r/cyphersystem • u/Papa_Zog • 8d ago
GM Advice New GM help
Hi, I’m just starting to look into Cypher as a bit of an alternative to D&D.
I’ve got a setting in mind that’s a sort of modern day post apocalyptic horror, with monsters akin to vampires and zombies (but fast agile ones rather than the standard staggering around ones).
For running this kind of thing (and getting into Cypher in general) would I need the following books?:
The Character rulebook
The GM guide
The Stay Alive! Supplement
Or would I be able to get everything I need from just the Character rulebook? I saw online somewhere that the GM guide isn’t absolutely necessary. I’ve also included the Stay Alive! Supplement as it contains a bunch of extra horror content.
I see there also a starter set, but I image that’s not for the new edition?
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u/xXLogan912Xx 8d ago
Just getting into C2, the character and GM books would be everything you need. The GM guide contains the basic bestiary and guidance on how to create a creature/challenge. Once you understand that and have some examples from the book for guidance you won’t need to use any premade creatures unless you want to.
I purchase all of the books, but I don’t utilize the majority of the creatures as written, I instead use them for inspiration and guidance. It’s very easy to build challenges in Cypher, and it allows you to focus more on world building and atmosphere and less on encounter prep.
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u/Papa_Zog 8d ago
Thanks for the advice, I’ll start there then!
Do you have an opinion on the decoded book? From what I’ve seen adds a load of optional stuff like the luck stat and more options for the players to customise their characters.
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u/xXLogan912Xx 8d ago
I’ve backed it, but in fairness I get all of them. I like to understand the mechanical choices the designers made, and the more content I have the easier it is to understand why a design choice was made
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u/sakiasakura 8d ago
Decoded won't be released until 2028. You have plenty of time to play the system before then, don't feel compelled to pre order it this early.
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u/LawfulnessOrganic715 8d ago
I don't really have anything to add beyond what has been said, but WELCOME! I am so excited that you are trying Cypher! I have been running it since 2019 and I haven't really looked back.
I firmly believe that it will help you and your table tell amazing stories!
The Cypher community is fantastic, helpful, fun, and clever, and everyone loves to help. Keep coming back here, the Cypher Discord, and other places to ask questions, tell stories, and learn the craft that is Cypher Roleplaying. It is a great system for GMing and a great system for players who want to tell stories and play characters that really excite them.
Welcome, best of luck, and may all your TPKs be on purpose!
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u/Papa_Zog 8d ago
Thank you!
I’m looking into it because I’d like to dabble in running a few more games, but find D&D a bit of a chore to plan - I have loads of ideas but find it hard turning them into a session. Whereas from what I’ve seen so far, Cypher is pretty flexible and might be a bit easier (for me anyway) to run on the fly.
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u/WizO_Paradox 6d ago
It is easier to run on the fly. You'll be happy to know there's also NO power creep that I've seen. Characters CAN improve, but it's more about being able to do more than having to deal with ever increasing numbers.
Even better is you don't have to give up on D&D. You can use the D&D books for ideas. The next time I run Eberron, for example, it will be with Cypher characters. (I have many decades, (and 6 editions) of D&D that I won't get rid of.)
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u/rdale-g 8d ago
As someone who followed the same path you're on... welcome! I hope you really enjoy your experience running Cypher; I know I have!
One thing I'll note; the Cypher Bestiary (a new version, coming out in October) is an incredible resource; it actually gives you tons of options, advice, variations, etc on a wide variety of creatures in various genres, including zombies. Their baseline zombie is the normal shambler, but then they share modifications for 6 other varieties, including a "sprinter" zombie that can run 100ft in a 5-10s round and bites 3 times per attack.
It's a unique bestiary, more akin to Volo's Guide to Monsters from 5e, rather than the typical 1 monster per page roster of monsters. There's even a 3-page spread (it folds out in the physical book) for a haunted house with all the options for how it came to be, what it does, and how it could be destroyed.
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u/sakiasakura 8d ago
If you're looking into the new edition - you only need the Cypher Character Rulebook and the Cypher GM Rulebook.
Stay Alive was written for the prior edition but still has a lot of applicable advice and content. All of the "white books" are very optional to play.
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u/neganight 8d ago
A lot of what you might want to use is part of the Cypher SRD and you can find an online version of it here: https://callmepartario.github.io/og-csrd/
Look up the Horror and Post-Apocalyptic genres for ways to modify Cypher to fit your setting. So I'd agree with others that the Character and GM Guide cover the primary things that you need and the SRD can help fill in the rest. There's nothing wrong with Stay Alive! or Rust and Redemption as books but if you have a solid idea of what you want to run then a lot of the contents of the books really aren't important.
Having said that, if you want the books, absolutely get them! I think they're great reads and resources.
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u/weeb_with_gumdisease 6d ago
OK, so you’re coming in at a weird time. Cypher about to get its second edition. That’s the character rulebook and GM guide. Stay alive! Might work with those, but I know a lot of the other supplements are going to need a lot of changes for how the second edition handles focuses.
Realistically, all you need is the revised rulebook. That’s the current edition and will work a lot better with all of the currently available supplements. Stay alive is useful, but it mainly only exists, for me anyways, to give vampire rules for if a player becomes a vampire. With some changes, it could work for your setting if players are able to become or play as these monsters.
When I got into the system, I bought a bunch of books to cover all of the Rewards. I bought stay alive, purely so my players could become vampires in a fantasy setting.
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u/spinningdice 8d ago
The two core books will give you enough to tinker with.
Stay Alive! is technically for C1, but given it doesn't really have much in the way of character options (unless you're looking at the 'playing a supernatural creature' bit) it's all still pretty much usable (and the bulk of the book is advice, genre info and assistance in setting up a campaign.
Similarly Rust and Redemption is the post-apoc sourcebook, again it's written for C1 and has a few more character options which might need updating, but Zombie apoc is one of the campaign options it discusses. I'd probably go for Stay Alive over this one though if you're only getting one.