

Demons and Devils
Spawned from violent magic, demons and devils are drawn to places where they fit
in.  Demons and devils can be of any power and from any school of magic.  The
most commonly found are of the 4 basic elements – earth, air, fire and water. 
Demons and devils are immune to the magic that spawned them.

Fire Demon
Annoying Burning Pest (2)

Earth Devil
Obstinate Earthen Brawler (3)

Necro Demon
Ravenous Necrotic Horror (4)

Needle Crow
These avian menaces can shoot thin feather-like darts from their wings.  They
are almost always found in groups, yet always attack in single units.  The razor
sharp darts are easy to throw, giving the thrower a +1 to the combat cliché they
use.

Needle Crow
Dangerous Arial Assailant (2) +1


Severing Spider
These giant spiders walk on legs like daggers.  The web they spin is so thin and
strong that opposed to being stuck to it, it slices and impairs those who walk
into it.  These arachnids attack with their front two legs, puncturing and
slicing any they see as prey.  There super sharp legs give them a +1 pip bonus,
and small daggers made from their legs will have the same quality.

Severing Spider
Bladed Arachnid (3) +1 pip

Leaping Snake
These poison snakes can coil up and leap amazing distances to a foe.  They
usually pump 1 die up, strike and then recede and wait for their quarry to die. 
If anyone loses a cliché to a leaping snake, have them roll a die.  On a 1-3
they are fine and may stop rolling.  On a 4-6 they lose a cliché next turn, and
must roll again on the next turn.

Leaping Snake
Venomous Snake (2)

Rat Dog
These large dogs have a head and a tail like rats.  They hunt in packs of 3 to
5, and can display cunning pack tactics.  When rat dogs team up, the act as a PC
team does.  If a PC team is noticeable stronger than the rat dog team, they will
divvy up and force the PCs to attack on a 1 to 1 basis

Rat Dog
Large Canine Vermin (3)

Cicatrix
“Where should I aim?  It doesn’t even have a head!” Broque Cleriman, archer

Thinglings
These creatures all have one leg that they hop around on, one arm with serrated
claws and a clump in the middle with one eye.  They attack in large swarms, and
seem to be the most numerous creatures on Cicatrix.  In battle, after all the
PCs have done something, add 1 die to the cliché of the swarm – when fighting,
these things keep coming from everywhere until brought down to zero dice, in
which they finally leave.

Thingling Swarm
Nasty Swarm of Limbs (any number, usually starts around 3 or 4)

Hell Lanterns
These red glowing balls of light can teleport around the battlefield, confusing
and annoying foes.  They attack be firing red and purple beams of light that
leave hexagonal shaped burns on the victim.  These are nearly always found in
groups of 3.  Roll a die whenever a hell lantern would lose a cliché – on a 1-4
it loses a cliché like normal, on a 5-6 they teleport out of the way and keep
the cliché.

Hell Lantern
Ball of Destructive Light (3)

Pounder
This large (20 ft tall) man shaped creature has 2 arms that end in giant fleshy
mallets.  Instead of a head, it has a tentacle ending with a ball of solid bone.
These creatures attack by pounding whatever they sense into paste.  They’re
never seen in groups or pairs, which is good, because they are almost
unkillable.

Pounder
Huge Abomination with Many Ways to Pummel You (8)

Air Snake
This is a floating strip of flesh covered in many mouths, filled with jagged
teeth.  These things love wrapping around an opponent and chewing away.

Air Snake
Floating and Wrapping Toothy Snake-like Thing (4)

Hex Ray
These look like manta rays with several barbed strands trailing behind them that
can fly through the air.  They can also dive seamlessly through hex, which can
make them annoying to fight.  When down to one dice in their cliché, they always
dive into the hex of Cicatrix and disappear.  They attack by raking their barbed
tails across their foes.

Hex Ray
Flying Manta Ray with Nasty Barbed Tails (4)

Walker
This house sized creature looks like a giant ball of heads with 5 very long and
many jointed legs coming out of it.  The heads laugh constantly while the
spindly legs attack any who get near it.  The legs end in metal hooves, and
severely electrocute any that they touch.  This electricity gives the walker a
+1 die bonus

Walker
Electrified 5 Legged Freak (5) +1 die

Adventure Seeds
“I can’t believe it!  We found the lost tomb of Ol-Shar-Gyre!  We’re gonna be so
rich!  Right guys?  Guys?” last words, Kelon Freeman, adventurer
What follows are adventure ideas, either to start a campaign with, or to add to
an existing campaign.  Each adventure presented here is geared towards a certain
area, but the GM may feel free to adjust anything he sees fit.

