Risus of Arabia 3.0

Risus: the Anything RPG, © S. John Ross 1993-2001 http://www.io.com/~sjohn/risus/

"First principles, Clarice. Simplicity. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its nature?”
Hannibal Lecter

Disclaimer.

I should take a closer look at TSR’s Al-Qadim; but I am a minimalist D6 bigot.

Second Disclaimer.

This is another attempt to untangle the Gordian Knot that is the Arabian Adventure world Huey and I started (and abandoned after a year and change of over thinking the whole process) for GURPS. Bits and parts will surface at my Yahoo 360 blog.

Third Disclaimer.

This Risus take on Arabian Adventures has not been rigorously playtested. The group was half way through the first adventure when Sal and Jess moved to another city for a job. The bulk of this is lifted from our Bare Bones version (which we woefully underthought).


To avoid problems, long ago we started using Fate in place of God, Allah, or Mohammad.

For simplicity’s sake, the characters are generic Islamic Arab. The era is ‘The Golden Age of the Islamic Empire’. All other races, creeds, nationalities are fit only for villains or comic relief.

Setting Cliches

Jinns in bottles on the beach.

Flying carpet careening through the minaret crowned skyline of Baghdad.

Lost cities in the sands of trackless deserts.

Dancing girls in diaphanous harem clothes.

A dhow in full sail on the seven seas.


Cliches for the various lands of the Land of Fate.

Saharan Africa: Salt caravans, Timbuktu, Barbary pirates, Algiers, Morocco, Casablanca

Egypt: Tombs, tombs, tombs, barging down the Nile, Nubian gold mines,

East Africa: King Solomon’s Mines, the slave trade, She Who Must Be Obeyed, Mountains of the Moon.

Arabia: riding camels, sailing Dhows, resting in oases, sand swept ruins of lost civilizations.

Persia: Like Arabia, only with mountains.

Anatolia (Turkey): Like Persia, only on the Mediterranean Sea.

India: Ornate temples of Doom, jungles, the Ganges, Thugges.

Spice Islands: old men who like piggyback rides, headhunters.



Risus of Arabia Adventure Seeds

Several themes: “powerful demon stories, talisman stories where a magical object protects and guides the hero, quest stories, transformation tales, and tales of demons under restraint”

The two main travel motivators in The Nights are to find treasure or break an enchantment; the usual RPG ‘need and greed seeds’.

I defer to The Big List of RPG Plots by S. John Ross.

Risus of Arabia characters.

Characters are built on ten dice.

Options at the GM’s whim. The only inappropriate option is Funky Dice.

The Hand of Fate rule lets a player call a Mulligan once a session. The HoF can be affected by the Five Pillars of Islam; or the Five Pillars can simply be milieu texture.

Characters should be mindful of Family, Honor, Hospitality, and Piety. They can form a bonus system or simply be milieu texture.

No classes. D&D classes do not translate into The Night’s milieu. Pick a job and work outward. The merchant/adventurer is a staple.


Merchant

Scholar

Caravan outrider

Dancing girl

Fakir is a tall dark and handsome manly man. He is always on the move. Good with pack animals and horses; not so good with people.

Hook: Bad Case of Wanderlust. Pathological Need for ‘Me’ Time.

Tale: He grew up fast in the streets and alleys of Baghdad. His survival mentality is built around ‘keep moving and trust no one’. Stowed away on a ship and has been moving ever since.

Taciturn Caravan Outrider (4) was an Agile and Cunning Street Urchin (3) and left the streets as An Able Seaman (2). Is also a Well Traveled Dilettante Scholar (2) which allows him Universal Mage Abilities, and a Break Even Gambler (1).

Princess Shalimar / Taura

Hook: Price on Her Head. Secret Identity. Compulsive Thief

Tale: She is a gypsy princess who fled her tribe because a traditionally evil uncle usurped power and wants to a) marry her off to some halfwit cousin, b) kill her off so he can take over. She was taken in by a group of traveling gypsies where she learned her trades. She can weave mesmerism through her dance, and uses her dance and social skills to locate loot and the best means to gain said loot.

