[Risus] Voyages of the Ghostlight - OOC

[-Sentinel-]

In the mighty city-state of Brisevent, civil unrest is turning into civil war. Spurred by charismatic leaders, thousands of commoners have risen in revolt against King Léon IV and his autocratic rule. The streets are a maze of barricades, the gutters run red with blood, and the King’s own soldiers have begun to defect to the side of the insurrectionists. Every day, the balance tips a little more towards the end of Brisevent's monarchy and the founding of a republic. The city’s aristocrats, fearful for their future, are hurriedly loading their possessions on their ships and fleeing the impending revolution before their heads start rolling.

Like sharks drawn to blood, pirates are prowling the waters around Brisevent, hoping to snag a treasure-laden prize that could set them for life…



IC thread (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?657935-Voyages-of-the-Ghostlight-IC)


The Rules

Risus is a rules-light RPG system that uses a simple and flexible mechanic based on clichés. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to play Risus:

1. Character Creation:
- Choose a concept for your character. Think about what kind of character you want to play, such as a Sneaky Rogue or a Wise Wizard.
- Assign clichés to your character. Clichés represent your character's abilities, skills, or personality traits. Each character starts with 10 dice to distribute among clichés. You can distribute them evenly or assign more dice to clichés that represent your character's strengths.

2. Task Resolution:
- When you want to perform an action or overcome a challenge, the GM (Game Master) sets a target number of dice for the task. This represents the difficulty level.
- Roll a number of six-sided dice (d6) equal to the dice you have in the appropriate cliché.
- Count the number of dice that roll a 4, 5, or 6. These are considered "successes."
- If the number of successes equals or exceeds the target number, you succeed. Otherwise, you fail.

3. Risus Dice Mechanics:
- You can use dice from any cliché to attempt any action, but using a cliché that matches the action will give you more dice to roll.
- If you roll more than one six (6) on the dice, you achieve a "bonus die." You roll an additional d6 and add it to your total successes.
- If you roll no successes, it's a "botch." The GM can introduce complications or negative consequences.

4. Combat and Challenges:
- Combat and other challenges follow the same task resolution mechanic. The GM sets the target number based on the difficulty of the task.
- In combat, each character has a "combat cliché" that represents their combat skills or fighting ability. Players roll dice from their combat cliché to attack or defend against opponents.

5. Drama Points:
- Each player starts with a pool of 10 Drama Points. Drama Points can be spent to gain an extra die on any roll, turn a failure into a success, or introduce narrative elements.
- Drama Points can be regained through good roleplaying or when the GM awards them for dramatic or entertaining actions.

Risus is designed to be lightweight and easily adaptable to any setting or genre. The focus is on collaborative storytelling and creative problem-solving. Remember to work with your GM and fellow players to create an engaging narrative and have fun!


Please post your character sheets in this thread. Also choose a speech color.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Macra Pediada
Clichés:
A peasant-born former agent of the Brisevent Royal Navy, working with her like-minded cousins to transmit coded messages via whale song. Days before the revolt began in earnest, mysterious assassins moved on the trio to cut their mission short. Macra noticed in time to bail on the operation herself, but not before her fellow spies were massacred. In the weeks since, she's offered her services to these pirates, still wondering whether her siblings were done in by the rebellion or by one of the king's own scheming cravens.The Brisevelt kingdom feeds its people with the exports of its many peasant isles - a ring of rice paddies and fishing boats, with a tightly-packed mountain of orchards and land-dwelling animals at its center. Macra and her cousins were the magic-wielding champions of a particularly competitive community of hunters and handlers. All of her magic is based on animals - talking to them, commanding them, buffing them, and occasionally even copying their traits for herself. Since she's been hanging out with pirates, she's developed a particular rapport with rats and parrots.Ambitious and selfless, Macra is a natural cheerleader for whichever cause she gets roped into. "Any setback can be twisted into an advantage!" "If you spend too much time looking down, you'll drown!" As spies go, Macra's not very big on contingency plans. As long as you keep advancing your objective through it all, it usually works out the same in her experience.Every once in a while, Macra's peasant heritage comes through in her accent, in the kinds of songs and languages she knows, and in her experience with fishing and farming. As a spy, she's not sure whether she's more scared of making this part of herself too obvious or of losing it entirely.
Color: Macra's spy skills make her pretty versatile. She can wear whichever color no one else takes, or default to the saddle brown of her hometown.

