Risus Ravens:

This is a free supplement for Risus, the Anything RPG. Inspired by the not-so-big-hit game franchise, Armored
Core by From Software, as well as other giant mecha games such as Chrome Hounds, Steel Battalion, Battletech,
S.L.A.I., and Front Mission. Other inspirations are taken from mecha anime, such as Mobile Suit Gundam, Macross,
Patlabor, and Vision of Escaflowne. Some insight has been taken from other mecha RPGs, especially Mekton Zeta
Plus, mostly for examples of what not to do. This game is designed to explore the personal lives and experiences of
the people behind the steel, rather than literally simulating detailed mecha warfare, more like Gundam or Macross
than Battletech really. More geared toward a war opera of sorts, this document provides some basic rules for when
the mecha actually need to shine, while still giving just enough crunch to appease that mecha gearhead at your table.

The assumed campaign setting is strongly derivative from Armored Core. Earth has been taken over by international
mega-corporations, with what few governments remaining being little more than pompous corporations in their own
right, or mere corporate puppets. Corporate espionage and warfare are commonplace, and war is treated primarily as
a business exchange. Lives have price tags, along with everything else we in our normal society would consider to
be needs guaranteed by internationally recognized human rights. No such international legal code exists in this crap-
sack future Earth, however. No, people and their needs are mere commodities, resources… capital. We are the
pieces in a game played by the genetically engineered god-kings of our worst possible future.

The players are private mercenary contractors employed by a mercenary corporation called The Nest. They are all
professional mech pilots who are assigned to work together as a specialist mecha team. As individuals, they are
called Ravens. Raven teams, and sometimes individuals, are hired out as hitmen, terrorists, bodyguards, shock
troops, blood sport entertainment, and more by other corporations as a component of their various war efforts.
Ravens occupy a unique social class similar to that of the knights of old, which grants them far greater freedom of
autonomy than most citizens have, although such freedom is limited mostly to how they conduct their work within
the bounds of their corporate infrastructure. In particular, ravens have the authority to sub-contract and hire
employees of their own in the form of maintenance crews (mechies), soldiers, and supporting equipment and
vehicles. As such, a team of 4 ravens might represent a combined force of 20-80 people!

The story follows the players as they go through life trying to find meaning and value in an otherwise brutal and
pointless death march for capitalist superiority, while also coping with the consequences of their actions. Roleplay
should focus primarily on what happens between and leading up to missions, and what happens in the cockpits
during missions. I promise you, if you just focus on the literal tangible element of just what the mecha do in combat,
you will be bored to the roots of your teeth. Such is the challenge in running a mecha RPG.

It is anticipated that the GM will present opportunities for the players to permanently determine the course of future
events based on which missions they choose, who they ally with, whether they succeed or fail in their missions, etc.
It is also expected that the GM will present the players with opportunities for the world to permanently impact their
characters, both physically and mentally.

Houserules:
While this game does add a whole set of rules for designing and operating mecha, the base game of Risus is mostly
left alone. However, some modifications to the base rules were necessary to move the gameplay experience to
something slightly less frivolous. Obviously, I don't want to suck the silliness and fun out of the game completely,
but I do intend to reduce the complete batshit insanity that sometimes occurs in the basic format.

Inappropriate Clichés: If you use an inappropriate cliché, your roll result is halved (rounded down) to represent your
lack of proficiency at dealing with the current situation. Winning with an inappropriate cliché counts as one standard
win. This is done primarily so a normal human can't consistently deal 3 hits to a mech with a yo-yo just because they
have 4 ranks in “Yo-Yo Master” and the mech has 1 rank in “Armor Plating”. It could still happen, I don't want to
completely eliminate anything, it's just not quite as likely.

