CTHULHU RISUS

by

Manu Saxena

Table of Contents
Rules Summary

p. 6

Character Generation

p. 7

Game System

p. 12

Combat

p. 14

Tools

p. 20

Experience and Advancement

p. 22

Sanity and Insanity

p. 24

Spells

p. 26

Monsters

p. 31

Options

p. 33

CTHULHU RISUS

http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/downloads.htm

(When you think about what Risus means in

Latin, that title should fill you with fear!)

By the way, I am a proud member of the

International Order of Risus, and if you like
Risus or just want to support more imaginative
work like it, I highly recommend that you order
the Risus Companion and become one, too.

The main Risus site is here:

http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm
This is a recast version of Risus written for
gaming in the Cthulhu universe. This means
that I (Manu Saxena) basically took some of
the original rules and twisted them (almost but
not quite beyond recognition), but much of the
rules on this site are unchanged, and you
should know that material was written by S.
John Ross. All those portions of the rules taken
from the original Risus are copyrighted by S.
John Ross (Risus, including those portions of it
on this page, is Copyright by S. John Ross
1993-2000) - but he still lets fans do sites like
this, which I think is really cool.
You can get the basic Risus rules by S. John
Ross for free from this link:

Note: no copyright or trademark challenge is

intended to anyone by my posting this material.
The Risus-style art used here was done by
Francisco Vogel, a nice fellow whos also
translated Cthulhu Risus into German. Thanks,
Francisco!!!! Heres to you keeping your
sanity and all your limbs for a while yet!
Before I talk about the game, I want to talk
about something a little more important,
namely the results of this past Presidential
election. When it comes to Presidential
candidates, I've learned my lesson: we should
no longer be satisfied with settling for the
lesser of two evils. I really have grown sick and
3

tired of it. Thus, I can't help but think the

Cthulhu for President movement has a lot
going for it.
Cthulhu's political positions can be found
at http://www.cthulhu.org/, which has such
gems as:

If you're the type who'd like to support these

kinds of positions (and who isn't?), why not
check out:
http://www.cthulhuforpresident.com/

Q)How will Cthulhu deal with a

strongly bipartisan Congress?
A) Cthulhu will have no problem
dealing with Congress, as they will be the
first to be eaten.
And:
Q)Will he, as president, go jogging?
A) The Great Cthulhu is in perfect
health, and due to its high metabolism
and steady diet of human flesh, has no
pathetic human need for exercise. In fact,
those humans caught jogging will be
destroyed immediately.

Now, about the game!

I love gaming in a Cthulhuesque
universe, but something one quickly learns
about such a setting is that the lifespan of
a typical character is quite short, and
sooner or later they'll wind up either
drooling-at-the-mouth insane, gorily
sacrificed by a cultist, or ingested by some
nameless tentacled horror. It is hard to
spend an hour creating a character
4

knowing the great likelihood of their

eventual fate, and even harder to justify
spending another hour on a new character
after your previous one has just been rent
limb-from-limb by a shoggoth while on his
first adventure.
Hence, here is my proposed solution: use
Risus as the gaming engine! It is hard to
find a setting better suited for 30 second
character creation than the Cthulhu
mythos. Even if your character just got
eaten, sacrificed, or pulled into an alternate
dimension, a new character is just a few
seconds away. The advantages of this
should be clear.
I must rush to point something out
however: please be warned that Risus is
no longer freeware; it's actually shareware
with a trial period of 97 years. If you
haven't registered by that time, you will be
ignominiously disintegrated by S. John
Ross (the illustrious author of Risus) with
the touch of a button. Or so I'm told. :-) I, of
course, am proud to be an official member
of the International Order of Risus, and

thus will most likely not be disintegrated, at

least not by S. John Ross.
Of course, if Cthulhu wins the election you
don't really have to worry about personal
disintegration (more like personal
dismemberment and total body
mastication), so I suppose you can try to
get out of the shareware deal that way.
What follows below is my own copying,
paraphrasing, extensive revising, etc. of
the original Risus rules to adapt it to
Cthulhuesque gaming. I've left a fair
portion of the original rules out, but what
remains should work for a Cthulhu Risus
game (and of course you can get the
original rules from the link above and use
however much of them you like).
If you already know Risus and just want
the quick summary of the main differences
in Cthulhu Risus, here they are:

Rules Summary for Cthulhu Risus

1. We will use the high dice variation
for all checks, which means the value
of a roll is equal to the highest single
die rolled; multiples of the high die are
also added in. The GM's roll (instead
of picking a target #, the GM selects a
# of dice to roll to oppose the player)
is the target # to equal or beat
(otherwise consider it a tie).
2. We will not use the inappropriate
clich rule (but exceptions can be

made if what you want to do is really,

really funny). If none of your cliches
are appropriate for what you want to
do, use just one impaired die (it loses
on a tie).
3. Especially entertaining, appropriate,
or clever actions (or descriptions of
them) get bonus dice.
4. Sanity Rule: when asked, make a
Sanity Check using an appropriate
clich (the most "mental" cliche the
character has). The GM will decide
on the number of opposing dice
(proportionate to the horror of the
situation). You may gain points of
insanity during the game; to pass the
Sanity Check, you need to beat the
GM's roll + your current insanity
points.
5. Trauma Rule: instead of having your
clich dice reduced immediately, you
gain a wound when you lose a round
of combat (mark whether it's lethal
(like from a gunshot, stab wound, or
monstrous bite) or if it's a less lethal
6

wound, such as from a naked punch

or a grappling attack or the grasp of a
tentacle). Once the total of your
wounds is equal to your clich, then
any subsequent wounds lower your
clich dice.
6. Risus points: Characters start with 2
free bonus dice, which can be spent
for extra dice on checks at any time,
or to reroll any die.
7. Grunt rule: To make record keeping
easier for the GM, the GM can define
some NPCs as grunts, which means
it takes only 1 hit (or up to 3 or more
hits, depending on how the GM
defines the grunt) to take the grunt
out in combat. A leader is an NPC
who's basically just like a PC. And
then of course there are monsters...