If anyone wants to play a character who is aligned with (or part of) the noble families fleeing Brisevent, those PCs will get their start in Brisevent itself, and the separate stories will be merged soon enough.

That's an interesting thought! Macra is ostensibly a loyalist and could easily be trying to smuggle a noble family out of town, so this could be where she meets the crew and offers her services to pirates for the first time.

[JNAProductions]

Sasha LaFleur
Born of congealed slime, elemental spirits, and a rather unfortunate homunculus, Sasha had no name at first. The mad arcanist Ludivic Necromter had a habit of doing this-making things from other things, appraising them for use, and discarding them as needed. Originally intended as a security mechanism, the addition of the homunculus caused Sasha to form into much more of a humanoid figure than intended.

Ludivic decided to see how far he could go with his different success (he never failed-not to himself, anyway) and so kidnapped a few unfortunate victims, feeding them to the slimy being. One of them was Sasha LaFleur-she was strong willed, bold hearted, and now very much dead. But her spirit lived on, causing changes in the slime-it took even more humanoid shape, a rather fetching female one, and became... Undisciplined. She stopped listening to everything Ludivic told her-and so he decided to do away with it. It had failed him.

He told her to clean the incinerator, using his mastery of subtlety to ensure she had no idea it would be her doom. Sasha, not being an idiot, decked him in the face, broke his skull, and ran far, far away, stealing his boat. She thought Ludivic dead[1], herself free, and a brighter future on the horizon. The future began looking dim when one of Ludivic's guardian krakens attacked, sending her flying and nearly drowning.

She was rescued by Phobias Montgomery, who had taken refuge in the dangerous waters surrounding Ludivic's lair. He was unaware of anyone sentient living in the cove, but when Sasha told him her story, he felt a glimmer of companionship-not the same situation as his stowaway in his youth, but similar enough that he gave Sasha a chance.

Sasha worked hard as a crewmember, utilizing her oozy nature for a variety of tasks. She fights bare-handed, wielding as she does greater than natural strength, though she always keeps some blades on her for cutting purposes. She's able to compress her body to some extent, fitting through much smaller spaces than one would expect. And she's durable as all heck. She appears, when composed, as a moderately sweaty young lady-while her form is mutable, she defaults to a curvy young lass. In combat and times of other stress, Sasha's exact details fade, retaining her shape but not her face or minor details like fingernails or toes.

Cliches
Of Oozy Origins, 4d6
Magic And Madness, 3d6
Sailor, 3d6

Ludivic, while greatly overstating of his own genius, is not unfamiliar with his creations turning on him. He is heavily modified, and can regenerate from nearly any injury. It takes time, though.
He holds a grudge. If he ever gets his hands on Sasha, she will have a long and painful death.

Reposting Sasha. Looking forward to this!

[MCerberus]

Hurik "Doc" Stoneblood
The concoctionist

Cliches:
Mad Alchemist(4)
Plague Doctor (2)
Gentleman of Refinement (1)
Scholar (3)

Usually seen in his black robe and beaked physician's mask, Hurik usually sticks out like a sore thumb going around the town. Despite rumors, the dwarf of average build is not a deformed monster under the getup, with dark brown hair clipped short and a groomed with a short beard with curled mustache. Whether in his research outfit or in fitted high-society clothing, he is never without his bandolier of oddly-glowing vials.

Doc hails from an urbanite clan that had long migrated from their rocky island and are known for security. Vault keeping, storage, etc. This made him an odd duck amongst his family. His position let Hurik into the elite halls of academia, where he quickly grew a reputation for... ... ... eccentricities. Having declared himself having rediscovered a long lost school of knowledge he was encouraged to get out and try and prove his theories. This lead to the occasional voyage with the local pirates. Recent events haven't been so good for his career. The library with his half-finished book is currently on fire, for example. This may be a good time to lean on some old acquaintances for a vacation. Perhaps the isle of certain death.

He's got a theory about that place.



As per knowing each other etc , Hurik could easily be seen as sympathetic to the loyalists but more of a target due to being a settled academic. For the loyalists he may be an eccentric to a heretic but either mostly harmless or a minor footnote due to demonstrations, use of medicine etc.