Superappropriate Clichés: If a particular cliché is extremely appropriate, like, it’s EXACTLY the correct cliché, then
the roll result is doubled. For example, if a police officer is faced with arresting a criminal, they are twice as
effective as, say, a soldier might be.
Chargen:
All player characters in this game are assumed to be mecha pilots, so a dedicated cliché for that function is
unnecessary (And would rather short-circuit the clichés the mecha have). Rather, character clichés represent
who/what they are, aside from that; what they bring to their piloting as unique individuals. Other than that,
characters are built essentially the same way as any Risus character; 10 points, max 4 in any cliché.

Each player starts with 10,000isc, (International Standard Credits) a form of digital money. They can use their isc to
purchase their first mech and possibly some other gear as well. They can either buy modules and build an MACV
(described below) or purchase a single-unit ACV mech.

Mecha Design:
Every mech (Except for hyper-specialized models) must have at least 1 combat cliché, 1 defensive cliché, and one
mobility cliché. Mecha can also have optional experimental clichés. Single unit mecha, called ACVs, (Armored
Combat Vehicles) are built like PCs; they have a set of clichés, with base models having 10 dice spread between
them and a maximum of 4 in any given one. Modular mecha, called MACVs, (Modular ACVs) are composed of
parts which, when assembled together, add their clichés together into a single unit. (For example, adding a hand
weapon with “Machinegun 2” and a shoulder weapon with “Machinegun 2” gives the final mech “Machinegun 4”)
In any case, each cliché has a list of sub-types. These change the details of how the cliché looks and interacts with
other aspects of the game, mostly in an implicit way, but there are some mechanical aspects that will be explained
later in Mecha Conflict. Generally, it is assumed that the GM will design the mecha/parts that they feel most
adequately fit the kind of story they want to tell. However, some examples will be provided as a form of guidance on
one possible form that might take. Non-robotic vehicular mecha, such as helicopters and tanks can either be
represented by this system if they are powerful, or by a single cliché or two. A tank might just be “Tank 3”, for
example. Such vehicles have no minimum cliché point value, and traditional vehicles should have less than 10
points. (Otherwise the mecha won’t be very special, will they? Gotta’ stick to some degree of genre emulation.)

Combat Clichés
Missiles (A2A, G2A, A2G, G2G, ICBM, Aerospace)
Rockets (A2A, G2A, A2G, G2G)
Machinegun (Chain, Mini, Plasma)
Rifle (Shell, Beam, Sniper, Assault, Gauss, Plasma)
Pistol (Round, Beam, SMG, Plasma)
Cannon (Slug, Beam, Gauss, Plasma)
Grenades (Incendiary, Frag, Concussive, EMP, Smoke, Tear)
Mines (Incendiary, Frag, Concussive, EMP)
Striker ((Energy-)Blade, Bludgeon, Spike, Saw, Taser, Snare)

Defensive Clichés
Armor Plating
Forcefield
Interceptors (Drones, Missiles, Beams)

Mobility Clichés
Legs (Biped, Quadruped, Hexapod, Centipede)
Wheels (Truck, Tracked)
Hovercraft (Air Cushion, Vertiprop, VTOL, A-Grav)
Thrusters (Jet, Rocket, Grav-Lev)
Aerospace

