Cypher System Fantasy - Starfall in Ardeyn - Part One

Fantastic Revelations

Far too much time passed since my weekly Cypher System gaming group last gathered on Google Hangouts to sling cyphers and spend effort.  I've been very busy at work, and running a two or three hour RPG session after a ten or eleven hour day can be rough.  But I've missed playing with this group.

I've missed it a lot! 

So I dedicated myself to running a series of adventures with our Cypher System Fantasy - Ardeyn: Land of the Curse characters, aiming for weekly/bi-weekly two-and-a-half hour sessions.  I would just need to find an adventure to play.  I wouldn't have time to write a homebrew adventure, not with all my Cypher Star Wars'ing going on right now.  I also didn't feel like doing an adventure conversion from Dungeons & Dragons to the Cypher System.  

What I really wanted seemed impossible: a fantasy adventure set in Ardeyn but outside of The Strange campaign setting.

Apparently +Bruce R Cordell read my mind, because when I flipped open my brand new copy of Strange Revelations, I discovered "Starfall in Ardeyn!"    

This adventure had everything I wanted.  Just a great quest taking place right in the middle of Ardeyn without any translations to other recursions.  This was PERFECT for what I wanted to do with our Cypher System Fantasy campaign!  

Tinkering

Strange Revelations is designed to allow Cypher System game masters the opportunity to prepare a published module in very little time.  Most of these I could prepare in ten to twenty minutes.  But without any time constraints, I took my time with "Starfall in Ardeyn."  The first four pages of the adventure feature the core of the plot and story, but the last two pages give terrific suggestions for running the adventure over the course of several sessions in a campaign.  

My goal was to turn "Starfall in Ardeyn" into a three session adventure-arc.

I also decided to throw in a few tweaks:

• I created a tavern called the "Thrice Charmed Demon" that could serve as a base of operations for the adventure.
• As an easter egg, I threw in Pitricus Sederaste as the tavern owner.  Players in my old D&D 4E Ravenscape (Ravenloft/Planescape) campaign would recognize this character as a beloved but deceased, NPC.
• I opened up the adventure with an encounter between Pitricus and some local street thugs trying to steal some of his tasty beverage.  
• The Seven Moons Jubilee reminded me of the Millennial Fair from Chronotrigger, so I wanted to include a few other games that the players could try while in Elefar… one of which I titled Bones.  Believe me, you don't want to try that game at home.  

I'm so happy that we had the opportunity to get back to the table last night!  Sitting down with Marc, Andy, Frank, Craig, and Jeremy felt like being "home" again… 

… and I was certainly homesick for Ardeyn.

Living 4 Crits Presents

A Cypher System Fantasy Campaign

Ardeyn: Land of the Curse

Cast

• Sister Sariety, a Charming Speaker who Works Miracles, played by Frank
• Zamani, a Spiritual (Ugallu*) Explorer (Magic) who Masters Foot and Fist**, played by Andy
• Shenuesh, a Graceful Adept (Combat) who Wields Two Weapons at Once, played by Jeremy
• Yaren, a Foolish Warrior who Stands Like a Bastion, played by Craig
• Verrenn, a Spectral*** Adept who Casts Spells, played by Marc

* Ugallu is a race option from Broken Immersion by Ryan Chaddock Games

** Masters Foot and Fist is from Worlds Numberless and Strange by Monte Cook Games
*** Spectral is a new and original focus written by Marc Plourde and featured on his blog, Inspiration Strikes

Our Story So Far… 

• Episode 1:  Dream Patrol
• Episode 2:  Ribs
• Episode 3:  Skull
• Episode 4:  Glitch

Episode 5: Starfall in Ardeyn, Part One

Interested in riches and glory beneath the ancient city of Shalmarn, the party departed  the Citadel Hazurrium and headed east towards the Borderlands.  Only a few days into their journey they arrived in the small river town of Elefar, discovering that the entire population was in the midst of a great celebration: the Seven Moons Jubilee.  Tired from travel, the adventurers decided to find the local inn and spend the night in a warm bed.  

As the characters explored the town, they noticed a scuffle down one of the alleys.  Four street toughs had cornered a bald man carrying a small barrel of ale.  Shenuesh led the team towards the commotion, intent on either stopping the violence or adding to the bloodshed… either/or.  The man, Pitricus Sederaste, was the owner of Elefar's most popular Inn and Tavern: the Thrice Charmed Demon.  Apparently the thugs had lost quite a lot of money in one of the tavern's games of chance, and hoped that Pitricus' small barrel of brew could net them some coin.  

