RPGaDay2024 Day 17 - An Engaging RPG Community

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This one is a no-brainer, for me personally. The most engaging RPG community I personally interact with is the Cypher System community, and the heroes of this are the Cypher Unlimited team. For this article, I'm going to share what makes it an engaging community, as well as a valuable one.

Welcoming

The group at its core is welcoming. On the one hand, people who like the Cypher System are a bit fanatic about it (in the best possible way) so are very accepting of anybody new who wants to be part of that community.

When people show up on Facebook or the Cypher Unlimited Discord, they are welcomed to the community. People often reach out to them and offer help--and that help is delivered at a level where people are, not where the community "wants" them to be. New players, new Gamemasters, OG players who are just new to Cypher system, people who don't get it or people who have legitimate issues are all welcomed.

Diverse

This touches a bit on what I said above. And by "Diverse" I'm not talking about social diversity, though that's absolutely true as well--members who are LGBTQIA+, PoC, ND, or "different" in any other way are welcomed and safe.

What I really mean is that people with different interest levels, different levels of experience or different areas of interest are made to feel welcome.

Cypher, at its core, has about 20 different settings. It has Numenera and The Strange, which are the first installations in the series. Then they have about 15 setting books including Predation(dinosaurs and lasers), three different superhero settings, faerie tales, first responders, Old Gods of Appalachia, etc. crossover titles such as Ptolus and Path of the Planebreaker, and then there are at least 4 third party games, including Tidal Blades, Sword and Steel, and Vurt.

There is also Invisible Sun, which is not Cypher System, but a close cousin and also created by Monte Cook Games, so I included it in the diversity of the community because the community does.

Regardless of the theme you want to play, there are sub-communities of people with the same interests, plus the larger general community to support you with your art, your creations, your live-plays, your questions, the discussions you want to start or participate in.

And regardless of your experience level, or perspective coming in, I've never seen anybody treated with less than full respect.

Thoughtful

Once you have an accepting community, you get people who really think about the questions people ask, and address them with real thoughtfulness. When, for example, people say that they don't "get" the Cypher system, I normally see an effort to bridge the gap...and try to get the poster over any hurdles they may be having. And if they just don't like it, there is no effort to force the issue...people are perfectly happy to have a "not all games are for everyone" approach.

My favorite example of a thoughtful discussion, though, was when someone on the Facebook  Numenera community showed up and said "I have a stupid question. I just don't get 'shins'" (which is the currency of the Numenera world.

There were something like 500 responses to this comment, all of which were positive, and they varied between:
  • You don't get it, because shins are a stupid mechanic. Just do whatever you want.
  • Yeah, we don't get it either. We largely ignore them.
  • I have a M.A. in economics, and created this much more robust economic system.
  • Here's how I make it work in my world.
  • Long but approachable treatise on economics, what shins are trying to do, and what to think about when using them.
I was giddy with how positive the comments were, but equally surprised and pleased by the diversity of responses. Normally with a long thread, there are 4 opinions, and they just cycle. In this thread, there was a lot of diverse and value-added thought--which to me makes it valuable to be part of that community, and hopefully left the original poster feeling supported and understood.

Positive

In addition to the various cases I've described above, I've found that there is little or no drama in the Cypher space. People who show up to make trouble are ignored. "Cypher System is terrible, prove me wrong" types who really just show up to pick a fight get engaged and then ignored. (along the lines of "nobody likes everything.)

I haven't seen any "You are having fun wrong" responses. If people post about "incorrect" interpretations of rules. There are usually clarifications, but also, because Cypher System is rules-lite (or rules medium), there's usually a "play it whatever way you enjoy" response, too.

And while no community is perfect, I haven't seen much in the way of harassment, toxicity, or drama, and the very people who are there to stir up problems don't last long.

Cypher Unlimited Team

I want to give a special callout to the Cypher Unlimited team themselves: Ancient Albatross, Spriggs, and Alpha Dean, plus the moderators who keep things running smoothly. They are the de facto leaders of the Cypher System community and work hard to bring new content to the space, engage the community, and have fun with it all. They are active on Discord, Twitch, Facebook, and a few other platforms.

They are just players who enjoy the game and like the Monte Cook Games company, and do their part to enhance it from a community perspective. It's a labor of love, and they do it well.

Honorable Mention

I've recently discovered the "Ancient Dungeons & Dragons Players" on Facebook. I joined it because I wanted to comment on a "recommended for you" post, and have not regretted it at all. The group is creative, funny, supportive, and drama-free. Discussions are often about older games, but not in an exclusive way. 

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