Experimental Clichés
Cloaking Device
Teleporter
Warp Drive
Transformation (Make a mech with the same number of cliche points for other form)
E-War (Hijacker, Scrambler, Disabler, Scanner, Anti)
Now for some definitions:
A2A, G2A, A2G, G2G, ICBM, Aerospace: A means air, G means Ground, ICBM stands for Inter-Continental
Ballistic Missile, and Aerospace means it can escape earth’s gravity well and/or survive atmospheric re-entry.
Missiles vs. Rockets: A missile is just a rocket with a guidance system. Both can be either rocket or jet propelled.
Plasma: A superheated fluid expelled in bursts or sprays.
Shell: Like a shotgun shell, but huge. More like Napoleonic grapeshot, really.
Slug: A really, really big bullet.
Gauss: A theoretical firing system which uses a chain of series-fired electromagnets to propel a projectile. In this
theoretical future, gauss weapons have advanced to the point that they exceed the capabilities of traditional firearms.
SMG: Sub-Machine Gun. Like an uzi, but giant.
Incendiary, Frag, Concussive, EMP, Smoke, Tear: Types of explosive charges. Incendiary charges spray
superheated oxidizing/corrosive materials everywhere. Frag(mentation) explosives throw shrapnel (Bits of the
bomb’s casing) everywhere. Concussive grenades just put out an impressive pressure wave. EMP grenades generate
an Electro-Magnetic Pulse that shuts down all electronics in vicinity. Smoke grenades release an obscuring cloud of
smoke. Tear grenades release a powerful agitant into the air, which disables unprotected infantry/civilians.
Striker: A general term for a mecha-sized melee weapon, body-mounted or hand-held.
Blade, Bludgeon, Spike, Saw, Taser, Snare: Blades and bludgeons should be pretty obvious. A spike is any weapon
designed to puncture a mech, typically with the goal of fatally injuring the pilot inside. Saws are just powered
blades. Tasers are basically hand-held EMP weapons, they’re meant to disable electronics on impact by sending a
power surge through the target to ground. A snare is any weapon, such as a claw or harpoon, that is designed to hold
a target in place.
Interceptors: Defensive weapons designed to target and destroy incoming explosive devices, especially missiles and
rockets.
Air Cushion, Vertiprop, VTOL, A-Grav, Jet, Rocket, Grav-Lev: All propulsion systems. Air cushions are traditional
hovercraft. (The boring ones) Vertiprop are helicopters with more than 2 propellers. VTOL uses vertical jet or rocket
thrust. A-Grav and Grav-Lev are sci-fi magic flying tech. Jets and rockets are traditional propulsion.

Mecha Conflict:
Where a character uses 6-sided dice for their tasks, a mech uses 10-sided dice. Tasks that would be impossible for
normal people might have quite reasonable target numbers for a mech. Players can have their character express their
clichés through the mech, using the mecha scale dice in the process for that action. For example, a mech might have
"Pistol 1" but if the pilot has "Police Officer 4" they might argue that they can use their police officer training to use
the pistol for 4d10 instead of 1d10.

When a mech is targeted by an attack, they can respond offensively or defensively. If they respond offensively, they
automatically take the hit unless the opponent switches to a defensive reaction, cancelling their attack. If they
respond defensively, they can either try to tank the hit using a defensive cliché or they can avoid the hit with a
mobility cliché. Either way, if they win on a defensive roll against an attack, they do not deal damage to their
attacker, unlike characters who always counterattack as a form of self-defence.

When a hit is scored against a mech, it is recorded as an across-the-board flat penalty to all rolls, rather than dice
loss. Each hit is a cumulative -1. A mech is defeated when it rolls a 0 or negative on a defensive cliché against an
attack. As always, the victors decide what “defeated” means for the enemy mecha, but the DM has the authority to
veto anything that is a complete nonsequitur. Successful mech attacks against people are always an instant defeat.

Now, certain types of attacks are more- or less-effective against certain types of defenses.
• Energy weapons, specifically beams and plasma, are inappropriate against forecefields.
• Solid weapons, like slugs, bullets, shells, frag, concussive, and non-energy strikers are inappropriate against
armor plating.
• Evasion is inappropriate against instantaneous-speed attacks, such as gauss and beams. The only exception are
the experimental teleporter and warp drive clichés.
• All mecha clichés are inappropriate against e-war, except other e-war clichés. It is possible to use character
clichés, like computer hacking, to appropriately act against an e-war attack.
Example ACV Mecha:

Thunderbug:
5,000isc
Beam Cannon 4, Armor Plating 4, Quadruped Legs 2
A four-legged mecha ACV with a single heavy energy cannon mounted at its center, like a walking tank. Slow, but
powerful. The beam cannon somewhat offsets the slow mobility, by making it very difficult for targets to evade
once they are in its sights.

