That one campaign for the discord server

Astral   astral

Dark   dark

Light   light

Nature   nature

Eldritch   eldritch

Composition and role

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Pacts and Authorities

The Free People

• Geographical and political facts
  

  It's a democratic republic founded on a federation of 35 states - called tribes - which exist for historical and administratory reasons.

  • Cities
    

    Gigrem

    the capital city

    Tamran

    historical capital and cultural magic center

    Ti-Mala

    city of heroes; economical and trading center on an island

• History
  

  Not much is known about the early years of The Free People; due to the extremely scattered and volatile nature of stories of early tribes and city-states, which are of wars, alliances, internal friction and general instability, there was "no time" to record history: even if there was, it'd be wiped out and changed from ruler to ruler. External early sources from The Colossus, evergreen spectators of the history of the world, or The Elected Empire, in a way or another avoid talking about it or skip over numerous details, deeming it irrelevant to other "much more important" matters - according to chronicles and historians of the time. The resulting overall information is scattered and discordant, until a much more cohesive timeline can be made from the first unification led by the first group of revolutionaries, which created the first nucleus of the legendary Seven Tribes, what would later become The Free People. Even then, much of the information has been distorted by oral tradition and impartial chronicles, elevating many details to legend and outright mythology

  • The Revolution and the Seven Tribes
    

    Following some internal distress due to an alleged unnamed extremely barbaric tyrant, who had managed to conquer a quite considerable number of villages, cities and land, a sudden and uniform uprise of their inhabitants, composed by Ferrets, Lizards, Wolves, Lions, Elephants, Sergals and Kangaroos. According to legend, putting their differences aside, they fought and won against the evil tyranny that was plaguing their lands. From this, the first democratic council was held, and the decision to create the first ever democratic federation seen on the earth was taken. Sources are contradictory, as expected, on how the battles have been fought and how the events unfolded. Protagonists and heroes are uncertain: there are recognized legendary "father figures", but their existence has been questioned for lack of sources. Nevertheless, everyone agrees on putting this Revolution as the starting point for the history of The Free People

  • The Great Unification
    

    The Seven Tribes had two main obstacles to overcome: the internal friction of the obvious differences between species and the external problems caused by the neighbours. Due to some formidable bureaucracy and organization - according to The Elected Empire, even - the issue of protecting borders and internal stability was taken care of swiftly; laws about free circulation between citizens of the federation - a complete novelty at the time - followed by moderate laws for freedom of nonviolent expression and cooperation, increased productivity and general happiness. This quick increase in wealth and power, thanks to the clever usage of natural resources of the area, too, lured the neighbors to join the federation. Over a little span of 10 years, from the seven inital tribes, the number grew to well over twenty. This extraordinary development period has entered history books as "The Great Unification"; it is such an important historical mark since it paved the start for international cooperation: the two main (at the time) powers all sent their ambassadors and stipulated treaties for trade routes, magical aid and technological help. It also set in motion the events leading to the 400 year-long war, simply known as The War

  • Modern times after The War
    

    At the time of writing the number of tribes composing The Free People has grown to 35. The distinction between tribes is however blurry, since over time the internal borders have been made looser and looser, to the point it's just become for administrative and historical reasons, and people move from tribe to tribe constantly. Interspecies couple are very common too; most are attached to their hometowns and lands not because of a sense of nationalism, but because of familiar attachment. Equality and fair opportunity for everyone is considered a great virtue, every citizen has its place in society and nobody is gatekept from trying to achieve their dream. It's not rare to see big and strong elephants be miniature artists or light dancers, while little and graceful mice are employed in the militia or hard labour.

• Historical and Legendary figures
  
  • The first legendary Council of the Seven
    
    • The Elephant, Sa Rajan, the Immovable
    • The Ferret, Grala, the Elusive
    • The Bat, Faustus, the Blank Map
    • The Lion, Pi' Rif, the Just
    • The Lizard, Silisgrem, the Orator
    • The Sergal, Damas, the Defender
    • The Wolf, Amarindel, the Burning Eyes
    • Sa Rajan the Immovable
      

      Allegedly the first spark of the Revolution was pacifist, when Sa Rajan and his fellow elephants friends sat down and refused to work for, according to legend, 7 weeks. They demanded of better working conditions and the abolition of slavery. The Tyrant tried to make numerous offers, to which Sa Rajan declined one by one. In frustration, the Tyrant sent his militia to arrest them all, bring them to Tamran and interrogate the Immovable. Thus the first battle ensued and even though the elephants lost, they managed to break free thanks to the help of Silistgrem the Orator; their act of rebellion was the inspiration for many more to come, leading to the civil war soon after.