Primeria

Wallcat Infestation
There’s been a large number of wallcats found in Corlavi as of late.  They’re
simply everywhere!  They’re hurting kids and peasants, eating the stocks of food
and generally making life miserable for everyone.  The PCs are hired to find out
where these things are coming from and to put a stop to the inflow of unwelcome
residents.

Needle in a Haystack
The PCs are hired to track down an undead creature that has been snuck into
Gravelight to destroy it.  In life, the man was a cunning assassin.  In death,
he looks just like every other skeleton in the city.  The guard is currently
busy dealing with a tide of thinglings that have swam to the mainland, so the
PCs must root out this little troublemaker.

Dragon Problems
A daughter of a rich nobleman has been kidnapped by a dragon and taken to a cave
in the Talonstrike Mountains!  The PCs must rescue her.  When they find the
dragon, it seems that the girl and beast have fallen in love, and that the
dragon is really a nice guy.  When the nobleman learns of this, he berates the
PCs for failing and hires a band of ruthless mercenaries from Sunder.  The PCs
must now work with the dragon to fend of the bounty hunters now on the way to
slay it.

Sunder

Arena Battles
The PCs are in Sunder, and kidnapped by the arena master’s servants.  They are
set up for battles in the arena.  It starts out easy enough, but pretty soon the
PCs should see that they are overmatched.  They must find a way to escape, and
to hopefully return to the main land.  Some other prisoners may be willing to
help, but in Sunder, there’s always a price.

Getting the Goods
The PCs are hired by a local ruler to find a specific item in one of the ruined
castles in the Broken Lands.  Too bad he doesn’t know which castle it was held
in.  The PCs must go from castle to castle, battling demons and devils on a
quest to retrieve this item.  Every ruined castle seems to point to the other
ones as the final resting-place of this item.  The PCs must solve ancient
riddles and see through misdirection to find it.

Dawn of the Dead
A lot of undead have been seen in a seemingly useless area of land.  They all
bear the mark of Marika, and have been setting up something that looks like an
excavation camp.  The PCs must break into the camp, find out what’s going on and
stop it before it gets out of hand.  Since the undead are already here, it may
have gotten out of hand already.

Cicatrix

Lost
The PCs have been marooned on the main continent of Cicatrix.  Whether through
shipwreck or a teleporting spell that went foul, the PCs must somehow find a way
back to their home.  It will take a lot of swordplay to get through the natives
of Cicatrix, and very clever thinking to find a way home.

The Fortress of Damnation
This is the ultimate adventure.  Infiltrate the Fortress of Damnation, battle
though tons of alien creatures, explore the catacombs and rooms of the fortress
and return to tell the tale.  Who knows what items of great power can be found
within it’s depths?  This is only suitable to a group of very high-powered PCs.


Character Examples
“Keep an eye on these two.  The one with the sword can cut you 100 times before
you unsheathe whatever weapon you like, while the quiet one can freeze the blood
in your body with a gesture of his hand.” Big Brad, tavern owner
Here’s a couple of ready to go adventures fit for the Arcadomai setting.  They
work great as an NPC team as well, to either help or hinder your PCs from their
quest.

Reskori the Brave
Jovial Barbarian (4)
Trained Soldier (4)
Charming Story Teller (3)
Singer (1)

Hook – Lecherous – Reskori is always looking for a warm bed, it seems.  In any
situation where an attractive lady is present, he will always do what he
believes will impress her the most.

Tale – Reskori was born in Vailan at the base of the Talonstrike Mountains.  He
was a very energetic lad, and learned the ways of the barbarian from an early
age.  Eager for adventure, he headed to Corlavi, where he begun training as a
true soldier.  After years of boring and routine work, he quit the army and
began freelance work.  He teamed up with Edgar and together have been making a
very decent living as adventurers for hire.  He’s always looking for a lady to
spend time with, and constantly pesters Edgar that he doesn’t do the same.  He
sees Edgar as a boring and stuffy mage, but respects his magical skills greatly.

Edgar Cotrell
Condescending Cryomancer [4]
Condescending Scholar (4)

Hook – Neat freak – Edgar must have everything around him clean and orderly.  He
is always cleaning something and tends to annoy people with his perfectionism.

Tale – Edgar was born in Corlavi to a wealthy merchant family, and always taught
to be cleanly.  When he turned 14, he found he had magical skill, and was sent
to the Arcane College.  His perfectionist nature helped him greatly here, and he
quickly learned the powerful art of Cryomancy.  He also learned quite a bit of
other useful information, and always has something to say about everything
around him.  He met Reskori after graduating, and teamed up with him to travel
about the world.  He can’t stand his womanizing ways or his teasing, but does
respect his skill with a blade.

