RPG Design Theories

Roll the Dice and See

Today we’re going to talk about dice.

Nov 13, 2025 • Monte Cook

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October 2025

Levers and Fixes

I’m fascinated by someone in a recording studio working the mixing board.

Oct 21, 2025 • Monte Cook

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September 2025

Teaching the GM to Fish

We’ve all heard the adage, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he’ll be fed for a lifetime.” It’s way overused and often…

Sep 9, 2025 • Monte Cook

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Player Choice

More than anything, a key design goal of the new edition of Cypher has been to not just give players choices, but to ensure that those choices are…

Sep 1, 2025 • Monte Cook

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August 2025

Genre Templates

Here’s a secret: I don’t really like dividing stories (or anything, like music) into categories.

Aug 25, 2025 • Monte Cook

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Taking Out What's Not Fun

Games, obviously, are meant to be fun.

Aug 18, 2025 • Monte Cook

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It's Right There in the Name

The game is called Cypher, so if we’re monkeying with the rules, we’d better make sure that cyphers work in the game, and work really well.

Aug 4, 2025 • Monte Cook

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July 2025

Using Rules to Define Genre

Last time, I covered some changes we might make on how to track damage a player character sustains.

Jul 28, 2025 • Monte Cook

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Injurious Rules

As I wrote a bit ago, our own experiences as designers alongside what we’ve heard from others who have played the game have prompted some changes to the…

Jul 21, 2025 • Monte Cook

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Hanging on Tight

When modifying a rules set, most people focus on what’s changing, but just as— if not more—important is what remains the same.

Jul 14, 2025 • Monte Cook

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What's in a Genre?

One of the hallmarks of the Cypher System is the fact that we’ve tried to make it usable with almost any genre.

Jul 7, 2025 • Monte Cook

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June 2025

Designing the Game We Want to Play

When you drive a car and something doesn’t work precisely the way you think it should, you notice.

Jun 30, 2025 • Monte Cook

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