RISUS on the Borderlands - The Crafter/Trader version 0.1

This is a continuation of converting Keep on the Borderlands to RISUS and my own silly sensibilities. In this post I cover the second of a whole list of character options that fit the setting's sensibilities. 

So many trades to choose from! Such diversity!

Crafts- and tradespeople

The village has some craftspeople, but not as many and as specialized as there would be in the cities. The crafts needed for self reliance are probably available, like weaving, basketweaving, some light carpentry/woodworking, some light building/masonry, spinning, some simple dying of cloth or making of paint. People will make their own clothes. 

There will not be doctors, smiths, barbers, etc. Though they might visit as traveling tradesmen once in a while. These tradesmen are more equipped to handle the dangers of the road through strength or guile. 

There is an innkeeper and tavern owner, because every fantasy game village needs to have those. The same with a shopkeep. Though these tend to be NPC's.

Requirement: Tale
Craftspeople are not usually the adventuring type. Tell us what caused you to (1) give up the trade and (2) take up the life of deadly adventure. 
This will gain you an automatic extra die to spend, as per the optional rule.

Some options to work with: 

• You heard about a mystical dwarf that is the master of your craft and how he teaches his dwarfish crafting magic to those he deems worthy. You think you are worthy! 
• Your shop has been ransacked by bandits and ruffians, you have to start all over again, and preferably not there. 
• You heard that if you include the hair of a unicorn’s tail into a woven garment, the one you gift it too will fall in love with you forever. 
• You can’t see yourself doing this same thing for the rest of your life. You’ve got a midlife crisis! 
• Your child has been kidnapped and you’re going to get her back.

Keep in mind what these trades are and how they could be funny while writing cliches. We’re playing RISUS after all! What does the trade or craft imply? What is the stereotype? Do you subvert it or enforce it? Trade skills also have great potential to be inappropriate cliches while adventuring in dungeons and the like. How would a cliche be funny to use inappropriately?

A potter might always have dirty hands, making not leaving traces more difficult, but probably makes making a quick sign on a wall easier. A weaver might always be fidgeting with some thread. A traveling potion seller might smell a bit … off, but tries to hide it by covering themselves in perfume. They might take in their craft or be very humble about it. Etc. Etc.

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Example Crafter/Trader Characters:

Here he is, just making pot after pot after pot in his little room.

Muddy Maurice

Tale:
Muddy Maurice is a middle aged potter that works with clay from the river. He goes and gets it there himself. Working with clay he tends to always be muddy. Muddy hands, muddy feet, mud stained clothes… He left his kiln and his pots to go adventuring because he felt like he got stuck in his work and wasn’t finding any more joy in it. He needed to try new things, experience new things, so as to get to the next level in his life. In other words, a midlife crisis. He traded some of his pottery for adventuring gear and set out for new experiences!

Maurice is a(n)…

• Muddy-Handed Potter (4) - tools of the trade: Kiln, Pots, Clay, Pottery Wheel, pottery workshop (also home), clay working tools, dirty clothes, probably also a shovel and a wheelbarrow.
• Surprisingly Graceful Swimmer (3) - tools of the trade: A medieval speedo
• Lifelong Bachelor (3) - tools of the trade: An iron stomach, problems with commitments, an aversion to settling down.
• Midlife-Crisis Adventurer (1) - tools of the trade: Backpack filled with adventuring tools he heard he needed, leather jacket, heavy club, crippling self doubt.

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Hilde is unimpressed by yet another suitor...

Hilde

Tale:
Hilde is what they call an old spinster. This is because she is very good at spinning all kinds of yarn or thread, be it literally or figuratively. Also, it’s because she still isn’t married at age 30! It’s not like suitors haven’t presented themselves over the years, but rather that she was never impressed by them. Tiering of this she has set out to find a real man in the wildernis of the borderlands. She’s hoping that one of these adventuring men will be made of the right stuff to marry her.