Join us Again, Fellow Traveler
This concludes the world of Arcadomai.  All it needs now is a group of
adventures to delve into it, and a GM to steer the world in the best direction
they feel.  If you have any questions or comments, please email them to
dantopia5@...
Adventure on, and may the Light guide you.

Send any EMails to dan.suptic@...
I forgot to change that address when I wrote Arcadomai.
If you would like to host Arcadomai, let me know so I can send you the
Word docuement - it's much more presentable.

A forward from correspondence, and it's a happy thing :)


>Arcadomai can now be found at the Risus Monkey:
>http://www.velvet-edge.com/risusmonkey/arcadomai.html





|| S. John Ross
|| Husband · Cook · Writer
|| In That Order
|| http://www.io.com/~sjohn

You might have heard rumors of an upcoming Risus fanzine called
Risusiverse.  It's been in development for quite some time, on kind of
a slow pace.

The idea was brought up to use a wiki for Risus stuff. I just happened
to have an invite sitting around for Wet Paint (
http://www.wetpaint.com/ ). I put it to use. You can check out the
results: Risusiverse - http://risusiverse.wetpaint.com/

Everyone should fee free to participate - registration is required,
but there is no charge.

As a testament to how easy it is to use, I have already converted most
of my site's ( http://homepage.mac.com/unearthed/risus/ ) content over
to the wiki (for the most part, it allowed my to just cut and paste
directly from the page in question and deal with some formatting).

We still hope to make available a print (at least PDF) version of
Risusiverse (with the moderators picking the best of the wiki for a
given issue), but the wiki allows everyone to participate in creating
the ultimate Risus resource.

I hope everyone joins in the fun.

Larry

I just wanted to let everyone know that my site, Adventure Street
<http://free.hostdepartment.com/c/cleireac/adventurestreet.html>, has
been updated for some time to reflect the addition of the Car Wars
Adaptation
<http://free.hostdepartment.com/c/cleireac/Risus/Hard_Roads/Hard_Roads.html>
(including an adventure writeup
<http://free.hostdepartment.com/c/cleireac/Risus/Hard_Roads/writeup.htm>,
as well as the Gamma World Adaptation
<http://free.hostdepartment.com/c/cleireac/Risus/Terra_Tertia/Terra_Tertia.htm>

Currently, I've got a fantasy setting that is something like Robert
Asprin's Myth-Adventures meets Harry Potter meets the Bowery Boys.....

Hank Harwell, IOR #43

Website: <http://free.hostdepartment.com/c/cleireac/adventurestreet.html>
LiveJournal: <http://free.hostdepartment.com/c/cleireac/journal.html>

Hi everyone

This a new setting i've Created and put on the Risusiverse wiki page.

http://risusiverse.wetpaint.com/page/Gears%20and%20Portals
<http://risusiverse.wetpaint.com/page/Gears%20and%20Portals>

Please check it out and feel free to comment !!!!


I need some writer help on this project and maybe some cool art !!!!

You can contact me @ vtq20@...

Thank

Vincent A.k.a. Naarsael


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

(aka the AEAIFCSSCSS)
is up at the Risusiverse wiki,

http://risusiverse.wetpaint.com/page/Stock%20Character%20Cliches

This is a list of over 300 stock character cliches applicable to a
nigh-bewildering variety of genres, and thus suitable for most Risus
campaigns. We hope it can be of service to all Risusdom!

Guy

--
--Guy Hoyle

"Live every day as if you're dying Of a contagious disease that turns
people you bite into zombies."
The Onion, January 25, 2006 | Issue 42•04

Here's my new setting for Risus - Dao Sheng.  EMail me at
dantopia5@... if you want the spiffy Word Doc with the nice
cover art.  I've got a friend who will be putting the whole thing on
his website, so I'll give out the URL when that's up.  Also, if anyone
knows how I can upload the Arcadomai and the Dao Sheng files to the
Risus group files, let me know.  I see they got Mariachi in there, so
I thought it would be cool to get all my settings up here.  Enjoy!

~~Dao Sheng~~

A martial arts Risus setting by Dan Suptic and Nicholas Suddarth ©2006
A note about Risus

Risus is a free and easy to learn role-playing game (created by S.
John Ross) that is used to play Dao Sheng. Simply go to the freebie
page on http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm and download it there.
The whole system is 6 pages long, and that's all you'll need to play.
Download it, print it, heck, even put it in a nice 6-page binder. So
long as you understand it, you'll be able to play Dao Sheng.

