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YOUR NEW FAVORITE RPG!

The world is over. Now what? Just simply survive, or maybe find a way to build something new? The world is just like you think it is--except for all the magic. How are you going to use your unique mystical abilities to make this place your own? How can both of these things be true? Because you're playing the Cypher System! The Cypher System is the critically acclaimed game engine 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 with intuitive character creation, fast-paced gameplay, and a uniquely GM-friendly design. It's easy to learn, but offers all the depth, nuance, and complexity you want. While far more flexible and less rules intensive than other games, it still has the power and sophistication to create any story or adventure you can imagine. This campaign funds exciting new content for Cypher System fans new and old. The Cypher System Starter Set is a great way to jump into the game. If you’re already into it, check out two new genre books—Rust and Redemption and It’s Only Magic. There’s even a new DELUXE version of the Cypher System Rulebook. And that’s before we start unlocking new titles through stretch goals!

The system is notable for its elegance, dynamic table play, and emphasis on adventure through player creativity. -Nerdist

The Cypher System will be your new favorite tabletop RPG. (Already your favorite? Skip ahead to the new stuff!) Here are just a few of the many reasons you'll love it:

You make characters with a three-part sentence. You’re a Rugged Warrior who Stands Like a Bastion. A Guarded Adept who Keeps a Magic Ally. A Charming Speaker who Bears a Halo of Fire. Or perhaps a Graceful Explorer who Moves Like the Wind. There are dozens and dozens of options for that three-part sentence, and each contributes to your abilities and stats—and even suggests elements of backstory and connections to other PCs. Character creation is fast and intuitive! Here’s an example of a Cypher System character you can check out (and use in play, if you like) right now.

It’s soooo easy to run! The Cypher System is amazingly easy to GM. If you can decide how hard something is on a scale of 1 to 10, you can resolve anything in the Cypher System. The GM sets a difficulty, the PCs’ skills, tactics, and choices might reduce that difficulty, and then the player makes a simple die roll. (And it’s always the player—the GM never rolls!) It’s fast, effortless, and focused on narrative and choices rather than numbers and math. The GM’s bandwidth is freed up for making the game interesting and fun, rather than managing mechanics. Here’s a quick explainer from Geek & Sundry, showing how quick and intuitively this works.

Which means it’s really easy to prep for. It’s Friday and the players will be here in 15 minutes? If you have a cool idea and a number between 1 and 10, you’ve got an encounter. You can build sophisticated stat blocks in less than five minutes. You can run completely on the fly! The GM’s imagination is freed up to make your game cool, interesting, and fun—you’ll spend almost no time on the mechanics. Here’s an article about building stat blocks in minutes.

Built-in tools help GMs and players forge the story they want to experience. Want to add a fun twist or unexpected curveball to a scene or storyline? Punch up an encounter or entire adventure? Throw in a GM intrusion—a mechanic that lets you turn the tables on the PCs a bit, but in a way that’s fair and fun for them. They have their own tools, including player intrusions and Effort (to increase their odds in a clutch situation). XP is a currency that players can expend for story benefits as well as character advancement. Here’s a short article about how GM intrusions can really make a game memorable!

Almost anything you imagine can receive basic game mechanics in seconds, letting you pick interesting set pieces, tweak them, and assemble them for play…. a dream for the GM. - Escapist Magazine

Gameplay is fast-paced and fun. Things move quickly in the Cypher System--a typical game session might cover twice as much ground as a more mechanics-heavy RPG. But it’s not just about fast-paced encounters. Task rolls—all tasks, even combat—start with a negotiation between the player and GM, not a math exercise. This keeps the focus on the players and the narrative, not the character sheet. Check out this actual play to see this in action!

Cyphers keep things fresh. Cyphers are single-use special abilities. In some genres, they may be physical items the PCs come across—potions or scrolls, or bits of inscrutable alien technology. In other genres, they may be less tangible—blessings, inspiration, or simply a meta-game benefit for the player’s use. Either way, a cypher gives the PC a one-time, often unusual, boost—easing a roll, or enabling a cool and dramatic player action. Here’s an article about how cyphers keep your game fresh and exciting.

