Risus: The Anything RPG

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Risus: The Anything RPG is a free role-playing game which can be found online. Characters in the game are literally defined by clichés, and these clichés are used the way attributes and skill are in other games. It's a pretty nifty system; I haven't used it for anything but solo play yet, but I might someday... To grab a copy of the rules, you can visit the game's official site. To get straight to the bit about the solitaire adventure, you can click here.

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Ring of Thieves
Author: S. John Ross
First Published: August 1, 2000
Length: 27 pages (137 sections)
Number of Endings: 15 (not including death by combat)
Plot Summary: You are Lucas Marks, a halfling thief. Your partner has been kidnapped as the result of a ring you acquired recently, and you must rescue her!
My Thoughts: I quite enjoyed this adventure; it's a challenge to get through, but it's not so linear that there's only one correct path. Characterization is definitely much stronger than is usual for a solo adventure, and the story's swords and sorcery plotline is pleasantly spiced up from time to time by humor and strangeness. The adventure isn't completely perfect; it's a bit on the short side (at least by Fighting Fantasy or Lone Wolf standards), and the ending leaves a few things (intentionally) unexplained. Both of these flaws are easily forgiveable, however; this is (I hope) only the first part of a series, and room had to be left somewhere for future growth and improvement... In any case, I'm definitely looking forward to more Lucas Marks adventures.