Cozy Dark

 Cozy Dark is a game I am working on for solo roleplaying. It steals a lot from Ironsworn, a bit from Chaosium's generic roleplaying, and a lot from my own imagination. I've tried to pack as much flavor as possible into it.

A blog post is simply too short to include the full game, but I thought I would introduce the moves for Sowing, Tending, and Harvesting your fields. I'm really happy with how they came out!

Move: Sow the Field

There’s magic in the moment a seed meets soil—hope buried with care, dreams waiting beneath the surface. When you Sow the Field, you commit to nurturing life with patience and intention, knowing the harvest may be weeks or seasons away. This Move marks the beginning of your journey toward botanical wonder, whether it’s a crop to feed the soul or a rare herb that shimmers with starlight.

Use this Move when you plant something meaningful—whether in your garden, a wild plot deep in the woods, or even in enchanted soil under a dying sky. Each planting is tied to a Progress Track, reflecting the rarity and effort it will take to bring it to life.

Assign a Progress Rank based on the type of crop:

• Common Crops → Hearthstep
  
  

• Uncommon Crops → Rooted Effort
  
  

• Rare Crops → Winding Walk
  
  

• Legendary Crops → Gathering Stormlight
  
  

• Mythical Crops → Kindling the Dawn
  
  

Choose the crop (be sure you have the seeds or the essence to plant!), assign the appropriate Progress Track, and then roll Grit + a relevant skill (such as Tending, Botany, Greenwhispering, or something born through story).

If you Roll a Glow (strong success):
The planting feels guided—by instinct, by nature, or perhaps something unseen. Mark progress immediately. Your field hums with promise. To mark future progress, use the Move “Tend the Field.”

If you Roll a Glint (soft success):
The seeds take root under your care. The field is planted and ready for the work ahead. Begin tracking progress using “Tend the Field.”

If you Roll a Fade (miss):
Something feels off. The earth resists your hand, the weather shifts, or doubt creeps in. Increase the Progress Track rank by 1, but the crop’s rarity stays the same. (For example, a Common crop becomes a Rooted Effort track, but will still only yield common results.) Begin tracking progress using “Tend the Field.”

Every patch of land needs time to breathe. A single field holds space for three crop beds, but only two should be cultivated at once—the third lies fallow, resting and restoring the soil’s strength. This rhythm reflects the harmony of nature: work and rest, give and receive.

You may choose to sow all three beds, pushing the land beyond its gentle limits. If you do, the overworked soil resists. The new crop’s progress track is treated as one rank higher, and all future rolls related to that crop suffer a -10 penalty as the earth groans beneath the strain.

Tend wisely. The land remembers how it’s treated.

Move: Tend the Field

Seeds may start the story, but it’s care that turns them into something more. When you Tend the Field, you nurture what you’ve planted—pulling weeds that threaten to choke the roots, pouring water like a blessing, or driving off the pests that creep in when you're not looking.

Use this Move when tending an existing crop tied to a Progress Track you've begun with Sow the Field. Choose how you're tending the field, then roll the corresponding characteristic with an appropriate skill:

• Weeding (Whim): You work lightly and intuitively, plucking away what doesn't belong.
  
  

• Watering (Ember): You share your warmth and presence with the field, offering life in each drop.
  
  

• Pest Control (Heart): You honor the life of even the smallest creatures, guiding them gently away from your crops to places where they can thrive without harm. It's not a battle—it’s a quiet negotiation of balance.

If you Roll a Glow (strong success):
The task goes beautifully—your touch is sure, your timing perfect. The field responds with quiet joy. Mark progress on the crop’s track.You may spend 1 Cozy to mark the skill you used.

If you Roll a Glint (soft success):
Your effort lands well enough. The job is done, if not perfectly. Mark progress on the crop’s track.

If you Roll a Fade (miss):
Something slips through—roots you missed, water in short supply, or a sneaky bite in the leaves. Do not mark progress. The next time you Tend this field, roll with a -5 penalty as the consequences of neglect or misfortune settle in.

Move: Harvest the Bounty
When the season turns and your crops are ripe with potential, it’s time to gather the fruits of your care. This Move represents the culmination of all your tending—the moment you kneel to the soil and receive what it has to offer. Use this Move when a crop’s progress track is full or nearly full, and you’re ready to bring it in.

Roll Grit + Skill as you gently coax the yield from the earth.

• If you Roll a Glow (strong success):
  A solid harvest. The crop is collected without trouble, and its bounty is generous. Add 1 extra Favor or ingredient tag to the yield—it’s more potent than expected.
  
  

• If you Roll a Glint (soft success):
  You gather the crop, but it wasn’t easy. You had to use heavier tools or rush the process. The land feels your urgency. The field must rest for one full cycle before anything can be planted there again. Still, the crop is yours.
  
  

• If you Roll a Fade (miss):
  The crop resists you. It’s not ready, or something’s gone awry. Reduce the progress track by two boxes and increase the crop’s difficulty by one rank, making future progress more difficult to mark. The land needs more time and care before it’s willing to let go.
  