It’s all compatible! Need a giant oceanic kaiju for your supers campaign? Grab one from the Tidal Blades RPG. No conversion, no work. Introduce a weird Numenera artifact into your sci-fi game. Pull a creepy monster from Ptolus into your Cthulhu campaign. Grab a character option from The Strange for your modern character. If you’re playing Cypher System, the entire Cypher System is your toolbox. No muss, no fuss! For example, the Ninth World Bestiary 2 contains over 160 creatures easily used in any Cypher System game. You can grab eight of them, ready to go, when you download the free preview for that title.

Any genre. Any campaign. Any character. Got a cool idea for a new campaign? The Cypher System will run that game. Aliens-inspired space horror? Sure! Whimsical light fantasy, a la The Princess Bride? Yeah, that works. An old-West zombie apocalypse? Swashbuckling pirates on the high seas? Reality-hopping dimensional travelers? Classic fantasy? Hard sci-fi? Superheroes? You got it! (You can even publish your material, through the Cypher System Open License.) For just one great example, take a look at Predation, where futuristic time travelers are trapped in the Cretaceous era.

The Cypher System is the backbone for many award-winning, critically acclaimed, popular RPGs including Numenera, The Strange, the Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game, the Tidal Blades Roleplaying Game, VURT, Shotguns & Sorcery, and more. There are also many published campaign settings, such as Predation, Unmasked, The Origin, and Gods of the Fall. And the Cypher System Open License allows third-party publishers to release their own Cypher System content and even complete games.

I love the system, the ease of use, character creation, the cyphers themselves, how much of a breeze it is to GM, just so much of it is great. -Cease one on reddit

Want a first-hand look at the actual rules? Download the free Cypher System Rules Primer. It contains the core rules along with a short adventure and pregenerated characters. Read through it to see how the Cypher System works, or gather a few friends and play a game!

Download the free Cypher System Rules Primer Now! by clicking here

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THE CYPHER SYSTEM RULEBOOK AND EXISTING SUPPLEMENTS

The 448-page Cypher System Rulebook, available now in print and PDF, gives you everything you need to power the campaign you want to run—any campaign—with the Cypher System: complete game rules, zillions of character options, equipment, creatures and NPCs, cyphers and artifacts, and great GM advice on adapting the Cypher System to a variety of settings.

Don't have the Cypher System Rulebook? Every pledge level includes the 448-page Cypher System Rulebook in PDF, delivered early, for free!

Another highly polished product from MCG. -The Gaming Gang

But the true beauty of the Cypher System is how you make it your own. While the Cypher System Rulebook makes it easy to play any campaign, our genre books dig deeper and explore new territory. Each 224-page tome looks at the full breadth of the genre, explores ways to make great campaigns in that milieu, offers optional rules and GMing tricks, gives you creatures, cyphers, and character options, and presents a ready-to-use campaign setting and a couple of adventures. A range of these titles is already available, covering science-fiction, horror, fairy tales, fantasy, and superheroes.

5 white books: The Stars Are Fire, Stay Alive!, We Are All Mad Here, Godforsaken, and Claim the Sky

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NEW IN THIS CAMPAIGN

Image of a boxed starter set, the deluxe version of the Cypher System Rulebook, Rust and Redemption, It's Only Magic, the Cypher System Bestiary, the Adventures in the Cypher System book the Cypher System Creature Deck 2, and an open book showing pages of the Cypher System Rulebook

The Cypher System Starter Set: Gather your friends, open this box, and begin playing right away! The Cypher System is easy to learn and fun to play—and this is the perfect set for getting started. The Cypher System Starter Set includes the game rules in an easy-to-learn format, along with pregenerated characters and several adventures. You'll need the Cypher System Rulebook to build your own campaigns, but if you just want to try it out—or teach it to new players—this is a fun and inexpensive way to learn the game.

