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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[Von Ether]

The Old Ways Podcast just had a fantasy stream with Sean from MCG running the game using the new rules.
There will now be a approximately 25 to 30 Types broken down by genre and even subgenres (High fantasy vs Sword and Sorcery.) It's designed so players can pick a PC quickly if need be.

 

[CleverNickName]

It's currently at $714,144 with 5 days remaining. This is a pretty big uptick in activity since this time last week...if they keep this pace and this acceleration curve, they might actually hit the $1M mark! (But I'm not going to get my hopes up. A quarter-mil in five days is a tall order in this racket.)

Cypher: Faster. Easier. And Even Better!

The award-winning TTRPG perfect for forging the stories YOU want to play. Lightning-quick character generation. Super easy to GM. Unique and imaginative campaigns. And all the flexibility, story focus, and fast-paced play Cypher is famous for!

www.backerkit.com

 

[CleverNickName]

Daaaang. $794,573 raised so far, from 4,369 backers, and 33 hours left to go. I still doubt they will hit the $1M mark, but they'll definitely get close enough to make it nervous.

Cypher: Faster. Easier. And Even Better!

The award-winning TTRPG perfect for forging the stories YOU want to play. Lightning-quick character generation. Super easy to GM. Unique and imaginative campaigns. And all the flexibility, story focus, and fast-paced play Cypher is famous for!

www.backerkit.com

 

[Aldarc]

The number of pledge backers seems more important than whether it gets over the $1 million mark.

 

[Thaumaturge]

The number of pledge backers seems more important than whether it gets over the $1 million mark.

I think MCG knows that if they can get people to back, that all in pledge will get more and more tempting. Getting someone to increase their pledge is, perhaps, easier than getting someone to pledge at all.

Thaumaturge.

 

[dbm]

So, any noteworthy changes? I tried Numenera and Cypher a couple of times but it didn’t impress enough to replace other genre flexible systems.

Does it have more sophisticated rules for complex tasks (I.e. more than just a single dice roll)?

Also, the characters seemed to me somewhat narrow in their powers, only having one or two per tier and relying on Cyphers to add diversity to the game. Any changes in that regard?

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

So, any noteworthy changes? I tried Numenera and Cypher a couple of times but it didn’t impress enough to replace other genre flexible systems.

Does it have more sophisticated rules for complex tasks (I.e. more than just a single dice roll)?

Also, the characters seemed to me somewhat narrow in their powers, only having one or two per tier and relying on Cyphers to add diversity to the game. Any changes in that regard?

Changes to how damage works, better tools to get started quickly in most genres, generally cleaned up rules language and ability text.

Probably not, the roll system is the same.

No, the character progression will be the same. The only change is that you'll get more things to choose from, not additional selections, at each tier.

 

[Thaumaturge]

So, any noteworthy changes? I tried Numenera and Cypher a couple of times but it didn’t impress enough to replace other genre flexible systems.

Does it have more sophisticated rules for complex tasks (I.e. more than just a single dice roll)?

Also, the characters seemed to me somewhat narrow in their powers, only having one or two per tier and relying on Cyphers to add diversity to the game. Any changes in that regard?

They’re keeping the core mechanic the same. But refining aspects like armor and damage.

PCs will now have power trees where they can select from a menu of powers as they advance.

There’s a pdf with a preview of the updates on the Backerkit.

Thaumaturge.

 

[dbm]

Thanks both

I did look at the preview, I was just wondering if more change had been shown cased as the campaign progressed.

 

[CleverNickName]

With only 10 hours remaining, this project is now funded at $858,575 by 4,692 backers. And in the time it took me to type that sentence, it jumped to $859,378 and gained 5 new backers. It's doing extremely well for a non-5E D&D, non-Kickstarter project. I'm blown away.

Cypher: Faster. Easier. And Even Better!

The award-winning TTRPG perfect for forging the stories YOU want to play. Lightning-quick character generation. Super easy to GM. Unique and imaginative campaigns. And all the flexibility, story focus, and fast-paced play Cypher is famous for!

www.backerkit.com