As you swore to the archmage on her deathbed, you finally open the rebuilt Tower of Sorcery to new students. Weary and stained with miles of travel across a postapocalyptic landscape, you and your companions break into a preserved nuclear power plant, still on standby but ready to hum back to life with some maintenance and care. Scarred with blaster fire, you and your starship's squadron destroy the last of the robot smuggling ring that has been haunting the border stars. Blood dripping from your axe, you put down the berserker king, exacting vengeance a generation overdue. A handy bit of detective work now complete, you and your team identify the serial killer terrorizing the city.
Experience points (XP) are rewards you gain for your character's accomplishments. You use XP to benefit and improve your character—avoid a bad roll, learn more skills, gain new abilities, and so on.
The most common ways to earn XP are through GM Intrusions, character arcs, and story awards.
Usually experience points are earned during a game session, and sometimes they're earned between sessions. In a typical session, you generally earn about 4 XP from all sources.
Ask your GM whether the game will use character arcs, story awards, or both.
At any time, the GM can intrude on the situation with an unexpected complication for your character.
When the GM intrudes, they give you 2 XP. You then must immediately give 1 of those XP to another player and explain why you're giving it to them—maybe they had a good idea, they brought snacks to the game, their character saved someone's life, or you just think they could use some XP.
As a general rule, the GM intrudes at least once each session, but no more than once or twice each session per character.
It's your choice to take a character arc. The GM can't force one on you, but they might suggest one or two arcs that will relate your character to the events in the story. On the other hand, the GM can also tell you that your idea for an arc isn't appropriate for the story or isn't long enough to be a character arc.
Think of character arcs in terms of episodes in a TV show. If a problem gets introduced and solved in the same episode, it's probably not a character arc. If the same problem keeps happening over several episodes, that could be a character arc.
When you create a character, you can choose one free character arc for that character. This helps define your starting role in the story—revenge, earning money, joining a prestigious organization, and so on. For example, if your character begins the game with an arc to find their brother's murderer, that establishes some interesting and useful information about your character: they have a brother, they probably were close to the brother, the brother was in a dangerous situation, and the character is strongly motivated to find the one who killed him. Tell the GM what your character arc is so they can incorporate it into the overall story for the game. (It's up to you whether you want to tell the other players or their characters about it, or keep it a secret for now.) An arc is specific to your character, but it's common for other PCs to help you with your arc and for you to help them. Two or more characters can even have the same arc at the same time—maybe the person who murdered your brother also killed a friend of another PC, so you're both motivated to bring the killer to justice.
When you finish a game session, talk to the GM about whether you think you've made progress on your character arc. If the GM agrees that you have, that counts as a “step” in your character arc, and you get 1 XP for it. For example, in the hunt for your brother's murderer, discovering their identity is probably a step, learning the city they live in is a step, confronting them is a step, and so on. You get 1 XP for each step you complete (as does any character whose arc is to help you on this arc).
Character arcs have different steps that mark the character's progress through the arc. Each arc eventually reaches a climax and then finishes with a step that is a final resolution.
Character arcs are the most straightforward way that a character earns XP. Typically, PCs will earn about half their total experience points from arcs or other GM awards.
It's okay if a character arc falls by the wayside and you never finish it.
Eventually you reach a climax point in the arc where you either succeed or fail at what you've set out to do. Not every arc ends in victory. If you succeed, you earn 4 XP. If you fail, you still earn 2 XP. For example, finding and killing your brother's murderer or getting them imprisoned is a success, and it's a failure if they escape or an innocent person is punished for the crime.
After a successful arc, there's usually one more step (the resolution) where you reflect on what happened, wrap up loose ends, and figure out what's next, which earns you a final 1 XP.
You can take on a new character arc whenever you want by spending 1 XP.
There's no limit to how many you can have at one time, but it's best to have no more than three or four so your attention doesn't get scattered. In most cases, you can't have more than one of the same character arc at the same time (such as two arcs to avenge a death, two arcs to establish a business, and so on).
Someone close to you or important to you in some way has been wronged. The most overt version of this arc is to avenge someone's death. When you take this arc, you might declare (publicly or privately) your intentions, such as killing the offender, imprisoning them for their crime, or returning something valuable to its proper owner.
Tracking the Guilty. You track down the guilty party. The details of this step depend on what you know—learning their identity, discovering their location, and so on. You repeat this step as many times as needed. Each of these steps is worth 1 XP.
Finding the Guilty. You finally find the guilty party, or find a path or make a plan to reach them.
Now all that's left is to confront them. This step is worth 1 XP.