Dao Sheng

Dao Sheng is a Mandarin Chinese phrase meaning Birth of a New Way.
Our planet has gone through some changes in the Dao Sheng setting, and
the people of our world have taken up a new way of life.  In this
section, you will see what happened to our world, and why almost
everyone you meet knows some form of martial arts.

Good intentions

About 20 years in the future, the world is doing great.  No war raging
on, no places of great famine or disease, and the economy is doing
better than it has in a very long time.  With the growth and spread of
humanity, the biggest concern of most countries is that energy costs
are starting to get a bit out of control.  So, to solve this, a team
of US and Japanese scientists got together to build a power plant
greater than any other running in the world.  Using cold fusion and
point-mass fuel cells, they found a way to generate limitless energy
with a nearly unending supply of power.  The power plant itself was
built in Uranium City, in Saskatchewan, Canada.  They built giant
relay towers all over the world and attached them to the power plant
in a web of high transfer power lines.  Once the world was connecting,
they powered up the plant.

Glitch

The power plant turned on.  It generated immense and limitless power.
  But it did not transfer it.  Somewhere, somehow, components of the
plant were installed wrong.  The plant let out an EMP so massive that
it spread over the entire earth.  All over the world, lights
flickered, screens dimmed, and everything electrical shut off.
Everything except the plant, which still emits its powerful EMP,
keeping the earth in a powerless state.

So why not just turn the power plant off?

Good question.  The EMP field around the power plant, and about 15
miles out from it, is so strong that it stops even the electricity in
the human body.  Get within 15 miles of the plant, and your heart
stops instantly.  No one has figured out a good way to get to the
power plant, and the fuel cell still has 35,000 years worth of life in
it.  So, for now, the world is stuck as it is.

Unrest

Riots broke out pretty quick.  In a few days, after a lot of food
spoiled and people were getting hungry and angry, fighting broke out
everywhere.  Gunshots filled the streets, and many people died.  The
world's armies tried to maintain order, but without communications or
mobility, they fell to rioting like the rest.  For weeks, the world
was a battlefield.  But, city by city, country by country, the gunfire
ceased.  Bullets ran out, and without supply caravans or factories
running, no one had ammunition.  The riots calmed down, but resources
where still scarce, and people armed themselves with whatever
implements were at hand.

Learning

It didn't take long to see that groups and individuals who could fight
without guns were winning battles and getting the best land, housing
and non-perishable foods.  So, people began to look into unarmed and
melee weapon fighting.  Asia already had a great wealth of knowledge
on martial arts, and North America began seeing people using boxing
skills along with Tae Kwon Do and versions of Karate and judo.  Even
the most peaceful recluse would hire someone or acquire manuals on
defensive martial arts.  It didn't take long to see martial arts and
other close range combat skills spread through the lands.  You learned
a martial art to defend your home or to take supplies from those less
worthy.

Life Today

Living in the world of Dao Sheng is a constant test of your will to
live.  Money no longer means anything – goods and services are
bartered and traded.  With resources in short supply and people all
over the world needing them, day to day life is filled with hard work
and occasional run ins with people who want what you have.  You may
live alone, maintaining a small family and area to farm.  You may live
in a small commune or clan of people who work together to maintain a
block of houses and stores of food.  You might live in a military
style complex, likely in an abandoned office building or skyscraper,
as a member of a scouting team finding new places to farm or caches of
old non-perishable food.  Any way you choose to live, you have to work
everyday to maintain your way of life.  And any free time you have is
devoted to your martial art or weapon style to keep what you have from
countless enemies.  This is the world of Dao Sheng.  It's your job to
keep your place in it.

Combat in Dao Sheng

Combat in Dao Sheng works like normal Risus combat, with the addition
of stances.  Every time you use a Martial Art, Animal Style or Weapon
Style cliché, you choose one of three stances.  The GM (or opposing
player) does the same.  You and the GM reveal each stance at the same
time.  The easiest way to do this is with a deck of cards, with each
person getting 3 different suits.  Each stance does better against one
other stance, kind of like Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Stances

There are 3 stances for each Martial Art, Animal Style or Weapon Style
cliché: Offensive (abbreviated O, and using Spades), Defensive
(abbreviated D, and using Clubs) and Technique (abbreviated T, and
using Diamonds).

Offensive beats Technique – You go in very fast while the opponent
wastes time setting up a complicated technical maneuver.

Technique beats Defensive – While the opponent waits for your attack,
you do something complex and unexpected.

