We have an updated Cypher Character Rulebook file for you! The first seven chapters of the Cypher Character Rulebook have been laid out, and we'd like to share it with you. This is still a work in progress—it isn't proofed, and some art is missing. This updated version will shortly be sent to the Early Access backers. The early access document are downloadable from the BackerKit survey page, rather than from the MCG shop account page. Please check your BackerKit account.
This is the third in a series of updates covering some of the changes to the Cypher rules and how you can start incorporating them into the Cypher System game you’re playing right now. To catch up on any you've missed, check out our other recent updates!
</alt>Spells and abilities fly in a pitched battle against a giant molten creature</alt>
Block and Dodge Instead of Speed Defense
It’s always been a little odd that the nimble unarmored PC and the slow heavily-armored PC use the same kind of defense against physical attacks (a Speed defense roll), meaning they’re both trying to dodge out of the way, when really the armored character should be trying to use the armor to absorb some or all of the attack. It also means that even the slower armored character probably puts points into their Speed Pool in case they need to use Effort on Speed defense rolls.
In the new Cypher, every character has two options for defense against physical attacks: dodge, which is a Speed roll, and block, which is a Might roll. If you successfully dodge, you take no damage. If you successfully block, you take less damage (but still some, because you did get hit).
Armor eases your block tasks (one step for light, two for medium, three for heavy), but hinders your dodge tasks by the same amount. If you’re not practiced in that armor, the dodge hindrance also applies to all your Speed tasks.
Some attacks (like a death ray that only needs to touch you) can still require you to dodge, even if you’d normally use block.
Why the Change?
Speedy characters have an incentive to not wear armor—armor makes it harder for them to dodge.
Might-based characters now can mostly rely on Might and don’t need Speed (one “tank” playtest character relied on heavy armor and blocking, and at tier 6 they had 30 Might and only 14 Speed).
Although it’s not the goal of the Cypher rules to make things “realistic” (the game is too abstract for that), we think it makes sense that a speedy unarmored character and a tough armored character rely on different defensive options.
Wait a second … we didn’t tell you how much to reduce the damage for a successful block defense! For now, reduce the damage by whatever Armor value the armor gives you. The full explanation is in the next article in this series, because damage itself is changing …
</alt>Laser fire cuts through zombies as armored soliders defend their technical expert examining a ruby in a plinth</alt>
Reach for Jewel in the Sky
Looking for adventures for Cypher? Jewel in the Sky is in its last week of crowdfunding and still reaching new stretch goals! Play this megadungeon with a difference, as either a sci-fi or fantasy party. Or why not run two groups and have both? Pledge now to secure your adventure!
Cypher has finished design, and is currently in editing and layout. Many of you have likely seen the early access versions (whether through the document itself or our ‘Using the New Cypher Rules in Your Game Now’ series)—maybe you’ve even played a game yourself! We’re so excited for the print editions to enter production, and we’ll have a larger update later this month to share progress on corebook layout and the gorgeous Cypher dice!
Jewel in the Sky is the first megadungeon built from the ground up for Cypher. It’s not an adaptation, or a conversion—it’s the easiest megadungeon you will ever run, and the most interesting megadungeon your players will ever experience.
An eight-mile-long island floating 1000 feet above distant mountains, filled with dark passages, huge vaulted rooms, mysterious devices, and dark magic. Things that crawl, slither, and moan. Monsters, creatures, and dark forces. And strange and unimaginable treasures, waiting for those brave—or foolish—enough to claim them.
The base on Vocurru was established to investigate the strange qualities of minerals unique to its planet—but because the inhabitants have only a medieval level of social development, the base has always operated in secret.
Now it’s gone offline. Communications are down. The fate of base personnel is unknown, and a rescue party is on the way. But what will they discover on a planet that doesn’t play by the known rules of physics?