    • Grala the Elusive
      

      One of the only great magicians of these times, second only to The Wolf. Her unusual attunement with Light and Dark magic allowed her to become almost invisible; she was so elusve that it's told nobody could guess where she was at all times, even Amarindel struggled with it. Before beconing a member of the councul he was a scoundrel, born in the lowest class and had to live a life of crimes and thievery. Her powers permitted her to enter silently the Tyrant's home during the Last Great Battle, letting the court's doors open thus allowing Pi'Rif to the Main Hall, where he could confront The Tyrant directly and put an end to both the conflict and the reign of terror.

    • Faustus the Blank Map
      

      The only member coming from a rich family. Not much is known about him, except that he was the youngest in the Council.

    • Pi'Rif the Just
      

      Born as a slave and destined to waste his life into the gladiator's arena, after hearing the story of Sa Rajan, he decided to revolt and escape into the untamed forest and sabotage the Tyrant's army and merchants. It's said that he was the wisest of all and according to legend he chose himself the members of the council. He, however, in an unprecedented act of incredible selflessness, didn't ever put himself in a position of superiority over the other members, knowing he couldn't have had the strength alone to bring forth The Free People.

    • Silistgrem the Orator
      

      Born in a modest family and not in slavery, he was one of the few - at the time - to be an achademic and a defender lawyer for the Tyrant's Court. He had always cared about the rights of those considered to be the lesser ones. His magnificent ability to negotiate any hopeless situation into a better one had already granted him his nickname, the Orator. He was the one to interrogate Sa Rajan the Immovable after he got captured and subsequently free him, using his sibilant but sweet tone to soften the Tyrant's fury upon the elephants, granting them life but harsher living conditions and an ultimatum.

    • Damas the Defender and the Colorful Tobias
      

      Legendary national heroin with her lover and husband. Their sad but with a happy ending love story has been narrated in countless writings and sung by equally countless poets and bards; it's the quitenssential story of interspecies couples and interspecies love. There's many different divergent stories but according to tradition, she was a Sergal warrior and he was a slave alchemist Raccoon; she fell in love and escaped with him, they both joined the Revolutionary movement and fought for their freedom to love, at the time considered taboo, they had to keep their relationship secret. Damas got her nickname from the legendary Last Great Battle, where she singlehandedly defended a key outpost for 3 days before his lover's arrival with the renforcements. She fell exhausted by battle and wounds before his lover, who gave almost all of himself to cure her, showing others how deep their love was; people began to be impressed by how deeply they were connected and made them respected and celebrated figures. Many followed their example: many interspecies couples declared their love insipred by Damas and Tobias, a tradition alive to this day.

    • Amarindel the Burning Eyes
      

      Renowned for his magical prowess in not one, not two, but three of the five ways - Nature, Astral and Eldritch - and famous for his numerous codexes, he was chosen in the council for his magical knowledge. He is the only aknowledged figure of the council, given the numerous sources citing him for his magic, aside from his own books. Besides that, he's the only one from the council to have had no role in the civil war, having decided to isolate himself as a hermit during the Rebellion. After the first council he founded the School for Magical arts in the old capital city of Tamran, imprinting the pacifist and accepting direction of the school. His infamous harsh and judging eyes, unbearable for almost every person to look at, is the reason of his nickname - the Burning Eyes.

The Elected Empire

• Geographical and politcal facts
  

  Their land is split into two parts: the north-east is a plain with some gentle hills, the south-west is filled with impervious and steep mountains. The two halves both provide for basic food and energy and highly requested, precious and not, minerals.

  • Cities
    

    Madis Luga

    The High Light City, the most important city for Light elves, built on top of the highest hill. The Light Emperor's court resides here

    Madas Throd

    The Low Dark City, the most important city for Dark elves, built under the talest mountain. The Dark Emperor's court resides here

    Madis Malma

    The Supreme City. Administrative city, the efficient bureaucracy takes place here

• History
  

  The Elected Empire's history has always been tampered by internal bloody wars and conflict between the Light and Dark elves, too many to even remember. Eventually, a common spirit between the two of high moral began to rise in the people, pushing towards "The Compromise", a perpetual peace between the two. This gave birth to the great diarchy known as The Elected Empire. Together, they built a long-lasting Empire, never forgetting their roots, an almost frightening display of power. This however doesn't mean there's always balance between the two races: in times of joy and laziness the Light prevails, while during hard and laborious times the Dark prevails. Prosperity is a time where the two apects are equal.

