Risus Monkey

Risus with Cards

Risus Monkey — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 02:03:00 +0000

The Risus Monkey is coming out of cold sleep to report on a new set of Risus rules over at the Risusiverse. The Ruminator has written rules for playing Risus with a deck of playing cards here. They are supposedly based on some old TSR game. To me, they greatly resemble the rules for one of my favorite games of all time - Castle Falkenstein! I've always had a thing for card-based systems, though I do confess that I have never had great success using one in play. But the idea of using cards seems rather cool. For certain settings and genres, like Deadlands or Falkenstein, they just seem to be especially appropriate.

It is Done (for now)

Risus Monkey — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 17:03:00 +0000

Last Thursday's Risus Dragonspire game was about three times as long as usual, but it was a spectacular session. The party had an epic battle vs. a reanimated magelord and went on to gain the upper hand in a three-sided battle between them, an opposing party of mercenary adventurers, and an ancient white dragon. Much fun. I still need to post final updates, which may happen this weekend.

For the next few months, my efforts will then shift to the D20 Dragonspire game. Not that Risus wasn't working, but it was dreadfully hard to get anything done online. Hopefully, I can run some face-to-face Risus games once the holidays roll around. Until then, I will continue to noodle around with new Risus Monkey content, as my hellish schedule allows.

Creeping Toward a Finnish Line

Risus Monkey — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 15:55:00 +0000

It feels like we're assymptotically approaching the end of our Risus Dragonspire. The update from the last session has been posted. Hopefully, we'll wrap things up this Thursday.

Dao Sheng

Risus Monkey — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 17:48:00 +0000

Dan Suptic strikes again! Check out his new post-apocalyptic setting: Dao Sheng. I'm thrilled to be able to host it here at the Risus Monkey, though you can also find it over at the Risusiverse. I love the setting and was imagining running something similar ever since I read S.M. Stirling's Dies the Fire. And if the setting isn't your thing, then maybe his new martial arts mechanics will get your attention.

Nothing to See Here... Move Along

Risus Monkey — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 02:19:00 +0000

It's going t0 be a slow month here at the Risus Monkey. I am busy beyond words with work, family, and my new (non-Risus) face-to-face game. I'm still keeping tabs on Risus Talk, in case anything interesting comes up. And we still have Thursday Dragonspire games every few weeks or so. Hopefully, I'll have more Risus content when GenCon rolls around. I'm going to try to keep my primary blog (the Velvet Edge) up-to-date, so check there if you'd like to see what I'm up to.

Last Thursday's Dragonspire

Risus Monkey — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 03:43:00 +0000

On Thursday, we resumed our weekly Dragonspire game with a full compliment of players. We are drawing closer to the climax of this story arc, and characters are starting to spend their hard earned experience points. A brief episode update can be found here (see Session #14).

Risusiverse

Risus Monkey — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 13:04:00 +0000

I mentioned that the bulk of the recent traffic on Risus Talk has concerned the start of the new Risus wiki. Without further ado, here's the plug for user contributions:

If and when my schedule opens up, I'd love to contribute something to the site. Already, Larry Bullock has moved most of his original material onto the site from it's current home. Guy Hoyle has also uploaded his new Anachroamerica setting, which is as close to an ideal Risus setting as one can imagine.

I'm Back

Risus Monkey — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 01:59:00 +0000

The details of my absence are covered in this post on the Velvet Edge. The corporate overlords are going to make it difficult, but I do hope to get back to posting here on the Risus Monkey. There has been quite a bit of traffic on Risus Talk and I'd like to address some of what's been going on (hint: most of it concerns the new Risusiverse wiki). And there is still the matter of those lost Silverlode episodes and the continuation of Risus Dragonspire on Thursday nights.

Blogger Better But...

Risus Monkey — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 02:38:00 +0000

After a week of not being able to upload updates, Blogger appears to be on the mend. Alas, I am leaving for a week-long family vacation in the morning and won't be able to post agin until I return. Before hitting the road, I was able to post a small Dragonspire update (incuding a short summary last night's session).

Stock Characters

Risus Monkey — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 21:56:00 +0000

Hat tip to Guy Hoyle at Risus Talk for pointing out this excellent WikiPedia entry on stock characters. While generally useful for any game, it is especially appropriate for Risus (where clichéd characters are the game's chewy center).

We Now Resume Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Risus Monkey — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 22:16:00 +0000

We had a server meltdown on the Risus Monkey, so I've spent the last couple of days trying to get it fixed. Things should be back to normal, but if you have trouble connecting or if you see missing data then there are still a few kinks to work out.

Introducing Tornado Kate

Risus Monkey — Wed, 31 May 2006 01:22:00 +0000

While digging around for "Dances With Werewolves" notes that seemed to have gone missing (they should be around here somewhere), I stumbled accross a player's original proposal for a Silverlode character, back when it was going to be GURPS Silverlode 1876. Well, since I really enjoyed the character concept I thought I'd convert her to Risus and post her on the site. Her name's Tornado Kate, and she's the rootin'ist, tootin'ist werewolf hunter in the west. I don't have an image for her, but the player informed me that she should be voiced by Joan Cusack (from Toy Story 2).

The Death of Silva

Risus Monkey — Fri, 26 May 2006 20:48:00 +0000

Last night's epic Dragonspire session was particularly momentous. Not only did we have all our players in attendance, but the party caused an avalanche and battled waves of undead soldiers within site of the fortress of Sa Karen. Alas, their NPC guide, Silva, was slain in the fighting.

The session summary has been posted here and characters have been updated.

On the Subject of Updates...

Risus Monkey — Wed, 24 May 2006 19:30:00 +0000

Dan Suptic has made a few small revisions to Arcadomai. Most are minor edits, but there is an important change to the Magic Cards rule. The new text reads:

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 know what the card does and have it prepared in a certain place (left pocket is heal, right pocket is ice dagger) or they could just cast it blindly (I'm sure that could never go wrong).