Adventures in the Cypher System

https://www.backerkit.com/c/monte-cook-games/adventures-in-the-cypher-system

I feel so dense like I never "got" this game. I have been looking it over recently, pulling it out of one of my 5E "sell" boxes and giving it another chance.

I am glad I did.

It is a strangely abstract pool-based game in many ways, and the power levels are very relative. Like a FATE, you set a power level and go, "we are playing Transformers," and suddenly, every pool and ability score is relative to the Transformers. Are you playing intelligent mice? Same range different scale.

In a GURPS or Champions, those giant walking robots need 200 STR, and humans need to stay the game's baseline. In Cypher, it is all relative. Play as ants or planets, and the game works the same.

Another thing that helps me "get" the game is to think of all of this as a superhero game, like the comic books that rate "power levels" on a 1 to 10 scale, and you don't worry about pounds of force of impact, joules of energy in a power blast, or any of that stuff. Weapons are fixed damage, modified through effort or good rolls. Armor decreases damage. Damage is done to your pools in a set order.

In a comic-book world, you get these situations where a softy hero like "Bow Guy" could be punched by "Mega Brute" and take a lot of damage, get knocked through a wall, and be unconscious for a long time but still survive. That would be a mega-damage one-shot kill in games that stress high levels of realism.

The play is relatively simple, and the GM rolls no dice. Yes, the GM rolls no dice - just narrating and setting difficulty. Players do all the rolling, and the monsters "attack" by forcing a defense roll - made by the player.

The GM sets a challenge level, the player reacts, and if a roll is needed, the player's skills, gear, and effort (spent from three pools) can adjust the target number. The pools also double as "hit points" and can be rested back, though each subsequent daily rest takes longer until a "full rest" is required.

https://www.montecookgames.com/store/product/cypher-system-rules-primer/

The above is a complete rule primer with a sample adventure and pre-gen characters.

All that said, there is a BackerKit going on this month for a deluxe edition and all sorts of other goodies, and is worth checking out.