Defensive beats Offensive – You bide your time while your enemy tires
himself out, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.

Each style has different numbers for each stance.  When you beat
someone's stance, you get a bonus to your total die roll equal to the
stance you took.  So, if you take an Offensive stance (and your
Offensive score is 3), and your opponent was in Technique stance, you
add 3 to the total roll of the dice.  Ties give neither side a bonus.

Characters

Characters are created with a base of 10 dice. Advanced options I and
II are used. Lucky Shots and Questing Dice may also be used (from the
Risus Compendium) at the GM's option.  When picking a Martial Art,
Animal Style or Weapon Style cliché, the level you take it at
determines it's name according to this chart.

~name of style~ Student (1)
~name of style~ Adept (2)
~name of style~ Disciple (3)
~name of style~ Warrior (4)
~name of style~ Sensei (5)
~name of style~ Master (6)

So if you take Tae Kwon Do at cliché level 4, you would have Tae Kwon
Do Warrior (4).

And remember –
O – Offensive win bonus
D – Defensive win bonus
T – Technique win bonus

Martial Art Styles

1. Tai Chi – A fluid art that focuses on redirection and well timed
attacks.
O-1 D-2 T-3

2. Wing Chun - A Chinese martial art that emphasizes short-range
combat and quick, strong strikes.
O-2 D-1 T-3

3. Muay Thai - Muay Thai is referred to as "The Science of Eight
Limbs", as the hands, shins, elbows, and knees are all used
extensively in this art.
O-3 D-1 T-2

4. Kenpo – Also known as Karate, this is a standard art that teaches a
well rounded suite of moves.
O-2 D-2 T-2

5. Tae Kwan Do – A Korean art that focuses very heavily on all types
of kicks.
O-2 D-1 T-3

6. Jeet Kun Do – Bruce Lee's style, very quick and agile, and very showy.
O-3 D-1 T-2

7. Aikido – A quick and powerful art that focusing on defeating your
opponent hastily.
O-3 D-2 T-1

8. Jujitsu – Also known as Judo, this is an art that focuses on throws
and take downs.
O-1 D-3 T-2

9. Parkour – A French art that uses constant movement and the
environment around you to take down your foe.
O-3 D-1 T-2

10. Capoeira – A Brazilian art that incorporates dancing into their
powerful attacks.
O-1 D-1 T-4

11. Boxing – A simple attack style that uses fierce punches exclusively.
O-4 D-1 T-1

12. Hung Gar – This martial art features a low stance and focuses on
hand strikes.
O-2 D-3 T-1

13. Drunken Boxing – This style's moves are hard to predict as the
practitioner emulates being drunk.
O-1 D-2 T-3

14. Shinwa Tae Do – A mostly defensive martial art that focuses on
locks, throws and sympathetic pain points.
O-1 D-4 T-1

15. Dim Mak – A martial art that uses knowledge of pressure points to
cause suffering to opponents.
O-2 D-1 T-3

Animal Styles

1. Tiger – A very powerful style that incorporates a 2 hit strike with
the palm and fingers that can literally tear off skin.
O-4 D-1 T-1

2. Crane – A defensive and reactive art, Crane style users almost
always wait until their opponent moves in.
O-1 D-4 T-1

3. Leopard – A more agile and defensive version of the Tiger style.
O-1 D-2 T-3

4. Dragon – A powerful style full of advancing and rushing hand strikes.
O-3 D-1 T-2

5. Snake – A very quick style that uses spear hand, ridge hand and
knife hand strikes in quick succession.
O-1 D-1 T-4

6. Small Monkey – An art where you dart around and distract the
opponent while timing your strikes.
O-2 D-1 T-3

7. Stone Monkey – A more aggressive form of the Monkey style.
O-3 D-1 T-2

8. Mantis – A fluid art that forces your opponent into very close
quarters.
O-2 D-2 T-2

9. Eagle – In this style, you strike fast with a curved hand, digging
into your opponent.
O-2 D-3 T-1

10. Bear – This style emulates a bear's ferocity, power and rage.
O-3 D-2 T-1

Weapon Styles

1. Katana – This curved sword is handy for any close combat encounter,
also can be a Samurai sword.
O-2 D-2 T-2

2. Bo Staff – A long wooden staff with excellent reach.
O-3 D-2 T-1

3. Bow & Arrow – A bow an arrow, easy to make, easy to use.
O-3 D-1 T-2

4. Three Section Staff – A very complex weapon made of 3 sticks
attached in a line by chains.
O-1 D-1 T-4

5. Nunchaku – 2 short sticks attached by a chain or rope; very fast
and hard to predict in it's movements.
O-2 D-1 T-3

6. Butterfly Swords – 2 short and thick blades with a slightly rounded
edge; almost always used in pairs.
O-1 D-3 T-2

7. Hook Swords – Swords with a half-circle curve on the end and a
bladed guard; almost always used in pairs, and useful for disarming
opponents.
O-2 D-3 T-1