For anyone on the pirate end of things, he'd easily have been a past passenger/crewmember due to needing to go... places to get.... supplies

[-Sentinel-]

IC thread is up. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?657935-Voyages-of-the-Ghostlight-IC)

I'll DM Enceladus to make sure they're still with us.

[JNAProductions]

IC thread is up. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?657935-Voyages-of-the-Ghostlight-IC)

I'll DM Enceladus to make sure they're still with us.

At work now-will post when home. 5 hours or so.

[-Sentinel-]

Please be patient. I'd like Enceladus to get a post in before we move forward IC, but they haven't logged in since the game began.

[-Sentinel-]

JNAProductions, is there any of your clichés that can be used for intimidation? If so, please make a roll.

[JNAProductions]

JNAProductions, is there any of your clichés that can be used for intimidation? If so, please make a roll.

The only one applicable to the situation is Sailor, as a representative of the Ghostlight. Obviously not my strongest cliché, but I haven't shown off Of Oozy Origins.

[roll0]

Don't expect this to work, but hey, luck happens!

[-Sentinel-]

The only one applicable to the situation is Sailor, as a representative of the Ghostlight.
Hmm, it's not really related to the sailing profession and its associated skills, though. Let's say that three successes (rolls of 4+) would be needed to use the Ghostlight's fame to your advantage in this situation. You already got two, including a roll of 6 (which provides an extra d6). And if that fails, you can resort to Drama Points.

If Enceladus shows up soon (I emailed them yesterday), a successful test with the Legendary Captain cliché would provide a solid boost.


I now realize that the rules I copy-pasted from someone else say that Drama Points can be spent to "gain an extra die on any roll" or "turn a failure into a success", which is a bit flawed, because why would you spend a Drama Point to gain an extra die when you could spend it instead to gain an auto success? So I'm going to rule that an auto success costs instead two Drama Points.

[JNAProductions]

[roll0]

Let's see that die!

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Given the circumstances, I guess I should have had Macra reveal herself earlier to get everyone go along with her fun plan. Oh well! Hindsight is 20/20, and it's probably in-character for her to have to get over a weird classist hangup first.

I've been imagining that the carts are all, by default, being pushed around by people rather than drawn by animals. Am I correct in assuming that? I don't usually associate horse-based travel with small islands, though it's certainly not unheard of.

[-Sentinel-]

I've been imagining that the carts are all, by default, being pushed around by people rather than drawn by animals. Am I correct in assuming that? I don't usually associate horse-based travel with small islands, though it's certainly not unheard of.
If it's relevant, the carts are horse-drawn. Brisevent's island is large enough to have a countryside and farming, which is what allowed Brisevent to become one of the largest city-states.

[-Sentinel-]

It's been a week of radio silence from Enceladus, so I'm taking over. If they turn up late, they can still take control of their character, but I'll soon have to make big decisions on their behalf.

Let's start with the biggest decision. I'd like the input of my three active players on this.

Enceladus intended for Captain Montgomery to offer protection services to nobles fleeing Brisevent. Is that something the rest of you want to do, or would you rather raid the treasure ships like the other pirates are doing? (Note that in the latter case, I'll arrange things so that Macra still ends up part of the pirate crew, so no worries on that count.)

[JNAProductions]

I vote we offer haven.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Despite Macra's misgivings, I could vote for going full-on anti-aristocracy, though that could take the form of saving their lives and then fleecing them and leaving them somewhere. The classic do-gooder angle of standing up for whoever is helpless in the moment would fit Macra's actual instincts the best.

Since Mériault is supposed to be close to Brisevent, I was thinking of an angle where Macra and Elena could run off in that direction, barge in somewhere with the injured baron in tow, look for a doctor and find Doc Stoneblood... but then I remembered that you already have a plan for exactly how these two stories are supposed to converge, and that you probably need to set the pace yourself to make it work.

[MCerberus]

I believe this would best be served on my end by the Gentleman of Refinement roll.

Success and doc would recognize the position they're in and advocate
failure would be trying to save his own skin from the troubles.

Since this is just internal decision making I don't know if fumbles apply please make something awkward happen

[roll0]

[JNAProductions]

Sevilla and Montgomery's history... Is it the kind of history that Sasha could reasonably make peace with? Not forever, of course, but at least arrange for a peaceful meeting.
Or is it fighting time no matter what?

