TEXT: Risus Old- School Fantasy
  By Griffin Pelton
  Rules based on a core of Risus 
  with modifications for original 
  Dungeons & Dragons style play.
  To be used with
  Risus: The Anything RPG
  www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm
  Table of Contents: 
  (approximate) 
  page 1
  Character Creation
  page 2
  Assist & Defend Slots
  page 3
  Magic & Spellcasting
  page 4
  Spell Research
  page 5
  Mystic Mutations
  page 6
  Advancement
  page 8
  Treasure
  page 9
  Spell Components
  page 10
  Conflict
  page 11
  Maneuvers & Tactics
  page 12
  General Guidelines
  Character Creation
  Start with 6 dice to build a 
  character with.
  Be sure to mark each cliche 
  that is a Channeling or 
  Spellcasting type. Channeling 
  cliches are normal cost (1  for 
  1) and spellcasting cliches 
  cost twice as much (2 for 1 
  cliche die). Remember to have 
  a source of magical power and 
  pick a mutation number for each 
  magic-using cliche.
  Example: Wizard of Light (3) 
  Angelic Spellcasting 4, is a 
  spellcasting cliche and anytime 
  a 4 comes up on dice when using 
  any magic there is a risk of 
  mutation.
  Inventory
  Unlike a normal Risus game, for 
  old-school fantasy type games 
  PCs are required to keep fairly 
  careful track of their 
  inventory. Basic rule is if you 
  have the right equipment in 
  your inventory to do something 
  you roll the cliche at full 
  value. If you have makeshift 
  equipment you roll cliche at 
  half. If you don't have any 
  equipment for it, you can't 
  roll the cliche.
  Starting money is a roll of 
  your highest cliche, then 
  multiply the result by 10. 
  That's how many silver pieces 
  the PC starts with.
  1
  
  Assist and Defend Slots:
  During character creation you 
  may simply spend any of your 
  starting dice to gain slots. 
  During play you can only use 
  dice gotten when advancing a 
  cliche. Instead of adding the 
  die to the cliche that you 
  successfully advanced you can 
  instead trade it for slots, but 
  those slots have to be somewhat 
  related to the cliche that was 
  advanced. Can also add new 
  slots to previously created 
  items/abilities.
  Each die spent earns three 
  slots, which can be divided up 
  (or not) between several 
  choices that can be of either 
  type. A single aspect of the 
  character may be a source of 
  both types of slots. In that 
  situation you should write it 
  down in both places to keep the 
  different types of slots 
  separate on the character 
  sheet. Even better, you should 
  actually have them vary a bit 
  in wording. Try to specify what 
  back of having an Abyss 
  Background lets you be better 
  at tasks (Assist Slots) and 
  which part of it lets you 
  endure things better (Defend 
  Slots).
  Some magical items give Assist 
  and Defend slots, but slots 
  bought with character dice 
  cannot by magic items.
  Assist Slots are items/
  abilities that can help a 
  character succeed in certain 
  situations. Each slot can be 
  spent to add a single die to a 
  roll that the specific item/
  ability would be useful in. 
  Assist Slots recover at the 
  beginning of each session. 
  These are declared before the 
  roll they help with.
  Example: 
  Magic McGuyver Bag [] [] []
  A bag which a wizard has lots 
  of bits and pieces of useful 
  ritual gear he has accumulated 
  over the years. None of it is 
  useful enough to be a full 
  spell component, but often can 
  be used to help with casting a 
  spell.
  Defend Slots are items/
  abilities that can help a 
  character endure certain 
  situations. Each slot can be 
  spent to prevent a die of a 
  specific type of damage. When 
  used the damage is removed from 
  the Defend Slots instead of a 
  cliche. These are used when 
  damage is taken. Can’t be used 
  as a form of healing.
  Example: 
  Abyss-Raised Alertness {} {} {} 
  Growing up the the Abyss means 
  you can go for days without 
  rest before getting sleepy. Can 
  be used to prevent exhaustion/
  tiredness damage.