8. Rope Dart – A long rope with a metal spike on the end, thrown spike
first at the opponent and quickly pulled back.
O-3 D-1 T-2

9. Chinese Strait Sword – A straight blade, useful in both thrusts and
slices.
O-3 D-2 T-1

10. Eskrima – 2 20-25 inch straight wooden sticks, always used in
pairs.  Uses the 12 angles of attacks routines.
O-2 D-1 T-3

11. Iron Fans – Collapsible fans made of sheet iron.  Fast and easy to
conceal, usually used in pairs.
O-1 D-2 T-3

12. Sai – A small 3 pronged weapon, perfect for defense and disarming;
usually used in pairs.
O-1 D-4 T-1

13. Kama – A small stick with a curved sickle blade on the end; almost
always used in pairs.
O-3 D-2 T-1

14. Naginata – A long polearm with a long, curved blade on the end.
Very powerful with long reach.
O-4 D-1 T-1

15. Throwing stars – A pack of small bladed stars, easy to conceal and
accurate in throwing.
O-2 D-1 T-3

But my style isn't on the list!

No problem.  All you need is a Name, Description, and the 3 stance
statistics.  You get 6 points to allocate between the 3 stances.  None
of the 3 stances can have more than a 4, or less than a 1.  That's all
there is to it.

Gun clichés

Despite not having mass produced bullets, simple guns are still
appearing here and there.  Any cliché that uses a gun (like Thug or
Soldier) assumes that you have an older gun and home made bullets.
Your gun using cliché also lets you create new ammunition.  When a gun
is used in battle, it has a 1 in 6 (a roll of one on a d6) chance of
failing, reducing the gun cliché to 1 (where you can now just pistol
whip your opponent).  Every consecutive turn you use a gun cliché, the
odds of failure go up by one.  So, the second turn you use the gun
cliché, it fails on a roll of a 1 or 2 on a d6, etc.  Martial Arts,
Animal and Weapon styles get no bonuses for stances, and anyone
damaged by a gun cliché loses 2 dice instead of 1.

Non-martial art clichés

Any cliché that is not a Martial Art, Animal or Weapon style (with
scores in the 3 stances) does not get to choose a stance.  Any style's
stance used against them automatically beats their non-stance, and
gets the stance's bonus.  Thugs, street fighters, gang members, and
any combat cliché that doesn't imply formal training fits into this
category.

Adventure Seeds

Defend our home

The PCs are paid to protect someone's living area.  The PCs must
formulate a plan to protect it and keep stamina up for the entire
assault.  What the PCs don't know is that their employer paid several
groups to attack his own home, hoping the PCs (who wronged him
previously, at least in his opinion) will be killed.

In need of healers

Someone in the PCs home area is very sick or injured.  They need them
to get well since they train the people here in martial arts.  The PCs
must go forth and find doctors and supplies to bring the Sensei back
to fighting form.

Get him!

A local gang of fighters is causing hell for the community.  The PCs
must infiltrate the enemy's stronghold and dispose of the leader.  It
doesn't help that this group has a bunch of guns, and that their
soldiers are trained marksmen.

Supply chain

The PCs are selected to guard the caravan that brings food and
supplies to the local community.  They must defend against thieves,
protect the caravan from the elements and help choose what food and
supplies are needed for their home.

Character Example

Angela Wall

Kenpo Warrior (4)
Nunchaku Disciple (3)
Amazing Scrounging Cook (3)
Bluegrass Violin Player (2)

Hook – Bad Temper – Whenever things don't go right, or people tick her
off, Angela tends to fly off the handle.  And break stuff.

Tale – Angela was born in a commune south of Chicago where she was
trained to be a cook.  She took to it quite well, but was always
interested in being a fighter.  Angela would always sneak into the
training dojo and practice the moves, out of sight of the instructors.
  She constructed her Nunchakus herself, and is quite skilled with both
those and her Kenpo.  Angela helps with a little bit of everything,
and cheers the whole commune up with her lively music.  She's happy to
remain a cook for now, but will take any chance she can get to go into
battle.