Horror in the Solo RPG

 A few weeks ago I finally got my copy of The Magnus Archives roleplaying game. It's a cosmic horror game powered by cypher and based on one of my favorite podcasts of all time. "But Lexi," you might say, "cypher already has a horror supplement AND released Old Gods of Appalachia not all that long ago. Did they really need another take on the horror genre?"

 Honestly, I'm not sure. Without the license I'm not positive that this horror game is bringing anything different than Stay Alive, the original horror supplement. The exception is that in the tradition of cosmic horror, Magnus Archives adds a stress feature for characters that I would retroactively use for any Old Gods game I was running as well.

 But this post is not a review about The Magnus Archives. The thing is, I've been playing the game solo and I've been having a blast. Having a character be forced to face off against the dark things that move in the night (or in the day for that matter) realizing they have gotten involved in something so far beyond them that they may as well have jumped off a diving board into the ocean has been a ton of fun.

The first thing I played through was the little adventures included in the book, and then like I do, I struck out on my own with Mythic GME as my guide. I was off to the races. But then the other day I saw something on the Call of Cthulhu subreddit. I don't remember the post exactly, but it was asking how to approach an investigative horror game without spoiling the ending.

It was met with the basic advice that is trodden out for this common question. Try the "Alone Against" series, etc etc. The thing is, I tried the Alone Against series and I really really don't like them. Those books are just Choose Your Own Adventure Books with extra steps. They don't hold onto the true essence of what makes ttrpgs great, the freedom to go wherever and do whatever you want. 

There has to be a better way.

Of course there is, and that way - say it with me folks! -  is Progress Clocks! 

I know, I use progress clocks as an answer to a lot of things. The thing is, for an improvisational dungeon master (or solo gamer), they are just so flexible. But there is more than just Progress Clocks to this procedure. And it is a procedure of sorts. So let's break the steps down.

Step One: The Statement

The Magnus Archives is a game based on a podcast, and it starts off every horror story with a statement. The statement is almost always from a person who experienced something horrific that then has to be confirmed and investigated. Maybe it's a statement from someone who survived a murder attempt... only the person that was trying to kill them was formed entirely of jagged needles of all different sizes (a real story from the podcast I still think about).

The Magnus Archives rpg has a system for working as a group to create a statement. But as solo roleplayers it doesn't really work exactly. It is a method for getting an entire group to work together and we have only ourselves. 

I suggest using some mythic meaning tables here, rolling until you are inspired. But the goal here is to have someone telling a story about something terrifying and likely supernatural that our characters then have to go investigate. And this doesn't have to be a full story. It can be a list of bullet points or just an idea that you keep in your head.

A good statement should include: 

• The survivor. Their name and a tiny bit of background. A first sentence or two that introduces the setup. "My name is Aloucious Strativos Aria Magnifico the XIV. My friends just call me Strat. And the thing is, I've been disappointing my family for generations."
•  The Setup. Now we begin to answer the questions that our survivor introduced. The Magnifico family? Who are they? How has someone disappointed their family for generations? Where and When did this all start? This should also be kept to a sentence or two (or three). "The first thing I remember is the dark of the coffin and the smell of damp loam. Then the sound of a shovel tapping on the rotting wood of my eternal resting place. When my coffin lid was peeled away I looked into the beautiful face of the woman I would come to love, and then come to loathe."
• Round One Details. This is where we start looking at the statement as a person who is trying to play a game. The past two steps have been about creating tone and giving us a character. But we are going to need things to investigate, and it sounds like this story all happened a long time ago. So we give the strange woman a name, let's call her Monica Magnifico. She's a magician (and probably a necromancer) and she's got a show in town this very week. 
• Survivor reaction. The survivor begins to explain how they reacted to things. Maybe what they felt about things. They start to introduce why they decided to tell this story. This is another few sentences. "When I first served it was small things. Dreary tasks given in the angelic voice of the woman that brought me back from death. Fetch some water. Dig some holes. But eventually she worked me into her show. You know the one, "Magnifico!" She's been putting it on for over a century now, and people believe that the magician changes from time to time, like a mask passed from person to person. But it isn't true, Magnifico has always been Monica, and the shows keep her alive."
• The horror. Now we introduce the thing at the center of it all. The horror we will have to face. Again, a few sentences is all we need. "It's my fault the shows keep going. Monica seeks to live forever, and she thought it would all happen during a single show two and a half generations ago. She would kill someone on stage while the audience laughed and she would channel all that twisted energy, the fear and the adulation, into a spell net so strong it would sustain her forever. But in the final moment I messed everything up. The spell turned back on Monica twisting her body and turning her into a horror to look upon. Now she hides behind her mask and cape and the shows are the way she holds onto the agony that has become her existence. And still people die on stage while others laugh and applaud."
• The escape and the reason. Now it's time to explain how the survivor actually survived, or why they are choosing to look for help (or forgiveness or any number of other feelings). "In this last decade I have fallen in love with another woman. At first Monica didn't care, then she thought it was cute and pathetic. But in this last few months she has become exceedingly jealous. And last night she killed my love on stage. All I could do was watch. But enough is enough. I can no longer sit back and watch the woman who granted me these extra years perform her evil. It must be stopped - but I am unable to be the one to stop it.
• Round 2 details. We give our statement a final look. We can tweak things if we need to. When I first got into this with the really long name I was thinking of a great family. It feels like this is more focused on Monica than the family though. So maybe we cut that name down. We give this second love a name, let's call her Maria and say that she looks almost exactly like Monica used to. And we have at least a few places to investigate. Maria's family (if any are alive), Strat himself, the magic show, etc.