[-Sentinel-]

Sevilla and Montgomery's history... Is it the kind of history that Sasha could reasonably make peace with? Not forever, of course, but at least arrange for a peaceful meeting.
Or is it fighting time no matter what?
It's a fraught history, but they're not, like, sworn enemies.

[-Sentinel-]

Enceladus has logged in yesterday but did not answer my PM, so I think it's a safe bet that they're not coming back.

I'd still like for the ship's captain to be a PC, for reasons of player agency. JNAProductions, would you be comfortable with Sasha taking on this role at some point in the medium term? Or should I re-open recruitment for a first mate who's next in line to take command of the Ghostlight?

[JNAProductions]

Enceladus has logged in yesterday but did not answer my PM, so I think it's a safe bet that they're not coming back.

I'd still like for the ship's captain to be a PC, for reasons of player agency. JNAProductions, would you be comfortable with Sasha taking on this role at some point in the medium term? Or should I re-open recruitment for a first mate who's next in line to take command of the Ghostlight?

JNAProductions is cool with this.
Sasha is probably less so, but she'll manage. :P

[JNAProductions]

[roll0] Of Oozy Origins, don't fail me now!

[JNAProductions]

Not much to say ICly at the moment, but I am caught up.

[-Sentinel-]

No worries. :smallsmile:

The two branches of the story will merge very soon. That should increase PC interactions.

[MCerberus]

Well, that doesn't look good.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Yeah, I think my initial conception of how Risus works was a lot more silly and cartoony than anyone else intended. :smalltongue:

Perception seems like a bit of a non-action to me, so I'll just roll it here.

Royal Spy: [roll0]

[-Sentinel-]

Yeah, I think my initial conception of how Risus works was a lot more silly and cartoony than anyone else intended. :smalltongue:
Heh. Depends on the GM, I suppose.

While it's not a ruthless system, I'd like to keep the characters' abilities at a reasonable level. Animal friendship could become plot-breaking very easily if I don't set a few limits. :smallwink:

[JNAProductions]

Sailor, for the leaping.
[roll0]

Would like to roll Of Oozy Origins for the fight (if jump is made) since that's also pertinent to a fight. If not acceptable, ignore the fourth roll.
[roll1]

[-Sentinel-]

Would like to roll Of Oozy Origins for the fight (if jump is made) since that's also pertinent to a fight.
Can you make an IC post about how Sasha uses her oozy nature to her advantage in a fight?

[JNAProductions]

Can I get an idea of how effective she is with two successes? I was gonna make a fighting post, but I don't know what'd be overkill.

[-Sentinel-]

Can I get an idea of how effective she is with two successes? I was gonna make a fighting post, but I don't know what'd be overkill.
Let's see her kill or incapacitate up to 3-4 opponents.

[-Sentinel-]

I'll post today, I promise. GM posts for three characters are a bit time-consuming to write, sorry...

I'm kinda glad I didn't end up with 4-6 characters, as was the original plan.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

You're doing great! I know that being a GM is a lot to keep up with on the best of days, and we have a pretty good pace going!

I should probably roll to see whether Macra can identify shooty, huh?

Royal Spy: [roll0]

I'll roll for Cat Reconnaissance, too, mostly for my own amusement: [roll1]

My real hope, if you're willing, is to let Copper's point of view be our equivalent of table-talk for sharing info. Once Macra catches him that fish she promised, could she use her focus tricks to keep him as a familiar?

[-Sentinel-]

You're doing great! I know that being a GM is a lot to keep up with on the best of days, and we have a pretty good pace going!
Thanks, this means a lot to me. :smallsmile: I haven't GMed in a long time, and most of my previous attempts petered out quickly due to lack of player interest. I'm glad I have three reliable players.



I should probably roll to see whether Macra can identify shooty, huh?
This would really be more of a matter of (extreme) luck than skill. Even the best spy in the world couldn't really expect to recognize some random individual from another city-state, no matter how many successes on their dice rolls.



My real hope, if you're willing, is to let Copper's point of view be our equivalent of table-talk for sharing info. Once Macra catches him that fish she promised, could she use her focus tricks to keep him as a familiar?
She can keep him around, for sure, but being able to communicate with him doesn't mean they can converse like humans. Copper is still a cat, with the limited cognitive abilities that this entails: he has no understanding of complex or abstract notions, and is often very confused as to why humans do what they do.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

This would really be more of a matter of (extreme) luck than skill. Even the best spy in the world couldn't really expect to recognize some random individual from another city-state, no matter how many successes on their dice rolls.

