The Cypher System RPG — Astonishing Adventures (Ep. 0)

Welcome to My Lab

This is an experiment. It’s an experiment in fun. It’s something I’ve had on my mind to do for quite a while now and have decided to just put it out there and see what happens. And it revolves around one of my favorite games — the Cypher System RPG.

Earlier this year on my YouTube channel, I talked about some things I had in mind to do for the RPG Elite Network in 2023. One of those things was called The Story.

What Is The Story?

The Story is my attempt at putting a solo RPG session into prose form while explaining how the system works that’s being used. It is putting my interpretation on the rolls and how they may be used to weave a tale, as if you are reading a novel.

There are several solo systems for tabletop RPGs. I would like to cover a couple of them, God willing. For Astonishing Adventures, I will use a system I’m very familiar with and love. It’s called Chaos: Cypher System Game Master Emulator, part of the Cypher System RPG, the system used in the fantastic tabletop RPG Numenera.

I could explain how the system works, but I believe the best way is for you to go over to Drive-Thru RPG and download it for yourself if you would like to follow along. At the time of this writing, it is only $5.00. However, it requires you to own the base Cypher System RPG.

Today — Episode 0

The name of this experiment is Astonishing Adventures. It will be a campaign. Each post will be one episode. How long this campaign will be, I do not know. It really depends on how it performs. I am looking forward to seeing how it develops.

The genre is a mix between modern and a touch of the fantastical. Throughout these episodes, I will explain some of the core concepts of the Cypher System RPG so you’re not totally lost in what’s going on.

Though you won’t be able to see them, just know that the actual roles will be authentic. It’s just not interesting if you want to cheat and fudge the rolls. That is lame with a capital L.

This Is Helix Brown

The main character in Astonishing Adventures is Helix Brown. Helix was inducted into a secret society called The Safeguard three years ago (think Warehouse 13 or The Librarians). The Safeguard claims to hold and protect esoteric knowledge and rare, valuable objects. They oppose the forces of known and unknown evil in the world (and beyond) who would want to use them to spread destruction and chaos.

Those who know Helix often call him by his last name because he always wears some kind of brown outfit or piece of clothing. This is in tribute to his father, who was a volcanologist who died on one of his expeditions. He wears a ring made from a piece of volcanic rock which holds strong sentimental value for him.

Helix’s position at The Safeguard is what they call a proofer. His primary job is to authenticate whether something is real and genuine. He inherently analyzes everything he comes across, from research data to the behavior of people around him. This gives him a knack for spotting unexpected patterns and connections other might overlook.

He cares deeply about the truth. A big part of that is curiosity about wanting to understand what’s going on beneath the surface of things. As a result, the Safeguard relies on him to combat bias and misinformation.

However, he can be impatient and short. If people don’t follow him or comprehend what he’s saying, he gives a dismissive “never mind.” He can get lost in their own train of thought, even when they’re with other people. This makes him come off as disconnected, especially in social situations. He knows this and is struggling to overcome that flaw, among others.

Helix Brown: The Nuts and Bolts

Now that we have the preliminary background information out of the way, let’s look at his character sheet from the Cypher System RPG.

Three things are the bedrock for the description of PCs in the Cypher System RPG — descriptors, foci, and types. For Helix, he’s a Perceptive Explorer who Solves Mysteries. These three things influence the special abilities and skills I gave him, which are listed below.

Cypher System RPG Stat Pools

The three main stat pools all characters have are Might, Speed, and Intellect. Base starting levels are determined by the character’s Type. For Helix, this would be Explorer. You can then add six more points wherever you want to distribute them into their main stats (add picture for main stats). For Helix, I distributed them like this:

• Might – 10
• Speed – 10
• Intellect – 14

Special Abilities

Helix has four special abilities.

• Knowledge Skills
• Improved Edge
• Trained Without Armor
• Decipher

So this article isn’t too long, I will list these special abilities. Leet Squad members will get updates and explanations on these automatically (you can sign up here for the Leet Squad).

Skills

In the Cypher System RPG, your character’s skills are based on their main stats. For each, a character is trained, specialized, or has an inability. Trained skills lower the Task Difficulty by one step. If specialized, it lowers the Task Difficulty by two steps. If a character has an inability, it will raise the Task Difficulty by one step.

As with the special abilities, I will just list Helix’s and explain them in more detail as he uses them in his adventures. The following are skills Helix is trained in.

• Archaeology
• History
• Perception
• Finding and Noticing Details/Detective
• Identifying Objects
• Intimidating Creatures
• Calling Details to Mind
• Speed Defense

The following are skills Helix has an inability in.

• Social Interactions

Equipment and Cyphers

These are some common items Helix would have on him during an investigation/adventure.

• Yakut knife
• 38 Special Revolver
• Smartphone
• Bag of light tools
• Backpack
• Binoculars
• Box of ammo
• Magnifying glass
• Flashlight

I won’t get into cyphers here until we use them during the adventure. I’ll explain how they work then. Suffice to say, Helix can carry two cyphers.

Special Leet Squad Updates

As I mentioned earlier, there are behind-the-scenes perks of Leet Squad members receive:

• Access to updates on the character sheet
• Ability and skill explanations.
• Costume/clothing changes for Helix.
• Access to all campaign entries (I will post some here, but not all of them).

Though I’ll mention when Helix gets a new ability or piece of equipment, I won’t explain how it works except to Leet Squad members on my Guilded server. That information will be on the character sheet only. So, if that’s something that interest you, join the Leet Squad today.

If you want access to that, go ahead and join the Leet Squad.

Watch the video announcement here.