CTHULHU RISUS RULES*

CHARACTER CREATION!
Characters are defined by Clichs
(sometimes several of them). Clichs are a
* Pun intended! :-)
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shorthand which describe what a character

knows how to do. The ``character classes''
of the Neolithic Period of RPGs were
Clichs: Fighter and Magic-User, Space
Marine and Star Merchant. You can take
Clichs like that, or choose a more
contemporary one, such as Biker, Spy,
Computer Nerd, Supermodel, or William
Shatner (formerly an actor - now just a
Clich). Which Clichs are permitted are
up to the GM.
Clichs are defined in terms of Dice (by
which we mean the ordinary six-sided kind
you can scavenge from your old Yahtzee
set). This is the number of dice that you roll
whenever your skill as a Fighter,
Supermodel, or William Shatner (for
instance) is challenged. See ``Game
System,'' below. Three dice is professional.
Six dice is mastery. One die is a putz.
Characters are created by naming them
(and describing them if you have the time),
and listing their Clichs. When designing
your character, you have 10 dice with
which to define his Clichs (a Normal

Schmoe would be built on anywhere from

3 to 5 dice). A straightforward Cthulhu
character might look like this:
Greg Vainsson the Investigator
Description: Tall, blond, and frowning.
Once Greg gets on someone's tail, it's
tough to shake him. He gets tired of
dealing with the routine divorce case, but
occasionally something weird and
unsettling shows up that makes him long
for them.
Clichs: Grim-faced Private Detective (4),
Tough-Looking Biker (2), Computer Geek
(3), Reluctant Occultist (1)
A character may have any number or
combination of Clichs, but more than 10
different Clichs would be odd, considering
the number of dice you get. Characters
shouldn't begin their career with more than
4 dice in anything, but just because you're
creating a character today doesn't mean
that he's beginning his career! The GM will
8

tell you if he's requiring ``beginners'' for the

game. It's not our business.

SOME SAMPLE CTHULHU CLICHS

(AND WHAT THEY'RE GOOD FOR)

Note: its highly recommended that at least

one of your clichs be clearly physical in
nature, and another one be clearly mental
in nature. This makes it more likely that
you will have an appropriate clich to use
in most situations.

Antiquarian (knows history, art, and lots

about old things)
Athlete (working out, staying healthy,
annoying others by jogging)
Biker (Riding Harley, brawling, being
Invisible to other motorists)
Bimbo (Available in both genders.
Distracting, teasing, not teasing...)
Bodybuilder (being strong, being
muscled, being Governor)
Book Dealer (having a lot of books,
knowing about books)
Computer Geek (Hacking, programming,
fumbling over introductions)
Con Artist (Convincing other people to
give you money, evading cops)
FBI Agent (intimidating, shooting, having
inside knowledge)
Gambler (Betting, cheating, winning,
running very fast)
9

Gangster (Shooting, speaking with an

accent, intimidation)
Geezer (Wheezin', cursin', bitter
reminiscin', failin' to understand kids,
knowing local history)
Hairdresser (Dressing hair. If anything.)
Journalist (being nosey, persuasive,
writing, having sources)
Latin Lover (Seducing, loving, running
from irate husbands)
Librarian (knowing books, able to get to
rare books)
Linguist (knowing another language)
Mad Cultist (Raving, world-domination,
sacrificing people, cackling)
Martial Artist (Fancy hand-to-hand
combat, out-of-synch speech)
Magician (Palming things, sawing ladies in
half, public speaking)
Mechanic (knowing cars, fixing cars)
Medical Doctor (diagnose diseases, patch
up wounds, give big bills)

Novelist (Drinking, brawling, cut-rate world

traveling, introspection, writing)
Occultist (knowing about weird and occult
things, recognizing Mythos texts and
creatures)
Olympic Athlete (Running, swimming,
jumping, skiing, javelin-tossing)
Outdoorsman (Following tracks, building
shelters, finding wild food)
Parapsychologist (doing research,
knowing about psychic phenomena)
Pastor or Priest (praying, sermonizing,
performing liturgies)
Pilot (flying planes or helicopters)
Policeman (Eating donuts, writing tickets,
arresting people)
Police Detective (noticing clues, doing
research, shooting)
Private Investigator (following people,
doing research, noticing clues)
Professor (knows a lot about their
specialty, doing research)

10

Psychologist (knows a lot about people,

can treat insanity)
Race Car Driver (driving real fast, looking
good on TV)
Soldier (Shooting, hiding, partying,
catching venereal diseases)
Sorcerer (Casting spells, looking
mysterious)
Special Forces (Following orders, looking
stern, following orders)
Student (learning things, partying,
mooching off others)
Thief (Sneakin' around gaining access and
objects they shouldn't have)
Writer (doing research, knowing about
their latest topic, communicating, writing)
These are just examples to get you started
- players should feel free to make up their
own Clichs (subject to GM approval). In
particular, Note that the GM will require the
"fine tuning" of any Clich that he
considers too broad.