 Mythic can be a great tool to help flesh a statement out. You can roll on meaning tables at each of these steps to fill in details. Or you can let inspiration take hold and go with the flow. It's also important to note that this doesn't have to be a 'statement' like from The Magnus Archives. It can be a series of journal entries, the last thoughts of a dying person, a fortune being read from a mysterious woman with a crystal ball, or any number of other things.

The goal is to have a place to start our horror adventure.

Step Two: Decide How Long and Dangerous the Adventure is. Assign a progress clock.

This step is very fast. Think about the game you want to run. Do you want to play through a terrifying adventure that will take your investigations around the world and take a dozen or more hours to play? Or do you want to play through a more contained game that will take a few hours? 

Your answer to that question will help you decide how big your progress clock should be. The general guideline is that each segment of your clock will contain 1-3 scenes. So the longer your clock, the more scenes you will have and the longer your game will be. This isn't always true, but a good rule of thumb is that one segment will take anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour to fill depending on your play style.

 Step Three: Put Together a Clue List 

This is the part of this whole procedure that requires the second most amount of preparation, and the step that ties the entire adventure together. It's time to make a list of clues that is at least twice as long as your progress clock. If you have a 4 segment clock you need at least 8 clues, although you can include as many as you want. Some clues you should tie to specific locations, and other clues should be more general. For my example I'm going to use the above statement and a 4 segment clock.

Physical Evidence Found of Locations (Monica's home or the stage, etc)

• A crumbling playbill from 100 years ago advertising "Magnifico!" It has the same masked magician on the front as the ads do now. The bill has been freshly signed: Monica Magnifico
• A magician's wand. On closer inspection its made of bone and wrapped with faded, sinewy leather.
• A single tarot card. The Fool, it has strange sigils inked over the surface.
• An old picture of Strat with Monica faded with age. Monica looks just like Maria.
  

 Conversational Rumors:

• Someone once saw Monica pull a bouquet of flowers from her sleeve - the flowers were bleeding.
• There is no drinking allowed at Magnifico shows. People saw it's because drinks go flat when the magician is near, as if something is drinking the life from them.  
• Maria was a new assistant, and one day she came home from the show in a panic. "It's real! It's all real!" I didn't know what she was talking about, and she refused to tell me.

 Misc and General Clues:

• A prop rabbit's corpse, found in a magician's hat or similar place. It's mummified and whispering "Run!" over and over.
• A contract written in a mix of Latin and arcane symbols, binding Strat to serve Monica "Until the final curtain falls."

The point of these clues is not to point to a single answer of 'what happened.' In this method we don't know the answer going into things. I have some thoughts as I put these clues together. "Until the final curtain falls" is a neat clue to hang some things off of. The tarot cards are neat, what happened to the rest of the deck?

But at this point we don't have answers to where the clues are pointing. We just have a list of clues that we can seed into our adventure.

Step Four: Discover Clues Until the Progress Clock Fills

Now we start playing. We start poking our noses into things looking for answers. Whenever the fiction says we should find a clue, we look at the list and roll a random clue. If it's a piece of physical evidence I'm going to roll a d4 from my list.

Every time we find a clue we fill a segment of our clock. This means that at least half the clues we added to the list will never be found. That's on purpose. Again, we don't know what the solution to this adventure is. We follow the clues we made. 

 Step Five: When the Clock Strikes Midnight

Eventually we will fill all of our progress clocks segments. That's our sign that the investigation should stop. We look at the clues and come up with a theory that fits the clues. Then we determine if our theory is correct by rolling on a d4.

• On a 1, our theory is wrong. We have to act on it, but because we are wrong we will be in terrible danger. Even if we survive, the mystery is not solved. We roll a d4 and add that many segments to our progress clock. We must return to step four until the new progress clock is filled and we can try again.
• On a 2 or 3, our theory is right, but we are missing something important. When we try to put an end to things we will be in terrible danger. But the things we need to survive we have a chance to find. We might succeed.
• On a 4, our theory is right AND we know exactly what we need to do to put an end to things. We might face danger, but we are in control of the situation... as much as it's possible to be in control of anything while playing a horror game.

Step Six: Putting things right

Putting things right is what it's called when we act on our theory to resolve the situation. We help a ghost move on to the next life. We try to destroy an evil magician, but we didn't know her soul is bound in a contract. We manage to escape before the magician kills us, but we limp away twenty years older, and have to go back to investigating. 

This part of the adventure is largely determined by how well we did on our theory. In 3/4 situations we have a chance to succeed and actually put things right. Most often we aren't in control and things are terrifying and dangerous and we could fail. But we have a chance. A chance to be brave and bold and be in the right place at the right time to save the day. 

