Risus Monkey
About...
Links
Contact

Risusverse
Dragonspire
Silverlode 1908
Mariachi
Arcadomai
Dao Sheng

Monkey Business
Hooked On Risus
Unusual Suspects

Archives
January 2006
December 2005

Hooked On Risus

Advanced Option I defines a Hook as a significant character flaw, something "the GM agrees is so juicy that he can use it to make the characters life more interesting". This is all rather vague, which in Risus is all it needs to be. Still, players and GMs that are new to Risus may find it useful to have some examples to play with...

Absentminded: Target Number rolls are at least 5 higher to remember anything not relating to your character's primary interests.

Berserker: Your character flies into an uncontrollable combat frenzy when the character fails a self-control roll. The GM determines when such rolls are necessary.

Clueless: Your character has absolutely no grasp of humor, irony, or innuendo. The character operates at half dice whenever this is important.

Code of Honor: Your character's actions are governed by a strict code of behavior.

Hounded by Paparazzi: Your character is famous and must go to great lengths to avoid media attention.

"The Jessica Fletcher Syndrome": For some reason, people in your character's vicinity seem to get murdered way more often than the laws of probability would indicate. And somehow, the character must always solve the case instead of the usual authorities.

Putz: Your character has a 1-die cliché that, for whatever reason, may never advance. The cliché is purchased as normal.

Short Attention Span: Your character is at half dice at any time-consuming "boring" activity (one that does not pertain to their direct interests).

Social Outcast: Your character is at half dice in most social situations where people are likely to be swayed by prejudice.

Unlucky: If something bad happens, it happens to your character.

Weakness: Your character has at half-dice within a certain distance of some time of object or phenomena.

Wild Power: Your character has a supernatural power (part of one or more clichés) that is hard to control. Even when the character succeeds at a roll using this power, there is a noticeable (and often annoying and/or inconvenient) side-effect that manifests. Characters who succeed by 5 or more can avoid the worst of these side-effects.