%% date:: [[2023-01-15]], [[2023-01-16]], [[2023-01-21]] %% # [[Cypher Numenera rules]] On this page are some key rules for the [[Tabletop Roleplaying Games|TTRPG]] system [[Cypher]]. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Cxa2X7T01Zs" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> ## Abilities ### Scores - Might - Speed - Intellect ### Buckets #### Pool How much of an ability you have. Your pool has a few functions: - HP. Damage you take is deducted from the might, speed, or intellect pool. - Difficulty reduction. You can deduct from your pool to reduce a task's difficulty. - Mana. You use it to fuel abilities. #### Edge Kind of like a buffer or proficiency for a stat: - You subtract it from the activation cost of an ability. - You subtract it from the cost of Effort. #### Effort A score that indicates how many *levels of Effort* you can spend from your stat pool to lower the [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Difficulty ratings|difficulty]] of a task *before you attempt the roll.* At tier 1, you spend 3 points (one *level of Effort*) from a relevant stat pool to reduce the difficulty of a task by one step, and 2 level of effort for every step after that. To apply Effort, you subtract the relevant Edge from the cost. You can apply effort to: - increase the damage you deal with an attack (+3 points of damage per level, or +2 points of damage per level for area attacks and you deal 1 point of damage even to those that resist the attack) - decrease the difficulty of a task. > [!tip] Multiple uses of effort for one action > You can apply Effort to multiple aspects of a single action, but you can only apply Edge for a particular stat once per action. ## [[Numenera Character Creation]] ## Checks ### Checks/tasks overview 1. Tell the GM what you want to do. 2. GM decides on the [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Difficulty ratings|difficulty rating]] of the task and which stat pool to use (if there's a chance of failure). 3. You and the GM decide on how the difficulty is [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Things that can modify a roll|modified]]. 4. The GM decides whether there is an [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Initial cost (p.106)|initial cost]]. 5. GM determines the Target Number that you need to roll to succeed. The Target Number is the difficulty x 3. 6. Roll a d20. 7. Compare the result to the modified Target Number. 8. Check whether the natural roll was a [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Special rolls (p.104)|special roll]]. > [!tip] Player rolls > In Numenera, players always roll. GMs never roll. ### Target Number `Target Number = Difficulty rating * 3` ### Difficulty ratings Cypher has this guide for difficulty ratings, but GMs can also adjust these depending on circumstances. | Task Difficulty | Description | Target No. | Guidance | | --------------- | ------------ | ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 0 | Routine | 0 | Anyone can do this basically every time. | | 1 | Simple | 3 | Most people can do this most of the time. | | 2 | Standard | 6 | Typical task requiring focus, but most people can usually do this. | | 3 | Demanding | 9 | Requires full attention; most people have a 50/50 chance to succeed. | | 4 | Difficult | 12 | Trained people have a 50/50 chance to succeed. | | 5 | Challenging | 15 | Even trained people often fail. | | 6 | Intimidating | 18 | Normal people almost never succeed. | | 7 | Formidable | 21 | Impossible without skills or great effort. | | 8 | Heroic | 24 | A task worthy of tales told for years afterward. | | 9 | Immortal | 27 | A task worthy of legends that last lifetimes. | | 10 | Impossible | 30 | A task that normal humans couldn't consider (but one that doesn't break the laws of physics.) | These target numbers are the numbers needed for success for performing any taks or for successfully carrying out an attack or defense. Applying [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Effort|effort]] reduces the *difficulty* by one level, not the Target Number. ### Special rolls (p.104) | Roll | Effect | Description | | ---- | -------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | | 1 | [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#GM Intrusions\|GM intrusion]] | Free intrusion with no XP awarded | | 17 | Damage bonus | +1 point of damage if attack | | 18 | Damage bonus | +2 points of damage if attack | | 19 | [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Minor effect (p.105)\|Minor effect]] | +3 damage if attack, otherwise minor effect | | 20 | [[Cypher Numenera rules#Major effect\|Major effect]] | +4 damage if attack, otherwise major effect | ### GM Intrusions (p.104) Intrusions in Numenera are like [[Fate.md#Compels|compels in Fate]], but they're only done by GMs when [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Special rolls (p.104)|players roll a 1]]. Intrusions complicate a situation for a PC by introducing an unexpected difficulty or