  2
  
  Magic
  There are two magic-type 
  cliches: Channeling and 
  Spellcasting.
  Channeling cliches are for 
  those that channel raw magic 
  and force it into crude effects 
  that can influence a few 
  targets and/or a small area. 
  Using this level of magic 
  requires telling the GM what 
  effect you are attempting 
  before the roll. Channelers 
  boost magic-using rolls by 
  adding one die to the roll for 
  every die lost from the cliche 
  after the roll. Channeled 
  effects rarely last more then 
  the cliche's strength in 
  minutes. 
  Spellcasting cliches are for 
  skilled mages who have learned 
  to manipulate large amounts of 
  power. A proper spell can 
  affect large groups of people 
  and city block sized areas. You 
  must inform the GM what spell 
  is being used before making the 
  roll. Spellcasting rolls are 
  double-boosted, which means two 
  dice are added to the roll for 
  every die that will be lost 
  after the roll. Spells can have 
  a duration of the spellcaster's 
  cliche in hours.
  Spellcaster cliches can use 
  single-boost Channeling level 
  powers.
  Both kinds of magic-using 
  cliche can do minor cantrip-
  level magic with no boosting, 
  but still has risk of mutation.
  Spellcasting
  Spellcasters start knowing a 
  number of spells equal to twice 
  their dice of spellcasting 
  cliches. PCs gain no new spells 
  when a Spellcasting-type cliche 
  increases. Gaining new spells 
  is done only through 
  discovering them while 
  exploring, or research.
  Spellcasters can only have a 
  small number of their total 
  spells memorized each day. The 
  number of spells that can be 
  prepared is equal to the total 
  dice of all spellcasting 
  cliches the PC has.
  So a magic-user character with 
  Fire Wizard (3) Spellcasting, 
  Necromancer (2) Spellcasting, 
  can have a total of five spells 
  memorized. Three fire-based and 
  two necromancy-based.
  All known spells should be 
  written down and given a brief 
  description, enough to fit on 
  a index card at most. All 
  spells should be recorded in a 
  group ‘spellbook’ for new 
  players or new characters to 
  pick from if they aren’t 
  feeling creative enough to make 
  up their own spells from 
  scratch.
  3
  
  Spell Research
  Researching new spells is a 
  roll of a spellcaster cliche 
  against a base TN 30. Every 
  gold piece spent on supplies 
  reduces the TN by 1. Each day 
  spent on the research also 
  reduces the TN by 1. A specific 
  scholarly work on related 
  matters reduces the TN by 5. If 
  more then two scholarly works 
  are used in researching a 
  spell, no new book is 
  purchased.
  For each 10 gold that was spent 
  on successfully creating new 
  spell that is researched the 
  player must give the name and 
  author of one book which was 
  used in the spell creation 
  process. The name must be 
  indicative of a very 
  specialized work that would 
  pertain to the spell his 
  character was attempting to 
  create. So if Mack the Magic-
  User was creating his 
  Magnificent Mauler spell, 
  Mack’s player might say that 
  one of the tomes Mack bought to 
  assist this process was 
  Inquires into the Application 
  of Conjured Downward Forces by 
  Schumpti Rock-dropper. That 
  sounds specialized enough to 
  me. It’s certainly more of a 
  dedicated-sounding title than 
  The Codex Supreme: Treatises on 
  All Known Magicks.
  Having deemed the book 
  acceptable, both Mack’s player 
  and the GM make a note of the 
  fact that Mack now owns this 
  book. At some future time, 
  Mack’s player decides that 
  there really needs to be a 
  spell that would fill the gap 
  that feather fall usually does 
  (check the rule books, feather 
  fall doesn’t show up until 1st 
  edition AD&D). Deciding to fill 
  that gap with a new spell 
  called Mack’s delicate descent, 
  our exemplary MU heads back to 
  the spell lab. Mack has decided 
  to put 5 gold and 5 days into 
  the research, which would 
  normally make the TN 20. 
