All right, incoming thread about #CypherSystem incoming, which is a genre-less #ttrpg rule set by Monte Cook games.

Dedicated to @AcademicFoxhole, my friends at @CypherUnlimited, and all those I've had the chance to sling dice with over the years!

What I love about Cypher System, is that at it's heart it is a game about Exploration, but I like to use a synonym in place of that word: It is a game about Discovery.

You discover the world around you. You discover the problem to solve. You discover the solution to the problem.

The system is described as a chest of toys. The toys can be used to support a genre, an overtone, and a setting. All of these things support the specific Experience you desire for the players. The rules are streamlined and modular.

As a player the core math mechanics are streamlined to a fluid conversation. "I am attempting a non-routine task, the outcome is uncertain. The task has a difficulty. But here are some things I can do to make it easier to lower the difficulty: let's roll."

In fact, you can fit almost all the crunch of the game onto an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet and turn it landscape and have everything you need to facilitate the game for the most part.

But the uniqueness of solving the problems isn't in the die roll, it is in the selective use of CYPHERS.

Cyphers are fantastical objects that might manifest in a subtle unseen way (like a rush of inspiration) or take physical shape (a magic potion) and contain miraculous powers

Cyphers allow there to be a unique solution to most problems in the game. They represent fleeting magical and miraculous moments. The clutch plays. They can be reskinned and flavored across genres while the core math stays consistent.

As a game master this is very exciting, because when cyphers are discovered in play then either selected or randomly generated you are unlocking the potential to discover a new unforeseen outcome to a play experience.

As a player I am empowered by ingenuity.
It holds up.

In Miami Dice the T800 (yes Arnold) burst on the scene in the night club and prepared to gun down the heroes.

A player used the interspatial relocator cypher well, Arnold was defeated in a round.

Anticlimactic? No, just inconvenient.

He reappeared at the climax! No cyphers!

So when it comes to the types of stories that the system creates they are centered around unexpected surprises generated through evocative play aids where the dramatic moments are curated by the players at the table. Let's talk about a mechanic that facilitates that: INTRUSTIONS.

Intrusions are opportunities for injecting drama into the game. The carrot at the end of the stick is XP. XP let's you reroll dice, gain short-term benefits, long term rewards, or advance your character. The cost of the XP is a dramatic situation that you must work through.

You can deny the intrusion at a cost, or you can embrace. You are rewarded for embracing it and in turn you may also reward another player for a net positive XP gain.

But how you SOLVE the challenge is going to be based on your unique vision of the character you portray.

THE CHARACTER SENTENCE!
I am an ADJECTIVE ARCHTYPE THAT DOES A COOL THING
I played a Kind Pangolin Scholar that Pilots a Balloon.
I am a Skeptical Scavenger that Builds Automatons.
I am a Jovial Speaker that Talks to Machines.

As a player I like that the ADJECTIVES help create a tonal quality while having mechanical SNAP on the end of the punch. Being KIND has an IMPACT and grants ABILITY and INABILITY.

And this impact circles back to the mechanical currency we use to activate in game abilities: POOLS.

"I am willing to invest my life force, my gambling dollars, and the vitality of my character into succeeding at the game."

The pools let you advocate for your own success.

In a sense, you are purchasing a mechanical benefit with your own narrative blood. "I have finite currency. But I am invested. I will take this bet. Success means that much to me."

That builds the drama by having literal stakes driven into the scene.

The drama doesn't have to be combat! I've played scenes where I was helping a married couple reconcile their differences & see each other eye to eye.

I've spent my points to win a footrace.

I have agency to determine to declare what sort of actions in game are important to me

The system is supported by many cross-genre play aids. Need an NPC on the fly? Need an asset a player can cash in later? There are many decks ready to go to help less creative game masters inject instant fiction into the play space.

As a gamemaster I can focus my prep on setting interesting scenes in a wondrous world of unlimited possibilities.

As a player, I can embrace the unknown of the hidden secret.

I can use my intentional design of my character (descriptor, type, focus) to uncover the cypher.

But that emotional overtone can swing wildly!

You could do a little design work, paint with a brightly colored brush, and end up with a group of troublemaking goblins delivering birthday gifts.

But you just as easily could breathe life into your FAVORITE game supplement of all time and give a unique authorial take and see the book finally get reprinted!

So when I think about what I love about the system:
As a gamemaster, I get to discover the outcome right along with the players. We are joint authors and the system is method by which we created the work.

As a player, I love using my agency to express what I care about the most

As someone who enjoys conversation, I love walking down the path of probability with everyone gathered at the table or dialed into the video conference to determine just what number I need to role.

I like spending my XP in six different ways and that I receive it in abundance.