 Final Thoughts

This method takes things from The Magnus Archives and from games like Brindelwood Bay and smashes them together. The point is to play a game where we don't know the ending. But instead of following a bunch of choose your own adventure paths, we still get to play. We still have the freedom of a ttrpg to go anywhere and do anything.

But this method isn't perfect. Sometimes you'll have a list of clues and one of them doesn't fit in with the rest. And that's okay. The clues don't all have to fit together like a perfect puzzle. They can be a bit messy. Some could be red herrings or just something we thought was relevant, but turns out not to be. And even if all the clues feel like they make perfect sense together, we still have to let the clock strike midnight and make our theory. If we roll a 1, our theory is wrong, even if it looks like it should be right.

It's also important to remember that spooky and scary things should absolutely be happening during the investigation things. And it's more important for something scary to happen than it is to be able to fit that scary thing into the story. Hopefully in the end the larger context makes it make sense, and the scary things should always fit the tone and setting of your adventure. But sometimes the walls just need to weep blood. If that fits the adventure, great. If it doesn't... well, it was scary! We can either come back later and be like, "we killed the magician and everything makes sense. Except for the blood crying wall. What's going on with that?" Then we can play a game and go figure that question out.

I've made this as system agnostic as possible. I highly recommend looking at games like Brindelwood Bay, or a horror game that's carved from Brindelwood, Public Access. My method is much in the style of those methods, and reading those books will only make your games stronger.

And that's it, that's all I have. Go now into the night. Be brave. Don't forget who you are and what you believe when the darkness comes for you.

Managing Party Members in Solo Play

There I was, hanging out in the SoloRolePlayer's discord when the question appeared. It was intended for Tana Pigeon, the amazing creator of Mythic Emulators, the Adventure Crafter, and so much more. But I read the question, and I am stealing it.

 

Question (BruceTheWise): What is your prespective on playing more than one character? For example, D&D has sidekick rules. I like this concept because it lets you get different kinds of ability, like combining a martial character and a magic user. At the same time I don't want to make everything too easy.

 

 Tana's Answer: I rarely do this myself, but this is something I've written about and many players do. I don't think playing more than one full character at the same time is great, since that's a lot of bookkeeping to do. However, you can have multiple characters where you swap them out sometimes. For instance, play one for one scene then another for another scene. Or, you have your main character where you put most of your attention, then side characters who are not as fleshed out mechanically as your main PC but you still control them to some extent. These extra characters are kind of a mix of PC and NPC.

 

And then PJ Sack of the Solo Role Player's podcast responded with the comment that inspired it all:

 

What we need is a flexible system that makes an easy and smooth transition between PC and companion/group of companions and back again. 

 

You know what? PJ is right. And there are probably solutions out there. Indeed, Bruce mentioned one when he brought up Sidekicks for D&D. But sidekicks are designed specifically for Dungeons and Dragons, and I want something a little easier to wrap your mind around.

I propose a tow tiered system that can be picked from either per character or per game.

Tier One: The Full Party Solution

Tana points out that handling a bunch of different characters requires a lot of bookkeeping. The top level of my three tiered system is just that. Do the bookkeeping. You want to play with more than one character? Create the character sheets, pilot the entire party. OSR games almost encourage this when you play them solo. They are designed to be fast and deadly, so it helps to have an entire group to pick up the adventure when someone else dies.

I've done it this way before. I've played solo games of Fabula Ultima where I ran four full party members on top of whatever NPC foes I might encounter. Then I used the rules for supporting characters to add even more people to the board. But it is a TON of bookkeeping. Sometimes it's an overwhelming amount of bookkeeping. 

 Tier Two: The Progress Clock Character

I love progress clocks. I think they are incredible. And I think they are a perfect solution for a character you don't want to do much bookkeeping on. This is the idea. Imagine the supporting character, sketch down a couple thoughts about their looks and abilities. Then decide if this character is weak, standard, dangerous, powerful, or epic.

• If the character is weak give them a 4 segment clock.
• If the character is standard give them a 6 segment clock.
• If the character is dangerous give them an 8 segment clock.
• If the character is powerful give them a 10 segment clock.
• If the character is epic give them a 12 or higher segment clock. 

The trick is, you don't make rolls for this character. Every time they do something basic you mark 1 segment of the clock. They might block an attack for you. They might make an attack (which should do average-ish damage based on the game you are playing). They might lift a boulder or craft an item or any number of either things. 

 Then, if they have some sort of special attack or magical ability that would have a larger impact, when they do that thing you mark 2 segments of the clock. 

Finally, if they do something absolutely wild mark 3-4 segments. They fall from a great height. They use an ability powerful enough to impact the fiction of the game. For now this requires a bit of judgement calling. The more powerful the ability the more segments it should mark. There may be more guidelines on this later.

Once a character's clock is full it means that they can no longer affect the fiction of the game until it is refilled. You can refill a clock at any time your character would restore their resources, and in a similar way. If I was running this for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, after an 8 hour rest I would fill the clock completely. If I was running this for Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition which used slower healing rules, I would only fill a fraction of the clock. Again, at this point use some self judgement and there may be more guidelines in the future.