  However, since Mack already 
  owns a book dealing with 
  conjured downward forces and 
  thus being a reasonable 
  reference source for his 
  proposed new spell, Mack only 
  has to beat TN 15. Mack’s 
  player has added a bit of 
  flavor to the campaign world, 
  and I have a springboard to use 
  for new set dressing on future 
  adventures. Maybe Schumpti 
  Rock-dropper has written other 
  books and there’s an Inquires 
  into the Application of 
  Conjured Upward Forces to be 
  found in the next arch-mage’s 
  tower. Simple, imaginative, and 
  conducive to the shared world 
  experience - it’s a win-win for 
  everyone. 
  4
  
  Mystic Mutations
  The mortal form is unable to 
  handle the stress of high-level 
  magic. This applies to magic of 
  all types. So as a magic-user 
  becomes more powerful the 
  increasing amounts of magical 
  energy twist his body into a 
  more suitable vessel. This can 
  be a controlled preemptive 
  artifact replacement parts, 
  directed mutation most often 
  seen in servants of Angels and 
  Demons to be more like their 
  patrons, or it can be random 
  changes like Arcane sorcerers.
  Any character that has magic or 
  spellcasting cliches picks a 
  number between 1 and 6. 
  Whenever that number is rolled 
  on any of the dice when that 
  character is using magical 
  abilities (any time a cliche is 
  being boosted or double-
  boosted, or even in the rare 
  situation magic is being used 
  without any boosting) there is 
  a risk of mystic mutation. This 
  is extra-dangerous for 
  spellcasters when they are 
  double-boosting their cliches 
  and could be rolling as many as 
  eight or nine dice at once.
  If the number of dice that 
  rolled the mutation number is 
  equal to or greater than the 
  number of mutations the 
  character has, he gains another 
  one.
  For the location of mutation 
  the GM rolls and adjudicates 
  the result depending on the 
  character's power source. If 
  the location is already 
  affected then the character 
  gets a mental affliction/
  insanity of some kind instead 
  of a physical alteration.
  Mutation Table:
  1 - Head
  2 - Eyes
  3 - Arm
  4 - Leg
  5 - Torso
  6 - Voice
  7 - Aura
  8 - Arm
  9 - Leg
  10 - Hair
  11 - Eyes
  12 - Skin
  Mutations have no game mechanic 
  affect. They will change how 
  people react to the character 
  and will often hinder them in 
  some fashion, with the very 
  rare occasion of a mutation 
  actually being helpful in some 
  situation. People will react 
  poorly to a magic-user showing 
  obvious mutations, unless they 
  are of the same church/cult/
  guild as the magic-user in 
  question.
  5
  
  Advancement
  Experience (XP) is gained when 
  a PC spends money. 1 point for 
  every silver piece spent. When 
  spending at least a day in a 
  non-hostile place (unfriendly 
  is fine) a PC may spend XP to 
  try and become more powerful. 
  The cost to attempt improvement 
  in a cliche is (current cliche 
  dice) x100 experience.
  Each time you spend the 
  required XP you roll the 
  cliche. If the dice land 
  showing all even or all odd 
  numbers, the cliche gains a 
  die. A cliche (1) must pick 
  either odd or even before 
  rolling.
  If you spend more xp then 
  needed on a advancement roll, 
  it will increase the chances of 
  success. Each multiple of the 
  amount needed (x2, x3, etc.) 
  reduces the cliche dice rolled 
  by one, to a minimum of one.
  Suggestions for spending money: 
  Extremely fancy clothing, 
  custom-made equipment and 
  items, enjoying lavish 
  hedonistic parties, aquiring 
  obscure tomes of lore, etc.
  When splitting cliches a player 
  may add new concepts in a new 
  cliche to show off new training 
  or induction in some religious 
  order, as long as it is related 
  to the source cliche in some 
  way.
