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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aldarc" data-source="post: 8804005" data-attributes="member: 5142">I feel like most who people who defend XP in the Cypher System seem to invariably commit the Oberoni Fallacy. They claim that it's not broken and/or there is nothing wrong with it, BUT it's almost always houseruled. Or dig a bit and you find that people suggest splitting XP up into two separate pools. I was there when Numenera came out in 2013. The conversations about how to fix XP now are the same ones that people had then. I'm not sure if I would say in good faith that the GM Intrusion is designed to "screw over the player," as I believe that Cook does see this mechanic as a genuine way to add a dramatic twist or complication that makes play interesting for the players. "Screw over the player," IMO, implies more malice than I think is present. IMHO, however, GM Intrusions fill a void left by the fact that the GM doesn't roll: i.e., fudging. GM Intrusions does amount to GM Force, with the check on that Force being XP. But I would mainly apply this critique to the GM Intrusions that do not happen on a player roll of a Natural 1. I would add here that I think that GM Intrusions is also trying to be vaguely Fate-like in terms of gaining Fate points via character complications, but I think that Monte Cook may have skipped a beat here. In Fate, these complications are invoked against a character's Trouble (or other relevant Aspects). These Aspects are character-facing, serving as player-selected lightning rods for character complications. Troubles highlight the sort of complications that the player wants their character to experience in gameplay. This component is absent in the Cypher System, though sometimes Descriptors, Types, and Foci provide suggested GM Intrusions, but this is not the same as player-selected Troubles. Moreover, Fate points are not doing double-duty as a character progression meta-currency.</blockquote>

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