Go in Peace

Enjoy the world of Dao Sheng.  Thanks go out to Nicholas Suddarth for
help with the martial art styles and to Ben Clay who created our great
Dao Sheng title page art.  If you have any questions or comments,
please email them to dantopia5@...  May you find food and
shelter in these dark times.

I just found out about Risusiverse.  What a great page!  I've already
posted my 3 settings up on there.

Mariachi - http://risusiverse.wetpaint.com/page/Risus+Mariachi
Arcadomai - http://risusiverse.wetpaint.com/page/Arcadomai
Dao Sheng - http://risusiverse.wetpaint.com/page/Dao+Sheng

So, yeah.  I'll be able to show off my new settings a lot faster and
easier now.  Enjoy!

In addition to the Risusiverse, Dao Sheng can now be found at the Risus
Monkey: http://www.velvet-edge.com/risusmonkey/daosheng.html.

Tim

On 8/10/06, dantopia5 <dan.suptic@...> wrote:
>
>   Here's my new setting for Risus - Dao Sheng. EMail me at
> dantopia5@... <dantopia5%40hotmail.com> if you want the spiffy
> Word Doc with the nice
> cover art. I've got a friend who will be putting the whole thing on
> his website, so I'll give out the URL when that's up. Also, if anyone
> knows how I can upload the Arcadomai and the Dao Sheng files to the
> Risus group files, let me know. I see they got Mariachi in there, so
> I thought it would be cool to get all my settings up here. Enjoy!
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I've moved the fanstuff-permissions material from the Blue Room FAQ to its very
own page on the Cumberland site:

http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus-usage.htm

Yeah, it's a bit longer than the old version ... The rules haven't _changed_ at
all, but I've clarified some points and included some things that have come up
in private correspondence and in other locations, bringing them all together in
one place. I've also been explicit on some things that were (perhaps too
optimistically) implicit before :)

Hopefully it isn't too much; it's a fine line to walk and I get exhausted just
thinking about it. Oy!

Hope this finds everyone well!



|| S. John Ross
|| Husband · Cook · Writer
|| In That Order
|| http://www.io.com/~sjohn

I've added a new file to the "Oddities" folder:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/risus/files/Oddities/

Due to an impending loss-of-website, the Risus (and other) stick-figure cartoons
of Matthew Ritter are, at some point in the future, destined to go *foom* and
vanish from the Net.  Obviously, that's not the kind of thing that should go
happening, so I've given all of the cartoons (even the non-Risus ones) a place
in the archives, and I will make sure they're always available. Because, as most
of you know, they're strange and brilliant.

If you haven't read them (or if you haven't read _all_ of them) there they are.
Go get :)



|| S. John Ross
|| Husband · Cook · Writer
|| In That Order
|| http://www.io.com/~sjohn

Well, Matthew Ritter's page is officially gone from the Net, now [see previous
post], so I've updated the Risus homepage with a new version of the old link.

Meantime, I've had a couple of other dead-link reports lately that I need to
follow up on, so I'll be doing some page-cleaning over the next several days as
time permits. If you know of new URLs for any of the dead links on the Risus
homepage, or if you know any other information that would lead me to recovering
lost material to try to get permission to archive it, please drop me a line.
Thanks!

Also, for future reference: If your name is in purple anywhere on that page,
email me to let me know how you'd feel about future archiving or re-hosting,
should it become necessary. I want to keep as much of the Risus fan-material
available as possible, but I'd never archive anything without the owner's
permission (I'd also like to some day edit together a kind of "Risus Reader"
collecting, spiffing and personally illustrating my favorite articles by the
Risus community, but that, too, is something that will require a lot of dialogue
with a lot of folks ... While such a project is a long way off, I think it'd be
worth the time* so we may as well start chatting now) :)

Best -

---------------------
* Remember how many years I dropped hints about the Companion before finally
getting it out there? Like that.



|| S. John Ross
|| Husband · Cook · Writer
|| In That Order
|| http://www.io.com/~sjohn

Well, I just uploaded Super-Happy-Go-Go-Fun-Time-All-World-Speedy
-Good-Delivery-Service-Special-Force-Delta-Five to Risusiverse.

http://risusiverse.wetpaint.com/page/SHGGFTAWSGDSSFDF

It's 4 pages of absolute madness.  I think I may have had too much
coffee on the day I came up with this.  But I guarantee you one thing
- it is the funniest setting I've written so far.  Enjoy!

We just reached an all-time high of exactly 600 subscribers to the Risus Mailing
List.