The party had no problem resorting to their weapons, but Pitricus whispered to Shenuesh that the leader of the thugs was Elder Meena's son.  So began a war of intimidation.  Zamani began by shouting some harsh  and pointy words.  Verenn tried to show his spectral face… only to have some rogue dust cover his ectoplasmic visage giving him the appearance of just being a pasty old-dude.

Shenuesh then stepped forward and put his hands on the lead thug's shoulders.  Allowing his lycanthropic power to surge, Shenuesh's claws lengthened, piercing the gang member's flesh.  

"Run," Shenuesh whispered to the man.  The elder's son complied.  

Grateful for his rescue, Pitricus invited the party back to his tavern for free drinks and a couple rooms for the night.  As they walked, however, a brilliant light crossed the sky.  

It was a falling star!  The fireball burned through the air, and fell on the western slopes of the nearby mountains.  Perhaps it was an omen of good fortune.  

Pitricus guided his new friends to the Thrice Charmed Demon.  A dark but cozy, busy but impossibly clean establishment, Pitricus' tavern featured a gorgeous bar, a full kitchen, and several rooms for travelers.  Two of the walls were adorned with ornate weapons, while the wall behind the bar featured the worn and used weapons of former adventurers.  

The party sat at a comfortable table and enjoyed several pitchers of fine ale.  While imbibing the flavorful drinks, Sister Sariety noticed a strange game taking place nearby.  Two farmers nervously stared each other down, laying down coins while calling out parts of their body.

The game was called "Bones", and the rules were simple:  

Start with the toe, end with the skull.

Two players would kneel face to face next to a rack of hammers, mallets, planks of wood, and crowbars.  Each would take turns calling out a bone in their body that they would be willing to break, placing several coins into the pile.  One by one, more important bones would be called out.  Eventually one of the players would call out a bone that the other would not be willing to break, causing their opponent to forfeit.  

That's when the winner would have their own declared bone broken, winning the pot.  

It was a sick game, and Sister Sariety wanted Verenn to play!  She tried to figure out a way to allow her spectral associate to "fake" a bone break.  But when she learned that the two players were playing for their summer's earnings at their respective farms, she changed her mind.  Affter one of the players had their shoulder broken upon "winning" Bones, the Sister healed the man's wound. 

"Arcana!" everyone in the tavern started to shout.  Apparently an unwritten rule of Bones was that no magic could be used in the game.  Being the fast talker that she was, however, Sister Sariety talked her way out of any trouble through her new friend Pitricus Sederaste.  Pitricus suggested that the party head outside and enjoy the wresting matches.  

Obviously the chance to wrestle during the Seven Moons Jubilee piqued Zamani's interest.  The ugallu explorer signed up to fight a local favorite named Danyal.  Sister Sariety signed on to be Zamani's trainer while Shenuesh accidentally found himself assigned to the role of "oiler."  While the Sister called upon the Maker to give Zamani a power inspiration of "aggression" in battle, Shenuesh started oiling the ugallu's fur.  

Unbeknownst to Shenuesh, the oil was made with Silversage, an herb that had little effect on normal humans, but made lycanthropes drunk.  The very pleasant Shenuesh then tried to "sculpt flesh" on Zamani, only to fuse his own flesh to his friend's and then pass out.  So Zamani would have to battle Danyal with a passed out lycanthrope attached to his chest…

… and the crowd loved it!

The wrestling match was heated for several minutes.  Zamani punched at Danyal, nearly knocking him out of the ring, only to be pushed back by the local powerhouse.  But after a few throws, Shenuesh got knocked free from the ugallu's body.  Without a lycanthrope draped across his furry chest, Zamani easily tossed Danyal out of the ring.  

Victory!  

Zamani left the ring and was approached by Pitricus.  The tavern-owner made the ugallu explorer an offer.  If Zamani and the party could bring back a token of greatness to the Thrice Charmed Demon, Pitricus would give them a significant quest.  

The deal was almost prophetic.  Just at that very moment, a scream could be heard from the far bank of the river.  