11

THE GAME SYSTEM

Whenever anybody wants to do
something, AND the GM doesn't think that
success would be automatic, the player
rolls dice. If the total rolled beats (equals or
exceeds) the opposed roll made by the
GM, success! If not, failure!
In Cthulhu Risus, we will use the high
dice variation for checks, which means the
value of a roll is equal to the highest single
die rolled; multiples of the high die are also
added in (look at it this way: roll the dice
and see what's high; take away all your
other dice that don't show that same
number).
So instead of picking a target #, the GM
selects a # of dice to roll to oppose the
player. The value of this roll is the target #
the player needs to equal or beat.
Otherwise, if it's player vs. player consider
it a tie.
For example, Jeff Lord, Antiquarian (4), is
trying to determine the nature of the writing
on an unidentified clay tablet found at a
new archaeological site. The GM decides

this is going to be a tough job and assigns

6 dice to the difficulty unidentified tablet
(6). Jeffs player rolls a 6, 5, 5, and a 4,
giving him a 6. The GM rolls a 4, 4, 2, 3,
2, and a 1, giving him a total of 8 (for the
two 4s). Jeff cannot identify the writing on
his own.
The reason for using this variation is to
make the curve less lumpy, so that those
clichs with fewer dice will have some
chance against those with more dice.
In Cthulhu Risus, everything is rolled as an
opposed check, even if no one is actively
trying to stop the character from doing
something. For example, suppose a
character is trying to climb a wall: use
whatever character clich is appropriate,
vs. a clich for the wall, like High Wall (3).
So instead of picking a target number, the
GM picks an opposing clich and assigns
a number of dice to it. If a character is
trying to throw something at a target, use
the appropriate character clich vs. a
clich like Range (2) or Distance (4); if a
librarian (3) is trying to find a rare book, it
12

would be the librarian clich vs. Rare Book

(4), and so on.
The reason for doing this is because we're
going to use the High Die option for
combat, so why not use it for everything?
Another advantage of this is that now it no
longer matters what kind of dice you use:
you can use d6, d8, d10, whatever, as long
as everyone uses the same kind of dice.
The values picked for opposing clichs can
be subjective, but anybody can still try
anything: Crossing a chasm say, a
Chasm (2) - by swinging on a rope, vine or
something similar would be child's play for
a Swashbuckler or a Lord of the Jungle
with a 6 dice clich, easy for a Pulp
Archaeologist with 4 dice, and challenging
but definitely doable for a Gymnast,
Barbarian, or Thief with 2 or 3 dice. Even a
Wheelchair-Bound Eccentric Occultist with
1 die could try it, but the consequences
(and likelihood) of failure are likely to be
high.

Note: remember that you can use a Risus

point to add a die to your roll or reroll any
one die. You can wait to use a Risus point
until after youve rolled. This is a powerful
thing.
For example, Jeffs roll, above, was 6, 5, 5,
and a 4, giving him a 6, since 6 is the high
die. Jeffs player could choose to use a
Risus point to reroll the 6. If it comes up 4
or less then Jeff would instead get a 10 for
the two fives; if it comes up a 5 hed get a
15!
Option: Narrative Risus Points
This option was inspired by the FATE
version of FUDGE, in particular the Aspect
concept. This option is an addition to the
regular uses of Risus points. To use this
option, it helps if you have colorful
adjectives with your clichs, for example
Grizzled, cynical private eye (3) or
Dashing young soldier (3) or Greedy
gambler (2) or Curious history student
(4), etc.

13

With this option the GM can call on one of

your clichs and offer you a Risus point to
do a specific action in accordance with it;
you can choose to do the action and
accept the point or refuse to do the action
and thus reject the point.
For example, the GM might say, John, the
Curious history student (4), notices what
appears to be a very old manuscript in his
uncles library and hes curious about it.
Heres a Risus point if you open it and
read the first few pages. Johns player
can accept the point and open the book, or
ignore the book and not get the point.
Players can also do the same thing to the
GM. For example, Kates player can say,
Kendra [Cute Reporter (3)] uses her sexy
smile to win the clerk over, and he lets her
into the rare book section and offer one of
her Risus points to the GM. The GM can
accept it and let her character in, or not (in
which case the player doesnt have to pay
the Risus point).

THE COMBAT SYSTEM

Combat in this game is defined as any
contest in which opponents jockey for
position, utilize attacks, bring defenses to
bear, and try to wear down their foes to
achieve victory. Either literally or
metaphorically! Some examples of combat
include:
ARGUMENTS: People using whatever
verbal weapons they have at hand to make
their points. Truth is the first casualty.
HORSE-RACING: People on horses
running around and around a dirty track,
trying to get nowhere first.
DOGFIGHTS: People in airplanes or
spaceships flying around and trying to blow
each other out of the sky.
ASTRAL/PSYCHIC DUELS:
Mystics/psionics looking bored or asleep,
but trying to rip one another's egos apart in
the Otherworld.
WIZARD'S DUELS: Sorcerers using
strange magics and trying to outdo the
other.
14

DUELING BANJOS: Banjo players using

strange melodies and trying to outdo the
other.
SEDUCTION ATTEMPTS: One (or more)
characters trying to score with one (or
more) other character(s) who is(are) trying
to resist.
COURTROOM ANTICS: Prosecution vs.
Defense. The goal is victory. Justice is
incidental.
ACTUAL PHYSICAL COMBAT: People
trying to injure or kill each other.
The GM decides when a combat has
begun. At that point, go around the table in
rounds, and let each combatant make an
attack in turn. What constitutes an ``attack''
depends on the sort of combat, but it
should ALWAYS be roleplayed (if dialogue
is involved) or described in entertaining
detail (if it's physical and/or dangerous
and/or normally requires contraceptives).
Especially entertaining actions (or
descriptions of them) get bonus dice.