Little Nell’s Dancing Girl: ‘Lithe of limb, light of touch, and fleet of foot.’ She is a renowned dancer with the ability to enthrall men as if they had drunk deeply of wine. She is also a gifted thief, pickpocket, con artist, and gambling cheat.

Wiley Gypsy Peasant (4) which allows her Universal Mage Abilities, Stunning Gypsy Princess (4), Savvy Merchant (2) Itinerant Bon Vivant (2).


Risus of Arabia Magic

In The Nights, powerful sorcerers were trumped by Fate or cunning; and a butcher’s daughter was learned in enchantments. Magic is useful, and accessible; but not overwhelming. This magic is more enchantment than spell flinging. For a taste of magic from The Nights read the Second Kalandar’s Tale.

Magic objects can be handled like the ‘Gizmo’ advantage for the Gadgetteer in GURPS Cliffhangers; devices, objects, and equipment are prepared before hand and can fill only five of the ten regular Gear Slots*. A set number of rings, vials, flasks, amulets, etc… are not committed before a session, but are committed once they come into play; however the uncommitted slot must be named ‘ring, vial, flask, amulet, etc…. One ring and one necklace can be ‘at the ready’ for a PC, each costs a Gear Slot. No spell lists, decide what needs to be done and work out the mechanics.

*(see Vincent Diakuw’s Dungeonautica)

Summoner/Demonologist or Alchemist is taken as the cliché. With mesmerism, augury, and letter magic as skills in either. Both Summoner/Demonologist and Alchemist clichés can be taken but only one can be double pumped.

The division between Summoner/Demonologist and Alchemist was a personal preference; it was done solely to diffuse mage power, feel free to combine them. Note: most magic takes one or two turns to prepare. Being ‘combat ready’ is tricky for a mage. Mages can have passable to excellent combat skills – still it’s a good to have a trick, or two, up his or her sleeve.

Summoning/Demonology: summoning/binding demons and jinns, exorcising evil spirits….

Summoned jinns and demons are treated as temporary magic items* and get to make a break for it with a ‘Battle of Wills’ using either the ‘wild dice rule’ from WEG, or after a critical failure on a Control Roll - fair’s fair.+ (Bound demons and jinns are automatically summoned, and if they do make a break for it they take their creation dice with them)

And yes, binding a jinn or a sentient demon IS slavery. Which is OK in this setting.

(Note: to keep some players from using a bound demon for every piss-ant task they come across either make demons a one off temporary magic items or allow the demon bonuses to Will Rolls for every time they are call in the same day)

Note: Demons are only vaguely referred to in The Nights; and the souls of the departed are in the hands of Allah, so no séances or ghosts or ghosts-like apparitions.

For game purposes, jinns, as a rule, don’t do physical combat; the lower powered jinns can use their innate magic abilities to perform magical tasks. Higher level jinns can cast spells and enchantments. Demons, due to their less magical nature, are more suited for combat and physical tasks. And no, jinns and demons can’t be summoned at the same time.

*(Risus Magic Objects by Jason Puckett)

+(see Minute-Made Magic (M3) for summoning options)

(an option for summoned beings is the 3:1 dice cost as in Sidekicks and Shieldmates)

Alchemy: potions, elixirs, devices, acids, explosives, tear gas, transmuting stuff, animating statues, make and use The Philosopher’s Stone, create homunculi (‘do it yourself’ Sidekick – Companion page 51), golems, (a Sidekick as a temporary magic item) or egregores (a ‘thought-form’), etc…

Sample potions: heroism, speed, strength, healing, flash vial, paralyzation, polymorph, cure disease, regeneration…….



Alchemists can carry five vials or two flasks per Gear Slot.


Universal Mage Abilities
(see Risus Magic by Jason Puckett and S. John Ross)

• Sensing magic items upon seeing or touching them
• Sensing other wizards on sight
• Sensing other wizards nearby, whether or not they're visible ("I feel a disturbance in the Force...")
• Sensing spells cast nearby
• Detecting the nature (necromancy, fire magic, good/evil/hostile/friendly magic) of magic items or spells in the area
• Dispelling other mages' spells *
• etc.

