The Strange RPG

Cypher is an infinitely malleable ttRPG system and The Strange is an infinitely malleable setting. The setting is full of potential. The game itself is based on a novel which is useful for understanding some of the things in the book. “The Myth of the Maker” is a novel that explains and gives context to this game, and some of its major personalities that the book references. This is *not* world of Warcraft meets Call of Cthulu. The people who say that seem to miss a lot of what the setting is based on. It is based on the idea that the reason we see no intelligent life in the universe on other worlds is because their technology evolved to and beyond Quantum computing and this left them open to being destroyed and consumed by stronger concepts - and primordial entropic forces older than Creation- in the inifinite probablity that all fiction and fact share. Some on Earth are and have been aware of this - but the players are ultimately trying to save the Earth from that fate. This means they have to explore bothe the “Real World” and demplanes of imaginary settings - which were created by strong individuals or became collectively focused on by others- usually due to complexity or popularity. It is *not* truly multiversal- rather it is demiplanar in a Universal setting which can encompass all other settings.And then - there is Ruk.Other supplements explore being from places other than Earth and implcations of a rapidly growing threat to Earth as we stand at a precipice of destruction *almost* all other worlds have failed to navigate.

Around 1989-1991 I had an idea for this game. It was going to be a cross between "Sliders", "Stargate" this Marvel UK imprint comic I have long since forgotten the name of then eventually once "Mage: The Ascension" came out that was the system I used to run it a few times. The thing was it never really "felt" right even though everyone I ran it for liked it a lot and came back for more for years. Even though I have not run a session out of that particular world for well over a decade it has still been semi active in the less used parts of my brain trying to figure out a better system to use. It was 3.5 for a while, but I never got anything down or tried to gather a group of people to do something that would take a lot more time and work than I had to devote to give it the love it needed to be resurrected and utilized to its fullest extent. I no longer have to. From what I have read so far this fits it so well I will never have to devote that precious time to developing any longer and can just use it all for coming up with interesting ways to entertain my players from now on. Top notch Monte! Cheers.

What I liked best about this book was the questions left unanswered. Monte Cook Games has done a masterful job of inspiring creative thought by filling in the necessary details about the ruleset and the sample setting, but leaving the implementation fully in the hands of the gamemaster. For example, I found myself asking "How does time pass in a fictional leakage recursion?" This spawned all sorts of creative thought as I incorporated what the rules provided with what I wanted. This is probably the core experience that a game publisher can hope for: how do we inspire crazy, unexpected stuff in our audience. Can't wait to see where The Strange takes us.

If you're running The Strange, or are a player who wants more background info than the Player's Guide contains, then this is the book to get.The book contains all of the rules and mechanics of the game, of course, but also has many great sections of Sci-Fi prose explaining the story and history of the game and its 3 main "worlds" and the Strange itself.

This both a Beautiful book and a great game. The system is both lite and intuitive. Simple to learn yet flexible and complex enough to be detailed. The setting is amazing, the scope and vision is huge. Some of the concepts I'm still trying to wrap my mind around as something to be pulled off in an RPG. After 20yrs of gaming I'm not so easily impressed.In many games the sky is the limit. In The Strange the sky is just where you begin.-J.Mullins (Gaming Ronin)

Numenera was awesome, but the Strange is my favorite of the two. This book utilizes the cypher system in a modern setting and then also applies it to ANY other setting or genre you want to play. This game really strikes a cord with me as a GM in that it lets me run numerous genres and settings without needing to change games. Also the cypher system is so simple to run and makes on the fly decisions a routine task.

The most streamlined rpg, IMO. Editing is clear and concise. the system is simple, and the setting is straight out of The Matrix. I recommend this product.

The strange uses the mechanics of Numenera to deliver a setting that enables high fantasy, modern horror, cyberpunk and everything in between. But the writing suffers from uninspired world building, borderline racist romanticization of native-american culture and inconsistent tone. Combined with shaky excuses to use common fiction settings, the world of The Strange feels like it lacks it's own identity.It remains a useful toolbox to create your own setting though.

Nice simple game mechanics that don’t get in way of the story. Excellent and creative world building that gives flexibility for really creative storytelling, using contemporary, trad fantasy and sci-fi settings.

By far my favorite RPG, so versatile

Great game system. I okay DnD and Pathfinder so the rules take a bit getting used to, but much easier on the GM.