The Cypher System can make life really easy for the GM. -Strange Assembly

Cypher System Rulebook DELUXE EDITION: A stunning limited edition of the Cypher System Rulebook, this contains all the content of the standard edition but delivers it in opulent style! It includes a vegan leather cover with foil stamping and debossing, edge gilding, and a satin ribbon bookmark. This is the only sure-fire chance to get this limited edition—it will not be widely available except through this campaign. And it's delivered early, so you can jump into your Cypher System game soon!

Rust and Redemption Civilization is in ruins. Now what? Venture into the hardscrabble world of a post-apocalyptic future. Whether the end came through war, climate crisis, pandemic, or even alien or supernatural invasion, this book—like our other genre books before it—delves both broadly and deeply into the genre. Rust and Redemption offers players new options to create characters up to the challenges of a world gone to ruin: new descriptors, foci, abilities, cyphers, artifacts, gear, and more. For the GM, there’s campaign-building advice discussing the cause and historical distance of the apocalypse, themes of despair and hope, and a ready-to-use setting—plus, of course, creatures, advice, adventures, and loads more! Whether you’re inspired by tales that are fairly realistic and perhaps a bit hopeful, like Station Eleven; a bit grittier like The Last of Us; farther into a grim future with white-knuckle action like Mad Max: Fury Road; or even a bit offbeat like Logan’s Run or Love and Monsters, Rust and Redemption will be your go-to resource for Cypher System gaming amid the ruins of our world.

The game is great at getting out of its own way, and letting players just play. -Eternity TTRPG

It’s Only Magic You love the mystery and wonder of magic, but another wizard in a pointy hat just makes you roll your eyes. Drinking ale in a medieval tavern? Done that, to death. But what if… what if you had all the wild possibilities of a magical world, but that world was the world outside your window? Welcome to the world of It’s Only Magic. This book covers every aspect of GMing and playing the Cypher System in a world of spells, glamours, ghosts, and demons—but that world is the world you know so well, because you live there. Modern magic, interacting with today’s society, technology, and culture, is there for the taking. But it’s your campaign, so it’s exactly what you want it to be: a cozy witchcore setting, or a world of dark, supernatural forces threatening existence itself. Or maybe just a bit of both. A setting where magic is right out there in the open, or where it’s a secret known only to a select few. It’s Only Magic gives you rules and options for mysticism and spells, new foci based on blending magic with the modern world, magical creatures and NPCs—it’s all here for you, alongside a complete setting ready to use if you don’t want to create your own. Love Gaiman’s Sandman, the spellcasters from The Magicians or Charmed, or maybe just want to have a little more Wanda Maximov and Dr. Strange in your game? This is your magical guidestone. Whether you want to play supernatural detectives, witches, witchhunters, magical anti-corporation freedom fighters, or fashionistas that use glamours to get Instagram-famous, It’s Only Magic has what you need.

Character creation is delightful! -The Tabletop Almanac

Cypher System Creature Deck 2: Populate your encounters with challenging, creepy, and imaginative creatures quickly and easily. Generate them randomly from a selection you build. Or create encounters on the fly. Then give your players a look at the foes they face. This 100-card deck contains creatures from the Cypher System Bestiary and elsewhere, with stats on one side and an image to show players on the other. You can also get the first Cypher System Creature Deck (with creatures from the Cypher System Rulebook) as an add-on.

Adventures in the Cypher System. Showcasing the Cypher System’s elegant handling of different genres and different types of adventures, this anthology includes a variety of adventures ready to use as one-shots or as a part of a campaign. Science fiction, fantasy, horror... it’s all covered here, including adventures that revisit fan-favorite settings of the past like the Strange and Predation.

In the Cypher System, players earn XP for making discoveries, facing unexpected challenges—and, most colorfully, from GM intrusions. And they spend XP not just to advance their characters, but to reroll dice, enact player intrusions, and other at-the-table activities—so XP trades hands fairly often during play. This deck gives you a set of handy tokens to represent XP, and each card features unique art from across the breadth of the Cypher System.