She can keep him around, for sure, but being able to communicate with him doesn't mean they can converse like humans. Copper is still a cat, with the limited cognitive abilities that this entails: he has no understanding of complex or abstract notions, and is often very confused as to why humans do what they do.

I was about to split this up, but it's kind of relevant to both: I'm pretty sure I mentioned that one of Macra's previous jobs was to use whales' songs to send messages. Granted, that doesn't necessarily entail much else. It means that she's worked on a ship before, and that at some point her team worked out a code that a cooperative cetacean can at least parrot by rote. Cetaceans are famously quite smart, so it's still probably easier than communicating via cat. Everything checks out!

I'm still having Copper watch the rest of the party. I'll just make sure to keep his reports vague and cat-oriented, which I now suddenly realize is way more fun than my first idea. :smalltongue:

Anyway, I was thinking about Macra's work in naval communications when I started wondering whether Shooty happened to be someone she'd known or heard of, but just now I went back and noticed that her uniform is from the Queensland navy, which might not necessarily get along with the Brisevent navy. Might the spy roll give us any insight on what her deal is based on that?

[-Sentinel-]

just now I went back and noticed that her uniform is from the Queensland navy, which might not necessarily get along with the Brisevent navy. Might the spy roll give us any insight on what her deal is based on that?
Queensport. Queensland is in Australia. :smalltongue:

Queensport and Brisevent have been political and economic rivals for centuries, and are roughly equal in power. They have sporadic wars, but those wars tend to be minor and to take place in far-flung colonies; not the kind of wars that pose an existential threat to either city-state. The last one was seven years ago, lasted less than a year, and ended in a treaty that restored the status quo (with Queensport claiming victory). Everyone would know that, so there's no need for a spy roll.


I'll try to post tonight.

[-Sentinel-]

I'll post sometime this weekend. My next post will likely be a fairly major update.

[-Sentinel-]

Hearing how the Conch Isles are going to be the drop point for the prisoners, Macra prepares to arrange the meeting between the gunner and Lady Elena before she loses the opportunity.
Oh, that won't really be possible, since the ships are parting ways. (I kinda forgot about Macra's offer to Cassidy, to be honest.)

If Macra wants Cassidy to meet Lady Elena, she will have to convince Cassidy to join the crew of the Ghostlight, at least until the ship gets to Farobianco where Elena is headed. Otherwise, Cassidy will be dropped off at the Conch Isles.

I think the Relentlessly Positive cliché would be the most useful here.

[-Sentinel-]

MCerberus rolled two 6's, so that's two bonus die.

[roll0]

Edit: That's three successes. Enough to get a suitable alternative to zebra fish.

[JNAProductions]

I'm about-but Sasha will be staying near the Ghostlight, to keep an eye on the new crew.
So not much to post till Doc returns.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Don’t wait to go to the palace on my account. I am on vacation this week and finding time to post has been tricky. I should be able to write more on Monday.

[-Sentinel-]

Anyway I won't be able to post until Monday. (Sorry about that, was planning to write an update this morning, but I overslept a bit and now I've gotta hit the road for the weekend.) :smallredface:

[-Sentinel-]

Okay, might as well rip the band-aid off...

Posting GM updates is turning out to be more time-consuming than I expected, even with a very simple game system like Risus. Plus, National Novel Writing Month is around the corner and I just know it will drain most of my creativity during the month of November. Some people are able to work on several creative things at a time, but not me.

The bottom line is that I cannot GM this game anymore. I'm very sorry. :smallfrown:

If anyone wants to have a go at GMing, I'll happily pass the torch. If not, don't feel bad about it.

Thank you for playing. I appreciate the three of you sticking around as long as you did despite my very sporadic posting. :smallredface:

[JNAProductions]

Thank you for running the game, while it lasted.
I had a good time. :)

[MCerberus]

You're 100% right not having a hobby be a burden and stressor. Been there. Thanks for running it up to here

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

It was fun, Sentinel! Thanks for running it as far as you did. I'm just sorry it took me until now to get back and say so.