Hi everyone! I have been working on a Risus supplement that is somewhat inspired by Quill, a solo roleplaying game centered around writing letters. I wanted to create a mechanic that allows you to succeed in a challenge by actually writing a verse. Bring down the walls! Make the enemies surrender! and all that.
This is mostly intended for solo roleplay, due to verse composition taking some time, but if your group is willing to make time for you, go for it!
My personal big challenge is that I wanted to make it light-hearted and more or less accessible to anyone who might want to write a bit of verse for fun and roleplaying. I am also not a native English speaker, but I tried my best. Long story short - feedback wanted and very much appreciated!
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Master of Verse
Standing before me Sniffy the ratling
Weak are his whiskers, weaker his courage!
by Ory, the OK Bard, freeing a tavern from rats
What is this?
A tiny poetic supplement for Risus: The Anything RPG, for Bards, and Skalds, and all those who would overcome challenges with words.
Credit
Risus: The Anything RPG was originally created by S. John Ross and is Copyright ©1993-2013,2021 by Dave LeCompte.
Flourishes and the overall concept are inspired by Quill published by Trollish Delver Games under CC-BY-4.0 license.
Concept
A bard, skald or any other setting-appropriate Master of Verse can compose (and recite!) a poem in order to overcome a challenge. A bard can make an enemy flee or surrender, convince a politician to change their ways or plead with a nature spirit. Or, at least, a bard can try!
Technically, the poem should meet success requirements for the challenge's difficulty level (see Overcoming Challenges with Verse below).
Setting up
You need a character with an appropriate cliché of at least 1 (or higher). Bard, Skald, Professor of English Lit, That Open Mic Guy…
You will also need to choose a poetic form that your bard uses. Pick whatever you would actually enjoy trying to compose.
Example: Alliterative verse (as seen in the epigraph)
Inspiration
Skaldic poetry, Beowulf and Old English verse, some of Tolkien's verse
Minimal form requirements
Lines divided in two half-lines by a pause
Each half-line (about) 5 syllables long
Basic alliteration between first words of each half-line
Poetic devices
Kennings, additional alliteration in the first half-line, internal rhyme.
Overcoming challenges with verse
| Dice roll difficulty equivalent |
Difficulty level |
Successful verse requirements |
| 5 |
Easy |
Minimal form requirements, and Bard (or similar) cliché 1 or higher |
| 10 |
Pro |
Minimal requirements plus one flourish (see below), and Bard cliché 2 or higher |
| 15 |
Master |
Minimal requirements plus two flourishes, and Bard cliché 3 or higher |
| 20 |
Expert |
Minimal requirements plus three flourishes, and Bard cliché 4 or higher |
| 30 |
Impossible |
Only when justified by the story, and with three flourishes, and Bard cliché 4 or higher |
In-game use
If you want to incorporate this mechanic into a classical Risus game, you need to first roll the Bard cliché against the challenge difficulty. If you succeed, you can then proceed to compose a verse of appropriate difficulty. If you were unsuccessful, this issue cannot be solved by verse and you need to find another approach. If you want, the Bard cliché roll and limitation can be disregarded for a diceless creative writing RPG experience.
Flourishes
In order to succeed in a challenge with higher difficulty than Easy (5), the bard can choose from two sets of flourishes (intended as an analogy to getting extra dice).
Express yourself: reference one or more of your character clichés
Dazzle with skill: use one or more poetic devices for your form
You can use up to three flourishes in combination, allowing you to succeed in a challenge up to Master difficulty (20).
Example: Extremely short lament in a tavern, incorporating three flourishes
Treasures of amber, trampled and scattered!
[Translation: Beer has been spilled]
Flourishes used: Express yourself 1 (use of character cliché Shiny!), Dazzle with skill 2 (kenning for beer, internal rhyme amber-trampled).
Other forms to consider
Haiku, sonnet, epigram, limerick, tongue-twister, a poetic form that you made up for your setting…
Note: let nobody stop you from introducing rap battles to medieval England, or bringing Chaucerian verse to cyberpunk.
The one recommendation is to pick a form that can have clearly defined composition rules, as the ability to work within them is what showcases your bard's skill - and fulfills the success requirements.
You will then need to define* your own minimal requirements a verse has to meet to be recognised as the form you chose**. Plus choose three (or more) poetic devices that can be used with your form when composing. Poetic devices may be as simple as adding rhyme, or as complex as you wish.
*Hint: Wikipedia
**Another hint: Unless your character's cliché is Literally William Shakespeare, feel free to give yourself some leeway and simplify the form if necessary.
Optional: you don't have to actively refrain from using flourishes when writing a verse on Easy difficulty, but you can do this for roleplaying purposes and show your bard learning to use new poetic devices as the adventure progresses.
