Extreme Cyphers by Bruce R. Cordell is a role playing game supplement published by Monte Cook Games for use with the Cypher System.
The supplement is available as a ten-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $2.99 but was purchased at a reduced price during a sale. One page is the front cover and one page is ads.
The opening text explains that Numenera, The Strange and Cypher System games all use the Cypher System, and the system is named after cyphers. Cyphers are single use abilities that can be gained during the course of play and are usually, but not always, physical in nature. Because they are single use, an individual cypher could perhaps do almost anything, but only do it once, so are less unbalancing. This supplement contains forty cyphers that can have extreme affects, which are recommended to be given out as important rewards for adventures and scenarios.
This is followed by a d100 table to randomly roll an extreme cypher.
Anoetic and Occultic Cyphers explains that some Cypher System settings differentiate between cypher types – the sidebar explains anoetic are simple to use, such as a pill, and occultic are more complex and count as two cyphers – with the new cyphers divided by type.
Cypher Forms has four different d10 tables for determining the appearance of a manifest cypher, one that takes physical form. All the extreme cyphers can be manifest, but a few are also marked as potentially being subtle as well. The tables are Numenera, or far future science fiction, Ardeyn, or fantasy, Earth, or modern, and Ruk, or bioengineered science fiction.
The Cyphers is the rest of the supplement and it details the different extreme cyphers. These range in level from 8-15; a sidebar states that difficulty caps at 15 in settings, such as where characters are superheroes or gods, where power shifts are possible. The cyphers cover a range of functions, from teleportation to telepathy to creating a tower all the way up to creating a volcano; a cypher that can cause a permanent change to a setting (extreme cyphers being able to do almost anything presumably doesn’t include causing supernovae, forming black holes or anything else truly campaign wrecking).
Extreme Cyphers in Review
The PDF is well bookmarked with all sections linked, including individual cyphers. Navigation is very good. The text follows the standard colour two column with sidebar format and appeared to be free of error. The sidebars contain tips, references to other books and how to manifest certain cyphers in different setting types.
This supplement does contain some unusual one-off items, but a GM would be well advised not to give them out randomly. They may well be single use, and therefore not granting a permanent power increase, but some, and not just the volcano, can have permanent effects on a setting, such as by permanently changing other elements or granting enough advantage in combat that one-shotting a major campaign foe is possible. The GM should only grant them for major achievements and carefully consider what negative options even a single use of an extreme cypher might have on a campaign. Extreme Cyphers has some interesting new, and powerful, items and it can be found by clicking here.
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