 

 

 

Strixhaven and Cypher: NPC Companions and Rules for Studying and Exams

 Strixhaven in Cypher

I'm running Strixhaven and powering it with the Cypher System. And by running Strixhaven I mean that I'm running it in the same way I run any other module -- taking inspiration from the core source book and then veering almost immediately off the rails into unrecognizable territory. I've introduced NPCs that aren't in the book, the NPCs that are in the book hardly resemble they way they are presented in the book, and the adventure in the book may as well not exist.

But it's still Strixhaven. The colleges of magic still exist, the Oracle is still the head of the school, the founding dragons are still important. I've just hacked the setting into pieces that are interesting to me and cast aside the rest.

Because a lot of the stuff I'm using is just setting based I don't really need to convert things. The suggested NPCs in the book don't even have stat blocks, so it's not like I had to come up with a new block for each character. But there have been a couple places where I've looked at the book and either decided that I wanted to change up how it's done, or realized that it doesn't fit into Cypher's rules. These are two of those instances.

NPC Companions

Strixhaven places a lot of importance on the relationships players develop with NPCs. I wanted to keep that feeling, and I've mostly kept the relationship rules intact. After each session I go around the table and ask each player who they want a relationship point with and then ask if it's positive or negative. That allows the players to decide who at the school makes up their friends and rivals.

But one thing I wanted to do was allow NPCs to go adventuring with the party sometimes. And Cypher struggles with NPCs taking actions. The easy thing to do is just compare an NPCs level with a situation. If an NPC is level 4 and it's attacking a level 3 monster it automatically succeeds. If it's attacking a level 5 monster it automatically fails.

But that wasn't interesting to me. Too often it leaves NPCs feeling useless and unable to contribute to a situation. So I came up with the following:

NPC companions are characters that accompany the player characters through specific scenes. Each PC may have one NPC who is designated a companion. Other NPCs may be in the scene, but they do not gain the effects of being an official companion.

 

Companion Effects

• Companions can help in battle and in tasks they are trained in. When you make a skill check that the companion is trained in you gain an asset. When you make attack rolls your companion helps you and you can either gain an asset on your attacks or deal an extra 2 points of damage.

• Companion Cyphers. When a companion joins you you may select one of their abilities that might be effective in a scene. This ability counts as a cypher and counts towards your cypher limit. However, unlike normal cyphers companion abilities do not take an action to activate as they represent your companion acting on their own.

Now when I create a new NPC I create a couple abilities. I mostly want to have two possible options for each NPC. One of the NPCs I made, a Kaorti named Emeling has the companion cyphers "Shadow Rend" (a flat out damaging spell) and "Touch of Insanity" (a mind affecting madness spell). If a player decides to bring Emeling out on an adventure they can pick one of the abilities and add it to their cyphers. These abilities count towards a PCs cypher limit... but even if a player doesn't have room or want to take the cypher, the NPC is still helping out by granting assets and doing just a little bit of extra damage.

Each player may only have 1 companion at a time, and it's best to keep the number to 1 per group.

Studying and Exams

As I was preparing for my players to take their first exam I realized that the rules for the exams don't quite translate into cypher. The core book utilizes a bunch of advantage/disadvantage things, and rewards student dice. Cypher doesn't have either of those, and I could have adapted student dice, but I decided to do this instead.

Studying Phase

As long as you have a slot in your schedule you can use one of these options. If you do not have a slot for studying in your schedule, see Skipping Studying below.

During the Studying phase, each character must succeed on an ability check against the difficulty of the exam. You can use any ability or skill you wish when making this check, but you can make it only once.

For example, one student might make a Knowledge History (Intellect) check to pore over their books while another student makes a Performance (Intellect) check to create a series of spoken mnemonic devices. The skill or ability being used must be justified within the narrative of the studying phase.

On a successful check, you gain one re-roll to use during the next Testing phase.

Pulling an All-Nighter

If you pull an all-nighter you gain two rerolls to use during the next testing phase if you succeed on the ability check. But doing so imposes a cost: you move one space down the damage track. The damage to your damage track can't be removed until after the exam.

Studying Together

If two or more characters engage in a group study session, each participating character has an asset during the Studying phase.

Skipping Studying

You do not have the chance to make any rerolls during the test. You gain 1 xp, which cannot be spent until after the next Testing Phase.

Testing Phase

Once the Studying Phase for an Exam is over, record how many rerolls each character received, then being the testing phase.

Ability Checks

Each Exam's Testing Phase consists of two ability checks, with specific levels noted in the encounter. If you gained any rerolls during the Studying phase, you can use one on each check. If you choose to reroll, always take the new attempt.

Each character's Testing phase has three possible results:

• Failed: You failed both ability checks. You answer fewer than half the questions on the exam correctly.

• Passed: One successful ability check means you passed the exam, having answered more than half the questions on the exam correctly. You gain 1 xp.

• Aced: Two successful ability checks mean the character aced the Exam, having gotten all the questions correct. You gain 2 xp.

Cheating

An unscrupulous character can cheat on an Exam. Cheating requires two ability checks, a Deception (Intellect) check and a Slight of Hand (Speed) check.

If you fail either of these checks, a proctor or other authority figure notices the cheating. You fail the exam and have to deal with the fallout.

