The small change that worked for all of my groups was to grant a full GM Intrusion (with 2xp) on natural 1s. As opposed to a free intrusion (no xp granted) like the book suggests. Players can still spend 1xp to reroll, or they can spend 1xp to counter the intrusion. This means that instead of players booing and being sad with 1s, they cheer and enjoy the free xp. It also personally makes sense because I find that people rarely learn (gain xp) more than during their worst failures.
If I may add to the suggestions as someone who plays mostly OSR games. Since sometimes I run games of rotating tables where players drop in and out, each having a stable to 3 or so characters, I've considered using what I call the "level tether" which would state that an adventuring party must consist of members who are within X amount of levels from one another. So if you decided that 3 levels difference was fine then the highest level players could be 5 while the lowest 2. For Cypher I'd just have it where the highest level player couldn't advanced beyond a certain point if there was a member stuck at the lowest points. I've not tested this either, but something I've floated in my mind from time to time. Glad to have found the channel, as a GURPS fan I've been considering Cypher for more narrative heavy games and enjoy you're presentation :)
Your system sounds like a good solution for a table where the players (or at least one of them) have a rather egocentric style of play. Like the sketch character in your intro for example. I appreciate your work and I think I'll keep your xp rules handy, though I much prefer the vanilla rules for xp. Cypher System is all about narrative, choice and team play, and that is also the core of the xp system. In five years of playing Cypher I haven't once had a group in which the XP rules didn't work. Yes, the players make vastly different choices regarding their characters but they have always remained within the range of one tier of each other. And the math is flat enough to make that work no prob. Should I ever run into a group, however, that can't work together, it might be handy to have your well thought-out rules. Thanks! 👍
Interesting idea, I like it. I found using a second meta currency called Karma (for GM intrusions, natural 1s etc.) and awarding XP for gameplay etc. at the end of the session works better for me. I will have to think of trading Karma between the players and the GM, I really like that idea (reminds me of who has momentum in the 2D20 system). Great video.
It's an interesting take. So far I've been running the game as written. My players really like it. I'm very liberal with xp and players are pretty liberal in using them. The payers often earmarke a few they will not spend but put a few forward for rolls. And they always accept intrusions...always. they trust that I'm not out to screw them but rather I just want to add a twist to make things more interesting. Coming from games like Savage Worlds we really enjoy meta currency, and love the flow back and forth of points.
Your first change, the milestone system, or very similar variants of it, is one of the most common house rules I've encountered in cypher. 👍It's what I lean towards for campaign style play. The token system....I'm glad it works for you but it is WAY too fiddly for me to keep up with. 😅
Having to tweak the XP is what I had to do when I first started GMing the Cypher System but I found over time that it was no longer necessary since I was just better at explaining the system and incentivising the various uses of XP. After you have run like this for a while I'd be curious to see if you can do the same thing with your players. Now that they know the reasons to spend XP on the non-advancement stuff and to keep some for advancement, if they might be able to go back to the vanilla Cypher way
@@DeadUnicornClub Definitely definitely. And I don't blame your or your players for having to force this. It took me years for me to be able to properly understand the intention behind Cypher (cooperative role-play and world building, being I would argue a main pillar) despite it's mechanical simplicity. The more I tweaked the system more more I found beauty in the simplicity of vanilla and the less I needed to tweak. I think people who do improv and children who play stories together would have an easier time picking up and playing Cypher the way it's intended, but that's just speculation, I know for certain people coming from D&D have the most difficult time adjusting to Cypher. But if you ever do go back to the vanilla Cypher way I'd certainly be interested in a video on it and how things went.
The small change that worked for all of my groups was to grant a full GM Intrusion (with 2xp) on natural 1s. As opposed to a free intrusion (no xp granted) like the book suggests.
Players can still spend 1xp to reroll, or they can spend 1xp to counter the intrusion.
This means that instead of players booing and being sad with 1s, they cheer and enjoy the free xp.
It also personally makes sense because I find that people rarely learn (gain xp) more than during their worst failures.
If I may add to the suggestions as someone who plays mostly OSR games. Since sometimes I run games of rotating tables where players drop in and out, each having a stable to 3 or so characters, I've considered using what I call the "level tether" which would state that an adventuring party must consist of members who are within X amount of levels from one another. So if you decided that 3 levels difference was fine then the highest level players could be 5 while the lowest 2. For Cypher I'd just have it where the highest level player couldn't advanced beyond a certain point if there was a member stuck at the lowest points. I've not tested this either, but something I've floated in my mind from time to time.
Glad to have found the channel, as a GURPS fan I've been considering Cypher for more narrative heavy games and enjoy you're presentation :)
Your system sounds like a good solution for a table where the players (or at least one of them) have a rather egocentric style of play. Like the sketch character in your intro for example. I appreciate your work and I think I'll keep your xp rules handy, though I much prefer the vanilla rules for xp.
Cypher System is all about narrative, choice and team play, and that is also the core of the xp system. In five years of playing Cypher I haven't once had a group in which the XP rules didn't work. Yes, the players make vastly different choices regarding their characters but they have always remained within the range of one tier of each other. And the math is flat enough to make that work no prob.
Should I ever run into a group, however, that can't work together, it might be handy to have your well thought-out rules. Thanks! 👍
Interesting idea, I like it. I found using a second meta currency called Karma (for GM intrusions, natural 1s etc.) and awarding XP for gameplay etc. at the end of the session works better for me. I will have to think of trading Karma between the players and the GM, I really like that idea (reminds me of who has momentum in the 2D20 system). Great video.
Karma! Love that word. I believe the old Marvel game used that.
It's an interesting take. So far I've been running the game as written. My players really like it. I'm very liberal with xp and players are pretty liberal in using them. The payers often earmarke a few they will not spend but put a few forward for rolls. And they always accept intrusions...always. they trust that I'm not out to screw them but rather I just want to add a twist to make things more interesting. Coming from games like Savage Worlds we really enjoy meta currency, and love the flow back and forth of points.
Different groups need different things. Some groups are hyper optimal-ists and need a different way to do things.
@DeadUnicornClub Absolutely. As a constant rules tinkerer myself, I love to see other people's house rules and ideas.
Your first change, the milestone system, or very similar variants of it, is one of the most common house rules I've encountered in cypher. 👍It's what I lean towards for campaign style play. The token system....I'm glad it works for you but it is WAY too fiddly for me to keep up with. 😅
Having to tweak the XP is what I had to do when I first started GMing the Cypher System but I found over time that it was no longer necessary since I was just better at explaining the system and incentivising the various uses of XP. After you have run like this for a while I'd be curious to see if you can do the same thing with your players. Now that they know the reasons to spend XP on the non-advancement stuff and to keep some for advancement, if they might be able to go back to the vanilla Cypher way
They might, as new paradigm shifts can be hard for people use to playing in a certain way.
@@DeadUnicornClub Definitely definitely. And I don't blame your or your players for having to force this. It took me years for me to be able to properly understand the intention behind Cypher (cooperative role-play and world building, being I would argue a main pillar) despite it's mechanical simplicity. The more I tweaked the system more more I found beauty in the simplicity of vanilla and the less I needed to tweak. I think people who do improv and children who play stories together would have an easier time picking up and playing Cypher the way it's intended, but that's just speculation, I know for certain people coming from D&D have the most difficult time adjusting to Cypher. But if you ever do go back to the vanilla Cypher way I'd certainly be interested in a video on it and how things went.