Cypher System Starter Set by Monte Cook Games

Explore the Cypher System—learn the rules in minutes and get playing. Any campaign, any genre, any character—the Cypher System makes it easy!

The Cypher System is the critically acclaimed roleplaying game system that powers any campaign in any genre. Lauded for its elegance, ease of use, flexibility, and narrative focus, the Cypher System unleashes the creativity of GMs and players. The rules are unintrusive, but give you the power and sophistication to create any story, character, or adventure you can imagine.

Here’s why you’ll love the Cypher System!

Easy to learn, easy to play—and easy to make your own!

The Cypher System is easy for beginners to learn, but offers all the depth, nuance, and complexity you want. Some people call it a “rules-light” system, but it has the power and sophistication of games that are much more mechanically heavy—and yet it’s substantially more flexible. GMs find the game easy to prep for and easy to run—it frees up the GM’s attention, in prep and at the game table, to focus on cool, creative ideas rather than numbers, mechanics, and “crunch.”

PC-focused narrative

Cypher System characters are built with a three-part sentence. You might be a Rugged Warrior who Stands Like a Bastion. A Guarded Adept who Keeps a Magic Ally. Perhaps a Graceful Explorer who Moves Like the Wind. Or a Charming Speaker who Bears a Halo of Fire. Each part of your sentence says something about your character—but also provides some of your abilities, skills, and stats. They even offer guidance on your connections to other characters in your party, creating bonds that can be a foundation for an ongoing campaign, or facilitate great roleplaying in one-shot adventures.

Creating a great Cypher System character is as easy as coming up with a great concept. You build the character you imagine through a short, easy, largely math-free character creation process. And you get a character with depth, nuance, and flexibility.

Any genre, any campaign

The Cypher System is flexible. From fantasy to science fiction, horror to post-apocalyptic, superhero to cyberpunk, the elegance of the Cypher System makes it easy!

The same flexibility that makes Cypher System characters so awesome also makes it easy to customize them to your campaign. Simply pick the types, descriptors, and foci that are appropriate to your setting, and exclude those that aren’t.

Whatever game you want to run—whatever world you want to create and explore—the flexible, fast-paced, narrative-focused Cypher System makes it easy!

Uniquely easy on the GM

While preparing for their games, and at the game table, Cypher System GMs spend their time and mental energy thinking up exciting and creative adventures, settings, encounters, twists, NPCs, and creatures—while spending only mere minutes on numbers and stats. This is in part due to the elegant, math-free simplicity of the system, and in part because of the “players roll all the dice” approach, which shares the mechanical burden with the players.

The Cypher System is amazingly easy to adjudicate. The GM decides how difficult a task is on a simple 1-to-10 scale, and the players apply their skills, resources, and other assets to lower that number—and then they roll the dice. If you can rate a task between 1 and 10, you can run the Cypher System—even if your adventure goes in a completely unexpected direction, or you’ve had no time to prep. Of course there’s more to it, and creatures, encounters, and special situations can add layers of additional sophistication when you want it. But at the heart of it all is that 1-to-10 scale. And that’s it!

The Cypher System Starter Set makes it easy to experience the Cypher System!