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.

 

[Umbran]

and Cypher System plays very much like a traditional RPG. However, I would describe the Cypher System as Neo-Trad.

To be clear: I am not making that level of distinction.

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

Cypher enthusiasts (wrongly) describe the game as a "narrative game"

To be fair, that's kinda how Monte Cook Games markets the game. But yeah - its "narrative" in the sense of traditional games; the GM has a plot and the players are playing through that plot. Its confusing terminology that mixes the game up with Storygames, which are a VERY different thing.

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

Speaking as a GM, what made me bounce hard off Cypher was mainly the vague and handwavy monster design.

What part do you find vague or handwavy? The guidance on how to make creatures is very clear to me and the monsters they've statted out are quite detailed.

 

[Sketchpad]

Numenera has had 38 supplements and 20 adventure products, including two full adventure paths

Cypher has had 46 supplements and 21 adventure products, not counting Old Gods, Magnus Archives, or Tidal blades corebooks, or anything by a 3pp.

That's a lot of content! What other products do you think they should be exploring that they haven't?

Sure. And I have a bunch of it. But I think there are settings that have been released that could use expansion still, such as Gods of the Fall and Unmasked (to name a few). There are always books to be made, and most of them really don't need an updated rulebook.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

Speaking as a GM, what made me bounce hard off Cypher was mainly the vague and handwavy monster design.
Which I haven't seen any comments about, but it seems a pretty core thing to the game and unlikely to change...

Because that too is simply wrong. Where are people dredging up this nonsense? Is there some crusty reddit thread trolling somewhere?

Anyway...

There are no comments about monster design = because its very good design.

Here are a couple examples from Numenara.

They have all the typical stuff, Health points, Armor, To-Hit rating (which is also to-dodge or avoid rating = its the TR number), special attacks, special effects, how they attack, special modifications, where you might find one, how to interact with them, what their story is, and what loot they might have.

All monsters are detailed in a way that lets the GM decide if this will be a murder encounter or some negotiation, or even an exchange.

So NO... there is no ambiguity here. And the monster entries even utilize the Environment and Exploration rules to keep things related to the location at hand!

Remember: Intellect pool is also your ability to read a person/thing, negotiate, and tactically analyze a creature!

......

For folks worried about "Only Players Roll Dice" = it works great! It's actually more fun for the GM because you get to narrate the attacks and the movements of the enemies as tactically and dynamically as you like (use and abuse those zones, GM's! ) = and then the players have to roll to see how they avoid the dangers/ attacks / problems.

This also makes it a LOT easier to run the encounter, as you can more easily judge the flow of combat and not get bogged down in making rolls against yourself at times.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

Numenera has had 38 supplements and 20 adventure products, including two full adventure paths

Cypher has had 46 supplements and 21 adventure products, not counting Old Gods, Magnus Archives, or Tidal blades corebooks, or anything by a 3pp.

That's a lot of content! What other products do you think they should be exploring that they haven't?

I think... if I recall correctly ... They are missing a gumshoe, noir, normal people with no powers whatsoever = investigation game.

I would like to see Foci and Abilities that are utterly mundane, street level and play into James Bond style drama / intrigue / seduction.

 

[Theory of Games]

For folks worried about "Only Players Roll Dice" = it works great! It's actually more fun for the some GMs because you get to narrate the attacks and the movements of the enemies as tactically and dynamically as you like (use and abuse those zones, GM's! ) = and then the players have to roll to see how they avoid the dangers/ attacks / problems.

Fixed that for you. I like rolling dice

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

I think... if I recall correctly ... They are missing a gumshoe, noir, normal people with no powers whatsoever = investigation game.

I would like to see Foci and Abilities that are utterly mundane, street level and play into James Bond style drama / intrigue / seduction.

Expanded worlds has a section on crime and espionage games including a number of non-magical foci. It's certainly not an entire book's worth, but it does exist.

First Responders and Stay Alive have tons of resources useful for a modern game, though they're not focused on the same kinds of things.

 

[prabe]

I think... if I recall correctly ... They are missing a gumshoe, noir, normal people with no powers whatsoever = investigation game.

I would like to see Foci and Abilities that are utterly mundane, street level and play into James Bond style drama / intrigue / seduction.

You could absolutely curate such a list from the Cypher Core Rulebook, but I admit that'd be some work. IIRC, the Core Rulebook has sections about such games.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

Expanded worlds has a section on crime and espionage games including a number of non-magical foci. It's certainly not an entire book's worth, but it does exist.

First Responders and Stay Alive have tons of resources useful for a modern game, though they're not focused on the same kinds of things.

I will check out First Responders and Stay Alive, thanks!

You could absolutely curate such a list from the Cypher Core Rulebook, but I admit that'd be some work. IIRC, the Core Rulebook has sections about such games.

Indeed! And we did just that with my Final Fantasy 8 rpg. If anyone else is interested, that game has a LOT of new Foci and Abilities
(although they are sometimes custom to the setting/mechanics tweaks we made.

Fixed that for you. I like rolling dice

That's fair, and well.. . as a GM I like rolling damage dice so my Final Fantasy 8 cypher game uses d6 damage instead of static. We like it as it lets the GM get dice roll feels and the players are a little more uncertain about taking damage.

I think it really adds to the game!