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Cypher System

Cypher System

Cypher System is a groundbreaking tabletop game engine that allows for incredible flexibility to play any type of campaign, in any genre. One can play in the system’s flagship setting “Numenera” or in the worlds of popular podcasts such as “The Magnus Archives” and “Old Gods of Appalachia”. Additional settings can include Post-apocalyptic, sci fi, fantasy, cyberpunk, horror– if you can name it the Cypher System has it! Regardless of the genre, Cypher System games feature a narrative forward play experience that emphasizes discovery, problem solving, character growth, and meaningful roleplay over defeating monsters and getting XP. Character creation is simple yet elegant, as players make a three-part sentence describing who they are going to play. The rules are simple enough for beginners to learn quickly, and sophisticated and deep enough for veterans to unleash their creativity in surprising new ways.

Originally created by Monte Cook, Bruce R. Cordell, Sean K. Reynolds

Details

2-6 Players
D20 System

Themes

Horror
Scifi
Modern
Fantasy

Release Date

2019

Cypher Systems Reviews (12)

See what other Game Masters and players are saying about Cypher Systems

Dax avatar

Dax

New review

It's a great system for both the GM and the player. Easy to learn to run, simple enough mechanics to make rulings when needed, and easy to make your own NPCs and items if you wanted. As a player the variety in foci and descriptors help you customize your character despite the limit in character types available per setting book. You could have a table full of one type, but due to the mechanic restriction on the focus and the variety on descriptors, plus the ability to choose skills and abilities, allows for all players to feel their character is unique. Monte Cook's books take a little getting used to as far as navigation, but once you understand that it's something you don't think about much and can apply to other game systems under their umbrella (like Invisible Sun, etc).

Michael avatar

Michael

New review

Really love the ease of running Cypher system. And with an ever growing catalogue of settings, this is a great fit for almost any type of game you want to play. Sword & sorcery, supers, dark mystery, it has it all.

Malek avatar

Malek

New review

Very easy system to GM. Works pretty well across genres. Home to some of my favorite settings, like Numenera. The Cypher System is one of my faves. Great for those that want a little bit more crunch, let's say medium, then a pure story game, but don't want to have to worry about giant stat blocks and constantly looking up rules.

Jay avatar

Jay

New review

Cypher System is Monte Cook's dream system. When he created Monte Cook Games, he designed the system he always wanted to play. The result is a not quite rules-light or crunchy system that finds a good middle ground. Where the game truly shines is in the settings though. Before marketing it as a generic system with "genre slices", the settings for Numenera and The Strange were the vehicles to play the system. They are the true gems of the Cypher System. The x3 mechanic for difficulty can feel a little tacked on, as it seems it would just be easier to assign a flat number rather than 1-10 and then x3 to get the difficulty, but it works well enough in practice. Cyphers, the namesake of the system, are really cool. They take the idea of consumables found in most other games and give them a greater purpose. Perhaps my favorite products that support this system are the "Instant Adventures". They are a format of adventures that take almost no prep time. Others have replicated the format for other systems to varying degrees, but these are truly wonderful for the "just add dice" and play situations. The only detraction in my opinion is not of the system, but the retirement of The Strange. It was an innovative world-hopping game that was the best multi-genre game I've ever played. (Think Sliders if you remember that show.) Due mostly to the simplicity of the Cypher system, it worked well and was lots of fun to play.

Rodrigo avatar

Rodrigo

New review

Played 4 sessions

Great for those wanting less crunch than D&D, but more mechanics than FATE. I learned it because I wanted to know a system that is generic enough to help me run occasional oneshots with my crazy ideas. It kinda of does that, but the Cyphers (one use powers) feel a bit out of place for a generic system. They were clearly designed to support its main CYPHER setting Numenera, where the world is littered with unstable one use magic items. At its core it has a love-or-hate mechanic of spending your it points as the resources for your cool abilities. I love it, but lots of people will get confused and hate it Other than that it works really well as a generic system for oneshots and short campaigns, with the shallow mechanics not holding the interest of players for longer campaigns

DuChampion (JJ) avatar

DuChampion (JJ)

New review

Welcome to the Cypher System, where any setting, any genre, any character concept is possible! All you need to do is… multiply everything by 3. Yes, Cypher’s core mechanic is “just multiply the difficulty by 3”, because apparently, simple numbers are for lesser beings. Instead of rolling a d20 against a DC like normal folk, Cypher asks you to multiply a number first, which means math gremlins will either love or absolutely hate this system. Pros: ✔ Extremely flexible—you can run sci-fi, fantasy, superheroes, or a game where everyone is sentient vending machines. ✔ Player-driven mechanics—players have real agency in deciding when to spend resources to succeed. ✔ GM-friendly—no dice rolling for the GM! Just vibe and decide their fate. Cons: ✘ Multiplying by 3 is somehow harder than rolling dice. (Why not just use the difficulty number directly? We may never know.) ✘ The economy of effort points can get wonky—players either hoard them or blow them all at once like gamblers at a casino. ✘ The GM’s job is to make up everything on the fly, which is great until your players ask for actual structure. Final Verdict: Cypher System is great for narrative-heavy games where players enjoy creative problem-solving and resource management, but if your table hates mental math or needs a crunchy combat system, expect blank stares and existential dread every time you say, "Now multiply that by 3." 4.5/10 - Just Give Me a Normal DC, Monte.

How to Play Cypher

The core mechanic in Cypher System is rolling a 20-sided die, and comparing the results to a Task Difficulty table. Every task, action, creature and object in the game is assigned a level and players roll to meet or beat the difficulty assigned to what they are trying to do. There are critical successes rolling a 17 or higher and thrilling GM "intrusions" for rolling a 1. Players can improve their odds with skills, abilities, tools, and help from their friends. Characters can even tap into their XP pool to influence the course of the game with player intrusions! Players create a character by picking from a variety of options to form a 3 part sentence that includes a type, descriptor and focus. Each choice in a character sentence helps define the fantastic abilities and potential hindrances in the course of adventure.

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