Saving Roll Risus

By Shae Davidson

Saving Roll (or SR) Risus is a rules variant for players who like the simple elegance of 2d6 (or who can only find a couple of dice). It incorporates mechanics from Ken St. Andre’s Tunnels & Trolls.

Actions and Target Numbers

When a character attempts a risky action, the player rolls 2d6. If they roll doubles, they roll again and add the new total (and can keep rolling if the new roll also shows doubles). The player then adds the most relevant Cliché to the total.

To find the Target Number, divide the current number by 5 and add 9. The first few levels of difficulty would look something like this:

10: A cinch
11: A challenge for a pro
12: Heroic challenge

If the roll ends up being five or less before the player adds the character’s Cliché, the effort fails or there is some sort of complication.

For example, Bob the Forensic Accountant (5) is looking for evidence that a shoe store is laundering money for gem thieves. Bob’s player rolls a 1 and a 1, then excitedly grabs the dice and rolls a 1 and a 2. Their total before adding their Cliché is 5. Bob loses the paper trail

Conflicts

Basic conflict rolls follow the same pattern. Each opposing side rolls 2d6 (with doubles adding and rolling over) and adds their Cliché. The loser of each round drops one Cliché level, plus an additional level for each 6 the winner rolled. The winner loses a level for each 6 the loser rolled.

Kep the Short-Order Cook (5) is facing Ogryl the Infernal Syrup Lord (6) in a pancake cookoff. In the first round Kep rolls a 6 and a 6, and rolls again for a 2 and a 6. Kep’s total for the first round is 25. Ogryl rolls a 6 and a 1, for a total of 13. The demon would lose 4 Cliché levels since Kep won the round and rolled three 6s, while Kep would lose one level for Ogryl’s single 6.

When groups face one another, total all of the Clichés for each side. One person rolls for each group. Ignore the rules for team leaders.