Hilde is a(n)…

• Old Spinster looking for a Real Man (4) - tools of the trade: Yarn, Wool, thread, spindle whorl, judging eyes, high expectations
• Gossip Girl (2) - tools of the trade: good ears and a wicked tongue
• Creative Knitting Woman (3) - tools of the trade: Knitting needles, balls of yarn
• Beginning Adventurer (2) - tools of the trade: Heavy walking stick (good for whacking), backpack full of handy knickknacks, hopes and dreams

RISUS on the Borderlands - The Farmer version 0.1

This is a continuation of converting Keep on the Borderlands to RISUS and my own silly sensibilities. In this post I cover the first of a whole list of character options that fit the setting's sensibilities. 

Aren't they jolly and fun!

Farmers

Farmers come in all shapes and sizes. Some make things grow, others keep farm animals. Usually you know what to do with the produce. Most do a bit of everything, but some might experiment with specializing. Or at least dream of it, aspiring to one day be able to specialize in one thing. 

Requirement: Tale

Farmers are not usually the adventuring type. Tell us what caused you to (1) give up the life of a farmer and (2) take up the life of deadly adventure. 
This will gain you an automatic extra die to spend, as per the optional rule.

Some options to work with (but feel free to come up with your own): 

• You accidentally burned down your farm. 
• Goblins stole your favorite chicken, and you want it back. 
• You had a vision or dream where you were chosen for a great task. 
• Wolves have been eating your herd, and now it’s time for revenge. 
• Raiders have stolen your husband! 
• You heard that if you catch a Leprechaun you can force it to give you his treasure, and you like treasure! 
• You didn’t shelter an old crone, she cursed you and now your crops all uprooted themselves and walked into the woods, on their own!

Farmers are usually hearty and healthy, strong because of their work. Some might know letters and numbers and be able to write their own name. Farmers tend to be good with their hands, and be able to craft simple things for themselves (see craftsmen). Farmers might dabble a bit in fishing or hunting. Especially if some predators are out to get their chickens or their sheep. Music is also a thing that is liked, as well as turning their produce into tastier things, like bread, cheese and beer, which is used for another beloved activity, namely feasting. There are a lot of tropes about farmers, which could be used to fuel your cliche writing inspiration.

Most farmers will have one cliché at 3 max and all others below, since they tend to do everything on their own, being self-sufficient. You are required to have at least one cliche that has to do with farming if you want to play a farmer. It can be at 1, if you want to be a particularly bad farmer. Most have multiple farming related cliches though.

Optional Rule: Hard Working

At the cost of 1 die at character creation this character gets the Hard Working trait, meaning they can re-roll any 1’s, but only on any roll made for doing continuous hard and mindless physical labor such as lugging things around, plowing, mowing, chopping.

 

Example Farmer Characters:

Look any this handsome lad.
I'd wager he's still got all of his teeth.

Hannes

Tale: 

Hannes once was fishing, as he likes to do on a Sunday after mass. It was at this point that all of a sudden the face of a beautiful lady emerged from the water and told him that there are many treasures hidden in the caves that go up the road. Hannes explained that he couldn’t really leave his widowed mother all alone to look after the farm. The lady in the water told him that the treasure could make his widowed mother into a queen that could have anything she wanted. Hannes loves his mother very much and thinks this is a good idea, so he leaves right away.

Hannes is a(n) …

• Gullible but strong farmboy (3) - 
tools of the trade: Hopes and Dreams, farm, plow, rake, …
• Animal Friend, especially to his cow Mathilda (2) - tools of the trade: Big Heart, bag of treats
• Singing Harvester (2) - tools of the trade: knowledge of simple songs, scythe
• Handsome Lad (2) - tools of the trade: Rosy Cheeks, athletic build, sincere eyes, all of his teeth
• Recreational Fisherman (1) - tools of the trade: Fishing Line
• Hard Worker (see optional rule)

A bit like this, but imagine a spiked mace instead of a sword.
And imagine her being very clumsy in it.

