The Cypher Wars

Five months ago, strange items began to be found all over the world. At first they were considered to be some group-prank, a new internet meme or youtube flash mob. They were called cyphers since no one could understand them. Construction, materials, purpose: almost everyone drew a blank on figuring out what the items were or where they had come from. The lack of knowledge let to a general decline in public inters over the next two months save for conspiracy nuts of one stripe or another and collectors. Because of course there were rich collectors for the unexplained.

Three months ago this all began to change. Certain people were able to touch the items and activate them. They would focus, and they would change and the items would come to life, as it were. Able to be used, but each could be used but once and never again. Why certain people had been changed, why they could access cyphers and activate them – this never made the news, because the Keepers had come into existence. Sometimes called Gatekeepers or the Illuminati and the like, the Keepers have some permanent unknown cyphers placed inside them that allow them to confuse and befuddle the minds of people who do not have a focus: essentially, they tend to get confused about events involving Weird Things, though the limits of these abilities have never been explored.

The current state of things in Bridgeport:

Cyphers exist, and there are many who see them. Collectors desire them as oddities etc. and are largely unaware that too many cyphers in one place can be quite dangerous. Foci, the generic term for people with a focus, tend to want them because of power. The government, of course, wants them because this is definitely alien tech and they are scared out of their minds about it.

Of late, though, there has been something new. It’s as if the cyphers were a warning, or a defence system. Creatures have begun appearing at all. Strange, alien thing that have mostly been contained due to people using their focuses and cypehrs on them – and Keepers keeping the situation under wraps – but no one knows how long that will hold, or what is really going on.

At least, not yet.

Notes on Cyphers:

Cyphers exist in three states. Dormant, Passive and Active. The only difference between Passive and Active is if someone with a foci is using it or not. Dormant cyphers can be kept, stored etc. without a problem, but once someone with a focus touches one, it becomes active – which can set off a chain reaction among other dormant ones at times. Too many passive or active cyphers in one place – say, on a person – tends to lead to very unpleasant results happening.

Notes on Bridgeport:

Bridgeport – population 30,000 and one of the smallest cities to have its own subway system – is where the game begins, set next to a lake in middle America. The town has whatever amnesties a small city would have and can be fleshed out as needed or desired. It is one hour away and change away (sometimes two depending on the traffic) from the nearest major metropolitan centre, which is  located to the south. 

The Cypher Wars

THE CYPHER WARS

Approximately five months ago, strange items began appearing around the globe. At first they were odd archaeological finds, but then touching them sometimes – did things that could not be explained at all. They were made of substances we couldn’t identify, and in time the name ‘cypher’ stuck to them among the few who studied them. They were rare and strange, and as a result, a few wealthy people tried to collect them. The end results of those actions were explosions, deaths, and tears in the fabric of the universe. By the time it was understood that too many active cyphers in one area was a very bad idea, the damage had been done.

Only the damage was never what people thought. Because the cyphers changed people. Not everyone, but a few people gained the ability to focus and take on powers and skills that weren’t native to this world at all. Beyond that, some of them can touch the cyphers and have a far, far better understand of what to use them for than other people do. There are more cyphers appearing every day but the fact that people are changed by them is still hidden. Because some of the changed people can hide that from the rest of the world.

It seems a stroke of luck, but luck doesn’t last forever. It’s not only cyphers that come through now: creatures do as well, and they are even less easy to explain or understand. Is this another dimension? A war? Some kind of mass exodus to this world from another world? No one knows, and everyone is just trying to get by as best they can.

Some manage it better than others.

The Cypher Wars is a cypher system (Cypher System Rulebook (CSR), Numenera, Strange) campaign starting at tier 1. The city of Bridgeport – population 30,000 and one of the smallest cities ot have its own subway system – is where the game begins, set next to a lake in middle America. Game time is Friday nights, ~6:30 pm PST.

The effort system should, ideally, mimic the feel of lighter anime. We'll see how it goes.

Characters work as follows:

Your descriptor is who the character is in terms of personality etc.

Type is self-explanatory. A type from any of the core books is allowed, as is flavouring them via the CSR rules.

Focus is your transformative power that taps into the Dimension X stuff. You call upon it and transform, able to wield your powers and the less mundane aspects of your type as well. How it looks is entirely up to you, but it doesn’t pass as normal. Tapping into the lower end of abilities is less noticeable, of course.

Setting notes:

Thus far, the existence of people touched/changed by these alien energies has been hidden from the world. Because a certain portion of those people changed – called Gatekeepers, among other terms – have the ability to hide the existence of focii and such from the world. Conceptually, they’ve basically become artifacts and futz the mind of people so they convince themselves they didn’t see someone, say, turn into a creature of stone in the middle of the street. This ability is passive and not perfect: continued exposure wears away at it and deliberate demonstrations will work.

If you want friends/family to know about your PC, they do. In general, people will know something is off. The Gatekeepers are pretty much trying to keep things on the down low, though to what end no one is sure yet.