Anthromax:
5,000isc
Interceptor Drones 4, Armor Plating 4, Biped Legs 2
A humanoid mecha ACV with the capacity to equip modular firearms or grapple targets and the environment using
its robotic hands. This modular option makes it one of the more versatile ACV types. It is heavily armored and also
equipped with interception drones, launched from a housing pod on its back. An expensive option, since additional
MACV firearm must be purchased in order to make it combat-worthy.

Wickerman:
5,000isc
Force Field 3, Armor Plating 1, Quadruped Legs 2, E-War Hijacker 4
A tactical and strategic 4-legged mecha ACV equipped with experimental e-war technology designed to remotely
hack enemy mecha. Not an especially effective direct combatant, is more adept at hacking enemy drones and ACVs,
then remotely operating them against their allies.

Shuntrunner:
5,000isc
Assault Rifle 3, Armor Plating 4, Biped Legs 3
A battlefield favorite. The Shuntrunner is a bipedal tank with a
high-powered rifle mounted on an independent turret. Though
its main firearm doesn't pack the same punch as other models,
it is just as armored and moves a fair bit faster.

Screecher:
5,000isc
G2A Missiles 4, Armor Plating 3, Quadruped Legs 3
Primarily a 4-legged mobile ground-to-air artillery unit, the
screecher is used as a support unit in most cases. While its
missiles can easily be launched at ground targets, it isn't really
what they're meant for.

Redstreak:
5,000isc
Plasma Machinegun 1, Forcefield 3, Biped Legs 2, Jet
Thrusters 4
Fragile but fast, the redstreak is an aerial mecha ACV
designed for scouting and harrying targets. Also often used as
backup, or to swarm enemies if used in large numbers. Much
had to be given up in defensive and offensive capacity to allow
them to function at such high speeds for such low cost.
Example MACV Modules:

Platforms: These are the main terrestrial mobility modules. They each have a max weight payload in tons.
Trackmaster: 1,500isc, 10T Payload, Tracked Wheels 3
Pidgeontoe: 1,250isc, 5T Payload, Biped Legs 3
Crowley: 1,250isc, 8T Payload, Quadruped Legs 2
Rushway: 1,750isc, 3T Payload, A-Grav Hovercraft 4

Cores: The core is the component that houses the pilot, and has hardpoints for mounting weapons.
Hundstooth: 1,500isc, 3 Tons, 4 Hardpoints, Armor Plating 3
Ripsaw: 2,000isc, 2 Tons, 2 Hardpoints, Armor Plating 2, Saw Striker 2
Inspec: 1,000isc, 1 Ton, 1 Hardpont, Forcefield 2
Dark Knight: 3,500isc, 4 Tons, 2 Hardpoints, Armor Plating 3, Cloaking Device 2

Weapons: All weapons can be direct-mounted, or manipulated by robotic hands, depending on the adapter used.
Riot: 1000isc, 1 Ton, G2G Missile 2
Swatter: 2000isc, 2 Tons, G2A Missile 4
Lightning Strike: 1,500isc, 1.5 Tons, A2G Rocket 3
Bloodswath: 500isc, 0.5 Tons, Chain Machinegun 1
Melt: 1,500isc, 1.5 Tons, Plasma Machinegun 3
Burstar: 1,000isc, 1Ton, Shell Rifle 2
Havoc: 2,000isc, 2 Tons, Sniper Rifle 4
Godswrath: 1,500isc, 1.5 Tons, Assault Rifle 3
Scalpel: 500isc, 0.25 Tons, Beam Pistol 1
Earthquake: 2,500isc, 2.5 Tons, Gauss Cannon 5

Example MACV: Huntershark *Note that this design leaves no finances for anything else they might need.
Parts: Trackmaster, Hundstooth, Earthquake, Godswrath*2, Melt
Payload: 10/10 Tons
Hardpoints: 4/4
Value: 10,000isc
Clichés: Tracked Wheels 3, Armor Plating 3, Gauss Cannon 5, Assault Rifle 6, Plasma Machinegun 3
Roleplaying in The Nest:
The Nest HQ is a large military facility. It consists of a very large lot on which training and exercise operations are
performed. This site is surrounded by concrete walls topped with electric fencing, with guardposts and regular
patrols. Entrance is through a single steel gate or via landing strip/pad.