  If the new training or powers 
  can’t be attached to the source 
  cliche, then the player will 
  have to spent a split or two 
  guiding cliches towards the 
  desired concept.
  At some point a cliche will be 
  high enough that further 
  advancement becomes very 
  unlikely. At this point a 
  player may choose to split one 
  of his character’s current 
  cliches into two (or more) 
  related cliches and advance 
  those. The dice of the source 
  cliche can be spread as evenly 
  or unevenly among the new 
  cliches as the player wishes.
  Example: A Blind Lecherous 
  Swordsman (6) can’t improve 
  that cliche any further. So at 
  the next opportunity he splits 
  it into two cliches. Blind 
  Swordmaster (3) and 
  Irresistible Lecherous 
  Scoundrel (3).
  Now the character is even 
  better defined by having two 
  cliches that are each part of 
  the source cliche, yet more 
  specialized. He can now also 
  resume advancing in both of 
  them. The important part is not 
  to make totally new cliches, 
  but to expand on and specialize 
  the abilities the character 
  already has.
  6
  
  This provides all the players 
  with the ability to continue 
  advancing for longer periods of 
  adventuring, and also refine 
  and customize their characters 
  as play continues and the 
  character’s personality and 
  abilities become more clear in 
  the player’s mind.
  The basic rules and creativity 
  of making cliches remain, with 
  the only restriction being the 
  new cliches have to use the old 
  cliche as a starting point. So, 
  from the above example, you 
  couldn’t split Blind Lecherous 
  Swordsman (6) into Veterinary 
  Genesplicer (3) and Award-
  winning Novelist (3). Neither 
  of those are based on 
  blindness, lechery, or 
  swordfighting.
  On the other hand the new 
  cliches can be only creatively 
  related to the source cliche. 
  So one of the new cliches could 
  be Blind Master of the Mystic 
  Arts (3) if years of 
  adventuring blind have shown 
  the character the secrets of 
  the universe and allowed him to 
  use magic. Be sure to explain 
  how the new cliches came about 
  to the GM.
  As a character advances and 
  splits cliches, don't erase the 
  old cliches. Put the new 
  cliches under the old one, 
  which doesn't have a number 
  anymore. This way you can keep 
  track of how your character has 
  developed and keep his core 
  concepts in mind.
  Example:
  Blind Lecherous Swordmaster (6)
  Into:
  Blind Lecherous Swordmaster
   Blind warrior-acolyte(3)
   Lovable Lecherous Scoundrel(3)
  Later:
  Blind Lecherous Swordmaster
    Blind warrior-acolyte
      Weaponmaster of legend (4)
      Blind mystic (2) channeling
    Lovable Lecherous Scoundrel
      Grandparent to dozens of 
  illegal heirs (3)
      Thief with bounties in five 
  kingdoms (3)
  And so on if a character lasts 
  for a really long time. Just 
  looking at the character sheet 
  in this default state can tell 
  someone the path the character 
  has traveled during his career. 
  It also can be a good source of 
  ideas of what is and is not in 
  a particular character's array 
  of abilities/skills if 
  confusion comes up. If the GM 
  doesn't agree to a certain 
  interpretation, or the player, 
  either can point back to the 
  foundation cliches for support.
  When splitting a Channeling or 
  Spellcasting cliche, the player 
  can choose to make one or both 
  of the resulting cliches 
  Channeling or Spellcasting (as 
  appropriate) if the cliches in 
  question are magical in nature.
  7
  
  Treasure
  A monster's treasure is 
  determined by rolling the 
  monster's primary cliche (which 
  may not be the highest) and 
  adding all except 1 results, 
  then multiplying by 10. This is 
  the amount of money the monster 
  has. The type of coins will 
  depend on the monster in 
  question. Kobolds might only 
  hoard copper pieces, orcs will 
  probably have silver pieces, 
  and drakes collect gold pieces. 
  100 copper for 1 silver, 100 
  silver for 1 gold. It might be 
  carried by the monster, or in 
  it's lair. Roll when the party 
  has managed to get to where the 
  treasure is. For true dragons, 
  make the multiplier x100.
