Category: Cypher System

Beyond the Numbers: Other Considerations in Cypher Character Creation

When you are building a house, doing so requires many disciplines.  It is a different skill to frame a house, than it is to plumb it, than it is to wire the electricity.  Additionally, you do not use the same tools to do so.  It is as difficult to imagine framing a house with pipe … Continue reading Beyond the Numbers: Other Considerations in Cypher Character Creation →

Is there a place for “Rules Lawyers” in Cypher?

I’ve said several times before that I started roleplaying long before I found the Cypher System from Monte Cook Games.  Starting with Dungeons & Dragons and moving to Shadowrun (the two that come most quickly to mind), one of the things that you find is that you become a collector of books.  Now, most of … Continue reading Is there a place for “Rules Lawyers” in Cypher? →

Review: Gods of the Fall

"Ray. When someone asks you if you're a god... you. say. YES!" Unless they're a Knight of Reconciliation, of course... It was years ago that I first ran into White Wolf’s Exalted.  Having never been much of a fan of their “horror” games (the exceptions being Mage and Hunter), I had, however picked up Æon … Continue reading Review: Gods of the Fall →

Crafting Memorable Villains

Art by Christof Grobelski In a previous post I discussed how to make creatures and NPCs your own, narratively and mechanically. Now, I’m going to talk about making memorable villains (If your PCs are Murder-hobos this post probably won’t help much because then they are the villain… at least to the common NPC). Mechanically, adjusting … Continue reading Crafting Memorable Villains →

How to Create Party Cohesion and Group Immersion

Or... Investing in Your Players So That They Invest in the Story One of the biggest keys to understand playing a tabletop roleplaying game and specifically, the Cypher System, is the fact that it’s a collaboration between players and GM. In a previous post we discussed Character Arcs and how to use them to increase … Continue reading How to Create Party Cohesion and Group Immersion →