• Historical and Legendary figures
  

  Too many to count. Each and every one of the 21 old families has at least a dozen heroes each, be it because of war, music, magic, craftmanship or diplomacy.

The Wandering Faith

• Geographical and politcal facts
  

  The Wandering Faith's territory is the biggest of all the five Factions. Most of it, however, is either scarcely inhabited and inhospitable. There's also no mayor cities, given the nomadic nature of the people, which move in caravans from place to place, living a life of gathering and hunting. There's however sedentary settlements, which are all exclusively temples, shrines and the main cave, where the ruling Council resides. Laws are promulgated by the Council and are enforced by the Prophet, who acts both as judge and law enforcer; this is because the Prophet, which gets chosen between the strongest mages - though the locals attribute them divine powers - can enforce his decision magically. In reality his influence as "God's Word" is so strong that it's rarely the case; each tribe and each inhabitant - if one can call them like that - are extremely faithful to The Wandering Faith

• History
  

  Every bit of The Wandering Faith's history is oral. Attempts to record chronicles has always met hostility from the tribes, the Council or the currently designated Prophet; moreover each tribe and caravan has its own tales, rendering impossible an unified and agreed history overall. What is certain is that each tribe believes to descend from the One Tribe formed by Thimanus, ordered by the god Demiphanteus, which became so big and ungovernable that, according to Wandering Faith belief, Demiphanteus themself struck poison in their land and scattered the One Tribe apart. What is certain is that at some point in time the Wandering Faith was really one single tribe and it scattered, probably due to the progressive desertification and proliferation of what locals call in their language "The Mold"

• Historical and Legendary Figures
  

  Thimanus

  The First Prophet

  Demiphanteus

  The One God

  (no term)

  Many different heroes with overlapping names and histories

The Bluest Abyss

• Geographical and politcal facts
  

  Approximately 60% of the World is made of water: lakes, rivers, seas and oceans. All the deepest and unreachable bodies of water are considered to be their domain. AS far as government is concerned, they're understood to be some sort of democratic monarchy or something like that.

• History
  

  Nothing is known about the misterious faction, except that they got introduced to the Initiative by some marine members of The Colossus and they were forced to "come out". It's unknown how long they've been a power for or even how long they've been there; they're still widely respected by The Colossus so it's theorized that their power is something to be wary of.

• Historical and Legendary figures
  

  None. There's ancient commemoration rites that take place in lakes and rivers and to which oter factions are always welcome to witness, but their poorly understood language and culture makes it hard to discern stories or heroes - or anything else, for that matter.

The Colossus

• Geographical and politcal facts
  

  They're not a government. Every once per year a Conclave is made to keep everyone updated; everyone gets to choose and can speak at this event, at the highest peak of the Right Jewel Mountains, in a place called Hrifum. They live everywhere, using magic to stay hidden or out in the open: from the deepest of the oceans, to the highest of the clouds, in the most technological city and the most untamed wild.

• History
  

  Narrating their history would be like narrating the history of the world - but I'll try to keep it short and relevant to the faction only. The first ones of them were born with the World and idolatrized as gods, hunted like animals and treated like objects, so in the early days of their existence the first few sentient beasts started to gather to avoid any contatct. But soon problems arose: people were losing faith in magic and the were saddened by the loss of the "Ihu Ma" - the "First Breath" - that is magic, their provenance. So they decided to be the first teachers of life, magic, languages and science. Eventually, once they felt the world was flowing in the right direction, they started appearing less and less, only in time of need. They appeared at the brink of wars to persuade the Factions to stop fighting each other. After many millennia, their patience tested and broken by all the wars, the Superior Inititative was born from their wishes, tired of trying to fix the damages to their domain, the World.

• Historical and Legendary figures
  

  Basically everyone of them is some sort of legend on their own right. Yeah, Gods on earth.

