Cypher System

[Senkusha]

YAY! I got a gift card at one of my favorite places on Earth-- DriveThruRPG! So naturally, I was itchin' to buy something! I've wanted something that could easily create the cinematic combat play of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (duh!) and didn't have a crap ton of resource management to worry about, yet was crunchy enough to build the spells/magic and various assortment of gear that the girls have access to.

So, I began asking around. I asked on Discord, and while I waited for the responses to come in, I consulted my lonely friend, DeepSeek. It rattled off various game systems that I already have, namely Big Eyes Small Mouth (4th Edition), Cortex Prime, Lancer, and Fate Core, as well as a few other systems. Each of these systems have their issues. Fate Core, although it's light and narrative uses Fate Points, and I didn't want to use a system that has any sort of exchange currency-- I might be playing this game here on the site, or solo.

Anyway, to the point of this post, DeepSeek finally recommended Cypher with the the expansions of The Stars Are Fire and Gods of the Fall to replicate the advanced space-faring technology of the Time Space Administration Bureau and the ultra high powered magical attacks. After some discussion with DeepSeek on how to recreate a magical battle between Nanoha and Fate, I was sold.

There aren't any arbitrary resources to keep track of, like Mana or Hit Points. Attacks deplete one of three Stat Pools (Might, Speed, or Intellect) and all damage is flat, based on the weapon used, and the attacks are powered by an appropriate Stat Pool.. This perfectly allows the back and forth type of spell slinging I was looking for. As long my characters have Stat Pool available (and some attacks can be free), I can keep throwing magic around! I also don't have to be limited by "Spell Slots" either. I can also design Artifacts or Cyphers that can be applied instantly for things like Round Shield and to regenerate Stat Pools.

I'm truly excited to give this system a try, and considering that all the rolls are Player Facing, there's not much for a Game Master to do with regard of back and forth communication, which may make this system an ideal solution for Asynchronous game play (via forum).

So, as soon as I'm finished reading enough of the rules (hopefully tonight), I'll sit down and design my first two victims-- you guessed it: Nanoha and Fate.

 

[Senkusha]

So something I've just thought of. Coming from the Big Eyes Small Mouth realm, there are the three core Stats of Body, Mind, and Soul, and each of these can easily accommodate for any human-type of action, whether it's a physical, mental, or spiritual/social thing. However, Cypher uses Might, Speed, and Intellect. So there are two physical Stats and one mental Stat. I'm guessing that anything social could fall under Intellect, but what about anything spiritually based? Magic, emotional/empathetic, willpower?

Hmm, I'm going to have to look at the skills section to see how these things are handled, however, if you're looking for a good break down of physical offense (Might) versus defense (Speed), and most knowledge based skills would fall under Intellect, Cypher is a no-brainer win!

 

[Senkusha]

Okay. So, as it's been a while since I last cracked open this book, I realize (again) that Cypher doesn't have any skills that are readily defined. Although the character sheet has a Skills section for each of the three Stats (Might, Speed, and Intellect), you're supposed to create any relevant skills that are defined within the Descriptor, Type and Focus. Note that there doesn't appear not appear to be an upper cap on how many skills your character may have.

For example, my character, Hikari, is a Naive Abominiation (Adept) who Pilots Spacecraft. The skills mentioned she receives are "You're wide-eyed. You are trained in perception tasks" (Naive), and "You are trained in all tasks related to piloting a starcraft. Generally speaking, piloting tasks are Speed-based tasks, though using sensors and communication instruments are Intellect-based tasks." (Pilot - Tier 1: Pilots Spacecraft). So, I created the following Skills (so far):

• Pilot Spacecraft
• Keep Perception
• Reading Sensor Data
• Interaction with Communications Equipment
• Interstellar Navigation

I also added Acrobatics as a custom-chosen skill because I figure growing up she was enrolled in Gymnastics. I'll be thinking about adding a couple more Skills as well, and I should also think about things that she's Inept using.

Speaking of ineptitude, Cypher doesn't use the counter-balance of Flaws to the Abilities, like many other role playing systems do. Big Eyes Small Mouth has Attributes and Defects. GUPRS has Advantages and Disadvantages. Dungeons and Dragons has Talents and Flaws. But Cypher only has Abilities. However, I will say that some of the Descriptors can be Disabilities (for example, Naive). This is something that kind of bugs me, because I like Flaws. they add character, and opportunities to role play. Therefore, I'll probably borrow various Flaws from other role play systems and add them to my Notes.-- At least until I get comfortable enough with the Cypher System.

Next up, I need to figure out what in the hell Cyphers actually are!

 

[Senkusha]

Okay, status update!

I'm becoming more itchy with the concept of running a spell-slinging game. The more I read about Cypher System, the more I feel that this game's mechanics will allow me to achieve the feel I'm looking for. While I'm learning all about Cyphers, I spent the remaining balance of my gift card to add a couple more Cypher books to my library:

• Claim the Sky (Superheroes)
• Gods of the Fall (Fantasy)
• Its Only Magic (Magical Fantasy)
• The Stars Are Fire (Science Fiction)
• We Are All Mad Here (Fairy Tales)

Now it's time to read up on all these supplements, and hopefully within a couple of weeks, I'll be ready to give my campaign a trial run. I've also been watching quite a bit of YouTube for Actual Plays, so I'm seeing how other people use the system. It does indeed look quite fast and flexible.

 

[Senkusha]

I got a few more books!

• Character Portfolio
• Encyclopedia of Impossible Things
• Mecha vs Kaiju
• Technology Compendium (while this is for Numenera specifically, Cypher is the next generation evolution of the core system)
• The Weird

I got these books to add some more strangeness to my campaigns and as a handy-dandy ready to use Cyphers for the games I plan on running shortly.

 

[Senkusha]

I got another book!

The Strange. This is a complete role playing game that is separate, but completely compatible with the Cypher System. It even has three new Types (and a bunch of other coolness) that can be mixed and matched with other games. I'm probably also going to pick up a copy of Numenera too.

Anyway, this book apparently lets you build adventures from any myth, movie, television show, or book, and considering I already have the Weird book, I figure that maybe these two can go together.