  Because rolling the lowest 
  result for treasure sucks, a 1 
  result means there is a magic 
  item of some type in the 
  treasure. Each 1 grants a roll 
  on the following table:
   1 - Rod/Staff/Wand
   2 - Weapons & Shields
   3 - Miscellaneous
   4 - Potion
   5 - Ring
   6 - Scroll
   7 - Book
   8 - Treasure Map
  If duplicates are rolled it can 
  mean either several items (two 
  +1 swords) or a single stronger 
  item (one +2 sword).
  For every 100 silver (10 gold) 
  in value, there is a 10% chance 
  that 100 silver worth of 
  monetary treasure is unusual.
  For every 1000 silver (100 
  gold) in value, there is a 10% 
  chance that 1000 silver worth 
  of monetary treasure is 
  unusual.
  For every 5000 silver (500 
  gold) in value, there is a 10% 
  chance that 5000 silver worth 
  of monetary treasure is 
  unusual.
  For every X gold worth of 
  monetary treasure determined to 
  be unusual, roll on the 
  following table to determine in 
  what way it's unusual:
  [1] Unusual Shape (e.g. 
  triangular coins or square 
  gems)
  [2] Unusual Size (e.g. giant-
  forged coins or small bead-like 
  gems)
  [3] Unusual Color (e.g. green 
  gold pieces or blue rubies)
  [4] Unusual Markings (e.g. 
  strange glyphs on coins or 
  carvings on the surface of 
  gems)
  [5] Unusual Property (e.g. 
  glowing coins or floating gems)
  [6] Hazardous Property (e.g. 
  coins coated with contact 
  poison or gems that give off 
  radiation)
  8
  
  Except for number 6 on the 
  list, all of the other unusual 
  qualities add about 10-25% 
  value to the monetary treasure, 
  but the characters have to work 
  hard to get someone who will be 
  willing to buy them. After all, 
  how many fences have ever heard 
  of blue rubies and would 
  recognize their value when he 
  did? The intent here is to spur 
  side adventures and visits to 
  sages and esoteric collectors 
  in order to offload the weird 
  loot.
  Scrolls are single-spell 
  spellcasting cliches that can 
  be used by anyone without risk 
  of mutation. All the dice of 
  the scroll cliche are used at 
  once.
  Potions add a temporary cliche 
  to the character who drinks 
  them. Healing potions restore 
  the used number of dice of 
  physical damage. The number of 
  dice a potion has is how many 
  doses it has and the drinker 
  can drink as many (or little) 
  of the potion at once.
  Magic weapons/shields that give 
  a bonus (+1, +2, etc) bump the 
  dice type up with each plus for 
  any roll they are used with. So 
  d6s become d8s. Having two 
  items with the same bonus 
  doesn’t bump the die type, but 
  instead adds another die when 
  both items are useful to task 
  attempted.
  Spell Components
  Mystical materials can be 
  discovered during play when a 
  spellcaster experiments with 
  rare/exotic materials found in 
  dungeon/monsters. Whenever a 
  player finds something that 
  they think should be useful as 
  a spell component they can 
  attempt to gain something 
  useful from it.
  Roll the cliche being used to 
  harvest the components from 
  whatever (magic fungus, dragon 
  corpse, etc) and consult the 
  table below, reading each die 
  rolled separately:
  [1-3]: Nothing usable. You’ve 
  only gotten a mess out of it.
  [4-5]: 1 point of usable 
  material. Pick something minor 
  from the target that is useful.
  [6]: Jackpot. Something major 
  is still intact. 3 points of 
  usable material.
  Each point can be used instead 
  of a die lost to boosting a 
  cliche. Each component should 
  be useful only to certain types 
  of magic, determined by DM at 
  the time of acquiring it. This 
  should be related to the source 
  of the components. For example: 
  blood from a red dragon will be 
  useful for fire spells, but not 
  very useful for protection 
  magic. The size and potency of 
  the target may limit the amount 
  of components that can be 
  harvested.
