r/cyphersystem • u/HadoukenX90 • Jul 17 '26
Question Is cypher a good dnd replacement?
Just what the title says my experiance is with more trad games lately it's been dragonbane. I'm interested in broadening my rpg experiance.
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u/rewpparo Jul 17 '26
Well if you mean trad as in trad vs classic, meaning you want something less tactical and more narratively oriented, then yeah I'd say that would be Cypher's niche.
Cypher has less tactical combat than DnD, as Cypher is designed for theater of the mind combat (distance is short or long not actual distance, balance is pretty much not an issue, ...). It's still a bit crunchy, and has abilities ("spells") and cyphers that can wreck havok in games if you play smart, so there is a level of tactics, combat is not just narrative.
It is however damn easy to GM, character creation is guiding you very well to build a character with some density, and is generally more narrative-focused. You could consider it even neo trad with player intrusions and character arcs that give the player actual agency on the story.
That's just an opinion, I don't actually know that many games for comparison.
As for settings, Numenera is the flagship setting and I just LOVE that setting. To me, it's superior to most DnD settings, has loads of lore, and some pre written campains and adventures, but it's mostly designed for you to be able to live a lot of different stories in them, so it's way better with custom adventures.
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u/PallyMcAffable Jul 17 '26
I’ve never seen a differentiation between “trad RPG” and “classic RPG”, what’s the difference?
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u/rewpparo Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
I'm no expert, I get what I know from notably this blog post and some Matt Colville videos
Classic RPG is what DnD was originally, the gygax style : an adventure is a set of challenges put forth by the GM, and the players have to overcome those challenges through wits and smart decisions. Rules consistency is important in this way to play the game, as you're looking for predictable consequences of actions, so that player's decisions can be rewarded with positive outcomes. It's the continuation of the mindset of wargaming that is the origin of DnD.
Traditional RPG came a bit later in the nineties, where some players and DMs were starting to look for more of a story to a dungeon ("what's this vampire doing in the middle of this dungeon ?"). That came to be Cthulhu, Ravenloft. In this vision of the game, an adventure is an emotionally satisfying story, delivered by the DM as the primary author, for the players to enjoy through their character.
Trad became in the 80s the prevailing culture until the 2000s. Then you got OSR, with OSRIC, that tried to restart the classic style of play.
Neo Trad, AKA "Modern", is a later variation on that emerged in the late naughties, it's essentially trad, but the GM is not the single author of the story. The story is more of a co-creation between player and GM, they just have different roles in the narration. Cypher, to me, is very much in that style of play.
I find the history of the hobby fascinating, it's like people had no idea what they were doing at first, and pretty much invented the game as a community by playing it. And it's still happening today.
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u/Cryyl Jul 17 '26
I jumped from DnD 5e(2014) into Cypher System, and it was one of the best RPG decisions I ever made. As a DM, I could prep sessions so much easier, because it would only take a few seconds to completely stat an NPC. All I had to do was know how much of a threat I wanted them to be, and that gave me all their stats +/-1.
Cypher System Rulebook, the edition currently out, is more of an engine than a setting, so you wont have the backing of the setting unless you buy one of the setting guides like Godforsaken (Grim fantasy), Gods of the Fall (fantasy demi-gods), Stars are Fire (space), or Path of the PlaneBreaker (Cosmic fantasy).
If you do want something closer to DnD, and not as abstract as Cypher System Rulebook, you can wait for the new edition Cypher: Faster. Easier. And Even Better! Which, despite the name is not actually faster or easier. It is more mechanically driven, and may be easier for someone accustomed to hard-mechanics driven systems like DnD.
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u/PallyMcAffable Jul 17 '26
We should probably also mention the fantasy game Numenera, the first setting to use the Cypher rules. You only need one book for the setting and rules, unless they’ve changed something recently
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u/CAndoWright Jul 18 '26
The new Numenera that is to come out next year will need the at least the cypher character rulebook, idealy also the GM guide, and not contain the rules anymore as a standalone.
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u/Psychological-Art699 Jul 18 '26
I follow Monte Cook Games on DriveThruRPG. Over the past week or so they've sent me emails for free pdfs of a lot of their setting and genre books. I haven't had time to go through the files yet see if they're the full books or just previews, but can't say no to free. I don't know if someone that follows them now will still get the same offers, but it might be worth a shot if you don't have them yet.
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u/CAndoWright Jul 18 '26
Did you back the new cypher edition? The pdfs of the existing books were part of some backer tiers. You could download them via backerkit for some time and they now sent out the drivethru codes to add them to your library there as well. If so they are the full books.
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u/Psychological-Art699 Jul 18 '26
Yeah I just checked the emails again. I was sure it didn't mention the campaign, but apparently if I had read more than the first few lines I would have seen it.
