 Cliche
Categories A
simple way
of categorizing a character's powers into specific cliches
(they help
you to remember to give your character variety and not to
forget the
basics). You don't have to use all of the
recommended cliche
categories. Some categories may overlap.
Power
Cliche - use this cliche to simulate
your character's
super-powers. Remember to be descriptive in
the
title. Detail what this cliche can normally do and
what if any
"tools of the trade" are necessary. Some examples
are;
Skill
Cliche - use this cliche to simulate a
“skill set” your
character has, again be descriptive for extra
flavor. Some examples
are;
Personality
Cliche - use to simulate some part of
your character's
personality or background. Some examples are;
SID
(Secret Identity) Cliche - use to
simulate your normal
everyday Secret Identity's career (very important in a
super hero
game!). Even characters with a "public ID" should
have one of
these. As part of our "suped-up" game, everyone was
given 3d6 for
this cliche free. Some
examples are;
Miscellaneous
Cliche - did we miss something?
Use this caegory to
simulate other notable Powers or Skills or use to buy
Sidekicks &
Shield-mates (see below) for your character. Some examples
are;
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| Hook
Dice
Inspired by
the Hero/Champions system's disadvantages or Savage Worlds
hindrances
these are the "bad" things about your character converted
to
cliches. Examples include, codes of honor, phobias,
bad habits,
etc. You need a minimum of 6d6 total of Hooks to
start.
Hooks are used just like Conflicts and Challenges - sometimes you will have to "fight" yourself Cliche vs Hook to overcome a fear. - other times you will have to roll your Hook vs a target number. - or sometimes the Hook dice will be subtracted from your Cliche dice. Some examples are;
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| Sidekicks
& Shield-Mates |
| Boxcars
& Breakthroughs see
The Risus
Companion
- page 54
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| Lucky
Shots |
| Kickers Kickers or
Kicker Dice are similar
to Lucky Shots. They are "extra" dice bought
to simulate tricks,
combat manuevers or gadgets that a character has
access to on a regular
basis (but not often enough to be their own
cliche). Unlike lucky
shots (which are usable only once per game
session), they are reusable
every scene or combat or as the GM permits.
Cost is 1:1 (unlike
Lucky Shots that are 3:1 or Questing Dice [see The Risus
Companion]
that are 5:1), typically
characters must buy Hook Dice in order to
buy/afford Kickers.
Some examples are;
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| Drama Dice Drama Dice are a collective pool of dice usable anytime by anyone.
The GM may
replenish the pool at
any time for any reason - especially for really
good role-playing,
exciting actions or really good puns, etc.
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| Doubling Up If during a
Risus combat, one of
the combatant's dice rolls adds up to TWICE the number
of his opponent,
the opponent loses two dice from their cliche
instead of just
one. Optionally, you can extend this to
THRICE and further
doublings.
|
| Sidekick OUT Rule Only when
"Teaming Up" or just
fighting with or near a "sidekick" character, does
the "avenging" rule
apply (see Risus basic rules page 4 under Teaming
Up). Thus even
if your not using the Teaming Up combat maneuver
IF your designated
"sidekick" (see The
Sidekick Lounge
for examples of sidekick characters and their
status in the MYSTERY MEN
campaign) is hurt or taken down ("hang on, old
chum!") only then does
the team leader or primary hero get the "vengeance
bonus".
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| Monologuing
IF a villain or hero is "caught" in the middle of
a long-winded
monolog, any one opponent
(not a group) may
try to attack him or her unawares, while they
prattle on and on about
how
superior they are. Or how masterful their
grand scheme to rule
the world is unstoppable by the pitiful examples
of "super" heroes that
stands before him. Or how the small puny
insects known as
humanity will come to worship them, er, me as the
true godlike figure
that I am by kneeling and prostrating themselves,
while giving
offerings of gold, jewelry and tax-deductible
savings bonds. I am
the eggman, I am the walrus! I am the
Kingpin of Risus, kneel
before Zog!!!
Ahem, anyway
if someone is caught
monologing they are at -1d6 value for whatever cliche
they use to defend
themselves from the surprise attack.
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| Henchmen
Rule
of 3 In the
classic
1960's
Batman TV show, the weekly villain was always
attended to by his
"Girl Friday" and 3 henchmen. Typically the
3 henchmen introduced
at the beginning of the show had nicknames
appropriate to the main
villain (the Penguin's men always had bird-themed
names, etc.).
BUT, as soon as the heroes would show up and begin
the fight scene 3 to
6
MORE henchmen (always sets of 3) would come out of
the scenery and join
the fight.
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| Evil
Hideouts by
Guy
Hoyle from the Risustalk
newsgroup
This is a great
example of "all
the
world's a cliche" in Risus!
WAREHOUSE HIDEOUTA squalid collection of
warehouses, secretly the hideout of Dr. Wu Ming
Tsu, piled high with trade goods; secretly riddled
with catacombs and
traps.
Tactics: The
Warehouse Hideout
typically uses the Squalid Warehouse and Bumbling
Security Guards
cliches exclusively until both are reduced to 1
dice, which means that
the Secret Catacombs have been discovered; then it
switches to the
Secret Catacombs, Highly Trained Guards, and
Concealed Traps cliches.
If any of these are reduced to 1 dice, the
Exciting Action Climax
cliche is then employed. The object of the
characters' search is
suddenly discovered, enemy reinforcements show up
(recovering 1-3 of their
dice, if the players decide to confront them), and
a submerged tunnel
or something of that nature is discovered to be
the best way out. (This
last bit can be played out fully or just a single
action conflict, if
need be.)
If any of the
players are put
out of action by the Squalid
Warehouse or the Bumbling Security Guards, they
are knocked
unconscious and taken prisoner, to be trussed up
and dumped in the
river through a convenient trap door. If
they are taken out of
action by any of the later menaces, they will
probably be taken to a
specially rigged Deathtrap of Doom, which can be
described as a
character in itself.
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| Heroclix
Imajewels Risus combat - now in living color! Great markers to show battle damage (ie. loss of cliche dice) and their safe & fun for the whole family too! |
| No dice. Fuzzy Dice Logic The dice is life. Running with Dice. The Dice Cup Runneth Over. She's as cold as dice. Of Dice and Men. Miami DICE The Dice is Right Bird with a Pair of Dice Chicken and Dice Fried Dice Wild Dice Dry Dice Dice and Taxes It's all fun and games until someone loses a die. Dirty Dicing Dice Hard God does
not play dice. Albert Einstein
Dice Mounds are ForeverRead more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/dice.html |
