With their latest Kickstarter, Monte Cook Games brings superheroes to the gaming table through the Heroes of the Cypher System. Seeing this system powering a new world brought some questions about their new sourcebooks and how they’d work with the Cypher System, so I reached out to ask. Imagine how excited I was when one of the greatest designers in gaming, Monte Cook, offered to provide these answers.
EGG EMBRY (EGG): I appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions. Monte Cook Games is running a new Kickstarter, what can you share about this new project?
MONTE COOK (MONTE): It’s called Heroes of the Cypher System and it is focused on two books, Claim the Sky, a superhero genre book, and First Responders, covering heroes that deal with real world crises like wildfires or hurricanes. Thanks to stretch goals, we’ve added a lot to the campaign already, including another book—a sort of dark, more grounded look at people with powers called The Origin.
EGG: The Cypher System and Numenera have won awards, which is, in part, a reflection on its versatility. How has the system been adapted for the world of superheroes?
MONTE: My main concern was creating a way to make characters that were truly “super” but not a lot more complicated. In the Cypher System we have something called Power Shifts that do this very nicely. A strong CS character can break down a door with effort and a decent roll. A super strong CS character (with a Strength Power Shift) can do it without even needing to roll, and with effort and a good roll can smash through a brick wall. And two shifts allow them to probably do even that without a roll. Similarly, we have some new kinds of (non-object based) cyphers that give your character one-shot boosts or tricks with your powers, which we see in superhero stories all the time—where a character really focuses and uses their power to go beyond what it can normally do.
EGG: For those that haven’t played the Cypher System before, what is the core mechanic? What makes it, and the games it powers, award-winning products?
MONTE: The core task mechanic is that the GM sets a difficulty for any task, rated 1-10, and the player rolls, but first can modify that difficulty down using skills, circumstances, or even just effort, which is a limited resource allowing players to focus on the tasks that matter the most. I think that’s what people like about it the most—that as a player, you’re given additional agency over your own character, allowing them to choose which tasks matter the most. I think the fact that it’s very easy to GM this game is also a draw. Everything is designed so that the GM can be thinking about the story, not the mechanics.
EGG: At the time we’re discussing this, the campaign is generating three new books with more that may be unlocked. Lets discuss The Origin. This book changes up the central conceit of most superhero universes by making “a world where superheroes are not a fact of life.” Why shake up the status quo and set this RPG at the debut of superheroes?
MONTE: Superheroes is actually pretty broad genre at this point. On one end of the spectrum, you’ve got Marvel and DC comics, where everyone knows all about superpowers, aliens, and monsters. On the other, you’ve got something like the TV show Heroes from a few years ago or more recent stories like Chronicle, Project Power, or even something like Watchmen or the Umbrella Academy. The Origin embraces that larger category. What would happen if tomorrow, a few people started developing superpowers? What would they do, and how would those in power react?
EGG: What does Claim the Sky give players?
MONTE: It’s a broad look at playing and running superhero games. Perhaps first and foremost, it makes creating the hero you want with the powers you want really quick and easy. It provides options for running games with a real superhero feel. And it provides a complete, ready-to-use superhero setting called Boundless, with characters, stories, and locations all aching to be used in your campaign.
EGG: First Responders offers a unique set of options for a superhero universe. What can you share about this book and why you choose to do a grounded real world option with this book?
MONTE: It’s actually not specifically designed for a superhero universe, although I was just chatting with someone last night about how that would be a really cool campaign, where you play superheroes one week and then real world people dealing with the same event the next week. First Responders is a general book that you can use in any genre that shows how to run a whole adventure based on a crisis like a tornado or a hurricane and how it can be just as interesting and involved as a more typical RPG adventure.
EGG: That is a cool adventure idea! You have a special $10 backer level for “first responders, emergency workers, firefighters, and other real-world heroes.” First, thank you for recognizing this under appreciated segment of our society. Second, what drove the decision to offer this reward?
MONTE: This year in particular, but really every year, we have people out there putting themselves on the line for us. We just wanted to recognize that.
EGG: Not all of the campaign’s stretch goals have been revealed, but one that has yet to be unlocked is the Cypher System Bestiary. Will these beasts be specific to Heroes of the Cypher System or will this book be more generalized for the engine as a whole?
MONTE: It will be a general book for every genre, but where possible, we’ll actually try to present each creature with different contexts, showing how it could be used in a sci-fi setting, a fantasy setting, etc.
EGG: Beyond Heroes of the Cypher System, what else is coming soon from Monte Cook Games?
MONTE: Right now, our fantasy genre book, Godforsaken, is going up for sale. And while we’ve got more Numenera and Cypher products coming soon, our next really big release is something we Kickstarted earlier this year, and that’s two different conversions of a setting I created a while back called Ptolus. Ptolus will be available for either the 5e rules or the Cypher System. It’s a mammoth book and a lot of game history.
EGG: Thank you for sharing your time with us. Where can fans keep up with Monte Cook Games?
MONTE: We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and so on, but probably the best place is [our website]. If you’re really interested in us, sign up to get the Cypher Chronicles delivered to your inbox every Friday. It’s got MCG news as well as recommendations for shows, games, Kickstarters, and anything else that is entertaining or intriguing our team.
UPDATE: The day our interview went live, Monte Cook Games announced that Teri Litorco joined MCG as Managing Editor.