  9
  
  Conflict
  These rules are written with a 
  physical combat bias because 
  that is the most common type of 
  conflict greedy adventures get 
  involved with. However, because 
  these rules are based on Risus 
  the combat rules can be used 
  for any type of drawn-out 
  conflict. Anything from 
  negotiations, to a high-society 
  evening party, or a trial to 
  defend one of the party members 
  that got caught breaking the 
  law, or rooftop chases.
  In combat everyone involved 
  picks a relevant cliche and 
  rolls it, keeping the dice on 
  the table. This roll is 
  initiative, actions, and hit 
  points combined.
  If a character doesn’t have a 
  relevant cliche for the 
  conflict they roll a non-
  relevant cliche at half 
  strength (rounded up) and 
  should be even more creative 
  with their attacks.
  Whoever has the highest total 
  roll goes next, which means 
  someone might go several times 
  in a row. Ties are broken by 
  number of dice rolled.
  If a character or monster has 
  no cliches with dice they are 
  considered to be out of combat 
  and their fate is decided by 
  the winners.
  A magic-user who wants to use 
  magic must declare it before 
  the roll and boost, or double 
  for spells, as normal. Actions 
  with those dice should be 
  related to the effect created.
  Attacking is spending a single 
  die to take out a opponent's 
  die of lower value. The die 
  used for the attack does not 
  have to be your highest die.
  Even in physical conflicts 
  attacks do not have to deal 
  direct physical damage. You can 
  stun your opponent, disarm 
  them, make them tired, or hurt 
  their morale. ‘Damage’ can be 
  anything that reduces the 
  target’s ability to use their 
  current cliche to resist you.
  Can assist other people by 
  giving them any of your dice. 
  They re-roll it and add it to 
  their pool.
  When a rolled cliche runs out 
  of dice through damage or 
  actions, PC may re-roll the 
  cliche or switch to a different 
  one.
  Anytime you spend a die to 
  attack a enemy or assist an 
  ally, that is your action and 
  the next person goes.
  A character is not taken out 
  until they have no dice in any 
  cliche. So if one cliche hits 
  zero, PC uses another right 
  then.
  10
  
  Different types of damage will 
  recover/heal at different times 
  and rates. Boost damage happens 
  when all the dice in that 
  cliche are used up, or PC 
  switches cliches.
  When damage brings a cliche 
  down to 0 the character gets a 
  serious wound of some kind. 
  Permanently reduce the cliche 
  by 1 and write down the wound/
  scar. Cliche reduction from 
  boosting and double-boosting 
  doesn’t count as damage for 
  this if it is the damage that 
  reduces the cliche to 0.
  Some Common Damage Types:
  Physical - When you are 
  stabbed, punched, etc. Recovers 
  at the rate of 1 die for each 
  full night's rest in a safe 
  location.
  Poison/disease/etc - Spider 
  bites, black death, so forth. 
  Restores only when cured by a 
  specific antidote, or magic. 
  Gets worse over time.
  Drain - Powerful undead can 
  suck the very life force out of 
  their victims with a touch. 
  This can only be restored by 
  powerful magics.
  Casting - Using magic (boosting 
  and double-boosting) exhausts 
  magic-users. This type of 
  damage is restored with a full 
  night’s rest.
  Maneuvers and Tactics:
  Normal attacks can only remove 
  a die of lower value in combat. 
  For removing a die of equal 
  value a PC can use situational 
  tactics or features of the 
  surrounding environment to gain 
  a +1 combat advantage to the 
  die being used to attack. Which 
  allows a die to take out a 
  equal value die. 
  Keep in mind that many tactics 
  are better expressed using the 
  assist mechanic.
  Examples:
  Swinging on chandelier to get 
  at enemy.
  Crushing enemy with stone 
  pillar.
  Fireball spell against ice 
  monster.
  Using a slashing weapon against 
  unarmored foes.
