Well, Monte and bunch have had Numenera, and The Strange out for a while, they even came out with a book detailing the system for both, the Cypher System, but now Cypher is joining the club (Fate, Cortex, 2d20) of "New School Signature Narrative House Systems Used for Everything" with the latest Kickstarter.

This KS isn't for one game, it's for three different games, all using the Cypher System.

Gods of the Fall - You play gods.  Now Exalted players will have a second sane option they can play (without having to take a shower afterward) besides Godbound.

Predation - You go back in Time.  You're stuck in the past with Dinosaurs in the Cretaceous Period.  You have super science to gengineer dinos and control them.  Basically yeah, distilled awesome.  Oh, and you know that asteroid is coming to end it all... Also if you care about this sort of thing, this one is written by Shanna Germain, the sex-positive feminist partner of Monte Cook that RPG.net actually silenced out of the thread of her own game by locking it the second she showed up.

Unmasked - Horror Supers.  You suffer from a form of insanity, Dissociative Mask Disorder.  You think that by placing a mask on, you gain super-powers...and you do...but the mask also unlocks the darker sides of yourself.

So, some seriously cool shit, if you like the Cypher system (I don't).  Looks like the art is off the scale on this one thanks to KS.  With 3 days to go, they've raised almost 200k.

With all the other KS's going, this one has kind of been under the radar here, so figured someone should point it out, especially since we have a lot of Exalted/Godbound fans.

$50 is the "PDF all in" Pledge Level.

After running (and occasionally playing) this for the past year, I don't believe that the Cypher System is a narrative game--as typified by Fate and PbtA games--at all. The spending of pool points is all about resource management, not about narrative editing. Narrative control is firmly in the GM's hands. I'll make the caveat that the optional Asset Deck that was funded by this kickstarter will add some minor player narrative control in almost exactly the way Torg's drama deck does. I'd say that Cypher is a traditional game in spite of it's creator's attempt to market it to new schoolers. But it's definitely not for everyone.

The KS has done well enough that everyone will get quite a bit of loot, though. I'd recommend it to people who like the idea of Fate, but don't like Fate itself.

Huh. I still want to run Cypher some day.

If Numenera didn't feel so meh, I already would have.

The narrative play aspect can easily be removed as it is only one rule.  After that it is just gain xp to purchase things.

Quote from: The Butcher;888093Huh. I still want to run Cypher some day.

If Numenera didn't feel so meh, I already would have.

The settings sound cool I think, but the system, yeah, another convention game I'd run to take a break from roleplaying.

Quote from: CRKrueger;888025Well, Monte and bunch have had Numenera, and The Strange out for a while, they even came out with a book detailing the system for both, the Cypher System, but now Cypher is joining the club (Fate, Cortex, 2d20) of "New School Signature Narrative House Systems Used for Everything"

Cypher System is considered Narrative?

QuotePredation - You go back in Time.  You're stuck in the past with Dinosaurs in the Cretaceous Period.  You have super science to gengineer dinos and control them.  Basically yeah, distilled awesome.  Oh, and you know that asteroid is coming to end it all... Also if you care about this sort of thing, this one is written by Shanna Germain, the sex-positive feminist partner of Monte Cook that RPG.net actually silenced out of the thread of her own game by locking it the second she showed up.

What happened there?

Quote from: The Butcher;888093Huh. I still want to run Cypher some day.

If Numenera didn't feel so meh, I already would have.

My perspective is just about the opposite of this. I find the Numenera setting intriguing, but I find the Cypher system obnoxious.

Quote from: Snowman0147;888097The narrative play aspect can easily be removed as it is only one rule.  After that it is just gain xp to purchase things.

I never really viewed the decline a GM Intrusion with an XP rule as being narrative, mainly because the player doesn't actually fill in what happens as a result of the refusal, but I can see how it might be interpreted in that way. But, as you said, even then it's easily removed. Kind of like removing cyphers themselves if you don't like the risk of gonzo in your game. It is really quite a modular system, even in areas where the creator didn't intend it to be.

I love Numenera and the Cypher System, so I naturally backed this. I only pledged for the Gods of the Fall PDF, since it's the only setting I have use for, but the others look cool.

Quote from: Caesar Slaad;888146My perspective is just about the opposite of this. I find the Numenera setting intriguing, but I find the Cypher system obnoxious.

I've expounded on my reservations about the setting in the past, so if you don't mind me quoting myself:

Quote from: The Butcher;860884Numenera: Monte: "Hey Butch, let's play a New Sun sort of science fantasy RPG." Me: "Fuck yeah, let's do this!" Monte: "I'l bring the super abstract, unintuitive newfangled game engine and the artwork that doesn't really fit the setting as described, and you can bring the New Sun science fantasy bits." Me: "..." Monte: "OK, OK, here's a weird megastructure that doesn't really do anything."

Maybe I've been spoiled rotten by the OSR, but I yearn for the not-in-Kansas-anymore feel in the vein of Clark Ashton Smith, Jack Vance and Gene Wolfe.

As for the system itself, we played it only once and barely rolled the dice. Based on what I've read, I'm not sure it's a storygame, even if it touts itself as a "narrative" centric game (see: Apocalypse World). My concern is that it may be a tad too abstract. But I really want to give it a fair shake.

Quote from: Nexus;888121Cypher System is considered Narrative?

Read all the XP rules.  You provide mechanics to allow a player to make narrative declarations that become true in the setting, then yeah, you get the tag "narrative game" to differentiate you from games that do not do that.

I'll call it a nRPG if that will make it go down easier.

Quote from: Nexus;888121What happened there?

The "WTF Monte!" thread about the Nibovian Wife.  

Post#547 in that thread...

