I've realized lately that I'm doing something very different from the play examples in Cypher System books. I've been telling my players the difficulty levels of everything before they roll.
I think this is because the majority of my games have been one-shots, demos and short arcs at home. But I like it!
There's been little consistent growth in play, so it's been natural for me to make things really transparent for players. Here's what I mean: A player attempts a task. They describe it, saying what they want to do. I tell them the difficulty number (i.e. 5) and what they have to roll to beat it (15). We use Skills and Assets to modify the difficulty. They get the opportunity to apply Effort. Then we roll.
That's how I've been running the game. I notice that the Play Examples in the book and most games I've seen keep difficulties secret. I think this is a natural thing in role-playing games but I don't know if I like the practice. It seems to me that exposing difficulties reduces a lot of the math and makes things clearer. When the system is better understood by the GM than the players it seems that there is an unequal balance of power.
While games like D&D encourage the use of screens, hidden difficulties and opposing rolls, Cypher has a system that allows players to decide to effect how difficult things will be. They can apply Effort to make things easier. They can re-roll their dice using Experience Points (XP).
To get to the point, why hide the difficulty? Players that want to make a task easier or re-roll their dice certainly can. To me, hidden difficulties just encourage constant rolling.
There is a moment in every D&D session where a player asks to make a roll (usually Perception) and everyone's dice hit the table. You scramble to explain why the person all the way across the room was able to succeed.
With an open difficulty and a 'fail forward' approach, it's pretty easy to minimize rolls and get players to spend their points where they count. I think players feel more in control of the game and like their characters are more competent.
Here are a few concrete ideas about transparent difficulties:
1. Announce the Difficulty Level and roll needed to succeed. Ask about modifiers.
2. Make the roll and see what happens.
3. Intrusions from rolling a 1 should be related to the roll.
4. A failing roll might be a lower level of success, but still a partial success, allowing players to 'fail forward'.
5. A big fail can still be re-rolled. A major/minor effect (roll of 19 or 20) needs some additional benefit.
6. A big success might give some additional benefit. It might be better, faster or cheaper.
When you make difficulties clear to players, expect some things to become conversations. Instead of telling a player to make a roll, they may want to know why something is so difficult. Use this as an opportunity to explore difficulties and make sure things make sense. Players will want to know what to expect and how hard things are in the game. I think this also makes it easier to find situations where players should try cooperative actions as well.
Because you're constructing difficulties on the fly and in the open, you can also use Negative Assets to explain why things are so difficult. Talk your way through the obstacle process with players. Get the difficulty finalized and make a roll.
In example, it might be Difficulty 2 to climb a reasonable mountain slope. The player wants to do it quickly, so Difficulty +1. The mountain is slick and covered in rocks, so Difficulty +1. Now it's Difficulty 4. The character is Trained in Climbing, so Difficulty -1. They apply Effort of 1 (-1). So we're back at Difficulty 2. They roll. If it goes great, make the climb faster or add something extra, like making the move get them farther than they expected. If it goes poorly, they can spend XP and re-roll. They know what to expect. They know when a check is easy and if they are likely to succeed.
Cypher gives players a lot of tools to take agency and decide how their character is going to succeed or fail. Making the decision to declare difficulties and use them transparently allows a GM to keep players informed and make informed game decisions.
I think this is because the majority of my games have been one-shots, demos and short arcs at home. But I like it!
There's been little consistent growth in play, so it's been natural for me to make things really transparent for players. Here's what I mean: A player attempts a task. They describe it, saying what they want to do. I tell them the difficulty number (i.e. 5) and what they have to roll to beat it (15). We use Skills and Assets to modify the difficulty. They get the opportunity to apply Effort. Then we roll.
That's how I've been running the game. I notice that the Play Examples in the book and most games I've seen keep difficulties secret. I think this is a natural thing in role-playing games but I don't know if I like the practice. It seems to me that exposing difficulties reduces a lot of the math and makes things clearer. When the system is better understood by the GM than the players it seems that there is an unequal balance of power.
While games like D&D encourage the use of screens, hidden difficulties and opposing rolls, Cypher has a system that allows players to decide to effect how difficult things will be. They can apply Effort to make things easier. They can re-roll their dice using Experience Points (XP).
To get to the point, why hide the difficulty? Players that want to make a task easier or re-roll their dice certainly can. To me, hidden difficulties just encourage constant rolling.
There is a moment in every D&D session where a player asks to make a roll (usually Perception) and everyone's dice hit the table. You scramble to explain why the person all the way across the room was able to succeed.
With an open difficulty and a 'fail forward' approach, it's pretty easy to minimize rolls and get players to spend their points where they count. I think players feel more in control of the game and like their characters are more competent.
Here are a few concrete ideas about transparent difficulties:
1. Announce the Difficulty Level and roll needed to succeed. Ask about modifiers.
2. Make the roll and see what happens.
3. Intrusions from rolling a 1 should be related to the roll.
4. A failing roll might be a lower level of success, but still a partial success, allowing players to 'fail forward'.
5. A big fail can still be re-rolled. A major/minor effect (roll of 19 or 20) needs some additional benefit.
6. A big success might give some additional benefit. It might be better, faster or cheaper.
When you make difficulties clear to players, expect some things to become conversations. Instead of telling a player to make a roll, they may want to know why something is so difficult. Use this as an opportunity to explore difficulties and make sure things make sense. Players will want to know what to expect and how hard things are in the game. I think this also makes it easier to find situations where players should try cooperative actions as well.
Because you're constructing difficulties on the fly and in the open, you can also use Negative Assets to explain why things are so difficult. Talk your way through the obstacle process with players. Get the difficulty finalized and make a roll.
In example, it might be Difficulty 2 to climb a reasonable mountain slope. The player wants to do it quickly, so Difficulty +1. The mountain is slick and covered in rocks, so Difficulty +1. Now it's Difficulty 4. The character is Trained in Climbing, so Difficulty -1. They apply Effort of 1 (-1). So we're back at Difficulty 2. They roll. If it goes great, make the climb faster or add something extra, like making the move get them farther than they expected. If it goes poorly, they can spend XP and re-roll. They know what to expect. They know when a check is easy and if they are likely to succeed.
Cypher gives players a lot of tools to take agency and decide how their character is going to succeed or fail. Making the decision to declare difficulties and use them transparently allows a GM to keep players informed and make informed game decisions.
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