  Wearing heavy armor against 
  enemies with simple/crude 
  weapons.
  And so on. GMs are encouraged 
  to be generous in allowing 
  clever ideas, but should also 
  not allow the same tactic/
  maneuver more then once (maybe 
  twice) in a battle. Unless it 
  was one that is easily 
  duplicated, like using fire 
  against an ice monster.
  11
  
  General Guidelines
  A quote: "Don't make them roll 
  dice if you can't handle their 
  failure." The GM should be 
  prepared to carry on the game 
  if the PCs fail at any point.
  If GM calls for a roll, the 
  default is to roll a cliche and 
  add up all the results. GM 
  should give a good idea of what 
  the roll is for so that people 
  can pick a appropriate cliche 
  for it. The GM will have a 
  Target Number (TN) in mind, 
  adding +5 or +10 for cliches 
  that aren't specifically 
  focused on what the roll is 
  for.
  Regarding finding things: If 
  you just say 'I'm searching the 
  room' the GM will assume you 
  are just rummaging through 
  piles of trash and opening desk 
  drawers to see if there is 
  anything obvious in the room. 
  Secret doors, hidden 
  compartments, or concealed 
  latches will take more specific 
  examination to find.
  Rolling for perception/spot is 
  only if the GM thinks there is 
  a random chance for something, 
  otherwise it's just a matter of 
  spending the time and saying 
  what you are looking for.
  Triple damage attacks can 
  either remove three dice of 
  lower value from the target, or 
  a single die of any value.
  Strong monsters may have more 
  then one cliche, and may switch 
  between them in combat like a 
  PC. For very large/powerful 
  monsters each cliche will be a 
  different ability. Such as 
  Breath Weapon (4) Spellcasting, 
  or Claws (3). Very strong 
  monsters (such as Dragons) will 
  even roll several cliches at 
  the same time in combat.
  Because of how initiative 
  works, it’s best to split large 
  grunt squads into several 
  smaller squads for conflicts. 
  Decide how many dice the entire 
  horde of monsters has, then try 
  to divide it up evenly into a 
  number of grunt squads equal to 
  the number of PCs in the party, 
  assuming that doesn’t stretch 
  the monster dice too thin.
  The damage system includes 
  saving throws and the like. 
  Just use the triple-damage. 
  This means a Basilisk’s stare 
  may be avoided once more twice, 
  but the moment a cliche is 
  reduced to zero, that character 
  turns into a statue. Call it 
  ‘paralyze’ damage. Representing 
  the Basilisk’s eyes meeting a 
  character’s for a brief second, 
  but the character flinching 
  away just in time. Perhaps with 
  just a heaviness in their body 
  is a side-effect. Monster 
  attacks that do this sort of 
  thing should take effect on a 
  victim the moment any cliche is 
  reduced to zero by the attack.
  12
  
  Advancement probability
  Rolling current cliche level of 
  d6s and attempting to get all 
  odd or all even.
  Percentages are approximate.
  1d6: 1 in 2  50%  100exp
  (Pick even or odd)
  2d6:  2 in 8 
   50%    200 exp
  3d6:  2 in 16  25%    300 exp 
  4d6:  2 in 32  12%    400 exp 
  5d6:  2 in 64  6%     500 exp 
  6d6:  2 in 128  3%     600 exp 
  7d6:  2 in 256  1.5%   700 exp 
  8d6:  2 in 512  0.75%  800 exp 
  9d6:  2 in 1024 0.37%  900 exp 
  10d6: 2 in 2048 0.18% 1000 exp 
  Power levels (type of dice)
  d6
  Normal mortals and animals
  d8
  +1 items 
  or magical creatures
  d10
  +2 items 
  or demons/angels/spirits
  d12
  +3 items 
  or ancient dragons/
  elemental lords
  13
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Collections/Solo/2. GM Emulators & Generic Solo Rules/Risus/Risus Optional Rules & Settings/Risus fantasy.pdf