If both of these checks are successful you ace the exam.

 

 

Cypher System: MTG Slivers

 Slivers are a type of creature in Magic the Gathering. Their main gimmick is that each type of sliver can do something different, and every other Sliver gains that ability. So one sliver gives all other slivers trample, or haste, or extra attack power, etc. 

This post was inspired by a conversation on the Cypher Unlimited Discord, and I decided it would be fun to pick out some of the slivers I thought would convert into interesting ttrpg monsters the best. So here is my take on the classic mtg creature.

Hatchery Sliver (Level 4)

The Hatchery Sliver is the brood queen of a Sliver swarm. She sits surrounded by ready to hatch eggs that she can dispatch any time she senses that the swarm is under attack, or when there is a need for new bodies. She spends most of her time caring for her eggs, but she has a viscous acid spit she can deploy when threatened.

 

Health: 12

Damage Inflicted: 4

Movement: Immediate

Hatch Sliver: The Hatchery Sliver can spend an action selecting an egg to hatch. She can choose to hatch any level 2 Sliver depending on the needs of the situation.

 

Encounter: Slivers are rarely encountered alone. Most often they are found in groups of 5-7, all of varying types. The Hatchery Sliver is always in some sort of nest surrounded by dozens of amber colored eggs with fully formed Slivers inside.

 

Capricious Sliver (Level 3) 

The Capricious Sliver is both stealthy and dangerous. It is most often the scout of a swarm, and it defends itself with a deadly neurotoxin that attacks a creature's mind.

Health: 9

Damage Inflicted: 2 Might Damage and 2 Intellect Damage.

Movement: Short. 

Modifications: When stealthing, the Capricious Sliver acts as a level 6 creature.

Sliver Swarm (Neurotoxin): All other slivers within short range deal an extra point of Intellect damage.

Encounter: Capricious Slivers are often found in groups of 2-3 ranging ahead of a larger swarm. When faced with danger they either retreat back to the swarm for aid, or if the Sliver realizes that the danger is too great they try to lead the danger away from the swarm. This is the most likely type of Sliver to encounter alone.

 

 

Blade Sliver (Level 2)

This giant worm like creature is covered in jagged metal spikes. The spikes attack with alarming speed.

 

Health: 6

Damage Inflicted: 3

Movement: Short

Sliver Swarm (Increase Damage): All other Slivers within short range do an extra point of damage.

Encounter: Slivers are rarely encountered alone. Most often they are found in groups of 5-7, all of varying types. 

Armor Sliver (Level 2)

This giant worm like creature is covered in thick scales that deflect incoming attacks. They have two tales, and long defensive pincers.

 

Health: 8

Armor: 2

Damage Inflicted: 2

Movement: Short

 

Silver Swarm (Armor): All other Slivers within short range gain 2 points of armor. 

Encounter: Slivers are rarely encountered alone. Most often they are found in groups of 5-7, all of varying types. 

Galerider Sliver (Level 2)

This lithe two tailed worm like creature soars gracefully through the sky. It's wings make a loud insectoid hovering sound that can be heard from miles away when a full swarm takes to the air.  

 

Health: 6

Damage Inflicted: 2

Movement: Long while flying, Short while grounded

Sliver Swarm (Flight): All other slivers within short range gain the ability to fly and move a Long distance through the air.

Encounter: Slivers are rarely encountered alone. Most often they are found in groups of 5-7, all of varying types. Galeriders are almost always near the center of hunting swarms.

Blur Sliver (Level 2)

A blur sliver has a connection with a reality or plane separate from our own. It's in a constant state of flux between the two planes, making it a difficult creature to dispatch. 

 

Health: 6

Damage Inflicted: 2

Movement: Short

Blur: When a blur sliver would take damage roll a d20. If the result is a 7 or lower the Blur Sliver takes no damage.

Sliver Swarm (Blur): All other Slivers withing short range also have a blur effect. When they would take damage roll a d20, if the result is a 5 or lower they take no damage.

Encounter: Slivers are rarely encountered alone. Most often they are found in groups of 5-7, all of varying types. 

Lancer Sliver (Level 2)

These worm like creatures are equipped with incredibly long and dangerous pincers.

Health: 6

Damage Inflicted: 2

Movement: Short

Modifications: Lancer Slivers make attacks as level 4 creatures so long as they attack with their pincers.

 

Sliver Swarm (Increase Attack): All other slivers in short range gain an asset to their attacks.

 

Encounter: Slivers are rarely encountered alone. Most often they are found in groups of 5-7, all of varying types. 

Thursday Night Showdown: Wailing Spell Crusher vs. Abyssal Minion

 Welcome to Thursday Night Showdown, where I create two monsters and then they fight in the arena face to face. For simplicity sake I'll be using the cypher system, because I know it pretty well by now and it's pretty neat. Monsters are inspired by, well, whatever I want! Let's get started.

Today entering the ring are two abnormal horrors. One is a creature so loud and unintelligible it drives creatures to madness. The other, a demon from the lowest ranks of hell. Of course The Wailing Spell Crusher is much more powerful than a single Abyssal Minions... but Abyssal Minions never come alone. Instead the Spell Crusher will be facing a small horde of creatures.