obstacle. What the intrusion is depends on the roll that triggered it. - On a defense roll, an intrusion might mean that the PC takes +2 damage ### Minor effect (p.105) A minor effect happens when [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Special rolls (p.104)|players roll a 19]]. A minor effect is slightly beneficial for the PC: they do the thing, but a bit better than expected. Here are some possible minor effects in combat: - +3 points of damage - **Damage object**: Damage an object the foe is holding - **Distract:** For one round, all of the foe's tasks are hindered - **Knock back**: Force the foe back a few feet - **Move past**: You can move a few feet after you attack - **Strike a specific body shot**: Perform a called shot; the GM adjudicates if there is a special effect that applies depending on the part of the body that is shot. ### Major effect (p.105) A major effect happens when [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Special rolls (p.104)|players roll a 20]]. Major effects are significantly beneficial. Here are some possible major effects in combat: - **Disarm:** The foe drops something it's holding - **Impair:** All the foe's tasks are hindered *for the rest of the combat*. - **Knock down:** Knock the foe prone. (It can get up on its next turn.) - **Stun:** The foe loses its next action > [!tip] Choosing a combat effect (p.105) > Just like [[The One Ring 2e Cheat Sheet.md#Advantages *(Rules, p. 102)*|gaining an advantage in The One Ring]], you can decide to try for a [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Major effect (p.105)|major]] or [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Minor effect (p.105)|minor]] effect. When you do so, you [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Checks|do a check]] but for a minor effect, your attack is -4 and hindered; and for a major effect, your attack is -8 and hindered two steps. ### Retrying a task (p.106) When you retry a task (and the GM lets you), you must spend at least one level of [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Effort|effort]] to make the attempt. ### Initial cost (p.106) A GM can, in addition to setting the [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Difficulty ratings|task difficulty]], also rule that you must spend a minimum amount of points from one of your [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Pool|stat pools]] just to make the attempt to do saomething really taxing. It's a bit of a [[Sunk cost fallacy]]. This doesn't stop you from applying [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Effort|effort]] to do the task, though. [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Edge|Edge]] reduces the initial cost of a task. ### Things that can modify a roll (Easing and hindering) - Character stats - [[Numenera Character Creation.md#Assets (p.103)|Assets]] (up to two steps) - Circumstances - [[Numenera Character Creation.md#Skills|Skills]] (up to two steps) - [[Numenera Character Creation.md#Adjective: Descriptors (p.53)|Descriptors]] - [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Edge|Edge]] - [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Effort|Effort]] - Whether or not you're [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Retrying a task (p.106)|retrying the task]] after a failure. - Combat circumstances (attack modifiers) - cover - position (prone/higher ground) - surprise - range (point-blank, extreme) - illumination - *dim*: full moon/torch, short range. - *very dim light:* starry night with no moon, immediate range. (hindered once in immediate range, twice in short range) - *darkness:* complete darkness. Impossible to hit using vision alone, hindered four steps if other senses are used. - visibility (p.114) - *mist:* hindered 1 ranged/melee - *hiding target*: hindered at range - *invisible target:* hindered four steps if other senses are used, otherwise can't target unless 1 XP is spent to "make a lucky shot" or [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#GM Intrusions (p.104)|GM intrusion]] - water (p.114) - moving targets (p.115) - gravity (p.115) ## Distance Numenera uses simplified distances. ![[Numenera Distances.dark.png]] - *Immediate*: within reach or a few steps, at most 3m. You can move this far as part of your action. - *Short*: >3 but <15m: one [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Move (p.116)|Move action]] - *Long*: >15 but <30m: one [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Move (p.116)|Move action]] with Speed task, difficulty 4. - *Very long*: >30 but <150m ## Time In the Ninth World: - 1 day = 28 hours long - 1 year = 312 days long - 1 round = 5-10 seconds - 1 minute = about 10 rounds ## Recovery (p. 111) You can recover `1d6+tier` points (to be distributed among your stat pools as you wish) during a rest. How long you have to rest, depends on how many times you've rested that day: | Times rested today | Rest duration | | ------------------ | ------------------------------------- | | 