Confrontation. You confront the guilty party. This might be a public accusation and demonstration of guilt, a trial, or an attack to kill, wound, or apprehend them—whatever you choose to be appropriate. Success means you earn 4 XP; failure means you earn 2 XP.
After a successful confrontation, you resolve the outcome and its later ramifications, then decide what to do next. This step is worth 1 XP and completes the arc.
You want to join an organization. This might be a guild, corporation, military organization, secret society, religion, or something else. There's probably a specific reward you're interested in for doing so, such as wealth, status, access to secrets, or learning a special combat technique or magic spell. When you take this arc, you've learned what you can about the organization and what you have to do to become a member, and you've decided to make it happen.
Making a Contact. Friends on the inside are always important. With one or more people like this on your side, you can move forward to prove yourself to the organization. This step is worth 1 XP.
Performing a Deed. The organization might want to test your worth, or this might be a ceremony you must take part in. It might include paying some sort of dues or fee. Or all of these things.
This step is worth 1 XP.
Proving Your Worth. This is the point at which you attempt to show the organization that hey would be better off with you as a member. This is usually a significant challenge related to the needs and goals of the organization, such as defeating a powerful member of a rival group, uncovering secret information or an object the group needs or wants, and so on. Success means you earn 4 XP; failure means you earn 2 XP.
After successful proof of your worth, you consider your efforts and assess what your membership gets you. This step is worth 1 XP and completes the arc.
The following are some common character arcs. Work with your GM to figure out the steps, climax, and resolution for your specific arc. Note that some of these arcs have similar themes (such as Avenge and Defeat a Foe); the GM has more information on the nuances of the steps and details.
Aid a Friend: You promise to help a friend with their character arc. As you help them complete the steps, climax, and resolution for their arc, you earn the same XP that they do for it.
Assist an Organization: You set out to accomplish something that will benefit an organization.
Birth: You are becoming a parent. (This assumes you already have a partner or surrogate; otherwise you may want to start the Romance arc first.)
Build: You're going to build a physical structure—a house, fortress, workshop, defensive wall, and so on.
Cleanse: Someone or something has been contaminated (with a curse, evil spirits, radiation, and so on), and you want to rid them of these influences.
Create: You want to make something, such as a painting, novel, machine, or powerful magic item.
Defeat a Foe: Someone stands in your way or is threatening you, and you must overcome the challenge they present.
Defense: A person, place, or thing is threatened, and you want to protect them.
Develop a Bond: You want to get closer to another character, such as making a friend, finding a mentor, or establishing a contact with someone in a position of power. You can spend resource points to befriend someone, which is probably a necessary step in the Develop a Bond arc.
Enterprise: You want to create and run a business or start an organization (such as a guild, church, or school).
Establish: You want to prove yourself as someone of importance, whether that means socially, financially, romantically, or within a group you belong to.
Explore: There's something unknown you want to explore to learn its secrets, such as an area of wilderness, a new planet, or a strange dimension.
Fall From Grace: Your life takes a downturn because of actions you take—a mistake harms someone you care about, you treat someone badly, or the like. (This is more of an arc you as a player choose for your character rather than something your character chooses for themself.)
Finish a Great Work: Something that was begun in the past must now be completed—finishing a monument, developing the final steps of the cure for a disease, and so on.
Growth: Willingly or unwillingly, you are going to change, becoming less selfish, braver, or something similar.
Instruction: You teach a pupil in an area of knowledge that you have—lore, a combat style, a rare type of magic, and so on.
Justice: You try to right a wrong or bring a wrongdoer to justice.
Learn: You want to learn something, usually a whole area of knowledge such as a language, how to play an instrument, or how to be a good cook.
Master a Skill: You're skilled, but you want to become the best at something (not necessarily a skill). This often follows a Learn arc.
Mysterious Background: There's something important you don't know about your past, and you want to find out.
New Discovery: You want to invent a new device, process, spell, or the like. (This arc is similar to Finish a Great Work or Learn, but you're blazing a new trail.) Raise a Child: You raise a child (whether your biological offspring or not) to adulthood. This is obviously a long-term arc.
Recover: You need to heal from a significant wound or trauma—severe damage, amputation, seeing a close friend die, and so on.
Redemption: You've done something very wrong, but you want to atone and make it right. (This arc is similar to Justice or Undo a Wrong, but you are the wrongdoer. Possibly a follow-up to a Fall From Grace arc.)
Repay a Debt: You owe someone something, and it's time to make good.
Rescue: Someone or something of great importance has been taken, and you want to get them or it back.