The party ran across the field and saw a young woman being chased by six shadowy spirits. The woman leapt into the river, swimming frantically towards the party.  Quickly the party began peppering the Spirits of Wrath with crossbow bolts and Arcane Flares.  When the undead realized that their threat was on the other side of the river, they turned incorporeal and flew across the flowing waters.  Once corporeal again, the party let loose their attacks.  Yaren's blade and Shenuesh's claws joined with Zamani's fists and Verenn's spells to dissipate the undead.  

After Elder Meena spoke with the poor farm girl he turned to the party.  The Elder feared that the Falling Star seen earlier in the day had broken the seal of the Screaming Crypt.  

Shenuesh frowned.  "That's the trouble with Ardeyn," the Adept said.  "Everything's built near a Screaming Crypt."

To be continued.

Quotes

"So… We probably shouldn't kill him." - Verrenn talking about the Elder's son.

"If we kill him we just need to make sure the body disappears." - Yaren's response.

"He's got what you might say is a weak constitution." - Shenuesh referring to Verrenn.

"Oh that's funny, I used to live too." Verrenn joking about his undeadness

"Dibs." - Shenuesh claims the star.

"I just said I'd feel less bad." - Frank on why Andy should break his limbs playing bones.

"Why aren't you betting on me?  You saved me from a gladiator pit!  I'm a gladiator!" - Zamani was ticked off that Sister Sariety didn't want him to wrestle.  

"He will be the one to apply the oils." - Elder

"Oils?  What oils?" - Zamani

"Yeah, I can't let them kill my idiot grandson…" - Marc about Craig

Cypher System Fantasy - Ardeyn - Session 3

Last time on Ardeyn: Land of the Curse… 

The terrible dragon Zoraakanaan stood before the legendary wizard Verren.  The Great Wizard Protector of the Citadel Hazurrium, Verren and his party of extraordinary adventurers tracked down the malicious beast to its lair.  There was Shallas the dexterous javelin throwing rogue, Krad the armored knight of justice, and Brimstone the massive man of stone.  Each were doing their part to bring down the massive, red and green feathered monstrosity.  One more powerful spell would finish the creature off, if only Verren could summon forth the magical energies.

Extending his hands towards the ground, the Legendary Adept who Casts Spells began drawing on the mystical energies of Ardeyn.  The icy power first entered his legs, and then passed into his hips.  Soon they were in his core, and then his chest, as Verren pointed his fingertips towards the great drake.  Frozen up to his neck, the spell caster squinted in pain and then started to scream the incantation.

"Oogha chaakah, oogha chaakah!" Verren cried out, his words clad in both exultation as well as agony.

The snowy blast struck the dragon in the chest, the initial point of impact instantly turning to hardened ice.  Icicles formed on the beast's feathered wings and claws, its long snout and beard.  The creatures eyes rolled up into the back of its head, and it fell…

… forward.

"Oh dear," Verren muttered as the wizard tried to move to the side.  But his legs were still frozen, and his hips wouldn't even turn.  The falling dragon struck the wizard, who soon found himself tumbling rather quickly.  It was a strange experience, almost as if Verren was rolling like a child's ball.

Ground… sky… ground… sky.  Most peculiar.

When the rolling stopped, Verren was staring at the ground, the grass touching his nose.  Before he could think of scratching, everything went black.

It took Brimstone, Krad, and Shallas at least ten minutes to find the decapitated head of their once great leader.

"At least it was a quick death," the golem Brimstone announced mechanically.  

Living 4 Crits Presents

A Cypher System Fantasy Campaign

Ardeyn: Land of the Curse

Cast

• Sister Sariety, a Charming Speaker who Works Miracles, played by Frank
• Zamani, a Spiritual (Ugallu*) Explorer (Magic) who Masters Foot and Fist**, played by Andy
• Shenuesh, a Graceful Adept (Combat) who Wields Two Weapons at Once, played by Jeremy
• Milja the Ranger, a Sharp-Eyed (Qephilim) Explorer who Controls Beasts, played by Andreas
• Yaren, a Foolish Warrior who Stands Like a Bastion, played by Craig
• Verren, a Spectral*** Adept who Casts Spells, played by Marc

* Ugallu is a race option from Broken Immersion by Ryan Chaddock Games

** Masters Foot and Fist is from Worlds Numberless and Strange by Monte Cook Games
*** Spectral is a new and original focus written by Marc Plourde and featured on his blog, Inspiration Strikes

Episode 3: Skull

After their tea party with the necromancer and his two acolytes, the party prepared to continue their dream patrol along the Path of the Dead.  Trazzoek was clear that the party could finish their contract with the Black Moon Explorers, and the dark necromancer handed over the one rune-carved skull in his possession as sort of a promissory note.

