Going Black
With my group, we recently switched from the Cypher System to The Black Hack Second Edition to handle our RPG cravings.
We did so for many reasons that I’m going to explain, because it might help others who are in the same situation.
Our group
Let’s start by describing our group, because it’s important to understand a decision to understand the context in which it was made.
To describe our group I’m gonna steel the Cypher System concept of character as a sentence and apply it to my players ;)
Our group is composed of :
- 6 Old timers Parents that Aren’t a RPG Geek
- my daughter a Young Teenager that Aren’t a RPG Geek
- myself a Old timer Parent that Definetly is a RPG Geek
And here some definition of those terms for me :
- Old timers, most of my players have over 20 years of playing RPG under their belt
- Parents, most of my players are parents and thus a busy schedule, including me
- Aren’t RPG Geek, none of players invest any of their precious time to read about RPG (not even rules). The only time they dedicate to RPG is while they are sitting at my table. They love playing, but not reading about RPGs.
Because of all that, we play mostly once a month with a varying degree of participations. Some are present each time, other have played only two session in over 2 years for example.
My player needs
Based on discussion and observations of their reactions when we discussed changing campaign here’s the issues my players had with the Cypher System :
- character options were a little bit to heavy for their tastes
- character creation tooked too much time
- they had a hard time to remember the rules
Let’s discuss each one in length.
Character options
The Cypher System is full of character options. At first, when we switched to this system, I thought that my players would love this. With the combinaisons of the Descriptors, Types and Foci you can create a great deal of characters concept.
With all the character options available through the differents Cyper System products, it appears that finding the proper combinaison of Descriptor, Type and Focus to actually create the character you wanted becomes quite difficult.
It seems easier to read the options and use them as an inspiration to create a unique character than to try to fit them to a concept.
And it appears that none of my player had time/interest in their personal life to sitdown and read through all thoses options to create a character. And as seasoned players they usually were able to came up with a concept base on know tropes in seconds.
We had some success when we played a Numenera campaign around the Jade Colossus. As our first game with the system and the setting we used pregenerated characters. So they took what was available.
But when we switched to playing a Shadowrun inspired campaign with the Cypher System. We didn’t had any pregenerated characters and my players all had concept for their characters.
So all that lead to decision paralysis at character creation and each tier advancement after that.
The conclusion was that They needed less characters tweaking and more pregen concepts
Character creation
Since most of my players are adult with real life responsabilities to handle, the occasion to actually play the game are limited.
None of them like the fact that each time we changed campaign, it took a full night to just create the characters.
They needed a system were creating a new character could be done in minutes, not hours.
The rules
Even after playing over a year of Cypher System, none of my player could grasp the action resolution mechanisim.
They were always confused about the relation between the difficulty level and the number needed on the d20. And don’t get me started with the difficulty level negotiation or the stat pool management. They simply forgot about those rules between sessions.
They needed rules that can be learned in minutes and easily remembered.
My own needs
So as their GM and and the only RPG Geek at the table, I started to look at different systems. I soon realized that I had to consider my needs too.
There were reasons that made me choose the Cypher System some years ago. So I kept in mind those point :
Player facing rolls
I love player facing rolls, because I found it more relaxing for me. So I can more easily focus on the narrative.
I also have the impression that it empowers the players. There’s a difference between getting hit by the BBEG because :
- I (a player) rolled poorly on my dodge attempt; vs
- the GM said so (rolling dice behind the screen doesn’t matter for the players and rolling in the open doesn’t either unless the players have access to the NPS stat blocks …)
With players making all the rolls, there is simply no bullshit, no fudging dice, no GM fiat.
One stat enemies
One thing I loved about the Cypher System (and other RPGs I have contemplated over the years) was to be able to simply express enemy, and any challenge really, as a single number in my notes.
Back when we played DND 4th I hated to have to spend so much time trying to balance out encounter, read monsters stat blocks, reference those blocks in game, etc.
Being able to express NPC and the like as a single number is so freeing. It also facilitate improvisation at the table.
Based on attribute tests
One thing I know I don’t love is when every action have it’s own set of rules. Yes, I’m looking at you AD&D. It’s simply not elegant and the I need to know them all.
I alway appreciated system that are basically driven simply by Attribute Tests and other subsystem simply modify the Attribute Test, like Cypher System.
Some system that uses skill as the base of their main resolution mechanism. but they always have some of these issues :
- They a long list of skills that is hard to remember
- They always have some skills missing, it’s virtually impossible to have a really complete list
- They usually have some exceptionnal rule on what to do when there’s no skills that applies to an attempted action
The verdict
After some searching I stumbled on The Black Hack. Put simply it checked all the boxes for our group. But for those that do not know about that game system let’s look into it.
We have now 5 sessions under the belt running Barrowmaze Complete with it and we have only minor issues that can easily be fixed with house rules.
The first session, it tooked maybe 30 minutes to explains the rules and create characters, then started playing.
All the player stated how much simpler this system was, we no longer have questions about how to resolve actions or anything. The mood ligthened up a bit also and everybody is starting to have more fun.
When group member that weren’t there on the first session showed up we were able to explain the rules and create that character in under 15 minutes.
Since we made the switch we even welcomed two new recruits. My wife and the significant other of one of the player. Those two were able to play fast and grasp the system really well even if they are new to the hobby.
On my side of the screen, everything is quite simple. When a player whant to attempt an action I simply have to pick the proper ability from the same six we used for the past two decades and decide if there’s any reason they should have advantage or disadvantage.
For monsters, I use the HP and damage listed in the adventure I’m using. Theoricly the damage is a little bit higher than the recommended numbers, but it not a problem for now.
Actually I have a hard time to challenge the characters. It might be for many reasons (the experience of the players, that allow them to play safe, the fact that they know how to work together, they might have been lucky on their ability scores, or The Black Hack in conjunction to Barrowmaze is not that challenging at first) and I’ll keep a close eye on it.
For treasures, the number of gold listed in Barrowmaze doesn’t scale well with the prices in the book and the recommendation for treasure generation. (I’m working on some tweaks right now.)
We might still be in the honeymoon period, but its a great start !