Let's start with the stats!

The Wailing Spell Crusher (Level 5)

A monstrosity created in labs of people who really, really hate spell casters. They just absolutely loath them and want to see all spell casters dead and banished from reality. From out of the lab it slithers, a mass of flesh with a dozen mouths, each complete with pointed teeth and forked tongues. From each mouth it gibbers arcane secrets that would make sense if they didn't all blend together into an incredible screeching sound of total madness.

In addition to it's aura of madness, The Wailing Spell Crusher comes complete with the possibility of straight up negating spells that are cast on it, and the ability to shred through it's opponents Intellect with its flesh rending teeth.

 

HP: 15

Damage Inflicted: 4 to Might, 2 to Intellect

Movement: Short

 

Aura of Gibbering Madnesss: Any creature in short range must make an Intellect defense roll or be confused during their next turn. Any creature that fails the attack rolls a d8 to determine what it does on it's next turn.

• 1-4: The creature is stunned for it's turn and takes no actions. Its defense rolls are hindered.
• 5-6: The creature is terrified of the Wailing Spell Crusher and uses its turn to move as far away as possible from it.
• 7-8: The creature makes an attack on any creature within range using a mundane weapon.

Spell Resistance: Any spell like abilities used on the Wailing Spell Crusher are hindered by two steps.

 

Gm Intrusion: Mind Shredding Feast: The Wailing Spell Crusher latches onto a creature with one of it's mouths. The target makes a speed defense roll hindered by two steps. A failure results in taking 6 points of intellect damage and being held in place with the Spell Crusher's teeth. A successful speed defense roll let's the creature escape. If it doesn't escape it takes 6 points of intellect damage at the end of each round it remains held.

The Abyssal Minion (Level 1)

Born in the lowest depth of hell, an Abyssal Minion always serves the purposes of larger and bigger creatures. Most often those other creatures are demons using the Abyssal Minions as the front (disposable) lines in an invading force. Finding a single Abyssal Minion almost never happens, instead they attack in uncoordinated swarms. Abyssal Minions have thick leathery skin, and black metal spikes grow out of their spines and protrude from their body with wicked points.

 

HP: 3

Damage Inflicted: 2

Movement: Short

Swarm: An Abyssal Minion can swarm with any other abyssal minions in immediate range. Instead of making individual attacks, they attack in an uncoordinated fury straight from hell. Add the total level of all the minions that are part of the swarm, they make a single attack that deals 2 points of damage per minion.

Gm Intrusion: Spiked Tips: An Abyssal Minion scrapes it's metallic spikes across a creature, shredding it for 4 damage if it fails a speed defense check.

 

Running a Combat

Running a combat between two monsters in cypher doesn't really work without hacking the system a bit. The reason is that in Cypher the story teller never actually rolls the dice, so monsters are missing half their stat blocks. Instead things like AC and such are simply built on their level. 

I am going to run things like this. Defenders make rolls. No one is trained in defense, but there are objects scattered around the arena that can provide training. I will determine item bonuses ahead of time, and each side of the arena has identical items. 

Each side gets 1 free GM Intrusion in addition to any natural ones that are rolled. This first combat might be a bit weird while I figure things out.

For the fun of having some visuals to share, I will take screenshots of the fight as it happens. The arena map is called The Glaivestone Arena, and it was created by a map maker named Eldryll. Go check out their maps here: https://www.patreon.com/Eledryll.

For tokens I'm grabbing things off the free roll20 tokens.

Setting up the Arena

1 Wailing Spell Crusher vs 10 Abyssal Minions

Objects: 

• 2 Defense Orbs. Claiming an orb takes 1 turn and provides 1 asset to defense rolls until the end of the encounter.

 

Thursday Night Showdown... Fight!

It Begins!

The Wailing Spell Crusher lumbers onto the field, dragging it's bulbous body onto the sand. It's mouths scream magical secrets that could each change a life, but they are so scrambled that it's just an insane gibbering screech of pure sound.

Meanwhile ten Abyssal Minions scramble into the arena, leading over each other and scrambling for footing. They each see the Wailing Spell Crusher across the arena, and they let loose a hellish battle cry.

Both teams ignore defense bonuses and rush to the center of the arena, ready to spill blood on the sand.

As the Abyssal Minion's sprint over the field, they face their first obstacle: The Spell Crusher's maddening howl. Each one must make a difficulty 5 defense check.

• Abyssal Minion 1: 4
• Abyssal Minion 2: 7
• Abyssal Minion 3: 15
• Abyssal Minion 4: 8
• Abyssal Minion 5: 20
• Abyssal Minion 6: 18
• Abyssal Minion 7: 18
• Abyssal Minion 8: 6
• Abyssal Minion 9: 7
• Abyssal Minion 10: 13

Abyssal Minions 3, 5, 6, and 7 all pass their defense checks. Abyssal Minion 5 rolled a 20 which counts as a major effect in cypher and so it gets to do something cool. It's major effect is going to deal damage to one of the minions that failed its defense check. The pain will allow the minion to pass, but it will take 2 points of damage. (2 points of damage to Abyssal Minion 1, which now passes)

It is now time for initiative. This is simple, the creature with the highest level goes first. 