Iron Anna

Tale:
Annabelle, being a buxom dairy maid, got a lot of attention from the soldiers, mercenaries and other adventurers coming through. This filled her head with dreams about the world outside and the riches and fame to gain out there. She would sings songs about it while dreaming about going on adventures on her own. One day she ran off with a mercenary called Iron Willem, and started adventuring for good. Iron Willem ended up dying, about right as they left the village. Such is the adventuring life. Especially if you made an enemy in the Bandit King like Iron Willem did. Annabelle was undeterred and kept going, seeking adventure and fame. With the tools that Willem left her in death she outfitted herself with re-forged plate armour (from Dead Iron Willem’s purse) and his spiked mace and set out to become Iron Anna. Which is where we are right now. She’s still figuring these things out.

Annabelle is a(n)…

• Buxom Milk Maid (3) - tools of the trade: Buxom Bossom, Milk Pail, Three Legged Stool, Wooden Shoes, a Cow.
• Bored Cheese Monger (2) - tools of the trade: Cheese Cloth, Bottle of Rennet, Cheese Press, a Cheese Cellar.
• Dreamy Songstress (2) - tools of the trade: Hopes and Dreams, A Good Voice.
• Optimistic Go-Getter (2) - tools of the trade: Hope and Energy
• Reluctant Housewife in Training (1) - tools of the trade: Broom, Apron, Rolling Pin, Cooking Knives, Family Cookbook, …
• Iron Clad Adventurer looking for Fame and Glory (1) - tools of the trade: Plate Armor, Spiked Mace.
• Lucky shots: OOOOOO

RISUS on the Borderlands - General Idea version 0.1

 Yup, I'm at it again, reworking the Borderlands, and again, using RISUS. I got inspired by someone talking about running modules for RISUS on the RISUS Discord Channel. And the idea didn't leave my head. I've recently read the RISUS Dungeonautica rules which were a big inspiration as well. Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll ever finish this project, but I'm trying to convert what I like from Keep on the Borderlands to RISUS, with it's own kind of humor. To make something really feel like a RISUS interpretation I feel like it needs to be funny/silly. I'm not sure how good I am at that, but I'll give it go.

I'm keeping a list of sorts (kind of like a table of contents) below this post!

this is a castle, or a keep, if you will.

The Keep on the Borderlands - RISUS Edition

The Mark is a savage place, corrupted by Chaos, making men, beasts and nature itself give in to dark desires, like greed, violence and even stand up comedy!

Standing against this is the Marquis, castellan to the keep on these borderlands. With an iron fist she brings law to this savage land, protecting mankind from the evils that live in the dark. Helping her are her two advisors, one from the Church and one from the Realm of Fairy. They help her decide when to tighten her iron grip, and when to loosen it up a bit.

The Inquisitor from the church is a stern looking man that never smiles and always looks in judgement. The Fair Child is a 100 year old child trained in combat and magic alike. They also like to play tricks on people. They look like they are five years old. They are always smiling.

Changes to the original keep:

The outer keep becomes a little village built against the walls of the keep, which is now just the inner keep from the module. Most people live in farms between the road and the river, which are the main source of food for the Keep. This also means that there are less men at arms around. The keep is still built on a rock jutting out of the ground, but the rest of the village is built around the rock that’s jutting out that ground, negating some of that crevice-moat-idea. But if the rock jutting up is a Really High Rock (5) that should be okay I think.

 

Starting Characters

Characters are made with 10 dice like normal. The options from the main rules are all available, and required in some cases (see below). For characters choosing the Hooks and Tales options, it might be fun to work together and make up backstories that lead in the same direction, so that it would make sense for you guys to be working together as a party.