Restoration: You want to restore your good name, recover what you've lost, or rebuild what has been destroyed. (This arc may be a follow-up to Fall From Grace.) Revenge: Someone did something that harmed you, and it's time to make them pay. (Unlike the Avenge arc, you are the injured party.) Romance: You want to create a romantic relationship with someone—one person in particular, or perhaps by opening your heart and finding someone new.
Solve a Mystery: You want to solve a crime or similar action committed in the fairly recent past, asking the right questions and finding the answers.
Theft: Someone else has something you want.
Train a Creature: You want to domesticate and train a beast.
Transformation: You want to be different in a specific way, such as becoming a ghost or taking on the power of a dragon. (This arc is different from Growth in that this is a physical change rather than emotional or spiritual.) Uncover a Secret: You seek a piece of hidden knowledge that you want, such as a unique focus ability or combat technique, a key to open a sealed door, or the true name of a devil.
Undo a Wrong: Someone did something horrible, with ramifications that are still felt even if it happened long ago, such as the burning of a library or people being driven from their homeland. (This arc is different from Justice in that it's about undoing the harm that was done.)
If you don't have a character arc of your own, at least pick up an Aid a Friend arc so you have a connection to the current story and are earning some XP for helping that character with their arc.
A group session often deals with events that are above and beyond individual character arcs. Because you are making progress through the parts of the story the GM wants to tell, you earn XP for this, too— usually 1 to 3 XP per session, depending on what you accomplish. Common story events that earn XP include:
Most XP are spent on rerolls, player intrusions, and advancement. More rarely, they might be spent on lucky shots.
XP are meant to be used. Hoarding them is not a good idea. If you save up 10 or more, the GM might make you spend some on an advancement.
Experience points should not be a goal unto themselves. Instead, they are a game mechanic to simulate how—through experience, time, toil, travail, and so on—you become more skilled, more able, and more powerful.
Some players want to use all their XP for advancement and never use it on rerolls. Others spend it freely on rerolls and barely have any left for advancement. Neither option creates a well-rounded experience for the character or the group. As a compromise, you can split your XP, using half for things that happen during gameplay (such as rerolls and player intrusions) and the other half for advancements.
Alternatively, you might be required to use XP from GM Intrusions only for rerolls and player intrusions, and use XP from character arcs and story awards only for advancements.
The most straightforward way to use XP is to reroll any roll in the game (yours or another player's). This costs 1 XP per reroll, and you use the better of the two rolls. For example, if you're trying to dodge a dragon's bite and you roll a 4, you can spend 1 XP to reroll it and take whichever of the two rolls is better.
Most players use this to reroll a d20 for a skill, attack, or defense task, but you could use it on a recovery or an artifact depletion roll if you think it's worth it.s
You can reroll as many times as you wish, taking the best of all the rolls, as long as you have the XP to spend for each reroll.
Don't throw away good XP after bad by rerolling the same task over and over!
Sometimes you might know there's a foe nearby but you don't have any idea where they are, such as if they're invisible, you're blinded, or you're in complete darkness. Under these circumstances, you usually can't attack them—your attack automatically fails. However, you have the option of spending 1 XP to make a lucky shot in their general area. If you do this, your attack is hindered by four steps.
Making a lucky shot is a rare use of XP. Some characters may go an entire campaign without doing either of these.
A player can't refuse a GM Intrusion. However, on your next turn you could choose to use a player intrusion to ameliorate the effects of the GM's intrusion. For instance, if the GM uses an intrusion to say you're out of ammo, on your turn you could spend 1 XP (the cost of a player intrusion) to find an extra clip of ammo hidden in your equipment. If the GM's intrusion is that you fall into the river, on your turn you can use a player intrusion (assuming you have 1 XP to spend) to snag a branch from a nearby tree with a low-hanging branch. You haven't undone the GM Intrusion, but you've found a way to react positively to it.
You can spend 1 XP for a player intrusion, altering something in the campaign to benefit your character.
A beginning character is tier 1. Progressing to the next tier involves four steps, each costing 4 XP. You can buy these advancements in any order, but only once per tier. In other words, you have to buy all four advancements, which moves you up to the next tier. At each new tier, the four advancement options are available for you to buy again.
The four main advancements are as follows. (In addition to the indicated benefit, each time you advance your character you also gain 1 resource point.)
In place of one of the above advancements, you can choose from the following options. (Your other three advancements have to be from the options listed above.)
Instead of getting XP from character arcs or story awards, some GMs might just tell you (and the other players) that it's time to advance your characters a step. That way, every character is the same tier.