There was something about that skull, Yaren thought, but he couldn't figure it out. Something familiar.

While the rest of his teammates gathered their gear, Zamani gave Ralli the Necromancer Acolyte another glance.  It was clear that the young, ethereal girl was under the effect of some kind of curse, and that part of her living soul was kept elsewhere.  How these rune covered skulls could reverse the spell, the Ugallu was not sure.

The party bid Trazzoek farewell, and started along the path back to Catacomb 1177.  About a half mile down the road, Yaren thought he heard a muffled voice in his sack.  Reaching into the pack, the warrior's fingers touched the rune covered skull.

"Do you mind?  That does not feel very good," a proper voice called out.  Yaren looked around but no one else noticed the voice.  Pulling the skull from his sack, Yaren gave it one look and kicked it down the path.

Ground… sky… ground…. sky.  For Verren, this episode was very similar to the one he had experienced just moments before.  When he came to rest, the adept looked around.  Where was Brimstone, Shallas, and Krad?  Who were these new people?  Why did the one who kicked him in the face resemble his relatives?

Sister Sariety picked up the skull and examined it.  Although Yaren exclaimed that the skull "spoke", the sister could not hear any words.  She handed it to the party's qephilim.

Milja's experience with the skull was a bit different.  The explorer tried to read the runes, but as soon as she did, she fell to her knees in agony.  Suddenly, Milja was standing in front of the Court of Sleep, preparing for her soul to be judged.  Then she was being cradled by some strange entity, who peeled her flesh from the bone, and then carved into her skull.

Milja felt everything!

When she let go of the skull she came to, but was severely rattled.

As the party discussed their options, Zamani noticed that a green, ectoplasmic blob began to seep from the skull.  Slowly, over the course of a full minute, the ghastly glowing form took shape, resembling a naked old man.

Zamani knew exactly how to deal with this kind of "thing."  He punched it with his lightning fist!

"Oww!" the green form complained as it fell backwards in a heap.

Yaren stared at the face, confused, but with some recognition.  He knew this visage.  The warrior convinced the storm monk to put down his fists.

"What are you," Zamani asked the ectoplasmic humanoid.

The green form introduced itself.  "I am Veren, the Great Wizard Protector of the Citadel Hazurrium."

Yaren was taken aback by the announcement.  "Verren is dead… he died fifty years ago killing a dragon."

Verren didn't seem to understand so Sister Sariety put the pieces together for him.  "This is you," she said, pointing to the rune-carved skull.

Milja regained enough of her composure to share her experience with the Court of Sleep. Verren stated that if his soul had been judged after his death, he should've come back in a different form.  Even if he were to come back reincarnated as an artifact, it should not have been as his own skull.  Something else must have gotten involved with the Great Wizard Protector's transition from life to strange unlife.

The party felt it only fair to tell Verren of their mission to find more of the skulls for the Necromancer.  Verren was not pleased with the group's mission.  While he considered his options, he looked at Yaren again.

"What's your deal?  You look something like my sister," Verren said.

Yaren's response came quick.  "Well, you look like my dead grandfather."

Before the two could have a true family reunion, the party's semi-sadistic werejackel joined the conversation.

"If personal experiences have anything to do with it, we should take the skull back into the crypt, put some blankets around it, set a fire, and it should be good to go," Shenuesh proudly suggested, a devilish grin revealing sharp teeth.

"I don't have a cold!" Verren insisted.  "I can't feel anything, actually."

Sister Sariety caught Verren's attention and then looked down.  The spectral adept noticed what everyone else must have found quite disturbing.  His nudity.  Drawing power from the nether, Verren created greenish robes to cover himself.

Yaren didn't want anymore conversation, and just wanted to continue on their original plan. The warrior assumed that they would all figure out what to do about the necromancer after patrolling the wall.  Yaren turned towards the path and just started walking.

"Alright, come on Grandpa, let's go."

No one else in the party said anything else about the matter.