 

The Wailing Spell Crusher rushes forward and slams into minion 2. 

• Minion 2 defense roll, Difficulty 5: 8.

The Abyssal Minion fails to defend. It takes 4 points of might damage and 2 points of intellect damage (so 6 damage total) and it is torn to shreds. The Wailing Spell Crusher chews it's head off  and spits out the jagged spines.

 

 But now the Abyssal Minions get to act. But first we have to resolve the confusion. Minions 4, 6, 9. and 10 each roll a d8 to determine what happens.

• Minion 4: 1 (stunned)
  
• Minion 6: 1 (stunned)
  
• Minion 9: 4 (stunned)
  
• Minion 10: 6 (terrified)

Three of the Abyssal Minions hold their hands to their ears, unable to handle the gibbering madness coming from the Wailing Spell Crusher. One of the Minions scurries backwards. The remaining four form a swarm and attack as a level four creature.

The Wailing Spell Crusher makes a defense roll difficulty 4, so it needs to roll a 12 or higher. It rolls a 12 and manages to ward the attacking demons away.

End of Round Summary

Wailing Spell Crusher: 15 hp

Abyssal Minion 1: 3 hp

Abyssal Minion 2: Dead

Abyssal Minion 3: 3 hp

Abyssal Minion 4: 3 hp

Abyssal Minion 5: 3 hp

Abyssal Minion 6: 3 hp

Abyssal Minion 7: 3 hp

Abyssal Minion 8: 3 hp

Abyssal Minion 9: 3 hp

Abyssal Minion 10: 3 hp

 Round 2 - Fight!

The Wailing Spell Crusher lashes out with one of its tongues, attempting to wrap it around one of the demons. Abyssal Minion 5 makes a difficulty 5 defense roll.

• Abyssal Minion Defense Roll: 20
  

Critical Success! Abyssal Minion 5 is on a roll. As the Wailing Spell Crusher lashes out with its tongue, the demon ducks, and then arches its back to cut off the Spell Crusher's tongue. A natural twenty allows a major effect, in this case dealing 4 points of damage to the Spell Crusher.  It's also going to counter with a GM Intrusion, forcing the Wailing Spell Crusher to make a difficulty 1 defense roll.

• Wailing Spell Crusher Defense roll: 3

Incredibly, the Abyssal Minion nearly lands a hit with its razor sharp back spikes. But just in time the Wailing Spell Crusher dodges to the side. It is now the Abyssal Minions turn.

We're going to start by rolling defense checks to check for insanity. I'm ruling that if you have passed a save earlier you are unaffected for the rest of the fight. That's something I'll probably have to add into the stat block later. In the mean time that means that minions 4, 6, 9, and 10 need to make difficulty 5 saves.

• Minion 4: 14
• Minion 6: 20
• Minion 9: 8
• Minion 10: 13

Minion 6 gets a major effect, which again is going to be used to attack one of it's allies to make it pass this save. So both minions 4 and 6 are now free.

That means that there are now six Abyssal Minions ready to swarm. Which is... terrifying. A difficulty 6 defense check means you have to roll an 18 or higher to succeed (difficulties are always multiplied by 3 in Cypher). And if the Wailing Spell Crusher fails here it is going to take 12 points of damage. I bet it wishes it had picked up one of those defense orbs right about now!

• Wailing Spell Crusher Defense Roll: 11

Bam! The demons swarm over the mage hating aberration slicing and shredding at it's bulbous flesh and dealing 12 points of damage. Adding in the previous 4 points of damage it took, the aberration is downed.

As The Wailing Spell Crusher's gibbering madness begins to fade the demons swarm over it. Once again hell has won the day.

Finishing Thoughts

First of all, this was a lot of fun. But a couple things need to change. First of all, the Abyssal Minions are dealing with the old Shocker Lizards from 3.5. They are just too strong if they swarm too much. I'm going to edit their stat block a bit, giving the Swarm 4 meaning that only four of them can join a single swarm.

The Abyssal Minion (Level 1)

Born in the lowest depth of hell, an Abyssal Minion always serves the purposes of larger and bigger creatures. Most often those other creatures are demons using the Abyssal Minions as the front (disposable) lines in an invading force. Finding a single Abyssal Minion almost never happens, instead they attack in uncoordinated swarms. Abyssal Minions have thick leathery skin, and black metal spikes grow out of their spines and protrude from their body with wicked points.

 

HP: 3

Damage Inflicted: 2

Movement: Short

Swarm 4: An Abyssal Minion can swarm with up to four other abyssal minions in immediate range. Instead of making individual attacks, they attack in an uncoordinated fury straight from hell. Add the total level of all the minions that are part of the swarm, they make a single attack at that level that deals 2 points of damage per level.

Gm Intrusion: Spiked Tips: An Abyssal Minion scrapes it's metallic spikes across a creature, shredding it for 4 damage if it fails a speed defense check.

The End?

And that's it, at least for now. This was a fun little project for me, but it resulted in a very long post. If any of you are still around... thanks for reading!