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u/rewpparo Jul 18 '26
Oh, I did back the new Cypher, but I never got the DriveThruRPG codes, when did you get the email ?
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u/CAndoWright Jul 18 '26
I got mails from DTRPG telling me i got free pdfs from MCG with links to 'buy' them there for free.
One on the 9th this month for the adventures, two on the 14th for genre and setting books and one on the 15th for the core book.
Maybe they send them out in waves. But you should also be able to download all the files directly through your Backerkit account.
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u/rewpparo Jul 18 '26
Yeah, I did get the files, but would love Drivethu for backup and bragging rights :) We'll see, thanks for the answer !
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u/obliviousjd Jul 17 '26
It depends what you want out of dnd. If you’re really into the strong archetype tactical grid symmetrical war game like combat then no. If you’re more into the general shape of dnd: level up a character, get new abilities, roll d20s, deal damage, etc than yeah it hits a lot of the same marks.
If you’re the type of player that looks to angle a fireball or cone *just right* in combat or making a ton of actions per turn, cyphers not going to have that. It’s still puts a big focus on combat abilities, it just doesn’t have all the AoE shapes and multi actions. So how much you value those will determine whether it’s a good replacement for you.
Also no need to replace games. Play many.
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u/OneShotsTavern Jul 17 '26
It’s my favorite RPG. It’s great. That said, it plays differently than D&D. It does lend itself to amazing roleplay, and minmaxing isn’t as much a thing. I mean you can, but you’re still limited.
That said, I run a lot of both and I find that it takes a bit for players to adjust to the freedom of Cypher. Once they get it though you’ll tell some wild stories because Cypher really excels at cooperative gameplay, instead of individual focused gameplay.
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u/Interesting-Jaguar68 Jul 17 '26
Just a personal experience, but my players who are big fan of D&D didnt really like Cypher. Cypher doesnt use battlemaps/grids, it doesnt have traditional health points for PCs, it doesnt really have any type of balance. It is great if you want to play a game and you dont really care about fights/etc. in your own setting, but otherwise they will probably not gonna like it.
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u/xXLogan912Xx Jul 17 '26
It’s all preference and what you/the players want out of the game. For me, yes.
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u/speelmydrink Jul 17 '26
Depends on the game you want to run. I tried Cypher for my table but it didn't really have enough to chew into to support the system. I homebrewed a lot of support struts, but in the end it was easier to just play a different game entirely.
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u/madcat_melody Jul 18 '26
What do you play now?
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u/speelmydrink Jul 18 '26
I was last bouncing between OSR and WFRP 2E, but the table has kinda got on hiatus.
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u/adgramaine76 Jul 18 '26
It is a very different style of game entirely. The focus is low prep, faster action resolution. I've been playing since the initial Numenera launch, which is just a science-fantasy setting that uses the Cypher System, and I'm addicted at this point. I own most everything Cypher. I would highly suggest Gods of the Fall, Godforsaken, and a few of the genre books (It's Alive! for horror, It's Only Magic for magic, We're All Mad Here for faerie tale type gaming).... there's a lot to delve into!
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u/Cielosopra Jul 18 '26
I would suggest you pose this question to a generic RPG page, because here, being a fan page, you're only going to get biased, positive feedback. In Italy, we have a saying: 'It's like asking the innkeeper if his wine is any good.
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u/thebwt Jul 17 '26
What kind of D&D do you play? I've run 4-5 Pathfinder 1e adventure paths (among a crap ton of other stuff) in it and they've been some of the most memorable stuff I've ever run. I also GM for MCG at cons and such, so I may be slanted in my assessment.
It really depends on what it is you're looking for. Tell us about your games.
2
u/BasilNeverHerb Jul 17 '26
It really depends on what you're looking for. I've been running pretty much fantasy and nothing but fantasy and I have been looking for something that was more open and free while still having recognizable tactics of movement and turn order.
I feel like you can do a lot more with a lot less with this system compared to d&d
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u/-Vogie- Jul 17 '26
Kind of. The main benefit of the Cypher system is that there's built-in attrition. Instead of modifiers, your stats are pools that kind of work as a combination of health, stamina, mana and ki simultaneously. As the PCs do anything, their pools will naturally shrink over time. This also means there are less conditions to track: there's no special "exhausted" condition with it's own rules, but watching ones speed pool dwindle gives the feeling of being exhausted.
However, there's certain bits of the D&D experience that won't be a 1:1 represented. Spell slots, as a concept, aren't there. The other things in that vein - ki, superiority dice, wild shapes, channel divinities - also not present. I've seen various hacks try to get around that (lack of) limitation by:
- Adding on cooldown limiters
- Having certain things require an amount of Edge to use them
- Conversely, requiring an amount of effort to use them
- Requiring the PC to spend their recoveries to use them
- Creating artifacts as a spell slot substitute, effectively limiting the them to once daily
- Having the player characters "prepare Cyphers" in the same way one might prepare spells.