Extra Option: For a more authentic feel, some might think a 10 dice character might be a bit too heroic and advanced. For a more Zero-to-Hero kind of feel, start with only 5 dice and set the maximum of a cliché to 3. This is meant to be an option that is for the entire group, but if a specific type of player wants to challenge themselves more like this, they are of course free to take this all on their own, I guess.

Most people here are humans. These are human lands. Any other beings are either very rare visitors from the fairy lands or creatures of corruption. Or Wizards. Wizards are rare to come by. People that are not humans will have specific requirements for use as characters, such as a hook or a tale. Others might as well, such as the farmer, who generally isn’t the deadly adventuring sort.

• Humans in this area are either farmers, simple craftsmen or warriors of some kind (mainly soldiers, knights and mercenaries).
• There is a little parish here with a priest and acolytes which could provide that avenue as a viable player option, and traveling priests are a thing. 
• The simple people here are living in tough conditions, which probably makes them quite tough on their own, compared to the ones living in the more tamed regions of the kingdom. This might provide hunters, not only of common animals, but of things that others might just think lives in make belief.
• Sometimes some people here are born a bit different. Tainted by the corruption of chaos, or influenced from meddling by the fairy lands.

Currently Available (links open in a new window):

The Farmer

The Crafter/Trader

Weird Idea #2 - Vocalizing Choruses

Michael Hartstein’s “When a Choir Sings, The World Stops and Listens.”

I'm here again with a Weird Idea nobody asked for. Once more it's based on music. I was recently pointed at some strange music group called A Room Full of Teeth and decided to give them a listen on Spotify. I loved it. It's Fantastically Weird, being all vocalizing with maybe some synthesized chords in the background once in a while, but mostly just the voice doing weird stuff, like Tibetan throat singing and Yodeling. 

So I'm listening and my imagination starts running, GM brain activating. This sounds sufficiently creepy to be something to put on when in a strange different place: 

A haunted mausoleum, where all the corpses start singing nonsense, filling everyone with dread, destroying sanity room by room, forcing steel checks, whatever your system. If you fail, the haunt takes control and you join the song ... forever.

A eerie fairy forest where the voices are heard, but not found. (Or what would happen if you did find them?) Some strange type of fairy music magic that tries to capture you, plays with you, for some incomprehensible reason. What do you need to do to escape? Sing a counter-song? Hit the right notes? Hide from any sound? What happens if you emerge from the captivity? Can you even still stand sounds? Have years passed, or just mere seconds? Did your voice change or get stolen?

Inside the dream of a bard or minstrel or other music mage. All the voices are different aspects of their inner self, vying for control, sensing around. Some might even be the spells themselves, in a "Vancian" way. Or is this how a bard finds their special songs, transported via musical trance to a place where songs are real and need to be captured, or understood, or translated to sheet music. The amount of success with which this is done defines the strength of the musical spell?

Anyway. This was this edition's weird ideas.

De waarde van de grote schat: The Third Game.

I drew out the path as we went along.
Kinda forgot about it at the guardian.

 

So, last Wednesday I played "De waarde van de grote schat" with the kids from my third school. These are two kids. It's the first time that they chose option B: to go treasure hunting on behalf of someone else, helping them with the hunt. I was exited for this, as I could try out my twist ending. Also, the rate of selfishness/altruism so far is 2/1. Definitely need a bigger test pool to see what the average would be.

So they named their characters and their friend. I asked who it was. Did they know them or was it a stranger? Did they grow up with them? They decided that he was a very trustworthy friend. They gave him a silly name, since they had no inspiration for a regular name. Thus we met Karboeb. (I had to keep a straight face here because it's pronounced "Kar-Boob".)

The also started by asking wether this was in modern day times or in the medieval times. I told them we could decide this on our own. The choose the medieval times "because that's more realistic". I am still baffled by that leap of logic.

The Countryside

Leaving the unnamed village (I should let them name it themselves, but that might eat up precious time. Maybe I should come up with a name.) they traversed the countryside where they heard cries for help and saw smoke in the distance. A farm was on fire. They decided to help.

