There's A New Edition Of The Cypher System Coming

Next year, 2026, Monte Cook Games will be releasing a new edition of its in-house Cypher System rules system.

Originally launched over a decade ago, the Cypher System powers games like Numenera, The Strange, and The Magnus Archives. It's a d20-based multi-genre game system known for its character generation method which has the player filling out the sentence "I am a [adjective] [noun] who [verb]" -- such as "I am a jovial Explorer who howls at the moon". The titular cyphers are one-time use abilities or items. Task resolution involves rolling a d20 against a 1-10 difficulty scale.

This new edition includes a bunch of changes, including genre-specific character creation, character damage and armour, and a greater emphasis on subtle cyphers.

Two new core rulebooks will be published. The Cypher Character Rulebook will delve into creating characters for a variety of different genres, while the Cypher GM's Guide will contain rules, GM advice and resources for creating and running games.

They'll be hitting a crowdfunding platform near you very soon, in late summer, with the books coming out mid-2026.

​

 

[Aldarc]

XP is still being used for short-term benefits and long-term advancement? They're still keeping that? Ugh.

 

[Von Ether]

I don't mind the XP bucket as much personally, but I always have a player who can't work with it. So in the end I separate the XPs points anyway.

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

Sheesh i don't care for the covers.

I much prefer the minimalist designs of the current edition.

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

XP is still being used for short-term benefits and long-term advancement? They're still keeping that? Ugh.

Controversial take, XP for rerolls is good and I'm glad they're keeping it. You should be incentivized away from rerolling all the time - its more fun when rerolls happen only in desperate moments.

 

[Ghost2020]

I much prefer the minimalist designs of the current edition.

Agreed the new ones are almost garish.

 

[dbm]

I’m ok with re-rolls costing XP. Makes them a big deal rather than a frequent event.

 

[Aldarc]

Controversial take, XP for rerolls is good and I'm glad they're keeping it. You should be incentivized away from rerolling all the time - its more fun when rerolls happen only in desperate moments.

I've been running Cypher System since Numenera came out. I can count on one hand the number of times players have spent XP on anything other than character advancement. Short-term and medium-term ways to spend XP were ignored in favor of hoarding all XP for character advancement. It's pretty clear when reading the rules that this sort of XP hoarding wasn't Monte Cook and Shanna Germain's original design intent. Moreover, it has been a well-known sore spot for a number of people who played the Cypher System. There is a reason why a common house rule was to create two XP tracks: one for XP to spend on character advancement and one track for everything else, as seen below:

I don't mind the XP bucket as much personally, but I always have a player who can't work with it. So in the end I separate the XPs points anyway.

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

Short-term and medium-term ways to spend XP were ignored in favor of hoarding all XP for character advancement. It's pretty clear when reading the rules that this sort of XP hoarding wasn't Monte Cook and Shanna Germain's original design intent. Moreover, it has been a well-known sore spot for a number of people who played the Cypher System. There is a reason why a common house rule was to create two XP tracks: one for XP to spend on character advancement and one track for everything else, as seen below:

It looks like they are doing this - most of what XP could be spent on in the current edition will cost Resource Points instead.

What they're specifically keeping is XP for rerolls or player intrusions, which I think is a good thing, to keep them rare.

 

[Von Ether]

I've been running Cypher System since Numenera came out. I can count on one hand the number of times players have spent XP on anything other than character advancement. Short-term and medium-term ways to spend XP were ignored in favor of hoarding all XP for character advancement. It's pretty clear when reading the rules that this sort of XP hoarding wasn't Monte Cook and Shanna Germain's original design intent. Moreover, it has been a well-known sore spot for a number of people who played the Cypher System. There is a reason why a common house rule was to create two XP tracks: one for XP to spend on character advancement and one track for everything else, as seen below:

In my local meta, most players could do the XP bucket but there was always one person who wouldn't and it created hard feelings. One time, a XP advancement player starter even got rude about the whole thing - though that was the last red flag he waved before we kicked him out.

House rule? I made it a straight up rule in my Cypher game:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/498633/mystery-flesh-pit-national-park-the-rpg

It looks like they are doing this - most of what XP could be spent on in the current edition will cost Resource Points instead.

What they're specifically keeping is XP for rerolls or player intrusions, which I think is a good thing, to keep them rare.

Oh, I read it as only downtime activities but that's also a valid read. It also makes sense as GM advise on the XP bucket was to guide players on a 50/50 split between advancement and other benefits.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

Instead of taxing a player's XP = we got rid of ALL XP spends except for Advancement.

For re-rolls we did "Devil's Bargain" which I feel is much better than a XP spend to hope you roll better.

This was so much better than a re-roll for us. It was what the GM wanted "some added drama or plot hook" and it was what the player wanted "success" on the task at hand.

Fate’s Bargain
When a player rolls a Miss on any roll, they may request a Fate’s
Bargain. This turns the result into a Success—but with a
complication chosen by the Storyteller based on the current scene
and plot. The complication must fit the fiction, enrich the story,
and complicate things without invalidating the player’s agency.
The impact of the Complication is guided by the TN the player
reduced down to with any spends.


The ST may impose:
A social complication (an NPC is offended and acts against you, raises
suspicion, a rival gains advantage over you).
A delay or resource cost (it takes longer, or costs them extra)
A future promise (owe a debt, or someone now expects something from you)
A hidden consequence (draws unwanted attention, advances a
problem elsewhere in the world, or triggers a trap)

The ST may not:
Inflict pool loss or Wounds (those are combat results, not narrative costs)
Cause outright failure or partial failure (the action does succeed)
Retcon or invalidate the player's success later ("gotcha" twists)
Force other character to suffer the consequence