So ... Cypher.

So... the Cypher system from Monte Cook. I have a love-hate thing about this game system.

With the explosion of upcoming Cypher games about to drop - the wildly successful Old Gods of Appalachia and Adventures in the Cypher System Kickstarter projects - I figure I better resolve my issues and maybe plan some house rules, because I see great potential in the Cypher system, but I also have some very bitter and jagged issues with the system.

Overall, I immensely appreciate the simplicity and elegance of the level mechanic for monsters and other threats. “It’s a level 4 Orc” tells you what you need to know about hitting it, and avoid being hit by it, and even how many times you need to hit it (if its HP is based on its level, though most monsters detailed in the various Cypher books don’t follow the formula exactly); Anything else the monster can do is a special entry in its writeup, but they’re generally pretty simple to use. (I am using the term ‘monster’ here very broadly: meaning any threat, opponent or entity challenging the PCs) I appreciate that the Players do the majority of rolling in Cypher: roll to succeed, roll to hit, roll to avoid being hit, etc… 

The three Attributes Pools.

Might, Speed and Mind. I appreciate the brevity and archetypes here. Could there be room for additional or alternative approaches? Body, Mind, Soul? HOWEVER: The idea that using your powers makes you weaker and closer to defeat by drawing from the same pools that serve as your ‘hp’ seems counterintuitive. When doing something cool and powerful is equivalent to taking a hit from a monster, one has to do the evaluation if your action is worth it. I have a workaround for this, so see House Rules later for my 'fix' for this issue.

Character Types, a.k.a. Classes

The core character ‘classes’ or Types as they are called in the core book are kinda weak IMHO, especially in their progression. I don't have a quick fix for this. Maybe replacing character Types with a broader application of the Adjective Noun that Verbs structure could work, but I am getting ahead of myself ...

"I am an Adjective Noun who Verbs" rocks

What Cypher has really inspires me with is the phrase “I am an Adjective Noun who Verbs.” In Cypher, you combine a Descriptor (Adjective), a Type (Noun) and a Focus (Verb) to create your character. It’s sorta like the equivalent of your Alignment + Race + Class in D&D. However, Cypher limits your characters to one such combination. Now granted in Cypher these are big defining elements. “I am a Swift Warrior who Dual Wields” embodies everything those words encompass. However it makes for rather one - dimensional characters.

I’m seriously interested in using the ‘Adjective Noun that Verbs’ structure as a Skill-based system instead:

• Let the Adjective be the level of experience/training (Novice, Expert, Master, etc…).
• The Noun is the skill, career or job title.
• And the Verbs is a specialization within that broader Noun.

(For simplicity I’ll refer to ‘Adjective Noun who Verbs’ as ‘ANV’ from here on.)

So for example you could have a Novice Marksman who Snipes, but alternatively be Expert Marksman who Dual Wields. You don’t have to have a Specialization. The trick here is that the Noun has to be simultaneously broad enough to encompass a clear set of actions /activities/ knowledge, but also narrow enough not to be abused as a catch-all for everything the character attempts to do.

The Adjective/level of experience would be the effective 'level' in that skill. In core Cypher rules: 'Novice' would give you a baseline chance to succeed. 'Trained' would give you a one step difficulty in your favor, and 'Specialized' would give you two difficulty steps in your favor. In other game systems your Adj level could determine how many dice to roll, etc ...

The Specialization would give a boon to actions in specific circumstances. These could be detailed written up abilities, or a free difficulty boon, or grant types of actions that wouldn't be possible without the Specialization.

E.g. You gotta be a Brilliant Doctor who's a Brain Surgeon to try to replace Spock's brain.

You could also use the ANV for things like social traits, reputations, titles, etc., where the Adj is the level/rank/notoriety, the Noun is the title, rank or position, and the Verb instead details the organization. A Junior Knight of the Order of the Rose, A Special Agent of the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, a Notorious Enforcer of the Mendez Cartel.

A character would realistically be a collection of these ANV combinations, advancing in skill level and gaining specializations as they grow from experience, as well as gaining new ANV traits.

House Rules

Add a ‘Willpower’ Pool

Give characters a fourth ‘pool’ called (Willpower? Energy maybe?), its starting value is equal to the highest of your Might, Intellect and Speed pools. When your Attributes increase, so does your Willpower pool, staying equal to your highest Attribute score. Willpower isn't an Attribute; it's just a pool of points to power abilities.

Damage to you still affects the relevant Might, Intellect or Speed attribute pools, but you spend Willpower to empower skills and effects that would otherwise affect your Might, Intellect or Speed.

When you take a Recovery, your recovery roll result separately affects spent Willpower points. (Or you can roll twice, applying one roll to your Willpower pool and the other to your Attribute depleted pools.)

Edge and Effort work as written, except that they apply to Willpower points, there's no Edge for Willpower. Instead Edge effects is applied based on which Attribute the action is derived from.

E.g. After an extensive combat, a PC rolls 6 on their Recovery roll. They add up to six points back to their Willpower pool, and have six points to recover across their Might, Intellect and Speed pools.

Attribute vs. Attribute difficulty modifier

Compare your most relevant Attribute vs. the TN for the target you are taking on (or the Attribute value of another character, if they have Attributes). If your Attribute is at least three points higher than theirs (or effective TN), then take a -1 Difficulty versus them. This make sense because in core Cypher, you can have two Assets that add +1 each to a roll, but if you gain a third Asset bonus, they all combine to a single level change of difficulty.

Target Number = 3x Level, so your effective Level is ⅓ (round down) of your Attribute.

E.g. Your Might pool of 12 is an effective Level 4.

Because of this ratio (Attribute to Level) some NPCs could be statted by their Might, Intellect and Speed Levels (where Level = ⅓ Attribute value, rounded down).

The converse isn’t true: if an NPCs level is higher than yours, there’s no difficulty modifier.

Anyway that's my current thoughts on Cypher, my issues with it's rules as written, and what I'd currently do about most of them. My issues with the Type 'classes' might go away with some actual play-testing, but I am seriously tempted to re-write them with a more elegant interpretation of the ANV trait system I outlined earlier.