* Dispelling an enchantment is a regular theme in The Nights, often involving time, effort, and travel. There is also a tacit ‘hands off’ agreement among all magic users, both mages and Jinns. A tenuous connection between the caster and the enchantment allows he or she to knows when his or her enchantment is being tampered with. It also serves as an automatic Lojack for magic objects until the enchantment is cloaked, altered, or broken. Also a door can be given a slight enchantment to act as a silent alarm (a variation of Magic Mouth).

Also:

Augury: Astrology/Geomancy (sand writing, akin to reading tea leaves), ask the oracle simple questions … (a shameless tool for the GM to use)

Letter Magic. - wards and glyphs, making amulets (protective) and talismans (empowering) to control the elements (not elemental spirits), the weather, talk to animals, draw magic circles, create illusions, write home for help ... (necessary for making magic objects)

Magic circles using wards and glyphs will add dice to a spell on a one shot basis. Wards and glyphs can be traced on walls or doors to make barriers or traps; or traced on the palm of the hand for a low powered quickie: flash, stun, confuse, enthrall, etc…
(Note: Sleep is milieu passable; Charm, Suggestion, and other mind control spells are not.)

(Note: I don’t remember if mesmerism is a part of The Nights; it was included in the earlier incarnations of this game as a concession to a player who wanted a non-talismanic trance inducer - originally trances and the like were achieved via letter magic.)

Universal Mage Abilities can be a skill in an appropriate cliché: a Gypsy Princess, Gypsy Peasant, Occult Scholar, etc… with adjusted TNs. Or not.

There is a Spellflinger conversion chart; most ‘classic’ spells can be replicated with this system – the point is to have a broader use of magic. To cover the biggest bugbear, there are no Magic Missiles, Fireballs, Webs, or the like. Cure Wounds or Cure Disease are handled through other skills. (although in the second incarnation of this game Little Nell used a minor ‘bind’ glyph to staunch a bleeding wound and a ‘hold’ glyph to stop the progression of paralysis)

Augury covers ESP, Clairvoyance ….

Letter Magic covers: Light, Protection from Evil, Hold Portal, Shield (detailed rules), Wizard Lock…



Risus of Arabia Bestiary

In the first incarnation the bestiary was divided by region, era, culture, and such, using the Cthulhu rule of thumb that the older the entity the more powerful it is. It was long and well over-thought.

In the second incarnation we used the Harryhausen rule. Any creature animated by Harryhausen could be used. This was a more Greco-Roman themed bestiary.

Monsters have a best Cliché. Using a spread of x, x-1, x-2, assign numbers to the elements in this list until you run out. The order is up to you.

Base Cliché:
• Fighting
• Moving
• Thinking /Special Effects
• Searching
• Charming
(from Vincent Diakuw’s Dungeonautica)

Types of monsters.

Hybrids: Half and halfs like centaurs or Nagas and/or chimeras – beasts of many parts.

Melds: a Moreau-esque manimals, werewolves, lizardmen etc….

BTL: Bigger than life. Large or giant creatures.

There are no undead in The Nights or Egyptian mythology. The mummy’s curse was a product Victorian England.

In the second incarnation demons were based on the Hindu and Egyptian pantheons, demons are minor aspects of the deities, mini avatars.

Nagas
Base Cliché: slithering, listening to reedy music, hypnotizing birds….
Fighting: (3) bite, claw, whip with tail.
Moving: (2) -1. Can lunge.
Thinking /Special Effects: (1) slow reptilian brain.
Searching: (2) -2 tastes the air over short distances, heat sense.
Charming: Not so much
Notes: Half man half snake, usually solo.


Anubins.
Base Cliché: running in packs, having a ‘Day’, using curved bladed weapons.
Fighting: (3)
Moving: (2) -2 their legs are on backwards.
Thinking /Special Effects: (1)
Searching: (3) -1
Charming: not so much.
Notes: Jackelmen as from ‘The Mummy Returns’.

General notes on Jinn. They were created from smokeless fire (humans were created from clay) and seem to be the missing link between angels/demons and men. They have a parallel society, marry, have families, hold slaves, and have jobs. They can pass for human, have sex with humans, and have the same emotional range as humans; though being created from fire, they are more passionate. The most common enchantments are shapeshifting, illusions, charm, fly, element control, talk to animals, and pass through walls. All are dependent on the jinn’s class and power.

