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Cypher System by Monte Cook Games: what do you think about it?
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<blockquote data-quote="CharlesRyan" data-source="post: 8815832" data-attributes="member: 5265"><p>Hey, all. This is an interesting thread, full of insightful thoughts and opinions. I want to challenge a couple of assumptions, though, that seem to have been taken as given in this conversation.</p><p></p><p>1. That people house-rule XP into two pools, for game-use and advancement.</p><p>2. That XP is commonly used by malicious GMs to screw the players.</p><p></p><p>Do these things happen? Sure. But reading this thread you'd think they were common; even pervasive. They are not—in my experience they're really rare. (In the second case, I'll point out that players can spend an XP to counter a GM intrusion; in ten years of playing hundreds of sessions, I've only ever seen it happen twice. Not the rate I'd expect if receiving intrusions was commonly seen as being screwed by the GM.)</p><p></p><p>Also a word on the cypher limit. Cyphers are really a meta element, treated as an in-game item in <em>some</em> settings (like Numenera) but as purely a metagame mechanic that enhances player agency in many others. (They're termed "subtle cyphers" when used that way.) You get an arbitrary boost you can use at your discretion, but you can only have a couple of them available to you at any given time. The fact that this boost is skinned as an object in a game like Numenera is just color. Maybe that makes it easier to accept the concept?</p><p></p><p>(That said, I have to wonder if those who dislike cypher limits are actual Cypher System players with substantial experience of the system, or people who haven't played much and just dislike the limit in principle. Because I haven't really seen it be an obstacle in play.)</p><p></p><p>A caveat: I work at MCG, and I've played many, many games alongside Monte and the other designers. But I'm also active in the 4500+ member Cypher Unlimited discord, and play frequently at cons and public events (at Gamehole Con last weekend, for example, I was in five different games with over two-dozen new-to-me Cypher System players), so hopefully I'm pretty looped into how the game is played outside our virtual walls as well as inside.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CharlesRyan, post: 8815832, member: 5265"] Hey, all. This is an interesting thread, full of insightful thoughts and opinions. I want to challenge a couple of assumptions, though, that seem to have been taken as given in this conversation. 1. That people house-rule XP into two pools, for game-use and advancement. 2. That XP is commonly used by malicious GMs to screw the players. Do these things happen? Sure. But reading this thread you'd think they were common; even pervasive. They are not—in my experience they're really rare. (In the second case, I'll point out that players can spend an XP to counter a GM intrusion; in ten years of playing hundreds of sessions, I've only ever seen it happen twice. Not the rate I'd expect if receiving intrusions was commonly seen as being screwed by the GM.) Also a word on the cypher limit. Cyphers are really a meta element, treated as an in-game item in [I]some[/I] settings (like Numenera) but as purely a metagame mechanic that enhances player agency in many others. (They're termed "subtle cyphers" when used that way.) You get an arbitrary boost you can use at your discretion, but you can only have a couple of them available to you at any given time. The fact that this boost is skinned as an object in a game like Numenera is just color. Maybe that makes it easier to accept the concept? (That said, I have to wonder if those who dislike cypher limits are actual Cypher System players with substantial experience of the system, or people who haven't played much and just dislike the limit in principle. Because I haven't really seen it be an obstacle in play.) A caveat: I work at MCG, and I've played many, many games alongside Monte and the other designers. But I'm also active in the 4500+ member Cypher Unlimited discord, and play frequently at cons and public events (at Gamehole Con last weekend, for example, I was in five different games with over two-dozen new-to-me Cypher System players), so hopefully I'm pretty looped into how the game is played outside our virtual walls as well as inside. [/QUOTE]
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