Attacks require rolls against character

Clichs. The GM must, at the outset of
combat, determine what TYPE of Clichs
are appropriate for the fight. In a physical
fight, Clichs like Viking, Barbarian,
Soldier, Swashbuckler, and Novelist are
appropriate. Clichs like Hairdresser and
Latin Lover are not. The GM can penalize
an inappropriate clich by a few dice, or
rule that it just can't be used.
An attack must be directed at a foe.
Typical physical attacks are punching,
kicking, grabbing, holding or pinning,
hitting with a weapon, and shooting or
throwing something. Both parties in the
attack (attacker and defender) roll against
their chosen Clich. Low roll loses.
Note: for ranged combat, the GM may
decide to assign opposing dice based on
the difficulty of the shot rather than any of
the opponents clichs. For example she
may assign 2 opposing dice because of

15

the range, one die for the targets speed or

cover, etc.
The loser of the combat round has their
attack deflected or avoided, while they are
affected by the winner's attack. In Cthulhu
Risus, the loser does not automatically
subtract from a clich: instead the loser
gets a wound.
For attacks with weapons like knives or
guns or Tindalos teeth the wound is
considered lethal in nature; its less
lethal if the attack was more like a punch,
kick, or a grappling attack. Mark the type
of wound you get so you know how quickly
it heals. If using boxes on a character
sheet, one way to indicate the type of
wound is to put one diagonal line in the
box for less lethal wounds and put an X
for lethal wounds.

The reason for this rule is to mitigate the

death spiral and lengthen combats, so they
aren't as brutally quick as Risus usually is.
Option: Degree of Success. For every 5
points the loser lost by, they get 1
additional wound. This adds excitement
and incentive to get those really high rolls.

Once the total of your wounds is equal

to your clich, only then do any
subsequent wounds lower your clich
dice.
16

Example of Combat: George Masters

[English Gunplay (3), English Boxing (2),
Intrepid Investigator (4), Sorcerer (1)] in
desperately trying to put out a fire in a barn
drenches the straw with buckets of water.
Unfortunately a couple of convalescent
Deep Ones were under the straw, and the
water revived one of them. A small Deep
One (5) rises out of the straw and starts
lumbering towards George, who draws his
revolver and shoots.
The GM assigns the shot a difficulty of (2)
for the range and rolls a 3 and a 2 for a
result of 3; George rolls a 5, 4, and a 2
(from English Gunplay (3)) for a result of 5,
and hits the Deep One, who takes one
wound. The Deep One groans but keeps
moving forward. George shoots again
while calling out for help; this time the GM
gives the difficulty a (1) because the Deep
One is even closer, and rolls a 5; George
rolls a 5, 5, and a 4 for a total of 10, so hits
and does an extra wound (theyre using
the Degree of Success option), so the

Deep One takes 2 wounds (it now has

taken a total of 3).
The Deep One has now reached George,
and bashes at him while he ducks and
jabs. Its English Boxing (2) vs. Deep One
(5); the Deep One gets a 6, 6, 5, 4, and a
1 for a result of 12, while George rolls a 1
and a 2 for a result of 2. The Deep One
does 2 (less-lethal) wounds to George,
and the next hit he takes will lower his
boxing clich. George had better do
something clever quickly, or hes going to
be lunch for this Deep One
TEAMS:
These are useful for players ganging up on
a powerful opponent, say, for example, a
monster. When a bunch of cultists are
bent on ganging up on a player, use the
Grunt Squad rules instead.
The team leader is the one with the highest
most appropriate clich. Everyone in the
team describes their action and how it
coordinates with or otherwise is a part of
the collective effort. Everyone rolls their
17

clich. Any die equal to the Team leader's

high die gets added in.
For example, suppose the team leader has
a 4 dice clich and rolls 4, 3, 2, and a 2 (so
his high die is 4) and suppose team
member A gets a 5, 4, and a 3 while team
member B gets a 6 and a 5. Only team
member A's 4 gets added in, so the total
for this team of 3 members is 8 (team
leader's 4 plus member A's 4).
If the team wins the round, great; if it loses,
one member of the team takes 2 wounds.
Determine who takes the hit by volunteer,
randomly, or by having everyone roll their
clich and having the low roller get hit.
GRUNT SQUADS: This is just special
effects for dealing with multiple opponents.
When you want the heroes to be attacked
by a horde of 700 rat-skeletons inside the
lair of the Wicked Necromancer(5), but
don't feel like keeping track of 700 little
skeletal sets of dice, just declare that
theyre a team, fighting as Skeletal RatHorde(7). Mechanically, the Rat-Horde is

the same as any other single foe - except it

has more dice!
Grunt-Squads can have any level of clich
the GM feels is appropriate. Grunt-Squads
stick together as a team until theyre
defeated, at which point any survivors will
scatter (though at least one will always
remain to suffer whatever fate the victor
decides).
Eventually, one side will be left standing,
and another will be left beaten. At this
point, the winners usually decide the fate
of the losers. In a physical fight or magical
duel, the losers might be killed (or
mercifully spared). In Courtroom Antics,
the loser gets sentenced by the judge, or
fails to prosecute. In a Seduction, the loser
gets either a cold shower or a warm
evening, depending on who wins.
You needn't use the same Clich every
round. If a Viking/Swashbuckler wants to
lop heads one round, and swing on
chandeliers the next, that's groovy, too.
18