When you've bought four advancements and reach a new tier, you automatically get one new focus ability for free.
Your focus has a flowchart showing how its early abilities connect to and unlock its later abilities. Your new focus ability can be anything on the flowchart as long as it's your current tier or lower and connected by a line to an ability you already have.
For example, if your focus is Abides in Stone and your tier 1 abilities are Intimidating Presence and Stoneknowing, on the flowchart those are connected to the tier 2 abilities Stone Bash and Field of Stones, so both of those are options for you. Neither of your abilities is connected to Golem Grip, so you can't choose that when you reach tier 2.
This happens again for each tier—buy four advancements, automatically get a new focus ability for free, and repeat.
Upon reaching tier 3, you automatically get a new genre ability for free. Choose this ability from the appropriate list for the genre of the game you're playing. You get to do this again at tier 6 and (if the game advances past tier 6) every three tiers thereafter (tier 9, 12, and so on).
Resource points are a way to accomplish goals you set for yourself. They allow you to choose what you want to do and then advance toward that goal. Need to know a secret way into the castle? Need to get he ship's hyperdrive back on line? Need to convince someone to keep an eye on things while you're gone? Spend resource points.
In addition to the benefits noted, resource points give the Scoundrel, Fighter, Heavy, or similar character type something to do while the Tech, Mage, or comparable character spends a few days in the machine shop, alchemical lab, or other pursuit requiring extra time.
Resource points represent a high-level synthesis of your character’s available time, access to appropriate resources, luck, perhaps additional financial resources not listed on your character sheet, and any other factors that might contribute to accomplishing a particular goal.
Each time you advance your character (such as by learning a new skill, increasing your Effort score, adding another point to your Edge, and so on), you also gain 1 resource point. Starting at tier 3, you gain 2 resource points (instead of 1) each time you advance. At tier 5, you gain 3 resource points (instead of 2) each time you advance. 2) each time you advance.
The GM may award you additional resource points depending on the situation.
The following is not a comprehensive list of goals and activities, but it gives a general idea of what you can accomplish by spending resource points (or, in the case of resting and carousing, what you don't accomplish).
Most times, carousing merely means enjoying ale drinks at an inn, but occasionally, interesting things happen as a result.
Resting, relaxing, visiting friends and/or loved ones, or otherwise taking it easy.
You help another character with their endeavor by contributing your resources to their effort. You both gain the benefit—sharing the new connection made, making the new friend, or learning the interesting information together.
If the character you're helping is crafting an object, doing something that benefits only them, or otherwise pursuing a singular goal, don't contribute your resource points on the collaboration unless you just want to help (and not because you feel obligated or expect something in return).
You can craft a specific manifest cypher appropriate to your genre from the list of manifest cyphers. Your crafting skill determines the power level of cypher you can craft, and the power level determines the resource point cost.
Some character types have a special ability that allows them to craft cyphers without spending resource points. Of course, these characters can still spend resource points to craft something outside their area of expertise. For example, a Witch can use Brew Potion to make a potion cypher without spending resource points, but the character could spend resource points to make a “magic arrow” cypher.
Cypher Crafting Requirements Resource Cypher Training Points Power Level Required 2 Low power Trained 3 Mid power Specialized 4 Advanced power Expert
If you are trained in crafting, you craft an item appropriate to your genre of up to level 4. This might be a piece of furniture, a weapon, an art object, a garment, and so on (but not a cypher or artifact). Higher-level and higher-technology items cost more resource points and require at least specialization in crafting; work with your GM for the point cost and details.
Obviously, you need to be trained in an appropriate kind of crafting to create or repair something. Being trained in tailoring doesn't help you forge a sword, and vice versa.]
You make a useful contact that may help you in one future task, such as a local blacksmith, the innkeeper, a guild rep for the star pilot's union, the magistrate, and so on. The contact isn't your ally, but they slip you a warning, give you a heads up when something interesting happens, give you a discount on a service, or something similar. The contact's level is 3 if you spend 1 resource point, 5 if you spend 2 points, and 7 if you spend 3 points. You can't usually make a contact higher than level 7 using resource points.
You invest some funds (at least an expensive amount) in an NPC's business, expedition, or other venture. If things go well with the venture, you might earn dividends (regular income) from it in the future.
If you are trained in crafting, you repair an item appropriate to your genre of up to level 4. The repairs you can do depend on the genre you're playing. For example, if playing in a modern real-world game, you could repair a broken or failing engine, an electrical outlet, an air conditioner, and so on. If you're playing in a science fiction game, you can repair more complicated genre-appropriate items such as a water purifier, hovercar, blaster weapon, ship's hyperdrive, and so on.
