Let’s challenge ourselves to try something different! Today, in a state of low-mood and energy-drained funk, I decided to crack open the recently-arrived Cypher System Starter Set. This isn’t a review of the product, although I will drop in some photos, but rather a reflection on the lift it gave me!

Despite not being a fan of “rules lite” games, Cypher System has long held a fascination for me. It’s a generic RPG system that allows for the kind of multi-genre roleplaying experience that I enjoy. It’s also not especially “rules lite” despite having fewer mechanisms than most traditional RPG systems.

Cypher sits in a weird tension in my mind: I love the freedom and flexibility of the system from the GM perspective; all the “crunch” is in the hands of the players – giving them the kind of control over the play that I enjoy giving my players; but the abstraction of challenges down to a 1-10 scale feels too simplistic.

I’ve played good sessions with Cypher and also one particularly horrible one in recent months. I think the main issue is that I have a problem focusing purely on the World and emerging story when I feel there’s not much else for me to do as the GM. Put another way, I feel like I’m not doing enough when I run Cypher.

Opening the Starter Set has been delayed because I lost heart and faith in my ability to run the system. As I was also delving into GURPS and loving every second, it seemed like Cypher System was perhaps not the right engine for the kind of play I enjoy. But today, feeling jaded and depressed enough to peek, I have found the delight once again.

One the surface of things, I shouldn’t like this game system: it runs on a 1d20 die mechanism that I hate BUT the GM makes no die rolls so that really doesn’t matter at the table; all the monsters and challenges are abstracted down to a 1-10 scale that feels detached but I also love that the player characters are filled with desirable crunchy bits.

Every time I read the books, I get excited to run the game. There’s a truck-ton of cool material in there: I love the look of the PC abilities; the Cyphers (cool one-shot powers) are a really neat feature; I think the GM Intrusion mechanism is fun to use; there’s loads of Creatures and great suggestions for challenges. Basically, it tickles my imagination.

So I’m setting myself a personal challenge to run some games of Cypher System in the coming weeks. I am also asking some serious questions of the engine: “Can Cypher handle an Open Table set-up?” and, “Even though it’s a little more high-powered, can Cypher help me emulate a neat SF setting with my own weird genre-blending twists?”

Sometimes I think it’s good to challenge ourselves to try something different. I’ve got a few opportunities in my schedule too: as some of the Fellmyr group go away for the next month, will Cypher give us a fun alternative experience? Can the school club (who I actually purchased the Starter Set for in the first place) enjoy a Cypher scenario test?

All in all, this feels like the time to shift gears and put my massive Cypher collection through its paces.

Game on!