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.

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[Willie the Duck]

Wish they were doing this for Invisible Sun instead/as well. We (my group) love the promise of the game, but really feel like the system we got was poorly playtested and improperly organized. A second pass could make it a truly great game.

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

Wish they were doing this for Invisible Sun instead/as well. We (my group) love the promise of the game, but really feel like the system we got was poorly playtested and improperly organized. A second pass could make it a truly great game.

They just did a "second pass" on IS - no functional changes to the text, just in the physical presentation and production cost. I think they're happy with where IS's system is at.

 

[Umbran]

Kind of like a "FATE 2.0" ...

It is... nothing at all like FATE.

 

[Theory of Games]

It is... nothing at all like FATE.

I've already seen at least one other person - the first to respond to my questions - compare Cypher to FATE soooooooooo

 

[ruemere]

It is... nothing at all like FATE.

Compels seem to be similar to GM intrusions.

 

[Theory of Games]

And how Character Creation starts is similar: FATE uses a "High Concept" which is a lot like Cypher's "I am a __ who does __"!

 

[Aldarc]

Compels seem to be similar to GM intrusions.

Superficially.

 

[vpuigdoller]

In the 12 years since Numenera was released, we've gotten two editions of Numenera and the core rulebook. It seems a bit hasty to release a 3rd edition already IMHO. I dig the game and all, but does it really need that much tweaking? I'd rather see more content come out for the system.

exactly this.

 

[ruemere]

Superficially.

That depends on whether you focus on similarities or differences.

Compels:

Invoking & Compelling Aspects • Fate Core

fate-srd.com

Cypher GM intrusions:

https://callmepartario.github.io/og-csrd/#using-gm-intrusion-as-a-narrative-tool

Personally, I would define either as a third party's narrative move that the raises the stakes.

 

[Aldarc]

That depends on whether you focus on similarities or differences.

Compels:

Invoking & Compelling Aspects • Fate Core

fate-srd.com

Cypher GM intrusions:

https://callmepartario.github.io/og-csrd/#using-gm-intrusion-as-a-narrative-tool

Personally, I would define either as a third party's narrative move that the raises the stakes.

As I said, superficially similar. Quoting materials that I know intimately well does little to dissuade me of that.

I think that @Umbran's point still stands.