So, there I was happily laying out an anthology of short games. It wasn’t massively exciting, it was mainly just laying out page after page of other people’s work. When someone said “Why didn’t I have a Cypher System book?”
The short answer was that there was already a Cypher System book called CHAOS, which seemed perfectly functional to me.
I haven’t played Cypher System, so I haven’t needed anything more developed.
Then they said, they preferred my way of doing stuff, and liked my books.
So I thought I would take a look, what could go wrong?
There is a Cypher System reference document with all the rules and a license that lets you write for it. Well, that should be easy then. Take an existing book with the stuff I usually include, like the improv techniques I like, and bolt on the Cypher System core mechanics, and I could get something good enough to give away for free bashed out in a weekend.
So, I started reading, and reading, and reading, it turns out that the Cyper System system reference document is 1813 pages long, and no, I have not read it all. I am also not likely to read it all.
And that basic book manuscript I grabbed? Well, it must have been a few years old because ChatGPT was new when I wrote it. I speculate that people could use it to act as a GM for them. I know full well that people do this now, and Microsoft Co Pilot and Gemini have joined ChatGPT, and god knows how many other really powerful LLMs. My previous laptop had Ollama installed on it from when I was playtesting an AI GM app that one of my Discord members had made,
I have a horrible feeling that the more I dig into that document, the more dated it is going to seem.
Now it is three days later and I am still grinding my way through the SRD, and still updating this core document. It i sno longer the weekend, and I was supposed to record a ton of videos today, and get more of that layout done, and none of that has happened.
Maybe if I work hard this evening I can break the back of the core rules? I really do not want to spend all week on this.
When the thing is done, it will become another free solo set that I give away to people who subscribe to my mailing list. It seems like a simple enough deal, you give me your email, I give you free solo rules. I do also give subscribers fairly hefty discounts (the discount links never time out so you can stockpile them until you need them) whenever I release anything new.
What this space and I will post a bit more about Cypher as I have it.
Peter