Design note: I wonder if they would have done so if there was a timer of sorts, or something else to make the choice harder. Like competition. Maybe something like Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket.

A quick draw up, which my target audience might not think of to do.

They arrive on the scene, which I quickly improvise and draw up. Giving it three buildings on fire: The main living quarters, the stables and the shed. The farmers where an older couple who they could not understand in their panicked heavy dialect. They were pointing to the main building, but the kids were like "We need to save the horses!". As I asked them if there would be people in the main building, they reacted that if there were people inside the older couple would have already tried to save them.

It was then I realized this group was definitely smarter than the kids I usually play with.

Since I was improvising I could roll with it. So I asked them how they would try to put out the fire. They asked if there was a well somewhere. Or different water somewhere.

Yup, definitely the smart group.

So I rule that with the five of them (the two PC's, their friend and the two farmers) they would be able to make a bucket chain and ask them which house first. As said before, the stables. Because horses! After the stables the choice was the main house or the shed. They asked what was in both. I told them the house is where people lived and there might still be people in it. The shed is where the food is.

They actually almost went for the shed first, arguing that they would have heard it if someone was in need. So I suggested they roll to see if they could hear something. They heard the faint crying as if from a baby. Well, plans changed quickly. The baby's life was deemed more important than the food, and they went to douse the fire in the house. Actually one of the PC's who had some skill in strength didn't want to waste time with water and kicked in the door, action hero style and found not only a baby, but a teenager that was passed out, who had to be on the way to the baby. He was able to carry them all out while the rest managed to douse the fire.

I then cranked up the fire in the shed and they got it out as well, but not without some lost food, which they were sad about. They got rewarded with two horses though! (they got a choice between horses or food) 

Teacher Note: I wonder if they thought they could figure out a way to save everyone and everything perfectly? I wonder if this scenario would be too cruel if things would go wrong with their rolls?

Design Note: I was able to improvise this quickly, because I am used to the hobby. My target audience are protestant and evangelical teachers though, who for the most part will not even have a frame of reference for this. If they've heard from it, it will most likely be in a negative way. So they will not be used to this. It would be a good idea to make each of these events actually prepped instead of just a prompt, for those that want to use it.

The Forest

So then they went to the forest, where brigands jumped from the bushes. "Your money or your life!", they shouted. Having previously discovered how smart she was, one player's character pretended like she was gonna give them her money but then patted her coat. "I could swear it was here! I must have dropped it over there!" They fell for it and went back to where she pointed. Instead of just riding along, the strong character which already saved people from a burning house snuck after them and with a branch knocked them both out cold. Then they robbed the robbers, finding gold jewelry and the like and taking their weapons and distributing these amongst themselves, reasoning who would be best with what, etc. This dealt with they went on ahead to the cave.

The Cave

Arrived at the cave they find that the entrance to the cave is very narrow. They cannot take much with them, but as established, they are too smart for me. They take some time to build a shelter for their horses and camouflage it. Then they tie their horses to it so they are safe while they go spelunking. I told them they could not get through the narrow opening without leaving everything behind, but they retorted with ... "What if we tie it all up in a package and throw it through first?" I mean, I gotta reward their cleverness, so sure. And then I ask them to roll to see how fast they are. They are just fast enough to see a little mantake the pakket and run. Immediate pursuit. Being able to capture the little gnome by the feet right as he dove into a hole they fish him out and grab the bag back. They then buy his services with a necklace, and proceed to the guardian.

Design Note: Smart kids vs. improvisation... I resort to standard fantasy and fairy tale, which I'm trying to avoid in the finished product. I think having it be a creature like a fox or something would've been better. Also, man, bundeling their stuff up and throwing it through. Nice one. I wanna just play some OSR sandbox stuff without any agenda with these kids, but that's not an option currently.

