Beating the Risus Death Spiral

The Risus Death Spiral is the colloquial term for the phenomena of straight-up cliche vs. cliche fights going down hill rapidly for the loser of the first round. It comes from the fact that (according to the standard rules), even a one die difference in cliches is severe and a two-dice difference is crushing. Losing the first round means you are on your way down unless you already had some kind of advantage.

So if this Death Spiral exists, why does Risus remain such a kick-ass game? Simply because the Death Spiral is relatively easy to beat. GMs and players have various tools in their arsenal to keep combat fun and exciting:

Switching Cliches: For players, this is the obvious choice. Either switch to an Inappropriate Cliche or another type of cliche that is appropriate for this type of combat. When building characters, it usually a good idea to keep this in mind. It's good to have a backup cliche. Of course, If you are fighting a Scary Monster (4) and your backup is only Know-It-All Martial Arts Instructor (3), well it still doesn't leave you in a good place. That's where Pumping comes in. Pumping cliches to stay in a fight is typically a losing proposition... unless you are pumping your secondary cliches.

For the GM, all this applies as well. It's all well-and-good to have a Scary Monster (4) fighting your party. But even ignoring teams, it still won't be much of a fight if the monster loses the first round. That's where secondary cliches can be useful for monsters. Obviously, not all monsters should have secondary cliches. But definitely consider their use for foes that are supposed to put up a good fight.

Lucky Shots: Lucky Shots are an optional rule from the Risus Companion (which I am obligated to say is not required to enjoy Risus). Put simply, this option allows the character to trade dice during character creation for a certain number of bonus-dice that can only be used once per session. They can't be used to absorb damage like cliches, but used defensively, they can be a great way to keep you in a fight even after you have started taking damage.

Deadly Combat: Another option from the Companion, this one changes the basic combat mechanic from comparing the highest total roll to comparing the highest single roll. Using this option greatly softens the difference between cliche levels and keep combat exciting longer.

Dynamic Combats: This tip is for Game Masters. Instead of loading up every foe with secondary or even tertiary cliches, why not simply call for reinforcements? The players characters might have that Cranky Fire Breathing Dragon (6) on the ropes but that doesn't mean that Hordes of Kobold Minions (5) can't show up turn the tables on the pesky heroes.

Similarly, there is always magic. Seriously. Magic and healing is a way for player characters (and non-player characters as well) to regain advantage even after a they have entered the Death Spiral. A Guilt-Ridden Sorcerer [3] can always summon a demonic grunt squad while a Lily-white Cleric Of All That Is Good (3) can heal and buff battered characters back into the fight.