Feral Animals

Anthropomorphic Animals

• Land animals (prevalent for The Free People)
  
  • earth biome affinity
    • Tundra
    • Taiga
    • Desert
    • Savannah
    • …
  • stronger Nature and Light magic affinity
• Fishes and Amphibian animals (prevalent for The Wasteful Abyss)
  
  • Shallow/deep water affinity
  • Swamp/lagoon/lake/river affinity
  • Stronger Nature and Dark magic affinity
• Winged and flying animals (prevalent for The Wandering Faith)
  
  • Nomadic behaviour
  • Flying
  • Stronger Nature and Astral magic affinity

Ancient powers (prevalent for The Colossus)

• Fire, Water, Earth, Air elemental
  
  • Innate magical abilities
  • Weakness based on type
  • Magic affinity, mostly Nature
• Yokai, Kami, Lesser Spirit
  
  • Spirits
  • Silent but always present
  • Magic affinity, moslty Nature and Eldritch
• Undead Folk, Demon, Dragon, etc
  
  • Vicious (but not necessailry) creatures
  • Rare species
  • Very strong magic affinity, mostly Eldritch
• Mythical creatures
  
  • Unicorns, pegasi
  • Gryphons
  • Sphynxes

Elves

• Light Elves ("standard" definiton of elves)
  
  • Low light vision, enhanced vision, agility, slender bodies
  • Light magic affinity
  • Skilled at poetry, music and magic
• Dark Elves (dwarves)
  
  • Low light vision, sturdy and shorter bodies, high endurance
  • Dark magic affinity
  • Skilled at craftmanship, war and diplomacy

Outsiders

• Silvers
  

Alchemist

Druid

Sorcerer

Shaman

§§ Monk

§§ Necromancer

§§ Wizard

Academics

• Librarian
  
• Professor
  
• Researcher
  
• Teacher
  

Common

• Farmer
  
• Hunter
  
• Innkeeper
  
• Merchant
  
• Smith
  
• Shopkeeper
  
• Woodworker
  

Nobility and Political

• Aristocrat
  
• Baron
  
• Diplomat
  
• Ruler
  
• Prince
  

Religious

• Hermit
  
• Monk
  
• Prophet
  

Sea jobs

• Sailor
  
• Fisherman
  

Warriors

• Militia Soldier
  
• Paladin
  
• Peacekeeper
  
• Sentinel
  

Standard Risus rules (obviously)

• Tales and Hooks
  

  Tale: A character may decide to have an extra detailed background to gain 1 point at character creation Hook: A character may decide to specify a weakness, vice or anything of the like to gain 1 point at character creation A character may have at most one Tale and one Hook (for a total of 2 bonus points)

• Pumping and double pumping dice
  

  A character may decide to lose a number of cliche dice as damage to add the same amount to his next roll Double pumping: at character creation, a player may decide to pick a cliche double pumped; each level costs 2 points instead of 1. A character that pumps a double-pumped cliche adds the double of the lost cliche dice damage. The Double pumped cliche number is notated by square brakets instead of normal brackets.

  • Examples
    
    1. An Exquisite Acrobatic Bartender (3) decides to pump his next roll to try and impress a girl at the saloon with his cocktail-making skills, and so he decides to spend 1 die on this roll: he rolls 4 dice, but his cliche drops down to Exquisite Acrobatic Bartender (2) until he recoveres from the impressive or straining feat (at GM's discretion ;3)
    2. An Old Eldritch Necromancer [3] wants to resurrect his lost partner fully, no zombie or spirit or anything less than a normal person. In order to have a chance with this godly magic, he decides to spend all 3 of his dice, draining his Necromancer cliche to [0] until he recovers, but adding 6 dice because of the double pumping rule, for an insane 9 dice throw
• Advancement
  

  "Campaign" section of this website, with a twist as explained below At the end of each session, players receive one or more Advancement Points. At any moment, one may choose to spend them to improve their existing clichés or make a new one. When a player wants to improve a cliché, they need to roll the current clichés maximum dice (yes, double pumps roll twice the dice). If the roll is equal or below the current number of Advancement Points, the roll is a success! Deduct the rolled number from the Advancement Points and increase the cliché by 1 die. If the roll is a failure, you lose one Advancement Point

  Advancement Points may given for the following reasons:

  • The player has participated in the game session
  • The player has at least attempted to roleplay their character(s)
  • The player has overcome a challenge in a pretty clever way
  • The player has overcome a challenge in a fun way
  • The player has made significant improvement to a personal lore goal
  • Example
    

    Damian the Greasy has 8 Advancement Points and wants to improve his Professional Miner (2) cliché. He rolls 2 dice and gets a 7, which is enough to level up his cliché! He now is a Professional Miner (3) and has 1 Advancement Point. Meanwhile, Gandalf the Grey would like to use his 16 Advancement Points to improve his Long Bearded Astral Wizard [3] cliché. Since it's a double pumped cliché, he would have to roll */*6 dice*/ in order to level up his cliché.