Heroes of the Cypher System from Monte Cook Games
EGG EMBRY (EGG): I appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions. Monte Cook Games is running a new Kickstarter, what can you share about this new project?
MONTE COOK (MONTE): It’s called Heroes of the Cypher System and it is focused on two books, Claim the Sky, a superhero genre book, and First Responders, covering heroes that deal with real world crises like wildfires or hurricanes. Thanks to stretch goals, we’ve added a lot to the campaign already, including another book—a sort of dark, more grounded look at people with powers called The Origin.
EGG: The Cypher System and Numenera have won awards, which is, in part, a reflection on its versatility. How has the system been adapted for the world of superheroes?
MONTE: My main concern was creating a way to make characters that were truly “super” but not a lot more complicated. In the Cypher System we have something called Power Shifts that do this very nicely. A strong CS character can break down a door with effort and a decent roll. A super strong CS character (with a Strength Power Shift) can do it without even needing to roll, and with effort and a good roll can smash through a brick wall. And two shifts allow them to probably do even that without a roll. Similarly, we have some new kinds of (non-object based) cyphers that give your character one-shot boosts or tricks with your powers, which we see in superhero stories all the time—where a character really focuses and uses their power to go beyond what it can normally do.
EGG: For those that haven’t played the Cypher System before, what is the core mechanic? What makes it, and the games it powers, award-winning products?
MONTE: The core task mechanic is that the GM sets a difficulty for any task, rated 1-10, and the player rolls, but first can modify that difficulty down using skills, circumstances, or even just effort, which is a limited resource allowing players to focus on the tasks that matter the most. I think that’s what people like about it the most—that as a player, you’re given additional agency over your own character, allowing them to choose which tasks matter the most. I think the fact that it’s very easy to GM this game is also a draw. Everything is designed so that the GM can be thinking about the story, not the mechanics.
EGG: At the time we’re discussing this, the campaign is generating three new books with more that may be unlocked. Lets discuss The Origin. This book changes up the central conceit of most superhero universes by making “a world where superheroes are not a fact of life.” Why shake up the status quo and set this RPG at the debut of superheroes?
MONTE: Superheroes is actually pretty broad genre at this point. On one end of the spectrum, you’ve got Marvel and DC comics, where everyone knows all about superpowers, aliens, and monsters. On the other, you’ve got something like the TV show Heroes from a few years ago or more recent stories like Chronicle, Project Power, or even something like Watchmen or the Umbrella Academy. The Origin embraces that larger category. What would happen if tomorrow, a few people started developing superpowers? What would they do, and how would those in power react?
EGG: What does Claim the Sky give players?
MONTE: It’s a broad look at playing and running superhero games. Perhaps first and foremost, it makes creating the hero you want with the powers you want really quick and easy. It provides options for running games with a real superhero feel. And it provides a complete, ready-to-use superhero setting called Boundless, with characters, stories, and locations all aching to be used in your campaign.
EGG: First Responders offers a unique set of options for a superhero universe. What can you share about this book and why you choose to do a grounded real world option with this book?
MONTE: It’s actually not specifically designed for a superhero universe, although I was just chatting with someone last night about how that would be a really cool campaign, where you play superheroes one week and then real world people dealing with the same event the next week. First Responders is a general book that you can use in any genre that shows how to run a whole adventure based on a crisis like a tornado or a hurricane and how it can be just as interesting and involved as a more typical RPG adventure.
EGG: That is a cool adventure idea! You have a special $10 backer level for “first responders, emergency workers, firefighters, and other real-world heroes.” First, thank you for recognizing this under appreciated segment of our society. Second, what drove the decision to offer this reward?
MONTE: This year in particular, but really every year, we have people out there putting themselves on the line for us. We just wanted to recognize that.
EGG: Not all of the campaign’s stretch goals have been revealed, but one that has yet to be unlocked is the Cypher System Bestiary. Will these beasts be specific to Heroes of the Cypher System or will this book be more generalized for the engine as a whole?
MONTE: It will be a general book for every genre, but where possible, we’ll actually try to present each creature with different contexts, showing how it could be used in a sci-fi setting, a fantasy setting, etc.
EGG: Beyond Heroes of the Cypher System, what else is coming soon from Monte Cook Games?
MONTE: Right now, our fantasy genre book, Godforsaken, is going up for sale. And while we’ve got more Numenera and Cypher products coming soon, our next really big release is something we Kickstarted earlier this year, and that’s two different conversions of a setting I created a while back called Ptolus. Ptolus will be available for either the 5e rules or the Cypher System. It’s a mammoth book and a lot of game history.
EGG: Thank you for sharing your time with us. Where can fans keep up with Monte Cook Games?
MONTE: We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and so on, but probably the best place is [our website]. If you’re really interested in us, sign up to get the Cypher Chronicles delivered to your inbox every Friday. It’s got MCG news as well as recommendations for shows, games, Kickstarters, and anything else that is entertaining or intriguing our team.
UPDATE: The day our interview went live, Monte Cook Games announced that Teri Litorco joined MCG as Managing Editor.
Heroes of the Cypher System from Monte Cook Games
- End Date: Fri, December 11 2020 8:00 PM EST.
- “When disaster strikes or menace looms, the best among us don’t run from danger—they run toward it! Heroic books for the Cypher System.”