Teacher Note: Impressed that they thought out of the box, but it kind of defeated the purpose of the exercise. At least they had to leave behind their horses, so I'll take that. I might have to have a little think to make this more enforceable. I want to make it kind of like the idea of the "eye of the needle gate", because they should have to think what they are willing to sacrifice to gain entrance.

The Guardian

Here they met a fully armored knight who opens up his visor to reveal, a skull! *GASP* I immediately asked if it was too scary (I can change it if it's too scary), because they reacted more strongly than I expected. It turned out to be okay once the undead knight revealed that he could only let them pass if they would win a game of Rock Paper Scissors from him. They were up to the task and reached for their dice while I made a fist and started the rime on my hand. "Oh, we're really playing it?!" And it was fun. Which is also what the skeleton said, as he hadn't been able to play for the last 100 years. One player lost but the other won, and the knight opened his chest armour and from between his ribcage retrieved a golden key.

Design Note: Again, better to have these things prepared. I definitely went too hard into the fantasy here, and somehow hadn't foreseen their reaction to a living talking skeleton. The document so far just said guardian. I'd used a dragon in the two previous ones, but wanted to try something else. I think this should be some kind of fantastical encounter though, as it's the end. Maybe I should make it into a giant statue that comes to life to challenge the players? Or a mirror, where they have interact with their own reaction or answer some difficult questions or something. I'll have to give this a good think.

Teacher note: DnD and videogames make you forget how actually horrifying of an idea undead are, even in their simple form. Be careful with falling back on fantasy tropes, especially with an audience for which it aren't tropes yet! Again as well, fantasy and my target audience don't always mix. So the above idea of "your own reflection" might be more apt. It could also be a mechanical thing where they have to solve a puzzle, like a maze or a sudoku or something, but I dunno about that. Sudoku will be too hard I think.

The Treasure

All of a sudden they did not trust their trustworthy friend any longer. They thought he was involved in some dark stuff with this skeleton knight and such. Once the friend asked if he could please have the key because it had been so long since he'd seen her, the players went "Her???" Wait a minute. They asked him to explain, which he did. A wizard had kidnapped his girlfriend and put a curse on him where he couldn't tell about it. The players started testing this story (which I was coming up with on the fly) by asking if they knew about this. Well, they knew he had a girlfriend, and now that they thought of it, they hadn't seen her for a full month or something like that.

Design Note: Again with the fantasy tropes. This is not something I can write for my target audience. These are also the consequences of my previous choices, making me dig myself in deeper and deeper. It's harder to foresee something here though, and the kids define their relationship with their quest giver themselves. Maybe I should make it a more formal statement. As with the Golden Ticket idea. Not sure.

Teacher note: So smart again! Just mentioning her instead of it and they immediately caught on to it. The reveal worked amazingly. Not sure this will work for all of them all the time, but maybe it doesn't need to. You can always increase the revealing. I might also be underestimating my other students a bit. Not sure. There are some very distracted kids there.

Weird Idea #1 - The Ear Worm

From Wikipedia.
This is what we call an oorwurm (ear wurm) in Dutch.

Inspired by this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA6GwfeDYyA

Setting: Completely normal day to day modern day average people.

Genre: Sitcom

The game night is an episode. The problem: An ear worm. There's a catchy tune that slowly worms itself (heheh) into everyone's mind. By the end of the episode everybody is humming it. Hijinks ensue with people trying to avoid it, getting rid of it finally and getting it stuck in their head again by another person. Players try to find silly, funny and somehow relatable ways to deal with it.

Some kind of resolution in the end, where they figure out it might not be so bad after all, or everyone finally got rid of it, but someone mentions that he got rid of it finally and it reminds the others, which starts it all back up.

*laughtrack* 

*image still of people throwing couch cushions at the person* 

*End Credits*

Probably using something like Fate or even make it into a FIASCO playlet? I dunno. This is a weird brainwave. No bad ideas in brainstorming.