*     *     *

Returning to the patrol, Shenuesh took the lead and began examining the Path of the Dead for any signs of trouble.  The crypts and catacombs were commonly looted by practitioners of the dark arts.  The graceful adept was ready for anything…

… but was a bit surprised to find human children raiding a nearby catacomb.

Just one hundred feet ahead of the patrol, several small human children were pulling the wrappings from bones and covering themselves.  Despite being a well-trained murderer, Shenuesh did not believe it was in the party's charter to kill children.  Carefully the werejackal approached.  

"Do you have something to spare, sir?" the leader called out to Shenuesh.  When the adept failed to respond, the lead child smiled and came closer.  His eyes lacked any white, they were all black.  "We found something extraordinary in here… come look." 

Shenuesh slowly shook his head.  "No."

Zamani the Ugallu storm monk joined his hairy partner.  

"It's a kitty," a young girl gushed.  Like the others, her eyes were completely black.  

Zamani was fairly certain that these poor children were under the effect of some kind of curse, but would have to find the spellcaster or demonic entity to release their souls.  

The rest of the party soon joined, and took stock of the situation.  Shenuesh was about to lead the group away when a child returned from inside the crypt.  

"Sabian says he's cold again," the little boy whispered.

The words were like a command.  Instantly Shenuesh started heading to the wall.  "Gotta go help my brother," the werejackal stated aloud.  

Not wanting their teammate to go into the wall alone, the rest of the party followed.  But both Verren and Milja were stopped.  

"None may enter who are already unliving, or who would stand in judgement of the unliving," a creepy girl said, in reference to both the spectre and the qephilim.

"I am here to judge you!" Milja responded, and moved past.  

The girl said something when the qephilim left, but it was too soft for anyone else to hear.  "Okay… but you looked nice and I wanted to warn you."  

As each member of the party stepped through the entrance to the crypt, they were teleported to a large, green room.  

*     *     *

Inside a large, forty foot by seventy foot chamber the party regained their bearings.  This room was far too large to fit inside the Path of the Dead.  But still, the walls were covered in shelves and each shelf held a dead body.  Whatever this place was, it still acted as a mausoleum.  The only exit from the room was a single door to the north, and Shenuesh, eager to find his brother, had no problem stepping through.  

Sister Sariety was a bit more cautious.  Approaching the door she heard heavy breathing on the other side.  Prepared for anything, the sister pushed the door open further, and found herself staring at a woman.  

In the center of this chamber, half as large as the former, stood a woman performing some kind of weapon kata in the nude.  In her hand was a spear-staff, and she moved from one pose to another, apparently exerting a great amount of effort.  Her body was remarkably featureless.  It was as if she were a moving statue of perfectly smooth skin, just attempting to take on the form of a human.  

"Are you the mother of the children outside?" Sister Sariety asked. 

The woman stopped, and turned to the sister.  "I am Laeada, and I have a deal for you!" she returned.  "Your skin… do you have need of it?"

Laeada offered to pay each member of the party one thousand crowns for their skin.  The money would be paid immediately, but the collection of the skin would not occur for five years.  There was some negotiating and haggling, and it seemed like Laeada would offer four-hundred crowns on a ten-year deal.  But she was clear that no one was leaving her chambers until a deal was struck.  She then descended into the floor, and her skin began to fill the room, all the way until it completely encased everything within.  

Not able to find his brother, Shenuesh rejoined the group and looked at Yaren.  They both nodded.

It was time to fight.  

The battle with Laeada the Skindealer was fairly one-sided.  The creature could reform anywhere she wanted in the room, back in semi-human form, and could even envelop her targets with a pod made of skin.  She performed this trick once on Verren, only to be thwarted by a well placed sword strike from Yaren.  Laeada could also use her arm and the sagging skin at the end as a "whip," but this failed to connect during the battle.  

The party members thrashed the Skindealer… especially Shenuesh.  The werejackal, once he gained his lycanthropic form, started to tear into Laeada, nearly ripping her apart. Screaming for mercy, Laeada begged for her life, and this gave the party pause.

"Please," she shouted.  "Please, I'll give you anything and I'll let you go!"  

Verren wanted money, and the Skindealer agreed.  She handed the party a coffer of one-thousand crowns, and let them all step through the portal.  

Again, the party stood outside the Path of the Dead.  

Quotes

"Because f**k dragons." - Jim the GM was trying to explain why Marc's character Verren was battling a dragon.

"Ears aren't important." - Marc was coming to terms with his character being a skull.  