1 | a few seconds (or 1 action in combat) | | 2 | 10 minutes | | 3 | 1 hour | | 4 | 10 hours | If a recovery roll increase a stat pool from 0 to 1 or higher, move the PC one step up the [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Damage Track|damage track]]. ### Healing Healing by bandaging wounds requires an Intellect action with difficulty equal to the number of points you want to heal. ## Combat (p. 107) 1 round lasts 5-10 seconds, and there are about 10 rounds in a minute. Each character has a turn every round. On their turn, a character can take one action. ### Combat overview - Roll [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Initiative|initiative]]. - Every turn: - PC makes an attack by rolling a [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Checks|check]] or task with the appropriate stat. - ![[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Checks/tasks overview]] - Determine whether the task was a success. - Resolve [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Damage (p.109)|damage]] - Subtract [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Armor|Armor]] from damage taken. - Subtract points from the relevant pool (PCs) or from the damage track (NPCs). - Reduce [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Damage Track|damage track]] if necessary. ### Initiative An initiative roll is a *Speed* roll. There are a few ways to run initiative: - Characters who beat the NPC's target number act before the NPC does, but it doesn't matter which of the characters go first. They can come up with another way to order themselves. - If at least one PC's initiative roll is higher than the NPCs' initiative roll, all PCs act first. Otherwise, the NPCs act first. ### Actions One action occurs in 5-10 seconds and consist sof a single focus. This could consist of: - Attack (with moving an immediate distance) - Activate a special ability - Move (a short distance) - Wait - Defend - Something else #### Attack (p.108) An attack is anything you want to do to someone that they don't want you to do. It consists of a roll against the target's [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Target Number|Target number]]. Attacks are [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Checks|checks]] and modifiers are applied in the same way as other types of checks. Melee attacks can use *Might* or *Speed*, and players can choose which one to use. Esoteries that require touching the target are considered melee attacks, but if they miss, the power is not expended. When a character is attacked, follow the rules of [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Damage (p.109)|damage]] to determine what happens next. *Area attacks vs NPCs:* Roll a single attack roll against all NPCs and compare it to each [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Target Number|Target Number]]. #### Move (p.116) As per [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Distance|Distance]]. #### Cooperative Actions (p.118) - *Helping*: Use your action to ease a task for someone else. - You must be able to do the task. - If you help in a task you're trained or specialized in: eased two steps - Help is an asset, and you can't have more than one asset on a single task if that help is provided by another character. - *Distraction*: Use your action to distract a foe. - On a success, foe's attacks are hindered for a round. - *Draw the attack:* Use an action to draw a foe's attention by shouting or taunting them. - Automatically succeeds most of the time, but you may sometimes be required to succeed at an Intellect task (for intelligent foes). - *Take the attack:* Use your action to throw yourself in front of a foe's successful attack against your comrade. - This auto-succeeds, but you get an additional 1 point of damage. - You can't take more than one attack each round this way. #### Wait (p.119) - Like delaying or readying an action in [[Dungeons & Dragons|D&D 5e]]. - Set a trigger and an action. #### Defend (p.119) - This occurs as a reaction to an attack, and may not happen on your turn. - If you don't know an attack is coming, you don't add modifiers to the roll. #### Do something else (p.119) You can try to do anything you want to. In this case, go back to [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Checks|Checks]] and go through those steps with your GM. You can try things like: - climbing - crafting, building, repairing - guarding - healing, bandaging (Intellect action with difficulty equal to the number of points you want to heal) - jumping - looking/listening - interacting with creatures - moving a heavy object - operating or disabling a device, picking a lock - riding - sneaking - swimming - understanding, identifying, or remembering (p.122) ### Damage (p.109) Attacks against a PC subtract points from the relevant stat pool, or *Might* if not specified. Attacks against an NPC subtract points from the NPC's health (which is equal to their [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Target