Monte Cook is one of big names recognized in the role playing game industry. He rose to prominence as a designer working on the second and third editions of Dungeons & Dragons. He launched a future fantasy RPG called Numenera in 2015 which became one of the first large scale success stories for tabletop games on Kickstarter.
The popularity of the Kickstarter allowed Cook to found Monte Cook Games. Most of the games run on the Cypher System which made its debut as part of Numenera. Currently, Humble Bundle has a giant collection of Cypher System books to help Game Masters build their own unique worlds using the simple mechanics.
How Does Monte Cook’s Cypher System Work?
The game has a familiar mechanic at heart. Roll a d20 to attempt to meet or exceed a target number. The target number goes up if there are narrative things that make the task more difficult and it goes down.
Characters have access to pools of points they can use to influence the difficulty. They could spend Might points to make someone easier to hit or Intellect points to make someone more likely to believe a lie. Their character options also help determine what can affect an action and additional ways they can spend pool points.
Each of the player characters chooses an adjective, noun and verb to describe their characters in a single sentence. These choices determine character abilities, connections to the group and how they got wrapped up into the starting adventure. There are six tiers trough which characters may advance.
Experience points, or XP, are a fluid currency in the Cypher System. Players can use them for advancement or to influence dice rolls and make declarations. Game Masters can also put more XP on offer for plot twists during the story to make things more challenging for the players.
Cypher System Rulebook
The Cypher System Rulebook gives GMs the tools they need to build their own worlds. It also offers robust discussion of several different genres from fantasy and science fiction to romance and fairy tales.
The book also discusses story based XP through character arcs. This is my favorite element of this rulebook. Players choose the personal story they want to tell and gain experience whenever it advances in the larger narrative.
Cypher System Decks
Many of the rules for the Cypher System can fit on a card. The game offers decks for use in play because there’s something lovely about the tactile feel of handing in XP cards to do something. The bundle includes decks for NPCs, XP and GM intrusion ideas.
The bundle offers print and play decks that I’ve built a few times. I use card sleeves and old CCG common cards that I have lying around. Print out the card, sleeve the common, put the print out in front of the card and you have print and play cards just as substantial as a pre-printed deck.
Cypher System Settings
Several settings are powered by the Cypher System like Numenera, The Strange and the award-winning Old Gods of Appalachia Role Playing Game. Those games aren’t part of this bundle but worth checking out for anyone who enjoys what they see here.
Of the included settings, Predation stands out because of its themes of time travel. Plus players get pet dinosaurs played by other players!
Cypher System Sourcebooks
For Game Masters who want a deeper dive into big genres, Monte Cook Games have made a series of sourcebooks that go deeper into stories like superheroes and horror. They offer new mechanical ideas, subgenre discussion s and even provide campaign hooks that can be run on their own or taken apart for an original setting.
Your Best Game Ever further supports building new worlds with a collection of essays from some of the most prominent game designers of the era. The best part is that this advice isn’t dependant on the Cypher System. It’s a good book of advice no matter what game is on the table.
Cypher System Cypher Tools
For fans who like to tinker with characters, Cypher System Cypher Tools is a free online toolset currently in early release looking to help gaming groups tailor the system to their desires. The Creature Index lets Game Masters seek out just the perfect monster for a strange encounter. The Character Builder lets players and Game Masters put together the right character from multiple books. They can also answer the questions in the Setting Finder to figure out what books the group might need to play.
The Cypher System Humble Bundle is currently slated to end on June 1st, 2024.
