One of the best ways to keep a Cypher System game interesting is to use GM Intrusions! I've found that they take the place of random/wandering monster encounters, add dramatic or comedic moments to games and give GMs an opportunity to reward or challenge players when a session demands it.
To explain the idea to the unfamiliar, Experience Points are a currency in the Cypher System. You use them to re-roll and to declare story details, similar to FATE or FFG's Star Wars RPGs. In a GM Intrusion, the GM gives a player 2 XP - 1 is a reward the player keeps for themself, the other they give to another player.
As a GM, you need to give out a couple of XP during a game, otherwise your players may not be able to make character advances at the end of a session. Those XP can be crucial for re-rolling failed rolls and keeping the story favoring the characters! As a GM, your reward for helping your players gain this crucial currency is to craft an exciting moment for the game in the form of a GM Intrusion!
But sometimes you don't just want a Velociraptor to stick its head out of the tall grass. Sometimes the PC doesn't step in a bucket when they're running for their lives. There are times where you want to challenge the players and make their characters more real.
The Cypher System rulebook (or Numenera, or The Strange) has some great ideas for character plot hooks, called Connections- ways that characters can link to one another and start their first adventure strong. Those Connections can be used to make characters more interesting and bring depth to the role-play. Characters will have a Background Connection from their Character Type and a Connection to the starting adventure from both their Character Type and Focus. With these 3 Connections, there are plenty of ways to base GM Intrusions upon character backgrounds and add depth.
For example, a Background Connection for the Warrior Type is 'You were the bouncer in a local bar for a while and the patrons remember you.' The PCs are searching for a thief, someone who found a mystical artifact much more powerful than they can understand. They catch up to them and when they confront them, the GM slides 2 XP to the Warrior's player. The thief recognizes the Warrior. The Warrior recognizes the thief.
How does that affect the game? It's up to the player to decide, which to me is the sign of a great GM Intrusion! I love adding story elements that may or may not be acted upon. Either way, those details definitely change the game. If the Warrior lets the thief go, flustered, the PCs may need to go back to the local bar to find them again. If the Warrior interrogates the thief, maybe a secret of the Warrior's old life leaks out. If the Warrior treats the thief like any other criminal, their old local bar may not want to see them back.
In the same way that players re-roll defense rolls to prevent damage, they react to character development to protect their characters. They don't want to lose the edge they get from their hometown contacts. Use this opportunity to play on what they value and challenge their mission!
If you can't find an immediate Connection to exploit, go for a leading question. Ask the player: 'You recognize the thief from somewhere. Where is that?' Let them tell you what strings to pull on. If they can't come up with something, help them out! There has to be something worth the XP to build on!
Try a few 'character devlopment' GM Intrusions to change up the flavor of your Cypher System game and make things more significant for your players.1
To explain the idea to the unfamiliar, Experience Points are a currency in the Cypher System. You use them to re-roll and to declare story details, similar to FATE or FFG's Star Wars RPGs. In a GM Intrusion, the GM gives a player 2 XP - 1 is a reward the player keeps for themself, the other they give to another player.
As a GM, you need to give out a couple of XP during a game, otherwise your players may not be able to make character advances at the end of a session. Those XP can be crucial for re-rolling failed rolls and keeping the story favoring the characters! As a GM, your reward for helping your players gain this crucial currency is to craft an exciting moment for the game in the form of a GM Intrusion!
But sometimes you don't just want a Velociraptor to stick its head out of the tall grass. Sometimes the PC doesn't step in a bucket when they're running for their lives. There are times where you want to challenge the players and make their characters more real.
The Cypher System rulebook (or Numenera, or The Strange) has some great ideas for character plot hooks, called Connections- ways that characters can link to one another and start their first adventure strong. Those Connections can be used to make characters more interesting and bring depth to the role-play. Characters will have a Background Connection from their Character Type and a Connection to the starting adventure from both their Character Type and Focus. With these 3 Connections, there are plenty of ways to base GM Intrusions upon character backgrounds and add depth.
For example, a Background Connection for the Warrior Type is 'You were the bouncer in a local bar for a while and the patrons remember you.' The PCs are searching for a thief, someone who found a mystical artifact much more powerful than they can understand. They catch up to them and when they confront them, the GM slides 2 XP to the Warrior's player. The thief recognizes the Warrior. The Warrior recognizes the thief.
How does that affect the game? It's up to the player to decide, which to me is the sign of a great GM Intrusion! I love adding story elements that may or may not be acted upon. Either way, those details definitely change the game. If the Warrior lets the thief go, flustered, the PCs may need to go back to the local bar to find them again. If the Warrior interrogates the thief, maybe a secret of the Warrior's old life leaks out. If the Warrior treats the thief like any other criminal, their old local bar may not want to see them back.
In the same way that players re-roll defense rolls to prevent damage, they react to character development to protect their characters. They don't want to lose the edge they get from their hometown contacts. Use this opportunity to play on what they value and challenge their mission!
If you can't find an immediate Connection to exploit, go for a leading question. Ask the player: 'You recognize the thief from somewhere. Where is that?' Let them tell you what strings to pull on. If they can't come up with something, help them out! There has to be something worth the XP to build on!
Try a few 'character devlopment' GM Intrusions to change up the flavor of your Cypher System game and make things more significant for your players.1
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