Welcome to Risusiverse

Risusiverse is a site for fans of Risus: The Anything RPG - the free pen and paper roleplaying system written by S. John Ross. While this site might not set the world ablaze, it may hopefully become the recognized resource for Risus.

Some might find Risus to be nothing more than a beer and pretzels throwaway type of comedy system, while others sees Risus as pure genius in its simplicity. In either case, Risusiverse presents the opportunity for Risus fans to share their work with the rest of the world.

Supporting this Site

The value of a place like Risusiverse is directly proportional to the amount of support that is provided by the Risus community. Feel free to comment on anything that has been posted here. Better yet, feel free to join in on the fun!

Add Content!

As always, feel free to join in and add your Risus content to the site (no cost to join; you'll be helping out the Risus community; it makes a great backup for your Risus content you might have on your website; it could bring about world peace; etc.).

If you have your own website, it would be appreciated if you added a link to Risusiverse - http://risusiverse.wetpaint.com/ - feel free to use the image to the right if you like.

If you would like to contribute but don't want to register, feel free to send in your submission to risusiverse-at-gmail.com, and one of the moderators will be able to post it here for you.

Please try to follow our Submission Guidelines.

What's here?

Adventures

In the old days of roleplaying, these were called modules - pre-made scenarios so you could get to playing the game quickly.

Artwork

sometimes a picture is worth 1000 words.

Badges, Posters, Stickers, and T-Shirts

Images you can use to link to Risusiverse (please link to us)

Characters and Cliches

It never hurts to have a bunch of characters and clichés ready for use - either for players or for the game master (GM) to use. Feel free to add your own, too: the more the merrier!

External Links

Links to resources available on the web that might be of interest to Risus fans.

File Vault

Word documents, PDF files, ZIP archives, etc. all related to Risus.

Group Support

It's good to know that we are not alone.

Optional Rules

Some see Risus as being complete as is. Others love to tweak things until Risus becomes something else.

Rule Elucidation

Risus might not be complicated, but it can certainly be subtle. While the Risus Companion is what amounts to a 64 page guidebook for a 6 page roleplaying game, sometimes it helps to see other thoughts on how to use Risus.

Settings

A variety of settings that are freely available for you to use and have fun playing in.

Software

A way to use a computer to assist you with Risus.

Wiki-based RPG

A method to play Risus using the wiki to host your game.

Voices

A view into the RisusTalk and Risus mailing lists.

About Risus

"Risus is a complete Role Playing Game (RPG) designed to provide an "RPG Lite" for those nights when the brain is too tired for exacting detail. Risus is especially valuable to GMs assembling a quick convention game, or any late-night beer-and-pretzels outing. While it is essentially a Universal Comedy System, it works just as well for serious play (if you insist!). Best of all, a Risus character takes about 20 seconds to create!" - S. John Ross

International Order of Risus

While it is not necessary to be a member of the International Order of Risus, being a member grants you access to the Risus Companion (a 64 page guidebook to a 6 page RPG that is well worth reading). Membership has other perks as well.

Risus in Print

While you can download and play Risus for free, you can purchase Risus and a host of other Cumberland Games titles through the direct to print store at the Cumberland Games & Diversions Lulu Store.

Risusiverse the Fanzine

Thanks to a recent update to the WetPaint engine, the whole idea behind a fanzine seems a bit moot. Now, every page in the site is printer friendly. No ads, no extra columns, nothing but the article you are interested in. So feel free to just print off anything you want from the site.

Artwork Credit

Most of the stick figure based artwork used on this site was created by using the freely available Risus fonts and is used by permission and © S. John Ross.

Many of the photographs are from stock.xchng (a good source of royalty free pictures).