"Does anyone else want to attack it?" - Andy to the rest of the group after punching Marc's poor unfortunate ectoplasmic form.

"There's an old naked, translucent green jelly guy standing in front of you." - Marc to the rest of the players, trying to describe what they saw.

"Are you like a 'human shaped Slimer' from Ghostbuster?" - Andy to Marc

"Do you notice how most of our decisions can be classified that way? 'No, it's not a terrible idea'..." - Craig was right. 

"I'll take what's behind skin-flap #3, Monty!" - Marc… ew.  

Bonus Features

This week we featured two entirely new, completely original, entries (Cypher "DLC") that you could use at your own table!  

New Descriptor:  Spectral

First, you may have noticed that +Marc Plourde has that new "Spectral" descriptor.  Due to his work schedule Marc has to miss quite a few games this fall and we wanted to work out a reason why his character would pop in and out of the campaign.  The idea of being a sentient skull was completely Marc's and I loved the concept.  When none of the descriptors or foci seemed to fit his character, I offered Marc the chance to create something entirely on his own.  

Hence the new Spectral descriptor!  If you want to use this descriptor in your own game, please check out Marc's blog site Inspiration Strikes.  The link will take you to the post with this specific game mechanic.  

New Creature:  Skindealer

I wanted something creepy for this adventure, an entity that was not entirely good or evil but treated humans like cattle.  Maybe I've been watching too many food documentaries!  After looking through the bestiaries and not finding something that exactly fit my idea, I came up with this creature that was formed of borrowed human skin.

Skindealer 6(18)

• Motive:  Acquire as much human or near-human skin as possible.  Does not eat, when old skin dies, new skin must be placed on the flesh.
• Environment:  Crypts, dungeons, caves.
• Health:  24
• Damage Inflicted:  Skin Lashing, 6 damage
• Armor:  2
• Movement:  Short
• Modifications:  Due to the exposed nature of the skin, the difficulty of all poisons used against a Skindealer are at Level 4.
• Combat:  
• Skin Bubble - If the Skindealer feels threatened it can flatten out and fill up a single, fifty by fifty by fifty foot space as an action.  All attacks (except poison) against this giant skin bubble are against a Level 8 difficulty.  It can then reform anywhere it wishes in that chamber as a move action, similar to teleportation, but must spend a full action to reform the bubble.  
• Skin Capsule - The Skindealer, as a free action, may touch a creature, and have the entire arm connected to the finger slough off, wrapping up the target.  A speed defense roll, Level 6 difficulty, must be made to dodge this attack.  Escaping from inside the capsule is a Level 7 Might roll.  The Skindealer may only have one target encapsulated in the Skin Capsule.
• Interaction:  Skindealers love to make deals for flesh, and will offer great riches for human flesh, to be traded at a later date.  They deal typically in human flesh, occasionally near-human flesh, but never in qephilim flesh.  Those who do not wish to complete the deal when that day comes may make an offering of a single child plus the initial payment   The Skindealer then raises this child until a suitable age when it can steal their own skin (typically around twelve).  Any child surrendered to the Skindealer becomes a Skin Thrall (Level 2 creature).  Skin Thralls serve the master by luring adult humans into the Skindealer's lair.  
• Drop:  1-3 random cyphers and between 500 to 2000 crowns.  Also, if you kill a Skindealer you are left with an Oddity - a single, living lump of flesh the size of a basketball.  The lump never dies.  

Cypher System Fantasy - Ardeyn Unlocked

Land of the Curse

(If you want the full experience, try listening to "Time's Scar" from the Chrono Cross original soundtrack while reading this post.)

Iadace cypher fans and newcomers alike!

My copy of the Cypher System Rulebook showed up while I was away at Gen Con 2015, and I've been quite excited to tear through its many pages.  About a week before Gen Con I made the announcement to my regular Tuesday night gaming group that our next campaign would be Cypher System Fantasy – Ardeyn: Land of the Curse.  If you saw my The Next Great Campaign post, you already received a glimpse of this as a potential campaign concept.  My Tuesday night group is a natural fit for the Cypher System, since that’s what we’ve been playing, almost exclusively, since early 2014.  Three of my Tuesday night gamers (+andrew lyon, +Craig McCullough, and +Jeremy Land) were actually part of my original playtest group for The Strange, and it is incredible that we’ve stuck together so long!  Also included in the group are my friends Frank G., +Marc Plourde, and Andreas Walters +Andreas Walters – all players from my Numenera Tales of the Broken Mask campaign.