You learn a useful piece of information, such as a demon's name, the general layout of an important place like a castle or battlecruiser, who you really need to talk to in order to begin negotiations, a computer password, and so on.
The higher the level of information you wish to learn (usually equal to the level of the most important NPC involved or the level of the secret the GM determines), the higher the resource point cost.
Resource Information Points Level 1 1-3 2 4-5 3 6-7 Information above level 7 usually can't be researched using resource points; it happens during actual game sessions.
If your follower dies, is destroyed, is severely incapacitated, or is otherwise lost, you can spend resource points to revive, replace, heal, or rediscover the follower, returning them to their normal healthy and active state. This resource point cost is half the follower's level (minimum 1). How much time it takes depends on the ability that gave you the follower (usually several days); if the ability doesn't specify how much time it takes, you need to spend about a week.
You tentatively make a friend (such as a drinking buddy at a tavern, another adventurer, an artist or performer, and so on) who has a strong potential to remain your friend for a long time. Your friend might be convinced to accompany you on a single outing (such as a date, a trip, or perhaps even an adventure if they have that skillset). If this friend ends up hurt or worse while with you, the resource point cost for befriending anyone else doubles. The resource point cost of the friend is equal to twice the friend's level, up to a maximum of level 7. Work with your GM to determine your friend's details.
Note that you can also make friends with NPCs you meet through the normal course of play without spending resource points. The “befriend” goal merely offers another option.
If you are specialized or expert in crafting, you can create an artifact appropriate to your genre of up to level 5. The artifact usually only grants a single benefit, such as easing a particular task or attack, or inflicting additional damage if an attack hits. The Cypher GM's Guide has many examples of simple artifacts; work with your GM to figure out the details of what you can make.
Most things you use resource points for take time to accomplish, with the amount of time depending on your goal. In a real-world game, fixing an electrical outlet might take an hour or two, making a friend might require a few nights out on the town, and repairing an engine might take the better part of a week. In a sci-fi game where you have a workshop with advanced fabrication machines, building a vehicle or a suit of power armor might be something you design on a computer for a few hours and set aside to be 3D-or 4D-printed overnight. There's no hard and fast rule; it just needs to fit the story and make sense. The time you spend could be entirely during downtime but is more likely intertwined with everything else your character does, including adventuring.
Once you've put in the amount of time required, you spend the resource points and accomplish the goal. Usually, no roll is required.
4D printing is an as-yet-unavailable technology that can print metal, silicone, plastic, and organic materials, creating anything from working circuits and electronics parts to food items or living replacement organs.
Downtime is when you're not adventuring, exploring, or interacting with NPCs, or after a game session concludes.
If you don’t have the skill to craft or repair something, you can commission a skilled NPC to do it for you. This might require an interaction roll for the NPC to get the job done on your timeline. The NPC’s crafting takes the same amount of time and costs you the same number of resource points as if you had done the crafting yourself. done the crafting yourself.
Commissioning an NPC to do work for you has the same net effect as paying them money or other goods to do so; it’s just using a different sort of currency. What the spent resource points represents depends on you, your abilities, and what the NPC needs. For example, the resource points spent on a blacksmith making you a sword might represent strange ingredients you’ve collected in your travels, a blessing on or healing of a member of the blacksmith’s family, or scaring away a group of thieves. These activities are usually handled between game sessions and don’t require rolls—although, as with any situation, the GM might complicate things with a GM Intrusion.
Eventually you may reach tier 6 and get a free choice from the most powerful abilities for your focus! But what's next? There are no focus abilities or genre abilities above tier 6, but you can keep advancing beyond tier 6 by spending XP on the usual advancement options, and after four advancements you reach a new tier.
When you reach a new tier, you automatically get a new focus ability for free (just like for advancing to tier 2, tier 3, and so on). This might be another tier 6 ability unlocked on your focus flowchart, or maybe you'll pick a lower-tier ability so you can explore another branch of the flowchart. Eventually (after many tiers) you'll have gained all of the abilities for your focus. However, even at that point, the other advancement options are still available, so you'll still be able to advance by learning or improving a skill, adding points to your Pools, and so on.
Remember that at every third tier after 6 (tier 9, 12, and so on), you automatically get to choose another genre ability for free.
If you haven't done so already, tiers above 6 are a good time to use skill advancement to become trained or specialized in an attack ability from your focus, type, or genre.
The Cypher GM's Guide has information about other forms of advancement, such as gaining another descriptor or focus.