And More? The Cypher System offers unlimited possibilities. What else will this campaign unlock? We anticipate adding more titles to this lineup—be sure to pledge at a level that includes all stretch goals to get these additional books added to your rewards at no extra cost!

Image of all of the currently unlocked products, with a mystery product showing question marks

Cypher System is amazing. Truly amazing. -Jeff Fa Fa on amazon.com

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DON'T HAVE THE CYPHER SYSTEM RULEBOOK?

No problem! Every backer level includes a copy of the complete Cypher System Rulebook in PDF. This 448-page book is a $22 value in PDF, but it's free with every reward and delivered early.

Sooo much stuff to develop characters with! I find it hard to think of a character that can't be designed with the material provided. -RPG.net

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PLEDGE LEVELS

The creator toolset is great, the mechanics encourage and support multiple playstyles, and the game has become a cult hit for a reason. -POC Gamer

Cyphers create a steady and ever-changing stream of cool things players can do in a game in addition to their own innate powers and abilities. -Andrew Logan Montgomery

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ADD-ONS

All add-on print products also include the PDF, where applicable.

DELUXE Cypher System Rulebook $120 A beautiful addition to your gaming shelf or game table! All the content of the standard edition in a stunning deluxe limited edition made just for this campaign.

Cypher System T-shirt $25 The photo says it all! Screen-printed on a soft, durable, high-quality cotton-poly material, this shirt shows your Cypher System love in style!

Cypher System Rulebook $70 The award-winning Cypher System is flexible, fast-paced, and built to be easy on the GM. Any character, any campaign—if you can imagine it, the 448-page Cypher System Rulebook makes it easy!

Any Genre, Any Campaign Library $200 A bundle of FIVE hefty hardcovers that explore different genres. Character and campaign-building, adventures, optional rules, and a deep dive into the genre. Fantasy, sci-fi, horror, fairy tales, and superheroes.

Worlds of the Cypher System Library $180 A bundle of FIVE unique, fascinating, and detailed campaign settings built for the Cypher System. Dinosaurs, first responders, epic-level fantasy, dark emergent superpowers, and more!

Explore Ptolus Bundle $190 Delve into Monte’s masterwork fantasy setting with the stunning 672-page Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire. Plus GM Screen, Player’s Guide, character portfolios, and Ptolus NPC Deck, and at a great discount!

Venture into the Planes Bundle $110 Take your fantasy campaign into the planes with Path of the Planebreaker, the Planar Bestiary, and Planar Character Options.

Ten Years of Adventure $50 This limited-edition hardcover collects ten exciting adventures for the Cypher System, with full-length adventures that delve into horror, sci-fi, fantasy, dimension-hopping, and science-fantasy worlds.

Your Best Game Ever $50 Make every adventure, session, and campaign the most it can be. It’s a tool book—not a rule book—that unlocks the secrets of consistently awesome RPG experiences—for players and GMs.

NPC Deck $20 Breathe life into an infinite variety of NPCs! The 100-card NPC Deck inspires and saves time with details of NPC appearance, personality, abilities, possessions, and more. Mix and match for endless inspiration!

GM Intrusion Deck $20 GM intrusions are part of what makes the Cypher System so fluid, fast-paced, and narrative-focused—and a real joy to GM! This deck gives you 300 intrusion ideas on 100 cards for endless inspiration.

Cypher System Creature Deck $20 Build encounters quickly and easily, or create them randomly on the fly. Then give your players a look at their foes before plunging into combat! 99 creatures from the Cypher System Rulebook and beyond.

Cypher System inspires you to create something wondrous. -RPGbot.net

Subtle Cypher Deck $20 Dozens of subtle (non-physical) cyphers at your fingertips. Generate random cyphers quickly and easily, and just hand the card to the player until they use it.