Wounds are lost at a "healing" rate

determined by the GM. In physical combat,
the cause of the wounds will affect the
healing rate: stab wounds or bullet wounds
heal slower than if the wounds were just
representing the loss of position in a
wrestling match instead of actual physical
damage, for example.
If the combat was in vehicles (space
fighters, mecha, wooden sailing ships)
then the vehicles themselves are likely
damaged, too, and must be repaired.
Option: Another way to fight multiple
opponents:
All combatants roll their clichs. Everyone
rolling higher than the outnumbered fighter
can cause one wound; the lone fighter can
hit any one opponent he rolled higher than.
Highest roll goes first.
Example: Three cultists, Fred, Ned and Ed
- each a Fanatic Cthulhu Cultist (2) - are

attacking Nancy, the intrepid investigator:

Antiquarian (4), Crouching Tiger Kung Fu
(3), Occultist (2), Yoga Meditator (1). The
fanatic cultists roll 2 dice each getting a 4
(for Ned) and a 2 (for Ed, and also Fred);
Nancy rolls 3 dice for her Kung Fu, but
only gets a 3.
Cultist Ned, who got the high roll, grabs
Nancy with the intent of subduing her
(throwing her to the ground and tying her
up), which means she gets one less
lethal wound representing the influence of
Ned's grab. Nancy's Kung Fu (3) is higher
than that, so she's not disadvantaged yet although Ned's grabbed her he hasn't
been able to affect her yet (but once she
gets two more wounds - a total of 3, her
current combat clich - then further
wounds will start lowering her clich).
Nancy has the next highest roll and she
can hit any one opponent who got worse
than she did, in this case either Ed or Fred
so she says she hits Ed with a Kung Fu
kick. Since Ed was just a 1 hit grunt, the
19

GM says Ed falls unconscious, knocking

over a filing cabinet on the way down. Fred
isn't able to do anything, since his total
was lower than Nancy's.
Option: Separate Attack and Defense
When it's your turn to attack, you describe
your action and use the appropriate clich
as usual, and the target of your attack
describes how they defend and with which
clich - which needn't be the same clich
as they use to attack. If the defender
loses, a wound is taken to the clich they
defended with. And the same applies
when you are attacked.

PROPER TOOLS
Every character is assumed to be
equipped with the Tools of His Trade (at
least the portable ones). Warriors are
wearing armor and wielding good
weapons. Cowboys have leather chaps,
20

lasoo, a couple of pearl-handled six-guns

and some chaw. Netrunners have an
expensive jack-in laptop and funny clothes.
If, through the course of an adventure, a
character LOSES any of these vital totems,
his Clich operates on half the normal
number of dice (or not at all, if the GM
rules that the equipment was REQUIRED)
until they are replaced.
A Barbarian(5), for instance, can fight
without his sword as a Barbarian(3), but a
Netrunner can't run the net without his
cyberdeck. If the Netrunner manages to
find another computer to play with besides
the kind he's used to, he can operate at
half-dice.
Some special tools (magic wands, hot-offthe-line military cyberdecks, better or
cooler weapons, and so on) may give
bonus dice to your Clichs when used.
Characters never begin the game with
bonus-dice gear; they must be acquired in
adventures.

GUNS
For the most part these should be treated
like tools, or bonus die items if they're special.
OPTIONAL AMMO RULE: if while shooting
you roll just 1s and 2s and fail the check,
you've fumbled the reload, and have to
spend the next round reloading. If rolling
just 1s and the check is a failure, the gun
has jammed and is useless until repaired.
OPTIONAL AUTOMATIC FIRE RULE:
when firing a gun on automatic, add one
die to the roll and discard one die of your
choice. However, if the reload is fumbled it
takes two rounds to reload instead of one.

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on the roll instead. And you can always

use bonus dice or pump a clich.
CHARACTER ADVANCEMENT
At the end of a session, the GM will give
out 1 to 3 experience points to all surviving
characters. 4 experience points can be
traded in to raise 1 clich by one point, or
to add one new clich with a value of 1.
Also, at the start of each new session you
begin with a number of additional Risus
points equal to the experience you were
assigned at the end of your last game.

INAPPROPRIATE CLICHS
Will not be used in Cthulhu Risus, unless
you really, really want to and it's going to
be really, really funny. If none of your
clichs are appropriate for what you want
or need to do, you get one free impaired
die (which means you lose on a tie) to use

For example, in Lilly's first game she

started with 2 Risus points like everyone
else. She used one point during the
game. At the end of the session the GM
assigned her 2 XP. At the start of the next
session she starts with 3 Risus points
the one that she didn't use last time, plus 2
for the 2 points of XP she received.