Play Jewel in the Sky as a classic fantasy dungeon filled with unusual discoveries. Or drop it into a space opera sci-fi game, and play as the visitors reclaiming their base on a world unlike any ever encountered. It’s specifically designed to play either way—and to deliver twists and surprises that will make this dungeon crawl a weird, exciting, and memorable adventure! Once you explore the island of Voccuro, there won’t be any going back…
We’re so excited to be a part of Backerkit’s MegaDungeon Month! We’re joined by a host of storied dungeon creators, including Goodman Games; Kobold Press; Troll Lord Games; Ghostfire Gaming; Loke Battle Mats; Rowan, Rook, & Decard; and many other TTRPG designers in one epic cross-collab event, including special cross-project stretch goals for backers who support multiple campaigns.
This is the third in a series of updates covering some of the changes to the Cypher rules and how you can start incorporating them into the Cypher System game you’re playing right now. To catch up on any you've missed, check out our other recent updates!
Players Control Ability Durations
Time in a game session is pretty flexible; you might have a combat encounter, then travel for an unspecified amount of time before another encounter happens. The GM probably doesn’t care if it’s been 45 minutes or 90 minutes, but you need to know because it might mean some of your cyphers and abilities have expired. This forces the GM to accurately track time passing (often coupled with how fast you’re traveling and therefore how far you’ve traveled), and means that instead of thinking about what to do next, you’re thinking about what abilities have ended and whether you have to use an action to start them up again.
In the new Cypher, most duration-based cyphers and character abilities end when you use a specific recovery (formerly called recovery rolls). For example, instead of Shroud of Flame lasting ten minutes, it lasts until you use a ten-minute (or longer) recovery.
To use this in your current Cypher System game, use these rough guidelines:
Anything that lasts about a minute now ends when you use a one-action or longer recovery.
Anything that lasts about ten minutes now ends when you use a ten-minute or longer recovery.
Anything that lasts about an hour now ends when you use a one-hour or longer recovery.
Anything that lasts more than a couple of hours now ends when you use a ten-hour recovery.
This change doesn’t affect abilities that are “always on,” like Eyes Adjusted, or instant or one-round abilities like Onslaught.
And speaking of recoveries, in the new Cypher you can use your four recoveries in any order you want. Most groups (including our MCG home games) already played it that way as a house rule, so we decided to make it the official rule.
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Why the Change?
Putting control over cypher and ability durations in the players’ hands frees up the GM to focus more on the story instead of details like how fast the characters are moving or how many minutes it’s been since they last stopped. Plus, this change presents some interesting tactical options for your character. For example, if you have three active abilities that end on a ten-minute or longer recovery, and you’re wounded and tired, you can decide if you want to use a ten-minute recovery (and end all three of those abilities), or push on longer to take advantage of those abilities as long as possible.
Stay tuned for more ways to use new Cypher rules in your game!
It's the Last week for Numenera: The Amber Archive!
Have you seen the Datasphere Deck Tool (which will be a great new feature for your Cypher decks—not just Numenera!)? Looked into the huge library of free PDFs—45 titles totaling over 4500 pages? Checked out Beasts of the Amber Archive, with scores of new creatures that are 100% compatible with your Cypher game? Or just explored the loads of new material we're bringing to the storied Ninth World setting of Numenera?
This is the second in a series of web articles about some of the changes to the Cypher rules and how you can start incorporating them into the Cypher System game you’re playing right now!
Pick Your Starting Edge
Because your type determines which of your three stats gets an Edge of 1, sometimes your combination of type and focus means that you’re paying a little extra for your focus abilities—like if you’re a Warrior or Explorer (which by default have a Might Edge of 1) with a focus that relies on Intellect. You could choose Improved Edge as one of your starting type abilities to get an Edge of 1 in a second stat, but that means one fewer starting ability that lets you do something fun or interesting during gameplay.
So in the new Cypher, all types get to choose which of their three stats has Edge 1 (the other two stats have Edge 0).
