PencilBoy99
Explorer
That was my concern also. the advice I've gotten is basically that (1) the GM should be familiar with all of the character part options (lots of them from official and unofficial sources) then (2) prune generally to fit setting then (3) work w/ players up front to pick the combinations that fit their concept within the setting AND prune options that don't fit. Not perfect but that's what they said.I ran a year-long campaign with it and actually had tons of fun, but I'd never run it again - for one thing, my players really learned to hate all the fiddling with the pools und difficulties.
Also, when I bought the Cypher System core book, I realized how anti-modular the whole descriptor-type-focus system actually is. It hides all kinds of powers away in types and focuses, and if you don't study all that stuff very carefully in advance, levelling up you might run into a power that plays havor with your character concept and/or setting. In Numenera, it was more or loss okay (though even there, a totally mundane archer suddenly gained the power to have explosive missiles through his focus - and his player wasn't delighted at all, because he felt that it simply made no sense), in less gonzo settings, it can give you a lot of headaches. I'd say for Numenera, the system is okay, but if you want to adapt it to virtually anything that has a concept behind it, you're pulling against the core design elements (don't get me started on cyphers ...).
I can see me giving it another try for superheroes, or maybe for urban fantasy of the weirder kind, but beyond that, nope ...
So a Warrior type or whatever comes with a ton of goodies tier - you're not intended to just allow them carte blanche. They're a list of potential powers that you're supposed to curate. The system doesn't intend for you to use all of them in every setting.
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