Moreover, I love that the worlds we can discover are in fact numberless and strange.

I love that I can teach all the core mechanics in ten minutes.

That my second time playing I GM'd in front of 1000 people, playing with friends, and no one knew we were all new to the game.

I know the request was for a comparative analysis: What does it do better than other systems?

In my opinion
It is easier to teach and has the superior play aids.

It simplifies the rules to a single sheet of paper and maximizes the impact of each mechanic.

It allows Discovery.

I think it offers the superior mechanisms of narrative currency in the form of pools and xp.

I think it also is modular in what narrative authority it offers in the form of both GM and Player Intrusions.

But I also think it requires a Gamemaster that doesn't insist "this is my story" it requires a willingness to let go and allow the play experience to generate a previously unknown fiction that is wondrous, strange, and new.

This works very well for someone like myself who has no fear of the unknown, steel nerves in the face of vulnerability, and a thirst for curiosity.

It doesn't work as well for the opposite.

As a system it supports you though. It holds your hand. It gives you advice. And it is powerful.

Now, I'm getting in trouble for tweeting while in a meeting, and I haven't been able to do a deeper analysis and really break down the game, but I may be back.

So, let's talk about "better"

I think the writing and flavor tends to be some of the most evocative while retaining the function.

By tying the flavor to the "game piece" and keeping it concise you can evoke a deeper feeling then leaving it simply to fiat.

This differentiates the game from say, earlier Gumshoe games where you might simply rely on Preparedness, Network, or Cover to achieve the same result.

There are more play aids to help create dynamic fiction expediently while maintaining a cinematic quality.

But it's not original! TORG and Torg Eternity had similar aids and mechanisms built in to keep a stimulating and evocative cross-genre experience.

But where does it beat Torg? The simplicity of the rules.

Exhibit A: The Task Difficulty Chart
Exhibit B, C, D: The Die Roll Diagrams

On the left you have a basic system that is combined with things such as static costs, damage, HP totals vs a whole heap of math and diagrams.

Is the Torg system bad? NO. It's FUCKING AWESOME! But it's harder! I require tool assistance. And it takes more time to teach!

Even as combat escalates: Mass combat, impossible vehicles, outlandish scenarios... Cypher can scale back to the simple core math to keep dynamic combat within the framework (source, vehicle combat from Impossible Vehicles supplement) ... discard HP, distances, etc... simplify...

Space opera. Lost worlds. Nightmare realities. Super human heroics.

All the genres and flavor tie back to the fundamental building blocks of tight math powered by creative agency with flexible narrative authority.

(Art from Worlds Numberless and Strange)

I feel the fact that the math tied to the mechanics is strong enough that you can apply it to a multitude of fictional playspaces makes it strong.

What makes it better?
It comes down to the sought experience.

Playing an investigation? Gumshoe
Playing an adventure film? Cypher

Later flavors of the game codified new learnings
Self-declared character arcs awarding experience for personal narrative progress (adapted via Invisible Sun

Self-selected player injected drama to share the cognitive load

How deep can the collaboration go without costing energy?

And I think the evolving play experiences over the past 9 years has demonstrated that it is a living game. There aren't second editions, there are revisions and supplements that keep all purchased material in the library interoperable and valid.

And what assists this is a large award winning community based organized play initiative and strong and enthusiastic convention scene.

The authors of the game were involved in RPGA, Living Greyhawk, PFS, & more which is where large pools of data and playstyle can be collected.

But it is the understanding and empowerment knowing that organized play is one market segment and playstyle that is beneficial.

Instead of making a unilateral design decision based on one audience, they continue to create toys and content for those of us outside that demographic

Another aspect to examine is the game loop, what this all looks like in play. You have both orthogonal and linear choices.

You can advance and accumulate power, or you can explore lateral development. Both use the same currency. A longterm campaign encourages full exploration

But the short-form campaign also has immediate uses:
Die Rerolls, short-term benefits, or more immediate advancements without moving through the Tiers of Stratification.

To the point where you can also select a Tier and just play in that realm of power.

I feel the system handles what it has going on for it and doesn't feel the need to supplement until it has exhausted all the use cases, and even then any additions will be optional and a la carte.

The Dark Eye also does this very well, but it is largely combat based.

Power comes from the ability to avoid "unintended consequences" when tailoring the rules. To quote the book, there is no "domino effect" of game balance impacts with most tweaks, it just helps you play your way &focus on that intended play experience you design

But I think to really get the most out of it you have to own it.
1) Dive into the advice it gives.
2) Think about the genre you will apply to your play experience.
3) Select a setting.
4) Tailor the experience based on your intended outcomes.

And what does it do well? Discovery.
Adventure. Self-expression.

And those things are expressed through gameplay.