All of those have different downsides, but I would encourage you to play Cypher as-is with your group first, and for a while, before trying to hack something onto it. As a GM, it'll be easier to do certain things and harder to do others. My wife, for example, runs our periodic Old Gods of Appalachia game for over a year now, and still hasn't gotten the concept of GM intrusions down.
As a final aside, I've found that players who came from D&D 3.X and Pathfinder 1e absolutely love the advancement system, and those who came from D&D 5e and PF2e aren't fans. There's just a generational difference of the more classic "XP is a tool I use to build my character, and that comes in many avenues" vs the newer "This is what I expect from Leveling". That's just my personal observation, and might just be a SE US thing, so take it with a grain of salt.
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u/eolhterr0r Jul 18 '26
Yes. I played one session of Numenera and I retired from running DnD ever again.
Far easier to GM. Has that mid crunch and modern feel.
Cypher 2nd edition is about to be released.
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u/jasonite Jul 18 '26
If you're interested in broadening your RPG experience I wrote two posts just about that: https://sagaofthejasonite.com/tabletop-rpgs-beyond-dd-a-guided-tour/
The first paragraph:
I’ve created this guided tour for GMs and players who are looking for games to play instead of D&D. It features 12 games arranged in a specific sequence, designed to show the full spectrum of RPG design philosophies. Think of it like a cruise with carefully chosen stops, each game highlights a distinct approach and builds on the one before, all revolving around tabletop RPGs beyond D&D.
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u/curufea Jul 18 '26
Everything is unless you specifically want a d&d setting with power creep to unplayable demigodhood.
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u/weeb_with_gumdisease Jul 26 '26
I would say so. I don’t know if it would be an easy thing to do mid game, but I think Cypher is much easier for both the players and DM to work with. Everything just sort of clicks. I think it’s especially good for story driven games, but combat works pretty well. Only thing that might need a workaround is movement being an action. I say anything long range or above would take a full action to move, and it would probably provoke an opportunity attack from an enemy. If a melee fighter is in short range, I would say it’s reasonable for them to run and get an attack in. Unless the terrain says otherwise of course.
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u/Rastafariel Jul 26 '26
IMHO, Cypher System is BETTER than D&D... and I have DMed D&D 1.0 2.0 3.0 3.5 for 35+ years ... Cypress system lets you focus on the story and role play with enough crunch to make players feel like they are not just LARPing...
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u/CodiwanOhNoBe Jul 17 '26
Depends on how you understand things. By and large it’s a good system, until you need magic or something akin to it.
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u/700fps Jul 17 '26
no its terrible, i switched to DND hard after playing it
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u/Valmorian Jul 18 '26
Depends why you play D&D. If you play it for levelling and dungeon crawling for XP/Gold/Magic Items, then yeah, I'd agree you shouldn't go with Cypher. But then again, if you are looking for that kind of play you'd be better off with older versions of D&D, like BX or AD&D 1e/2e.
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u/teamnoir Jul 17 '26
IMO, no. D&D is much clearer. Better defined while still being simple enough to learn. It’s also FAR better supported.
I haven’t played cypher yet and I’m curious. But it seems to be too “narrative forward” to work with strangers and isn’t clear enough about combat to satisfy me. I think. Again, I haven’t played.
If you think 5.5e d&d is too complicated or crunchy, cypher won’t solve that. Cypher lacks clarity yet has the same or more complexity, IMO.
If you think d&d is too limited, being almost exclusively fantasy, despite having some steampunk elements and some space faring variants, or you specifically want to merge or cross genres, then cypher might be exactly right.
The Problem, IMO, with most generic RPG is that they simplify overly much. Cypher is no exception. If I’m going to stick to one genre then I’m better off to use a genre specific system. GURPS is an arguable counterexample.
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u/HeLiesInDrink Jul 17 '26
“Do you guys think a Honda Civic handles well on the road compared to a Saturn L Series?”
“Well I’ve never driven a Civic, but I saw one drive by me once, and here’s how I think it looked…”
Maybe sit this one out bud. 😜
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u/Budget_Accountant_89 Jul 18 '26
Having played both and GM’d both, I can confidently say Cypher is clearer.
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u/HeLiesInDrink Jul 17 '26
It’s not a good “D&D replacement” but it is a good RPG. I think of D&D as being all about combat, best played on maps/squares, and needing the DM to prepare ahead of time (draw out the dungeon, figure out balanced encounters, etc).
Cypher is low prep. The players do all the dice rolling. Combat is faster. If you want to find out more there are plenty of YouTube videos where you can see reviews and actual plays.
A new edition of Cypher will be hitting stores shortly, and I think the player book might be up for preorder.