Optional Rules
Optional Rules
Alternatives exist
Standard practice is to add a new page underneath the Optional Rules page for your rule. Once it's complete, add a link to it here by adding your rule to the list. Don't forget to add a brief description too.
Character Rules
The Blank Slate - Developing your character over the course of a few adventures.
Forget Something? - A way to change characters over time.
When The Cure Is Worse Than The Disease - Dealing with healing...why have a healer.
Skill that Cliché - Rules for adding a specialty skill system to Risus.
Skills Within Clichés - Alternate way to add skills to clichés from S. John Ross.
Perks - When Lucky Shots, Questing Dice and Sidekicks/Shieldmates aren't enough...
Making Things - Mechanics for PC-generated additions to the world.
The Other Skill Axis - Shades of grey in the cliché.
Long Term Advancement - Options for leveling up past Cliché (6).
Werewolfs, wizards, and vampires - A few simple rules to help flesh out fantasy classes
Funky Dice - S. John's Funky Dice rules have been archived for those who like their d's to be bigger than 6's.
XP Points - A less random and more familiar-feeling way for Character Advancement.
Experiences - Leveling up directly from significant events in the game.
Task Resolution
Evens Up - A New Dice mechanic for Risus.
Critical Hits in Evens Up - Adding critical hits and injuries to the Evens Up system.
Simpler Risus - Based on the Evens Up mechanic.
Alternity Inspired Dice Mechanic - A different way to use some dice that might be lying around.
Fudgier Risus - Playing Risus with Fudge/Fate Dice.
Diceless Risus - Getting rid of dice altogether.
Saga Rules - Notes for using the mechanic from TSR’s out of print Saga mechanic (a nice simple card-based mechanic). Now you can play Risus without any dice, just a deck (or two) of cards.
Minute-Made Magic - Simple approach to a no target number optional magic system.
Ye Good Olde System - An Old-school, easy, streamlined dice mechanic.
Risus Strikes Back - Takes Ye Good Olde System and runs with it to streamline Risus's core rules. Everything is a cliché!
Static Clichés - Another dice mechanic, one which aims to soften the power gap between cliché levels, and adds a new type of conflict as well!
FU-style Closed Questions - A dice mechanic which replaces simple successes and failures with degrees of success and failure.
Risus Enhanced Edition - This system narrows down the focus of clichés and dice pools as well as adding critical hits, advantage/disadvantage, and more!
RIME's the reason to get your d20 back out for some Risus: Icosahedral Monomaniac Edition.
Risus: Reloaded - This ruleset includes an alternate resolution mechanic, along with rules for health, armor, consumable items, and vehicles.
Lucky Glamour Strip Cascade Risus - A little collection of optional rules with some hints at adult themes. Spicy!
The Risus Thing-of-the-Day - This collection of daily Risus writings done in 2020 has plenty of house rules, extra bits, and multi-genre things for everyone!
Risus Cookie - A Risus variant streamlined and whittled down to 2 pages, twice as small as the original, twice as fast to get Risus gamers gaming!
The Risus10 System - Mushing together Clichés with Attributes and some d10s to make something new.
3d6 Risus - This optional rule swaps out the normal Risus dice pool for a GURPS-like 3d6 dice pool for every roll.
Saving Roll Risus - Not enough dice to go around? This 2d6 exploding-die variant is for you!
No-Pools Risus - Do away with dice pools and grab those other-sided dice for this 1-die resolution system.
Combat Specific Rules
Scaling Combat - A nice middle-ground between Single-Highest-Die combat and Risus' regular rules. Roll all your dice, but only keep as many as the weakest combatant.
Epic Combat - A way to make combats longer and more cinematic.
Risus Advanced Combat -Risus combat drawn out for longer combats.
Outnumbered and Outclassed - Fighting more individuals than you can manage.
Sword & Shields - Alternate combat rules based off of the "highest die" variant for contests.
Shining Risus - Multiple optional combat rules are presented in this document for running a Shining Risus campaign.
Setting Rules
Using Risus for solitaire play - A way to use your imagination for playing Risus by yourself.
Dungeon Master the RPG - Using DnD material to enhance your game.
The Oracle - How to play Risus without a gamemaster (solo or group roleplay).
Bouncing Off the Walls! - Getting more out of your scenery.
Travelling Heavy - Starships - Converting starships to Risus.
Risus Mecha -Creating games focused on giant fighting robots.
Pump Points - Put a little Fate into your Risus.
Risus Epic - A revamp of the Risus core rules, adding several additional rules for more crunch in your longer-running Risus campaign.
Risus Equivalence - Another revamp of the Risus core rules for a longer-running fantasy-themed Risus campaign.
Rules for the GM
A Matter of Size - Dealing with large variances in character size.
FickleGM's Risus Gear - The method that I am using to deal with gear.
Lethal Risus - A simple rule to inject verisimilitude into your Risus games.
Fortifying Foes - Ideas for powered-up, GM controlled baddies.
Extra Calories - Getting a little more from your Risus game.
Tim's Risus Stuff - A consolidated collection of Tim Huntley's rules writings.
Captain's Serious Risus - A modified ruleset for more "serious" adventuring with Risus.
Assorted House Rules - Collected in assorted blog posts by Chris McDowell, creator of Into the Odd.