Hi there!



|| S. John Ross
|| Husband · Cook · Writer
|| In That Order
|| http://www.io.com/~sjohn

We are looking to put together the first special issue of Risusiverse:
The Fanzine.  We will be building this document by going through the
content available at Risusiverse <http://risusiverse.wetpaint.com/> .
Here are some additonal details:

15 October 2006 Deadline
Anything submitted to Risusiverse by October 15 2006 will be eligible
for publication in our first Risusiverse: The Fanzine issue.  For the
special first issue, no moderator content will be included; just content
from you, the visitors and users of Risusiverse.

When Will It Be Available?We are looking to publish the first issue just
in time for tricks 'n treats - 31 October 2006.  So get your content
updated today!

There are no costs associated with joining Risusiverse and adding your
content, so join up today!



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This post has the sole cliche, "Tedious Businessy Post [5]," alas. :(

A few folks have expressed curiosity about the vanishing act performed by Risus
Deluxe on Lulu. Here's the Reader's Digest version:

(1) Lulu rejected four orders for RD, claiming there was a fault in the source
files (the cover, specifically).
(2) I was puzzled by this (I made the PDFs extra-extra clean) but responded
immediately by uploading an even simpler "fixed" version of the cover file. I
did the same for Excessively Deluxe, just in case, even though the ED had never
had any problems with its nearly identical files.
(3) Lulu rejected some more orders for the RD (very probably frustrating the
same customers who were attempting to re-order). Meanwhile, more ED orders were
filled without a hitch. Various hair-loss ensued, some of it manually.
(4) At this point, I pulled the book entirely and entered into a series of
dialogues with Lulu help staff through the java help window. A couple of days
and several applet-crashes later, Lulu reached the conclusion that there was
nothing at all wrong with the Cumberland source files, that there never had been
anything wrong with them, and that the problem must therefore rest with the
place where they actually have the things printed and bound (a business separate
from Lulu, who had fed them the error messages). The Lulu help folks were very
nice, and promised to get back to me in a couple of days with new developments.
(5) That was a long time ago, and nobody ever got back to me. I did note,
however, that some Lulu folks were uploading their own variant test-files into
the Cumberland setup behind the scenes, so it's clear to me that Lulu _were_
trying. They just didn't, apparently, get anywhere with it. Alas :(

So at this point, my next step is to produce an entirely alternate version of
RD, with a subtly different title and everything, so as to avoid any accidental
entanglements with any roadblocks sprung up around the prior project. Once I've
done that, and ordered a test-copy, I'll let you guys know if it worked out.

In happier news, we had a really good session of the local ongoing Risus
campaign the other day :)



|| S. John Ross
|| Husband · Cook · Writer
|| In That Order
|| http://www.io.com/~sjohn

I have no idea if someone has thought of this already, but I figure that
I would share my small addition to the elegantly awesomeness that is
Risus...

I call it the Doubled Down rule.

I come from a role-playing experience that was fairly D&D-intensive,
thus I wanted to port into a more serious sort of Risus game the chance
for a "critical failure/success." Sort of.

I'll explain the rule and then give an example.

Doubled Down: If the difference between the high and low rolls for a
given attack is equal or greater than twice the low roll, then the low
roller loses twice the Cliche dice for this attack.

So, as an example, I will give the following character:
Arthur "Ace" Cleveland
Private Investigator (5)
Telekinetic [4]

"Ace" has come across a Gremlin (2) and decides that he will handle the
beastie with a non-pumped telekinetic attack - the Gremlin just isn't
worth more to him.
"Ace" rolls very poorly - all 1's for a total of 4; the Gremlin rolls
very well - both 6's for a total of 12.
Thus, because the difference between the high and low roll is equal to
twice the low roll (12 - 4 = 8 = 2 X 4), "Ace" loses 2 Cliche die in his
Telekinetic Cliche...
GM: "Well, 'Ace,' it appears that the Gremlin's natural ability to wreak
havoc with things electrical is severely interfering with your psychic
powers..."
Player: "Grrrr... I reach for my pistol - this thing is toast..."

Obviously this also takes into account if there are funky dice in play
and the much higher differences that can be generated - which I believe
makes a bit more sense.

Thoughts?


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thanks to a recent update to the WetPaint engine, the whole idea
behind a fanzine seems a bit moot.  Now, every page in the site is
printer friendly.  No ads, no extra columns, nothing but the article
you are interested in.  So feel free to just print off anything you
want from the site - http://risusiverse.wetpaint.com/

As always, feel free to join in and add your Risus content to the site
(no cost to join; you'll be helping out the Risus community; it makes
a great backup for your Risus content you might have on your website;
it could bring about world peace; etc.).

Larry