Non-standard rules

• Advanced character perks
  

  See the relevant section

• Healing cliches on the go
  

  A cliche may get damaged after some actions or combat: a Wizard [4] may get exhausted and become Wizard [1], a Diplomat (3) may get beaten in a verbal discussion to a Diplomat (0), or a Warrior (2) may get wounded to a Warrior (1). If in the middle of the battle, be it magic, swordfighting or a sermon in a trial, a player may use a cliche to "fight" against the damaged cliche. For example, a Sorcerer [3] may try to infuse some magical prowess to a Wizard who lost 2 dice, as if it was a battle of "Sorcerer [3] vs Magic Fatigue (2)"; a Medic or Alchemist may do the same against a wounded Warrior

Active perks

• Lucky shots
  

  Gain 3 lucky shots. A player may spend a Lucky Shot to add 1 extra die to any roll that they are about to make

• Questing dice
  

  Gain 5 questing dice. Pick a "Quest", a long term goal. A player may spend 1 Questing Die to add 1 extra die to any roll that directly furthers that goal (This effectively works as a Lucky Shot but only for specific Quests)

• Area Attack
  

  Gain 2 Area Attacks. When an Area Attack is used, it affects all enemies in the combat. The player rolls once, and each enemy rolls their combat cliché against that result. The effects of this roll are as follows

  • Player beats all enemies: all enemies lose 1 die in their cliché;
  • Player beats some enemies, some enemies beat the player: sll enemies that the player beats lose 1 die, and the player loses 1 die as well:
  • All enemies beat the player: player loses 1 die in their cliché.
• Overdrive
  

  Gain 3 Overdrives. Spending an Overdrive lets a player pump a cliché as if it were a double-pump cliché for 1 round. These shots have no effect on clichés that are already double-pump clichés.

• Overwhelming Strike
  

  Gain 3 Overwhelming Strikes. A player may choose to use an Overwhelming Strike whenever they beat an opponent in a round of combat. If they do so, that opponent takes an additional die of damage to the cliché they used in combat

Passive perks

• Ally/Companion (max 2 times)
  

  Gain an NPC under the player's character command. This NPC is effectively a character in play: it gains 3 points for each time this perk is taken. Its cliche values may not be higher than the original character's highest cliche number. It may use perks except Ally/Companion

• Armored (max 3 times)
  

  When a player with this perk loses in combat, roll a die: if the result is 6, they do not take damage. If the player gets this perk 2 times, it applies to 5 and 6 results. If the player gets this perk 3 times, it applies to 4, 5 and 6 results

• Critical Hit
  

  Whenever a character with this perk wins a round of combat by a margin of 10 or more, that opponent loses 1d6 dice from their cliché, instead of only 1 die.

• Tiebreaker
  

  A player with this perk counts as beating his opponent whenever a combat round or a single action contest ends in a tie

What do cliche represent exactly?

A couple words about backgrounds and backstories

Example characters

• Ulag the wise
  

  Ulag has a short description and no hooks, thus he starts with 10 starting points. He uses 8 for cliches and 2 to buy one set of Lucky Shots.

  "Ulag is an ancient dragon born from the desert sands long before the first elves. With his yellow scales and crimson eyes, hardened by the years, he is a respected councilman among the Superior Initiative, he has served numerous mandates for The Colossus faction."

  • Wise and old yellow desert dragon (4)
  • Respected Superior Initative member (3)
  • Peaceful but quiet choir singer (2)
  • Lucky shots: [ ] [ ] [ ]
• Tristan the shiny
  

  Tristan uses all 10 points for his cliches: he uses 6 to buy 3 dice of the Wizard cliche, 3 points for his other cliches and 1 point for his Companion.

  "A misterious and sometimes bored red panda, with a heart of gold"

  • Middle-aged red panda Wizard of the Astral Way [3]
  • Blunt but gentle librarian for the History Museum (2)
  • Babbling polyglot (2)
  • Companion - Lily the Fluffy Moth
    • Laborious and Joyful bookfinder (3)
• D'oh
  

  D'oh has a hook, granting him 11 starting points. He uses 7 of them for his cliches, 1 for the Questing Dice perk and 3 for the Armoured perk

  "This goblin will meticulously look around for a deal to expand his hoard and find his lost family heirloom - even if he will be fooled exceptionally easily" Hook: He trusts others way too much

  • Infallible sight for deals (3)
  • Swift runner, especially to save his life and possessions (2)
  • nomad busker with a passion for knife juggling (don't try this at home) (2)
  • Questing Dice: Finding his lost and beloved family artifact [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
  • Armored (3): very small and dexterous