On the site near the gate entrance and staff parking lot is the HQ office building, which is also the air command
tower's location. Beneath the office facility is a military prison for holding spies, saboteurs, traitors, and general
criminals on site.

Next to the office facility is the barracks proper, where the troops reside. The barracks take the form of a sort of
large housing complex. Most soldiers live in group accommodations, but specialist units, such as Ravens and
officers, are given personal suites. Recruits live in smaller buildings adjacent to the main barracks, and do not have
access to the main barracks until they have graduated training and received an acceptance of employment letter.
Located on the ground floor of the main barracks facility is a basic grocery store called The Kitchen Sink, a bar
called The Well, and the personal armory.

Adjacent to the barracks is the on-site emergency services bunker. It is a fire department, corporate police
department, and hospital, all at once. The facility is technically a third-party corporation whose services are paid by
The Nest, so staff don't need to pay fees to receive protection or medical care. This building is mostly referred to by
the upper management as the "Loss Prevention" site.

Quite far from the living arrangements and managerial areas, are the equipment hangars. There is a sprawling grid of
hangars for various sorts of vehicles, both aerospace and terrestrial. Most of these hangars are fortified bunkers, to
defend in case of a rival mercenary corporation shelling attempt. The largest of the hangars is the R&D facility,
where The Nest works on their own personal engineered solutions in maximum secrecy.

The nest is owned and managed by a CEO named Tyron Dax, a typical indulgent aristocratic immortal wealth-rat.
Tyron is young, aggressive, and brash, having just inherited the company from his grandfather, who was sadly born
before in-vitro gengineering was available and inevitably died due to health complications from aging 4 years prior.
Lacking the corporate viciousness of his grandfather, and having no military knowledge whatsoever, he is
effectively a figurehead who depends on everyone around himself in order to function at all. He answers to a board
of investors, who are a shadowy cabal of dangerous manipulators. Answering to him is his board of directors;
dedicated management staff of various functions. Among that board of directors is the corporate general, an older
woman named Lindy Mason who is nearing her retirement. In matters of military operations, General Mason has
more authority than the CEO or even the board of directors, but has no authority on any other topics, such as
funding, staffing, policy, marketing, etc. As such, she is rather strongly motivated to "play ball" with the rest of the
management team to make sure her forces are properly staffed, funded, equipped, and employed.

To roleplay the management and staff correctly, remember this:

• The leadership are all immortal. They will be forever young. That said, none have yet lived beyond natural
human lifespans, as the technology is only 40 years old. Even so, the fact that they ceased aging at the age of 25
is pretty good indication of the treatment’s effectiveness, and this gives the aristocracy a supreme sense of
superiority.
• Equipment, supplies, productivity, and profits are more important and valuable than people. The soldiers live in
an apartment building; the equipment lives in a fortified bunker. People will always make more people. They
can’t help but overpopulate their resource supply. Therefore, people are only as valuable as they are special.
The less special you are, the less valuable you are. Certifications, experience, and augmentations make a person
special.
• The common people have been conditioned over the last century and a half to think of this corporate
anarchocapitalist status of the world as not only normal, but a desirable development. People are no longer
manipulated by lying politicians who play word games to trick people into acting on emotion rather than
rational thought. No, today the world is led by the worthiest elite, who strive tirelessly to maximize the practical
profitability and effectiveness of human industry. Even warfare has become productive!
• Despite this conditioning, both the elites and the commoners have dissenters among them.
Making Missions:
Eventually, the players do have to hop behind the wheel and stomp some enemy soldiers though, don’t they? After
all, how can they have any impact or consequences if they never do anything?? So how do you present these
missions, without the missions taking over the session? The simple method is to remember the 5-Stage rule of
adventure design, sometimes called the “five room dungeon” or “five finger adventure” method. Essentially, design
5 scenes. Each of these scenes contain either a social, exploration, or combat encounter, or some unholy hybrid of
two types. When designing these scenes, aim to create a 3-act structure. For example, act 1 might consist of an
exploration encounter and a social encounter that sets up act 3 which starts with a combat encounter, which triggers
the third act where they have a timed exploration encounter, capstoned with a final combat encounter with the timer
still running.