A by no means authoritative list of jinn-kind.

Classes of Jinn
Marid:
Base Cliché: A large jinn.
Fighting: 8
Moving: 8
Thinking /Special Effects: 14 All jinn abilities and then some.
Searching: 5 all knowing, all seeing.
Charming: 5 wise, and well disposed towards polite company.
Notes: fewest in number, strongest, solitary. Live near the coast and are masters of the weather, may appear as a wise old man or a porpoise, or a horse, leading travelers to wise courses.



Ifrit:
Base Cliché: Well meaning hothead.
Fighting: 4
Moving: 4
Thinking /Special Effects: 6 illusions, fly, element control, talk to animals, and pass through walls.
Searching: 5
Charming: 1
Notes: highly intelligent, have a quite evil temper, make homes in abandoned or desolate places. May appear as a soldier, or a great dog, often move across land as a great tornado of dust, or on magical camels made of sand and evil magic. They may also strike as giant serpents or scorpions spitting fire.


Shaitan
Base Cliché: Joe Average jinn
Fighting: 2
Moving: 2
Thinking /Special Effects: 3 illusions, charm, fly, talk to animals, and pass through walls
Searching: 1
Charming: 2
Notes: the longest lived of all the jinn, masters of deception, and can disappear in a cloud of smoke, traveling on clouds of hot air from place to place. They are well known for their pride, and are known to have human worshipers and slaves.

Ghul
Base Cliché: Hillbilly cousin of jinn-kind
Fighting: 3
Moving: 1
Thinking /Special Effects: 2 shapeshifting, charm
Searching: 2
Charming: N/A
Notes: stalk the trackless wastes of the desert and prey upon the living and the dead. They can change into vultures, Their alternative forms always have asses' hooves The only way to kill Ghul is to strike them with a single blow, since striking them twice will invest within them new life.
There is a debate as to whether ghuls are jinns, sometimes they are referred to as ‘ogres’. For games purposes, a family tree of less magical ghuls formed the workhorse / cannon fodder for players to stomp (much like the goblinoid monsters in D&D).

Jann
Base Cliché: Cherub of jinn-kind
Fighting: 0
Moving: 2
Thinking /Special Effects: 4 illusions, charm, fly, talk to animals, and pass through walls
Searching: 0
Charming: 2
Notes: The most individualistic, could hide an oasis from those who had previously mistreated them or shown disrespect.

Qareen:
Base Cliché: Impish jinn
Fighting: 0
Moving: 0
Thinking /Special Effects: 4 , illusions, charm, fly, and pass through walls.
Searching: 0
Charming: 2
Notes: according to Islamic literature, these are evil spirits, analogous to a personal demon, intent on tricking people into acts of sin. Binding a Qareen to someone is a form of a Hex.


Jinn are beings of flame or air that are capable of assuming human or animal form and are said to dwell in all conceivable inanimate objects—stones, trees, ruins—underneath the earth, in the air, and in fire. They possess the bodily needs of human beings and can even be killed, but they are free from all physical restraints. Jinn delight in punishing humans for any harm done them, intentionally or unintentionally, and are said to be responsible for many diseases and all kinds of accidents; however, those human beings knowing the proper magical procedure can exploit the jinn to their advantage.

Sand Snake
Base Cliché: Large snake
Fighting: Surprise attack (3)
Moving:
Thinking /Special Effects: A really impressive hood.
Searching:
Charming:
Notes: Ambush hunter


Risus of Arabia movie list …

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (The inspiring cliché)

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger

The Desert Hawk

The Prince who was a Thief

The Princess of the Nile

Legend of the Lost

Allan Quartermain, King Solomon’s Mines, She.

Beau Geste

The Last Remake of Beau Geste

Khartum

The Wind and the Lion

The Sheltering Sky

Lawrence of Arabia

Or Universal’s ‘tits and sand’ easterns from the forties and fifties:
The Prince Who Was a Thief
Flame of Araby
Son of Ali Baba
Veils of Bagdad
The Golden Blade