Number|Target Number]]). Attacks against objects subtract points from their object damage track. #### Armor Armor is subtracted from the damage a character would take before reducing their stat pool (or health). Physical armor doesn't usually protect against ambient (splash/AoE) damage. #### Death and incapacitation When an NPC drops to 0 health, the attacker decides whether they are dead or incapacitated. When a PC takes damage: - They drop their [[Cypher Numenera rules#Damage Track (p.110)|damage track]] one level. - They reduce the relevant stat. If the stat is already at 0, they reduce other stat pools in this order: - Might - Speed - Intellect > [!tip] Original damage type > When damage rolls over to another stat pool, the type of damage it is does not change for the purpose of Armor and other abilities that affect damage. #### Damage Track (p.110) - *Hale*: Normal state. All three stat pools >= 1 - *Impaired*: Wounded/injured. - Applying [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Effort|Effort]] costs one extra point. - Ignore minor and major results on rolls. - [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Special rolls (p.104)|Special rolls]] (>=17) deal only 1 additional point of damage. - *Debilitated*: Critically injured. - Cannot take actions other than [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Move (p.116)|Move]] an immediate distance (if *Speed* is not 0, otherwise they can't move). - *Dead* #### Conditions - Special damage (p.112) - *Dazed:* For the duration (usually one round), all tasks are hindered. - *Stunned:* Lose your turn, but defend against attacks normally. - *Poisoned:* Take damage, move down the [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Damage Track|damage track]], or some other specific effect. - *Diseased:* Like poison, but it happens every day and the victim must make a check every day or suffer the effects. - *Paralyzed:* Drop to the ground. Can't move, but can still take actions that don't require physical movement. - *Other effects:* Blindness, deafness, inability to breathe. ## Improvement Improvement is measured by XP (Experience Points). ### Earning XP Expect to earn about 2-4 XP in a game and then about 2 XP between sessions. - [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#GM Intrusions (p.104)|GM intrusions]]: GM can offer you a complication. - If you accept, they must also give you 2 XP. You must then give 1 XP to another player, and justify the gift. - If you refuse, you must pay the GM 1 XP. - Discovering new things - Artifacts: XP = artifact's level, divided by all characters - Cyphers and oddities are not worth XP. - At the GM's discretion - Player-driven awards - Players can create their own goals, and then earn XP if they achieve it ### Spending XP - Immediate benefits - 1 XP = 1 reroll in the game (even if you didn't make the roll) - 1 XP = refuse a [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#GM Intrusions (p.104)|GM intrusion]] - Short-term benefits - 2 XP = Gain a skill or ability, but with an in-story reason for how you got it - Long-term benefits (usually story-based) - 3 XP = Improve your character to gain familiarity with something, with an in-story reason - XP to purchase a stronghold, create an artifact, get shins (money) - 4 XP: [[Cypher Numenera rules.md#Advancement (p.128)|Advancement]] > [!tip] What to spend your XP on > The general guideline is to spend half your XP on advancement and long-term benefits, and the other half on immediate and short-term benefits. ### Advancement (p.128) There are six tiers, each of which has four steps. To progress to another tier, you must first spend 4XP four times on one of the following: - *Increasing capabilities:* Gain 4 points to allocate among your stat Pools. - *Moving toward perfection:* Add 1 to your Might Edge, Speed Edge, or your Intellect Edge (your choice). - *Extra Effort:* Your Effort score increases by 1. - *Skills:* Choose one skill other than attacks or defenses and become trained in it. Alternatively, improve your training for a skill you're already trained in, easing tasks involving it by 1. - *Other options* - Reduce the cost for wearing armor: lower the Speed Effort cost by 1. - Add 2 to your recovery rolls. - Select a new fighting move (Glaive), esotery (Nano), or trick of the trade (Jack) from your tier or lower. - (At tier 3 or higher) Select another [[Numenera Character Creation.md#Verbs: Focus (p.58)|Focus]] ability available to you. When you've "purchased" one of the list above four times, you can go up a tier! > [!tip] Levelling up at the same time > In Numenera, characters may not advance to the next tier at exactly the same time. While it's advisable to progress together, it's not necessary. However, if it bothers you, GMs can be more vigilant about making sure every player has the same opportunities to gain XP. ## Resources - [Numenera Discovery Outline](obsidian://open?vault=ttrpg-vault&file=inspiration%2FCypher%20System%2FNumenera%20Discovery)