These scenes should be fairly small and simple to play through, requiring only a few rolls at most. Combat should
take the longest, but remember to scale enemy mecha such that they pose a legitimate threat offensively and the
players can fight through a few of them reliably defensively. “Slug Cannon 3, Armor Plating 1” is a good example
of an early game enemy mech; especially if there are multiples. Enemies designed to last longer, with more
defensive dice and a lower chance of rolling a negative, should have significantly reduced offensive capacity unless
their attacks can be spread across the players.

More importantly, in almost all missions, success and defeat should be based primarily on goals unrelated to
personal survival. Remember: The corporations only value the pilots as semi-disposable luxury goods, not as people.
Success should be dependent upon some sort of specific mission goal, such as destroying a target, capturing a
facility, guarding a shipment, retrieving a saboteur, completing a trial run of a new mech, rescuing captives, halting
a terrorist operation, etc. Typically, the crosshairs should fall upon people of lower or equal economic class to the
ravens. It should be extremely rare and unusual that the upper classes use “lesser” arms against their peers.

It is very important that player options change what they can do in the future. There are a few ways to do this.
1. Linked missions. Choosing one or the other decides which side of a conflict you are supporting, strengthening
one or the other in the future.
2. Flexible missions. If there are multiple ways to complete a mission, the different results from that mission
should change the consequences going forward.
3. Timed missions. If you do other stuff first and ignore a mission, it shouldn’t be available forever. There should
be consequences for leaving a client hanging, or letting another raven team take the job.

You can show the impact of their choices in many ways.

1. Make special gear available to them based on which missions they complete.
2. Remove products from the market if a corporation loses the power to provide those goods.
3. Create sequel missions derived from the previously determined consequences.
4. Create special conditions in future missions that only trigger based on previous missions, changing how those
missions carry out. (Saved a terrorist against direct orders? Guess who’s swooping in to rescue you!)
5. Have news articles, social encounters, law changes, disciplinary hearings, and other roleplay indications of what
has happened.
6. Especially good conduct in high priority missions might make cybernetic enhancements available to a character
or the players. Augments should either add special abilities or add cliché dice. One augment might give full
spectrum vision, while another might give you “Super Strength 2”.

More important than any of that though, you need to give the players time to interact with each other’s characters
and NPCs around them to get a feel for what their actions mean for the world and for themselves. If a player sends a
squad of hired commandos into a research facility to steal a data chip, and half of them die when that player fails to
intercept a missile fired at the building, there could be a confrontation with the leader of that squad, or they could
face discipline for wasting resources, or there might be a funeral for the soldiers lost, or any number of other things.
Grateful clients might meet in person. Showing allegiance could gain access to secret societies, higher class social
circles, or rebel organizations.

Finally, roleplay between the PCs is essential. A major moment for roleplay is the time leading up to a mission,
where the players have to negotiate which available mission is the one they will pursue as a group.
Credits:

Risus the Anything RPG was created entirely by S. John Ross. You can download the latest version of the free
game from the website, here. And if you’re a fan, you should probably check out the Risusiverse website here.

This Supplement’s Content Was Designed, Supposedly Tested, and Written by Jeffrey Alexander Malcolmson. You
can try emailing me at jamalcolmson@hotmail.com but don’t hold your breath on a reply if I’m not expecting a
message; I don’t hover over this thing.

Art used by permission from John Torres https://www.artstation.com/facegrater

“I.O.R. Coat of Arms” is Copyright ©2003 by S. John Ross.

"The International Order of Risus" and the distinctive image of the coat of arms are trademarks of S. John Ross.