So by this point, we’re just one big, happy, Cypher System family!  

While I enjoy running the Cypher System (either Numenera or The Strange) for new players, there is something magical that happens when you have veterans at the table.  Like any other game, greater system literacy leads to smoother skill tests and encounters, and less stumbling over powers and abilities.  Furthermore, and especially if you have the right selection of players (which I do), new character creation is thoughtful and intriguing.  But I’ve noticed that veteran Cypher System players really go out of their way to embrace the “weird” or “strange”, and come to the table with brilliantly designed characters.

Honestly, I can’t wait for “Session 0” on Tuesday in which our group will cooperatively create a cast of characters.  

Stay tuned!

Ardeyn and Inspiration

Choosing Ardeyn itself as a campaign setting for Cypher System Fantasy is almost a no brainer.  The world is ready to go, complete with creatures, NPC’s, and artifacts already designed for the Cypher System.  I know there are some game masters out there who enjoy creating their own fantasy settings from scratch, and truly I applaud you for your time and efforts.  But personally, I’ve always preferred to run games in interesting, established settings, while still throwing in my own personal touches and twists.  I love that feeling of discovery when I open up another author’s work.  I relish learning the nuances and intricate details that a new world has to offer.  This process makes me feel like a player in someone else’s world, even though I am the one running the game.

Despite only being one part of The Strange Corebook’s “setting”, Ardeyn is given a great amount of attention and detail.  Thirty pages are devoted to Ardeyn in The Strange, and another eight in Worlds Numberless and Strange.  Tack on all of the detail from the The Strange Bestiary, and over fifty pages from Ryan Chaddock Games’ Broken Immersion (which is devoted to Ardeyn), and I’m set.  Actually, the fact that I don’t have an entire corebook devoted to Ardeyn is a terrific boon to my style of GM’ing.  As a game master, I have most of what I need to run a believable game in someone else’s universe, but enough space to make the setting my own.    

Setting a campaign in Ardeyn: Land of the Curse also gives me the opportunity to run a different kind of fantasy campaign.  As an ardent fan of old-school fantasy gaming, and Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG in particular, I spend a lot of time tossing my players into dismal dungeons where they fight monstrous creatures and suffer terrible defeats.  I have continuing games of DCCRPG already running, so want this Cypher Fantasy game to feel completely different and new.

I’ve read through the Ardeyn section of The Strange corebook twice now, and even with the Sumerian/Egyptian themes, I’m getting a vibe much more akin to Torchlight or even Japanese RPG's.  Dragon Quest IX especially, with its take angelic beings, comes to mind.  High magic, mythical creatures, and a risk of terrible darkness overtaking the world.  Instead of exploring the subtle horrors of enduring week after week below ground on the hunt for treasure and glory, this campaign will focus on character development and story.  

This will be the kind of campaign that starts out small, but should become world-shaking by its completion.

Since I commonly use video games as inspiration for my adventures and campaigns, I’ll probably pull a few more themes from Torchlight 2, which I just started a few weeks ago after finishing Torchlight 1 for the first time.  I expect to go back to Dragon Quest IX as well, although it’s been about a year since I last left Aldo the Bard!  In an effort to remain true to +Bruce R Cordell's original Sumerian/Middle-Eastern vision of Ardeyn I’ll probably watch the Mummy movies and the Scorpion King again.  

I was looking for an excuse to re-watch all of those anyway.

To make sure that I’m fully embracing the backstories of my players, I’ve only sketched out a few pages of campaign notes.  I’m waiting to meet all of the players in Session 0 before I even attempt to finish the first adventure.  I really want each player to feel that their character is a cog in a much larger machine.  Much like Numenera and The Strange, the Cypher System Rulebook encourages player character backgrounds and connections.  

Delving Into the Cypher System Rulebook

Running a long term, fantasy-focused Cypher System game has been on my mind ever since our Quattro con Carnage experiment.  To power the fourth leg of our jaunt through four systems, I hacked both Numenera and The Strange, using bits and pieces of both.  The results pleased the group, and everyone was able to recreate their characters using the descriptor/type/focus concept from the Cypher System.  The only distraction I had was with the “types”.  Vector, Spinner, and Paradox, the three types in The Strange, carried too many themes and mechanics from their native game.  Glaive, Jack, and Nano (from Numenera,) worked well enough, and I chose not to reskin the names so that other Cypher System fans could follow along with my on-the-spot conversion.  