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Note: some may wonder about the value

of having a character advancement rule in
a game specifically designed to be
compatible with a high degree of character
attrition through death, dismemberment,
ingestion & digestion, insanity, and other
such unpleasantness.
Well, of course just because the game is
compatible with such outcomes doesn't
mean one has to play the game in such a
way that those outcomes are inevitable:
there's no reason one can't use the system
simply to take advantage of the easy
character creation. But, since you brought
it up
Inheritance Option: As an option for
those games where character attrition will
be (or winds up being) high, you can allow
the carry over of experience from a
recently lost character to a newly created
one, plus the inheritance of any Mythos
texts or other valuable items if this makes
sense in the story. This helps take the
sting out of losing a character and can help

keep players motivated to have their new

characters continue to take chances and
adventure.
For example, suppose Greg the
investigator survived 3 sessions and
earned 8 experience points, which were
used to raise his private detective clich by
2 points. Now suppose Greg is eaten by a
Hound of Tindalos in the beginning of the
fourth session. With the inheritance option,
Greg's player can create a new 12-point
character (by using the 8 XP), instead of a
regular 10-point starting character. And if
Greg had found any special items the new
character might be able to inherit those as
well, if together with the GM the player can
find a way for this to make sense in the
story.
But why bother? Were doomed no
matter what we do!
This comment occasionally comes up: why
bother adventuring in a Cthulhuesque
universe at all, if the inevitable result is
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going to be unfortunate and rather messy

for your character? Well, of course it
doesnt have to end that badly it depends
on what kind of story the players and GM
enjoy. But yes, usually there is a good
chance that a player character will meet
with an unpleasant end. So why bother?
You may not want to if your goal is just to
rack up XP and treasure but if the goal is
to, say, solve a mystery and save the world
(or maybe even to save just one innocent
person from a grisly, unspeakable end)
then if your character dies or loses his
sanity in pursuit of such an end, well then
maybe thats OK.
So it all depends on your goal. If your goal
is to conquer the world by summoning
Cthulhu, you have only yourself to blame
for what happens
SANITY AND INSANITY
You may gain points of insanity during the
game, either by failing a Sanity Check or
because what you encounter is so horrible
the GM just assigns you an insanity point.

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You make a Sanity Check by using an

appropriate character clich vs. a number
of dice determined by the GM (either equal
to a monster's clich or otherwise
proportional to the horror of the situation),
plus a modifier equal to your current
insanity points.
For example, suppose your character Jane
Intrepid has 2 insanity points when she
suddenly feels grasped around the leg by a
tentacle. She looks behind her to see the
horror of a Shoggoth (6) rising up from the
ground to eat her. The GM calls for a
Sanity Check, and will most likely make
her opposing roll using 6 dice (give or take
a few for situational modifiers): let's say
she rolls and gets one 5 as the high die.
You the player must beat the GM's roll (of
5, in this case) + 2 (because of Jane's two
insanity points), i.e. get a 7 or above in
order to make the Sanity Check.
If another character, Jack, is also grasped
by the shoggoth but has 4 insanity points,
his player would need to beat a 9 (5 for the

GM's roll plus 4 for the insanity points) to

pass the check.
If you succeed, your character is able to
keep their fear from dominating them and
can act normally (although even if you
succeed you may still get an insanity point
if the GM determines it's a horrible enough
situation).
If you fail the Sanity check, you get an
additional point of insanity and you are
temporarily insane. This usually means
you'll run screaming from the area as fast
as you humanly can, followed by gibbering
in a corner for a period of time (but the GM
may feel free to assign you something else
equally bad or even worse, if it'll be more
fun or appropriate). The period of time your
character is temporarily insane is equal to
how much he or she failed the check by, in
rounds (or minutes or hours or days, if the
GM judges it more appropriate to the
story).
If while temporarily insane you fail another
Sanity check, your character is really in
trouble! The GM gets to assign your
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character a permanent phobia or other

appropriate mental illness, in addition to
detailing the immediate unpleasant effects
of the failure. If you keep getting more and
more insanity points, you'll eventually wind
up a gibbering lunatic.
Insanity points and associated mental
illnesses can be healed by appropriate
therapy or therapeutic actions, as the GM
dictates.
Appropriate clichs for a Sanity Check are
things like Calm Meditator, Cool and
Collected Hostage Negotiator, Centered Qi
Gong expert, etc. - anything that would
help make the character calm under
pressure. If more than one clich is
appropriate, use the highest one and add
+1 die for each additional appropriate
clich.
SPELLS & SCARY STUFF
Learning a spell usually requires study
from a Mythos text that lists the spell and
26

its instructions, and depending on the spell

may require an elaborate ritual involving
knives, fire, blood, and all sorts of mindbending messiness. Some spells just
require an incantation, and once practiced
for awhile a spell can be done without the
original text. First learning a spell from a
text requires multiple Sanity checks, the
more powerful the spell the more checks.
In fact, one usually needs to make a Sanity
Check (typically against an opposed roll of
2 to 4 dice by the GM) every few pages
while reading a Mythos text.
Some Mythos texts to learn spells from:
The Book of Dzyan, The Book of True
Magick, De Vermiis Mysteriis, The Eltdown
Shards, Monstres and their Kynde, The
Necronomicon, The Pnakotic Manuscripts,
The R'lyeh Text, Unausprechlichen Kulten,
The Zanthu Tablets.

