Membership has its privileges, indeed, when you're a member of the International Order of Risus! Members of the Order get more than a cute membership card; they have exclusive access to the Clichéd Wonder of the World, the Risus Companion.

The Risus Companion is 64 pages of concentrated Risus oddness, reflecting 10 years of Internet feedback and even more years of my personal Risus campaigns. It's illustrated throughout with the same kind of high-quality illustrations you'll find in Risus itself. Just a few of its many features:

• Articles on the ins and outs of character design, including Anatomy of a Cliché, and sidebars exploring the “core clichés” of adventure fiction.
• The Megaversal Omnigroovy Background Machine, which will, in just a few die rolls, tell you why your Irish Shinto Minotaur Astronaut (4) decided to enlist in the Star Patrol.
• An extensive section on squeezing the most juice from the simple Risus mechanics, including the secrets of the Unholy Trinity, the dangers of vending machines, and the many ways there are to carve up a conflict in Risus.

• Many amusing Player/GM dialogues, taken directly from real life (as S. John Ross imagines it to be).
• Expanded discussions on the minutest aspects of the game, from special equipment to the use of magic.
• Evil GMing tips for Evil GMs. Plus, Evil GMing tips for Less Evil GMs to help them become more Evil.
• Tools and techniques for Risus adventure design, including Rocky Roads, and the official Risus Adventure Matrix. Bonus toys include a random fantasy world generator – one every bit as detailed and comprehensive as you'd expect from Risus.
• Fans of the Big List of RPG Plots will be pleased to discover one of its lost cousins, the Big List of Dirty Little Thrills, an adventure-design checklist that cuts to the heart of what's really satisfying in a game.
• A collection of new Advanced Options, including Eye of the Tiger (rules for forcing montage sequences), Lucky Shots & Questing Dice, and Strip Risus.
• Mrs. Butterbread's secret banana-pumpkin bread recipe.
• A lexicon of Risus terms to help you cut through the tangle of complicated rules and systems.
• How to Draw Stick Figures, the Risus Way. 'Nuff said, True Believer!

If Risus confuses you, the Risus Companion will enhance that experience tenfold. If Risus amuses you, the Risus Companion will take ten times as many pages to do pretty much exactly the same thing. It's that cool.

To purchase the Risus Companion (just $10 U.S.) is a lot like purchasing any other Cumberland PDF or font title, with a bonus: it also makes you a member of the International Order of Risus. What this means is:

• You can claim your spiffy membership card by sending me a self-addressed envelope by regular mail (see "How to claim ..." below).
• You can solemnly incorporate the Orders's sacred charter into your daily life, and enjoy the resulting happiness and tranquility (degree of happiness and tranquility may vary from gamer to gamer).

If that sounds like a sweet deal to you, Click Here to Order your lifetime membership/Risus Companion right now. Your purchase supports not only Risus, but the hordes of goons in ninja costumes I'll need to conquer the world.

Cumberland Games sells only electronic stuff, but don't let that stop you from getting a softcover Companion if you really want one! Instead of buying from Cumberland, you can order the Companion as part of Risus Excessively Deluxe. This puts a physical book in your hands, suitable for smacking unruly gamers with. Buying one of these books also qualifies you for membership in the I.O.R., but to claim your membership you need to email me immediately after purchasing (Lulu keeps customer information private, even from me, so I don't know who you are unless you write to say hello). At that point, I'll record you in the I.O.R. membership roster and you can claim your membership card using the regular method (outlined below).

• Create a Self-Addressed Envelope (SAE). Address an empty, unsealed envelope to your shipping address, but don't bother putting a stamp on it. I'll do that on my end, even if you live in Zambia or someplace: return postage is on me.
• Create a brief note indicating who you are. The most important part: specify the name and email address you used when ordering the Risus Companion, since that's how I'll find you in my database to confirm your place in the roster (if you're a Lulu customer, instead specify the date on which you ordered).
• Grab another envelope and address it to me. Use the same mailing address found on the direct mail-order page. You'll need to put some kind of stamp on this one, or it won't get here.
• Fold the SAE and the brief note, stuff 'em into the envelope addressed to me, seal it and send it. If you want to toss in recipes, lewd drawings, interesting leaves, lewdly illustrated leaf recipes, etc., that's cool too.

Within a few days of receiving your note in the mail, I'll lovingly inscribe, number, and illustrate your IOR Membership card, place it in the SAE you've sent me, stamp the SAE, and send it back your way.