Why I Don't Play Cypher in FG: Some (hopefully) Constructive Feedback
First, I want it to be known that I really do appreciate the work that has been put into the Cypher rulesets. I really really want to like and use them. Unfortunately, I just don't. I've played multiple games as both GM and Player and the quirks outweigh the benefits of the ruleset for me. Teaching new players how to play Cypher as well as how to use FG, and then tacking on the quirks of the ruleset becomes a bit much, especially for a one-shot. (I do use The Strange ruleset, though, because the recursion-swapping function is super handy in a Strange campaign.)
Lately, I've been doing a lot of one-shots for people so it's just easier for me to do theater of the mind in a Discord channel with a dice roller bot and fillable PDF sheets. I really would like to use FG though.
Here are my main issues with the ruleset(s):
- Assets are only provided as "permanent" fields to nearly each and every thing on the character sheet, however, these can (and usually do) change for every single roll. Currently, there is no way to add assets to a single roll. You have to add them to a skill or ability, roll, and then hopefully remember to clear the asset after rolling. Take the case where an Ability gives you an Asset to a roll, plus a character is also aiding you (giving you a second asset). There's no way to add that second asset without changing that field in the Ability itself. Assets can often be provided by items but, again, there's no way to add that to a roll without using the above-mentioned skill kludge.
- The damage track is explicitly tied to the number of Stat Pools that have been reduced to zero. This does not follow the rules as written. The damage track is a separate thing from the stat pools and a character can be moved down the Damage Track via poison, magic, or other special ability, with or without stat pool reduction. This means a character who finds themself Debilitated by a poison that moved them 2 spots down the Damage Track can be killed outright by only reducing one of their stat pools to zero. This use case cannot be handled on the character sheet the way it currently works.
- The way the target levels (the numbers in the circles after a roll) work in the roll evaluation end up confusing me more than they help. This is because of the way Training, Assets, and Effort are applied in the Cypher System. More on that below and it's not a deal-breaker at this point, just something I have to mentally shift when playing in FG versus playing at a table or over Discord.
Here's what would fix the current ruleset(s) to be more usable for me and probably even have me recommend them to others.
- Make the Stat scores rollable via double-click. It's kind of weird for me that they aren't. I have to make an Untrained skill entry for that stat as a workaround.
- Change the "Edge" bonus box down near the dice to "Assets". I'm not sure what the Edge box is for. It doesn't seem to do anything and Edge is always tied to a particular stat.
- Disentangle the Damage Track from the Stat Pools such that a character can be moved down the track manually, per the rules. Bonus for having a stat pool dropping to zero move it further down the track, or vice-versa when bringing a pool back above zero.
These three things would make the character sheet immensely more usable for me even before entering skills, abilities, items, etc.
Now the whipped topping wish...
My dream ruleset would pretty much require a redesign of the way the rolling works. In the Cypher System, Skills, Effort, and Assets don't add to the die roll. They instead reduce the Task Difficulty (analogous to D&D's DC). If you are well-trained and expend enough effort and assets, it's possible to reduce the Task Difficulty to zero. This means no roll is needed and automatically succeeds. This is actually what players are going for - to not have to roll - because rolling dice is dangerous.
In the end, the math works out the way the current rulesets work because adding one side of the equation is the same as subtracting from the other side. Some might say I'm being pedantic, but it comes down to a fundamental shift in how you look at the roll. The GM will still need to do the TD reduction math to be able to tell the player if a roll is even needed. After doing that, the GM is probably thinking of the smaller target number, but the roll result gives the succeeded at TD number as if the training, effort, and assets were added to the roll. The GM needs to now remember what the original Task Difficulty was to make use of the nifty indicator in the roll result. This would often throw me for a loop where I would think somebody succeeded on a roll when they actually didn't. I finally stopped even using the indicator and now just compare the die roll to the reduced target number in my head.
For example (true story):
- GM (me) calls for a Might roll and determines the a Task Difficulty of 5
- Player is using a skill they are trained in (eases the Task by 1). Task Difficulty is now 4
- Player is also using an item that provides an asset, and is aided by another character (easing the Task by 2 more). Task Difficulty is now 2
- Player also spends one level of effort (eases the Task by 1 more) TD is now just 1
- The player now needs to roll a 3 (TD x 3) or better on their d20 roll, but only rolls a 2.
- GM is thinking TD of 1 in their head. FG returns that the roll succeeded on a TD of 4 because all the assets, effort, and skills were added to the roll result.
- GM says the player succeeded when, in fact, they failed the roll.
I know implementing something like this would take a bunch of development time so I'm really only throwing out ideas here. Here's one possible way for it to maybe work...
GM requests a player make a roll by perhaps clicking something on that player's CT entry or portrait. This pops up a window on the GM's screen asking for the target level of the roll. The GM could optionally make this target number visible to the player as some abilities make this knowable. (This target number could be also taken from a creature the character has targeted with the option for the GM to adjust it due to it being benefitted/hindered in some way.)
The player also receives a pop up where they can add any assets or levels of effort as well as requesting a change to the stat being rolled on (many abilities can change which stat can be rolled on, if desired). There would be a nice big "Roll" button which would start all the behind-the-scenes math. The assets and levels of effort are subtracted from the target number and the result is multiplied by 3, giving the number needed on the d20 roll. The roll is made if the target number is at least 1, with any bonuses added (there can be bonuses added to or subtracted from the roll as well). Result is evaluated, displayed, etc. Thinking further, I can see that a popup window on both sides may needlessly complicate things, but some sort of GM input would be needed in any case. Obviously, I don't have all the details figured out and am just brainstorming stuff at this point.
Anyway, I'm really only looking for my first two pain points to be remedied (I'm aware of at least 2 other FG Cypher users with these same issues). The rest is just dreamy fluff. Thanks for your time and thoughts.