Quote from: Shanna GermainIt makes me incredibly sad that someone did that to her and I'm ashamed that the person who said those things seems to be a Numenera fan. Whether people like or hate the game that we created, whether they like or hate the creatures we designed -- that is of course their prerogative and they should feel safe giving their opinion, no matter what it might be.

Monte and I are very aware of the current sexism/gender/sexuality issues in the gaming industry. We tried to carefully think through every element of the game in that regard. It was very important to us to create a world that didn't ignore sex, gender or sexual orientation -- anyone who's familiar with my past work knows this about me already, and Monte and I had a lot of conversations about how to include these topics in a real way even in an unreal world. In the Ninth World, sexuality and gender are both celebrated and used for nefarious purposes, just like in today's world. Anyone looking through the art and setting material will find a wide range of genders, and sexualities represented and embraced.

On the other hand, the Ninth World isn't today's culture. The creatures of the Ninth World are supposed to be scary monsters who want to take everything we (and our characters) hold dear and crush it. To me, the Nibovian wives epitomize that. They SHOULD scare and freak the fuck out of characters, for a whole variety of reasons. Numenera isn't the kind of game where we make people feel safe and secure. It's the kind of game where horrible monsters do horrible things to people -- that's why they're monsters.

On the other hand, if you find the creatures boring instead of scary, don't use them in the game. Or don't play it. There are a thousand great games out there. And isn't that supposed to be the point of gaming anyway? To have fun? If you're not having fun, maybe it's time to play a game you like better.

Of course, completely sane response.

Prokopetz accuses her of "marginalizing him", she rightly corrects him.  Critias of Catalyst throws some resistance to Prokopetz and Topher's ongoing narrative, and a couple other people agree, at which point Emprint shuts it down before the Doctors can take control of the Asylum and Ettin pops in to gloat and declare Zak S. permabanned.  Good times.

So in a thread about the terrible things Numenera was doing to women, the female author of Numenera pops in and the thread is dead in less than 12 posts.

Quote from: The Butcher;888287I've expounded on my reservations about the setting in the past, so if you don't mind me quoting myself:



Maybe I've been spoiled rotten by the OSR, but I yearn for the not-in-Kansas-anymore feel in the vein of Clark Ashton Smith, Jack Vance and Gene Wolfe.

As for the system itself, we played it only once and barely rolled the dice. Based on what I've read, I'm not sure it's a storygame, even if it touts itself as a "narrative" centric game (see: Apocalypse World). My concern is that it may be a tad too abstract. But I really want to give it a fair shake.

The level of abstraction is my beef with it too. And how for being so abstract it seems strangely restrictive at the same time. Its a chore to work out some thing and concepts that have been easy in others games if an author hasn't included the idea. But my group isn't big on character classes and similar mechanics and Cypher's descriptors and foci feel allot like a version of that except more restrictive.

Quote from: CRKrueger;888297Read all the XP rules.  You provide mechanics to allow a player to make narrative declarations that become true in the setting, then yeah, you get the tag "narrative game" to differentiate you from games that do not do that.

I'll call it a nRPG if that will make it go down easier.  

It doesn't bother me either way I just hadn't heard Cypher put in that category. We've just scratched the surface of the system in play and barely rolled dice (mainly none of us seem to like it) so we really hadn't reach that point in the rules so so far play seemed pretty "traditional" if clunky so we where planning to switch to Hero or perhaps GURPs.

QuoteThe "WTF Monte!" thread about the Nibovian Wife.  

Post#547 in that thread...
Of course, completely sane response.

Prokopetz accuses her of "marginalizing him", she rightly corrects him.  Critias of Catalyst throws some resistance to Prokopetz and Topher's ongoing narrative, and a couple other people agree, at which point Emprint shuts it down before the Doctors can take control of the Asylum and Ettin pops in to gloat and declare Zak S. permabanned.  Good times.

So in a thread about the terrible things Numenera was doing to women, the female author of Numenera pops in and the thread is dead in less than 12 posts.

Classic TBP.

Thanks for the rundown.

Quote from: The Butcher;888287I've expounded on my reservations about the setting in the past, so if you don't mind me quoting myself:

Whatever you need to do. I'm not here to sell you on what isn't working for you.

QuoteMaybe I've been spoiled rotten by the OSR, but I yearn for the not-in-Kansas-anymore feel in the vein of Clark Ashton Smith, Jack Vance and Gene Wolfe.

I'm an absurdly large CAS and Vance fan, which is why this appealed. But you do his one one point of interest here:

Quotehere's a weird megastructure that doesn't really do anything

Heh. If there's one bit of philosophy I've parted with, it's the apparent philosophy of "just make some weird shit up and don't worry about where it comes from because is AAAALIEN..." To me, thinking about why this stuff got here and is doing this stuff is high octane campaign idea fuel. Heck, the dumb Nibovian wives thread got me thinking about why these creatures even exist (short version: a targeted bioweapon that, much like nexus 6's, decided it wanted to outlive its mandated EOL.) It that sort of campaign setting that gets my mind racing that gets me chuffed about running games in it.

One of these days I'm going to do a demo that shows that Cyphers play their part in the system as a narrative speed control. In the hands of the players they can choose to expend the 3 tiers of cypher things. Powers/skills are auto refreshers that never go away, artifact are items that have lasting narrative power but will eventually be cycled out, and cyphers are the common one off narrative short cuts like power boosts, magic items, or even luck mechanics other games use.

A better title for all Cypher system games should be a narrative resource game. It's all about cost/reward with little system mastery beyond knowing how to play the story YOU like that matters.

It's why the Quadratic Wizard, Linear Fighter issues doesn't impact Cypher games as much, because the way the difficulty management works.