General spells:
Contact a specific type of monster (see
monster section below); takes 3 Sanity
checks to learn.
Summon a specific type of monster; takes
6 Sanity checks to learn, plus gain 1d3
insanity points automatically.
Bind a specific type of monster; takes 8
Sanity checks to learn, plus gain 1d6
27

insanity points automatically. Once bound,

the creature obeys all commands of the
master who it's bound to; however, it will
often try to escape if it can (usually by
taking advantage if commands are
phrased ambiguously).
Command a specific type of monster;
takes 4 Sanity checks to learn. One needs
to cast this spell each time one gives a
command (unlike Bind, which only needs
to be cast once).
Dispel a specific type of monster; takes 2
Sanity checks to learn.

value to succeed. For Contact, just use

half the monster's clich value. You can
add 1 die to your roll for every wound
(represents draining some of your blood, or
the like) or every point of insanity you are
willing to gain. Also, others can help by
adding to the dice total in the same way.
Once cast, the GM will require a Sanity
Check for all the above spells except
Dispel. For Summon, depending on what's
being summoned you may automatically
get an insanity point.

Note: Contact Byakhee is a completely

separate spell from Contact Shoggoth,
which is also different from Contact Deep
One, etc. Each such spell needs to be
learned separately. The same is true for all
the other spells listed above.
For the above spells, make a check (with
appropriate clichs, like Sorcerer,
Occultist, etc.) against the monster's clich
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Elder Sign Circle of Protection (when the

sign is drawn inside a circle, monsters
can't cross the circle); takes 2 Sanity
checks to learn.
Enchant/Bless item (adds bonus dice to
item, and now item can affect monsters
normally immune to that type of item);
takes 4 Sanity checks to learn.
Dust of Ibn Sultan (makes the invisible
visible); takes 2 Sanity checks to learn.
Other Spells:
Space Elixir (enables travel through space
without a spacesuit); takes 4 Sanity checks
to learn.
Open Gate (opens a portal to another
place on earth or another world); takes 6
Sanity checks to learn, +1d3 automatic
insanity points.

Powder of Abu Rumi (damages monsters

from beyond, one wound per dose); takes
4 Sanity checks to learn, +1d3 automatic
insanity points.
Sign of Healing (sign drawn in the air,
heals wounds); takes 3 Sanity checks to
learn.

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Sign of Harm (sign drawn in the air,

causes wounds); takes 6 Sanity checks to
learn, +1d3 automatic insanity points.
Transference (transfers a wound or
insanity point from target to caster); takes
2 Sanity checks to learn.
Projection (transfers a wound or insanity
point from caster to target); takes 8 Sanity
checks to learn, +1d6 automatic insanity
points.
For all the above spells, the GM will
determine an appropriate number of
opposing dice based on the power of the
effect desired or on what it's being cast on:
one opposing die for each wound you're
trying to heal or cause, one die for each
die of blessing attempted, one die for each
dose of powder, dice for how far the gate
goes, how far the space elixir is to last, the
value of the clich of the monster it's being
cast on, etc. You can add additional dice to

the roll as described above. A Sanity

Check is also usually required after casting
each spell (except for the Sign of Healing
spell).
For a spell like the Elder Sign Circle, the
opposing roll can be made when a monster
tries to cross the circle instead of when the
circle is first drawn.
For the Powder of Abu Rumi, make a
check when creating the powder in the lab,
basement, or other appropriate location (it
takes one hour per attempt to make the
powder).
For the Dust of Ibn Sultan, make one
check to make the dust; the monster it's
used on doesn't get a chance to resist it.
The same is true for the Space Elixir; if
made successfully, the user doesn't need
to make another kind of check (except
perhaps a Sanity check at the GM's
discretion).
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time, immune to normal weapons, creates

larva, repelled by magnetism)
Cultist (knows occult things, knows
ceremonies, likes to sacrifice people &
summon monstrous entities)
Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath (bunch of
walking tentacles, drains life, immune to
most spells, hates cold)

MONSTERS YOU'RE LIKELY TO WISH

YOU HADN'T SEEN
Byakhee (see in the dark, fly through
space, bear messages, carry riders)
Color Out of Space (amorphous
translucent rainbow-colored blob,
parasitizes all life, drains will to live over

Deep One (amphibious, likes to breed with

humans, usually lives in the sea, likes
Massachusetts)
Dimensional Shambler (can shift through
time and space, likes to grab and abduct
people, hard to hurt)
Ghoul (walking undead, unaffected by
normal weapons, grabs and eats people,
has no brains)

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Hound of Tindalos (teleports through time

and space, likes to eat humans, hard to
hurt, regenerates)
Rat-Thing (intelligent unusually big rats,
may cast spells, eat people)
Shoggoth (huge amorphous amoeboid,
unaffected by normal weapons, hates
captivity)
Terror from Beyond (predatory tendrils
with a big mouth, hard to hurt, immune to
most spells, usually invisible)
A particular monster's clich value can
differ from that of others of its kind,
depending on the specific creature's size,
malevolence, etc. Some examples: Baby
Shoggoth (5), Small Shoggoth (10),
Medium-sized Shoggoth (15), Typical
Deep One (7), Big Byakhee (5), Big Ghoul
(4), Typical Hound of Tindalos (8), Typical

Cthulhu Cultist (2), Small Dimensional

Shambler (6).
Here's an idea on how to interpret hard to
hurt and regenerates:
Hard to hurt: the creature ignores every
other wound.
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Regenerates: once reduced to apparent

death, the creature begins to heal one
wound per round (or whatever time period
the GM likes). True destruction requires
drastic measures, like complete
dismemberment, a dispel, etc.