What became obvious as our five players made their fantasy characters, was that the Jack type filled quite a few roles… perhaps too many.  While our elven magic-user was a nano, and our human fighter a glaive, our dwarf, thief, and cleric were all built using the Jack type.  In hindsight, I wish I had borrowed the Spinner type from The Strange as well.

Thankfully the Cypher System Rulebook expands upon types in a way that gives players more options when building characters.  Instead of three base types, the Cypher System Rulebook uses four:  Warrior, Adept, Explorer, and Speaker.  All of the universe-specific type abilities, such as a Nano’s innate skill with the Numenera or a Vector’s ability to Ease Translation, are removed, with room left for additional customization.  

Going through the foci listed in the Cypher System Rulebook I realized that I was familiar with most of the options, and surprisingly I wasn’t bothered by the repetition.  Between Numenera, The Strange, Numenera Character Options, and In Translation: The Strange Character Options, there are already dozens of potential foci that can be used to create characters in a Cypher System Fantasy campaign.  There is no need to recreate the wheel.  The Cypher System Rulebook arranges all of these foci in one book, and then gives players and GM’s a list of “suggested foci” for a fantasy campaign (this can be found on page 241).  There are still some Ardeyn foci for The Strange, such as “Embraces Qephilim Ancestry” that I will allow in this campaign as well.  

Not since the original Numenera corebook have I been so intrigued by some of the possibilities that could arise in a Cypher System Fantasy campaign:

• A Wealthy Warrior who Siphons Power
• A Doomed Adept who Howls at the Moon
• A Jovial Explorer who Casts Spells
• A Kind Speaker who Defends the Weak 

So for Cypher System Fantasy I have 4 types, with 50 descriptors, and 52+ potential foci.  Do the math… this kind of customization, in a class-based system, is astounding!

Perhaps my players will want some more options, so there are two additional levels of customization available in this Cypher System Fantasy campaign.  

The Cypher System Rulebook brings a new concept to the table: Flavors.  Flavors are sets of new type abilities that can be swapped out with existing abilities to enhance customization.  These options are modular, and may fit some campaigns more than others, and so they do require some GM guidance.  The flavors I will allow in our Cypher Fantasy – Ardeyn campaign are: Stealth, Magic, Combat, and Skills and Knowledge.

From Broken Immersion I will be allowing players to choose a “race” for their characters, as this is a theme central to most fantasy games, and MMORPG’s especially.  As well as the Qephilim, players can be a Basmu (sort of like a draconian with useless wings), Kusarikku (a man/bull centaur), Rabisu (vampire), Girtablilu (an imperfect, unfinished, scorpion man that will be treated much like a “mongrelman” from D&D), and a Ugallu (a lion-headed man, much like a Kilrathi from Wing Commander).  In Broken Immersion, a player can “purchase” their race-ability by paying 4 experience points, and each listed race has something unique.  

Since Qephilim are not listed in Broken Immersion, I thought I’d add a racial ability of their own:

• Mythlight Grace:  You gain 4 Intellect points.  You have an asset on any attempts to navigate the ruins of your kind.  

The Next Step

On Tuesday we will start off our Cypher System Fantasy – Ardeyn Campaign with an entire evening dedicated to character development.  I’ll admit, I’ve seen some preliminary work from my players, and I’m absolutely stunned by the imagination, creativity, and effort my friends are putting into these characters.  We haven’t even seen any stats yet, and players are weaving backstories and making connections.  It’s going to be an exciting week.

You can expect the next post to include character introductions and builds, just in case you’d like to use these creations in your game, either as PC’s or NPC’s.  

As we move forward, I will continue to write up the adventure summaries for each of our sessions, along with design notes, and any additional rules that I come up with, either on purpose or on the fly.  Perhaps some of my players will offer their own contributions!

As always, if you have any suggestions, comments, or thoughts as we move forward, please let me know.  I would truly enjoy hearing your opinions, and welcome any assistance I can receive.  If you happen to know anyone else that may be interested in our Cypher System Fantasy campaign, please share this post with a friend.

Safe travels, and may the Maker and his Incarnations watch over you.