A supplement for Risus
By Paul Stefko
These rules build on the Magic system as presented in Risus Magic by Jason Puckett <http://www.intemperance.net/rpg/risus-magic.html>, plus the “Spell TNs” section of Coloured*Skies by Rene Vernon <http://www.webone.com.au/~rene/>. Of course, these rules add on to Risus: The Anything RPG by S. John Ross, available from Cumberland Games & Diversions <http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm>.
A spell to transform one thing into another is fairly standard. There are two general forms of transformation spells: transmutation and shapeshifting.
A transmutation spell works on inanimate objects. The classical example of this would be to change lead into gold. The difficulty of such a spell depends on the amount of material transmuted and the extent of the transmutation.
[Apologies to international viewers, but I’m American and therefore am
fundamentally unable to work in metric for any extended period of time. These
rules will not use metric. Sorry.]
| Material Affected | Reach | Scope | Duration | Nature |
| < 1lbs. | Touch (1) or more | Trivial (0) | any* | attacking (5) |
| 1 – 20 lbs | Touch (1) or more | Simple (1) | any* | attacking (5) |
| 21 – 100 lbs. | Touch (1) or more | Ordinary (2) | any* | attacking (5) |
| 101 lbs. – 400 lbs. | Touch (1) or more | Complex (3) | any* | attacking (5) |
| 401 lbs. – 1000 lbs. | Touch (1) or more | Difficult (4) | any* | attacking (5) |
| 1001 – 2500 lbs. | Touch (1) or more | Exacting (x2) | any* | attacking (5) |
| 2501 lbs. Or more | Touch (1) or more | Dangerous (x3) | any* | attacking (5) |
| Extent of Affect | Impact |
| Similar State, Similar material (lead to gold, hydrogen to helium, etc.) | moderate (2) |
| Similar State (lead to ice, air to chlorine gas, earth to stone, etc.) | average (3) |
| Different State, Same material (ice to steam, etc.) | significant (4) |
| Different State, Different Material (water to stone, etc.) | potent (5) |
* Duration is normally lasting, but it doesn’t have to be.
Thus, a spell to transmute a rock weighing 250 pounds into a block of cheese would be defined like this:
Stone to cheese: Touch (1) + Complex (3) + Lasting (6) + Attacking (5) + Average (3) = TN 18.
Shapeshifting is a form of transformation that affects living things. The effect of such a spell is the changing of one Cliché to another.
Certain aspects of Clichés cannot be changed by a Shapeshifting spell. For example, a Cantankerous Bookstore Owner could be changed into a Cantankerous Bridge Troll using such a spell, but he could not be turned into an Affable Bridge Troll. (However, see Mind-Control below.)
Additionally, a being is used to the form he has. A shapeshifting spell lowers the Cliché value of the being, depending on how significant the change is. (See Mind-Control and Body-Control for work-arounds for this.)
| Type of Change | Range | Scope | Duration | Nature | Impact | Dice lost |
| Same Species, Same sex, different Form (i.e. “cosmetic surgery spell”) | any | simple (1) | any | attacking (5) * | significant (4) | 0 |
| Same Species, different sex (sex change) | any | complex (3) | any | attacking (5) * | significant (4) | 1 |
| Same family (dog to wolf) | any | simple (2) | any | attacking (5) * | significant (4) | 1 |
| Same type (humanoid/humanoid, etc.) | any | complex (3) | any | attacking (5) * | significant (4) | 2 |
| Different type, similar size (pony to dolphin, sparrow to minnow, etc.) | any | complex (3) | any | attacking (5) * | significant (4) | 3 |
| Different Type, different size (man to elephant, etc.) | any | difficult (4) | any | attacking (5) * | potent (5) | 4 |
* unless Range is Personal, in which case Guarding/Healing (4)
Caster to Goblin: Personal (0) + Complex (3) + Melee (1) + Guarding/Healing (4) + Significant (4) = TN 12.
[This caster could change himself from, say, Arcane Researcher (4) to Goblin Mage (2) for a single scene.]
Body Control spells alter certain portions of anatomy, unlike Shapeshifting above which works on the whole body. Body Control spells are very simple: Range can be any; Scope is the absolute value of dice affected (see below); any duration, nature is Guarding/Healing if dice change is positive, Attacking if dice change is negative; Impact is Average (3).
A Body Control spell adds or subtracts dice from any one Cliché, whenever that Cliché is used for a physical task. Alternatively, it heals “damage” to a Cliché that has been designated as physical wounds.
So, a spell to grow claws for a physical Combat would look like this:
Claws (+2): Personal (0) + Ordinary (2) + Melee (1) + Guarding/Healing (4) + Average (3) = TN 10.
[Thus a Brawler (3), who just happens to be a Combat Mage (3), could become a Brawler (5) for one physical fight.]
Mind Control spells are exactly like Body Control spells, but work on Clichés in mental situations. Mind Control spells can enhance a Cliché in mental activity or “heal” damage related to the mind (i.e. psychological disorders, loss of self-esteem, etc.).
Spells to sense the future, the past or distant locations (or any combination of these) follow the rules:
Reach: Reach can be any, and determines where the sense of the spell is located. Any “far-seeing” spell (or similar) will have Unknown/Hypersensate (6) for range.
Scope: Scope determines how specific the spell will be. Trivial (0) tell you that something will be in the room; Complex (3) will tell you that there will be 3 soldiers in the room; Dangerous (6) will tell you exactly how much their armor weighs, everything in their packs and how much they will sweat while in the room.
Duration: Duration determines how far away in time the sense will be, whether in the future or in the past. Lasting (6) means any time desired.
Nature: Nature is always Detect (2).
Impact: Impact tells you how much the senses will apply to you. Colour (0) means almost nothing is important to you; Average (3) means half the sensation is crucial to you; Major (6) means everything sensed colors your fate.
Check out this Javascript-based Spell TN Generator.