MORE OPTIONS:
Because we like to have options
To make monsters weaker: one way to
do this is instead of using the trauma rule

for monsters the GM can use regular Risus

damage (i.e., the monster loses one die for
each wound it takes).
Attacking multiple opponents in one
round: the attacker gets a penalty of one
die per opponent in their attack.
Example: Continuing the combat above,
Nancy decides she wants to punch Ned off
of her and hit Fred in the same round.
Since she's attacking both cultists at once,
she gets a two-die penalty to her roll. This
would leave her with only one die left (from
her Kung Fu (3)), so she decides to pump
her clich (see options below), getting 2
extra dice (getting back to her original total
of 3) for this round, but she automatically
takes two wounds. If her player rolls high
enough, Nancy will be able to hit both
remaining cultists in the same round.
Use unopposed checks as in original
Risus. If the total rolled beats (equals or
exceeds) the Target Number the GM sets,
success! If not, failure!
33

Target numbers follow this scale:

5: A cinch. A snap. A challenge for a
Schmuck. Routine for a pro.
10: A challenge for a Professional.
15: An Heroic challenge. For really
inventive or tricky stunts.
20: A challenge for a Master. Nearly
superhuman difficulty.
30: You've GOT to be Kidding. Actual
superhuman difficulty.
For Sanity checks, multiply the number of
wounds or points of insanity by 5 to get the
required target number.

ADVANCED OPTION: HOOKS and

TALES
Normally, a character is created using 10
dice. With this Advanced Option, players
can bargain for extra beginning dice by
giving their character a Hook and/or a
Tale.
A Hook is some signifigant character flaw an obsession, a weakness, a sworn vow, a
permanently crippling injury - that the GM
agrees is so juicy that he can use it to
make the characters life more interesting
(which usually means less pleasant). A
34

character with a Hook gets an extra die to

play with.
A Tale is a written "biography" of the
character describing his life before the
events of the game begin. The Tale
needn't be long (two or three pages is
usually just fine); it just needs to tell the
reader where the character is coming from,
what he likes and dislikes, how he became
who he is, what his motives are. Some
Tales are best written from the player's
omniscient perspective; others are more
fun if written as excerpts from the
character's own diary. A character with a
Tale provided before gameplay begins
gets an extra die to play with.
ADVANCED OPTION II: PUMPING
CLICHS
In an emergency, any character may pump
his Clichs. If the Ninja(3) comes face to
face with a Monster(6), it might be
necessary.
When a Clich is pumped, it receives a
temporary boost in dice. This boost lasts

for a single round of combat, or a single

significant roll otherwise. However, after
that round or roll is resolved, the character
gets a number of wounds equal to the
number of dice he gave himself in the
pump. This is treated like "injury" to the
Clichs sustained in combat, and must
"heal" in the same fashion. If in doubt
about what kind of wound the character
takes, use the interpretation that yields the
harshest result (i.e.,the more lethal
wounds) . Unless you'd rather not (i.e., the
less lethal wounds fatigue).
I recommend that these wounds be
interpreted as fatigue, unless the GM has a
special reason for wanting them to be
more deadly.
ADVANCED OPTION III: DOUBLEPUMPS
If this option is used, characters may be
created with double-pump Clichs. These
Clichs, when pumped, give you TWO dice
in the pumped roll for every die you'll lose
at the end of it. Thus, a Sorcerer(5) could
35

be a Sorcerer(11) for a single combat

round, at a cost of three dice. This option is
appropriate for any Clichs based on
supernatural powers, such as wizards,
telepaths, and humanoid-torch style
superheroes. They're also appropriate for
any other Clichs the GM approves them
for.
Double-pump Clichs cost twice as many
starting dice to buy. Thus, the following
would be a legal starting character:
Sinsibilus the Sorcerer
Description: Thin, spindly and mysterious,
with a tired
cat on his shoulder. Likes to poke around
where Man Ought Not, turn people in to
toads
and the like. Likes the woods.
Clichs: Sorcerer [3], Alchemist (2),
Outdoorsman (2)

The hard [square brackets] indicate a

double-pump Clich. Since it costs double,
Sinsibilus is effectively a 10-dice character.
ADVANCED OPTION IV: CLICH
SPECIALTIES
With this option, a character's clich can
have a specific specialty. When that
specialty is in use, the player can add an
extra die to the roll and discard any one die
of his choice. For example, A clich of
Chef (3) can have a specialty of Sushi, or a
Soldier (4) can have a specialty of Rifle.
When making sushi, the chef (3) player
would roll 4 dice and discard one of the 4
dice after rolling.
The specialty should be fairly specific and
not too broad, for example a Martial Artist
(3) should not have a specialty of Kung Fu
since that's too broad in fact, as broad as
the original clich! Instead a specialty of
striking, grappling, or ground fighting could
be appropriate.
36

Each character can get a maximum of one

free specialty to start with. More
specialties cost 1/2 a point each.
Thanks for reading and happy Cthulhu
gaming!

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