Cypher System Character Portfolios $20 Your character is more than a collection of numbers. They have a story to tell, details to record, and friends (and adversaries!) to note. A set of five of these really nice 24-page portfolios.

GM Notebook $20 Build your world. Create great adventures and interesting locales. Jot down ideas you can pull out on the fly. And log your sessions as the campaign unfolds. A 96-page notebook optimized for great GMing!

Player Notebook $20 Your character has background, interesting traits, and relationships. And your story will include fascinating places, creatures, and items—and lead to legendary feats! Log it all in this 96-page notebook.

Cypher System Playmat $30 In the Cypher System players roll all the dice. This beautiful playmat puts handy info where everyone can see it, gives you a striking focal point, and is a great die-rolling surface.

Cypher System Dice Set $13 Beautiful, easy to read, and specially marked for the Cypher System!

Bundle of three CSRs for retailers $105 RETAILERS ONLY! Distribution is struggling, so here’s three copies of the Cypher System Rulebook, delivered early, at a retail-friendly discount.

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TIMELINE

Here's the expected delivery timeline for this campaign's rewards. The world is still experiencing a lot of post-COVID upheaval in supply chains and freight transit, so we're padding this timeline to allow for slippage—we may be able to beat some of these dates, but there's also a chance we may see unanticipated production or shipping delays. We appreciate your flexibility!

Early April (as soon as we close the pledge manager): Standard Cypher System Rulebook, existing genre books, and other existing add-on items. May: Deluxe Cypher System Rulebook. January 2024: Rust and Redemption. Early 2024: Cypher System Starter Set. Early 2024: It's Only Magic.

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THE AMAZING TEAM AT MONTE COOK GAMES

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SHIPPING

Here’s the gist: shipping and global logistics are disrupted everywhere. That said, working within our own warehouse and with trusted global fulfillment partners in Europe and Australia, we do everything in our power to get your rewards into your hands as quickly, reliably, and affordably as possible.

All backers pay for shipping when they redeem their rewards. We offer a variety of domestic and international shipping methods from which you can choose. As of this writing, basic domestic shipping is $9 per shipment, but we do not control future postal rates, so that cost is subject to change. International shipping is based on postal and shipping rates at the time of the order, and varies by destination and shipment weight.

For detailed information on shipping, visit our Crowdfunding Reward Fulfillment page.

Combat is fast and narrative-led…. and the focus is more on description and imagination than dice rolling and rules calls. -Scroll for Initiative

International Shipping

International shipping is expensive. We don’t have any control over shipping rates, and we can’t accurately predict what shipping rates will be at the time of fulfillment. To comply with international law, we cannot mark your reward as a gift or as a zero-value item. Here are details that apply to your region:

Canadian Backers: Your rewards will be fulfilled by our shipping center in the United States. You will be responsible for import duties, taxes, and brokerage fees (if applicable). Please note that our books are printed in Canada, and thus are not subject to import duties; however, they are subject to GST. Items not manufactured in Canada, such as dice and decks of cards, are subject to import duties and GST.
The Rest of the Americas, the South Pacific, and Asia: Your rewards will ship from our shipping center in the United States. You will be responsible for import duties, taxes, and brokerage fees (if applicable).
The EU and UK: Your rewards will be filled by our shipping center in the UK. UK and EU backers will not pay import duties and taxes.
Australia and New Zealand: Your rewards will be filled by our shipping center in Australia. Backers in Australia and New Zealand will not pay import duties and taxes.

Adventures in the Cypher System

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Adventures in the Cypher System

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MISSED THE CAMPAIGN?

YOUR NEW FAVORITE RPG!

THE CYPHER SYSTEM RULEBOOK AND EXISTING SUPPLEMENTS

NEW IN THIS CAMPAIGN

DON'T HAVE THE CYPHER SYSTEM RULEBOOK?

PLEDGE LEVELS

ADD-ONS

TIMELINE

THE AMAZING TEAM AT MONTE COOK GAMES

SHIPPING

International Shipping