If you have an existing character whose starting Edge 1 wasn’t a good fit for your focus abilities, ask the GM if you can swap that around to a different stat (this usually just means adding 1 to your desired Edge and subtracting 1 from the Edge you don’t use very often).
Why the Change?
When you have a cool character concept but the math doesn’t work out in your favor, that’s kind of disappointing. By making this change, you can play your dream character from tier 1, without waiting until you get enough advancements to offset the built-in type abilities. (Of course, you can still choose to make a character with a non-optimal Edge stat, perhaps because you want to play through the idea of someone who is just starting to learn how to use their abilities, but now it’s an option instead of a requirement.)
You may have noticed that we already put this choose-your-Edge option in the new types we created for books like Neon Rain (because any cyberpunk character can be good at Intellect tasks like hacking, or physical combat with katanas and pistols) and Gunslinger Knights (because even a fully-armored knight who channels power from magical storms ought to be good at their main type abilities from the get-go). For the new Cypher, we’ve just extended this idea to all character types.
Come back next week for another sneak peek at the new rules—this one’s really going to give players a lot of options!
Numenera heading to hit a ninth stretch goal!
The new edition of Numenera is already fully funded and has unlocked eight stretch goals so far! The ninth stretch goal is well in hand, and now there's a chance to grab physical shins (the numenera currency) for the first time in years! Check out the update now!
As the Cypher corebooks finish the final stages of development and move into the production phase, the design team wanted to share some insights into the new Cypher—and, as a backer of this campaign, we're giving you an advanced look. (This series of articles will go up on our website, but not until we're much closer to the release of the new Cypher.) It's a small way of saying thank you to everyone involved in this campaign.
Using the New Cypher Rules in Your Game Right Now
Later this year we’re releasing the new version of Cypher that you crowdfunded in 2025. The two game editions are very compatible, but there are a few changes to the rules that will have an impact on characters, creatures, and cyphers. This article is the first in a six-part series about how you can start incorporating some of these changes into the Cypher System game you’re playing right now!
Subtle Cyphers Are Instant Abilities
Playing by the existing Cypher System rules, you’ve probably been in a situation where you roll on a task, the roll is pretty low, and then you realize you have a subtle cypher that would have eased the roll. In most cases (especially as it takes an action to activate a cypher), the cypher couldn’t help with that roll. But not anymore!
First, subtle cyphers (which, in the new Cypher, will just be called "cyphers") are becoming what we call instant effects—activating one isn’t an action. That means if you have a skill boost cypher that eases your next two Speed defense tasks by three steps, you can trigger it even when it’s not your turn, like when something is attacking you unexpectedly.
Second, most subtle cyphers that ease skill rolls can be used either before or after you roll. This means that if you roll and don’t like the number you got, you can activate the cypher and affect the roll—no more worrying that you forgot a bonus that could have helped you! You still have to decide to use the cypher before the GM tells you if you succeed or fail at the task, but it’s a nice advantage if you think you fell short by just a little bit.
Why the Change?
Cyphers are an important option for players—that’s why we named the game after them! In the new version of the game, we wanted to make subtle cyphers extra useful, so you can take advantage of their benefits instead of saving them and missing an opportunity where they would have helped you. Also, because (unlike your type or focus abilities) your roster of subtle cyphers changes from session to session, you might forget you have a relevant cypher until the exact moment that d20 falls from your hand. Subtle cyphers being instant, and some of them usable after a roll, makes them a more intuitive part of gameplay.
Stay tuned for more ways to use new Cypher rules in your current game!
Ninth World Record Smashed!
Numenera: The Amber Archive is funding the new edition of Numenera. The original Numenera launched the Cypher System, and this new edition is a setting for the new edition of Cypher. The campaign is not only fully funded and well into stretch goals, but thanks to your fantastic support, we passed a truly incredible threshold: $517,255. What makes this number particularly special (besides being over the gobsmacking half-a-million mark) is that it represents the funding total for the original 2012 Numenera crowdfunding campaign! Check it out now.
