Mail Room: The Diamond Throne

I like the Diamond Throne setting, and this one flew under the radar for many. With my changes to giants, making them head home and looking for someone worthy to take rulership is a good one, and turns the setting from static to dynamic. Otherwise, the setting feels set in stone, and it frames the giants as oppressors, which does not align with my view of them. It is best to set up the 'exodus' campaign, and have the giants be tragic heroes, heading home, and seeking those worthy.

I got my hardcovers today, and they are nice.

I want this setting to be integrated into the official Cypher Tools as a core book. I could probably use the "advanced tools" in this to rename the core classes, as the powers seem almost identical to the core Cypher rules, all that is needed are some renames and paring down of the choices. The race selections won't be available, and I wish the tools had a descriptor creator for custom races. Oh, and I want the other Cypher books, like Gods of the Fall and Predation, to be a part of these tools, too.

Even though there are many specifics in here, this can be as generic a campaign setting as you would want it to be. It pairs well with Godforsaken as a 'fantasy companion' for this book, and you could add your own custom races all you want. When in doubt, pick a descriptor close to how you see the race, and even close-enough will work, such as choosing 'elf' for a 'dark elf.' Otherwise, use the descriptors to come up with something close enough.

The equipment section is excellent, and it feels like 'Cypher does an OSR game' in some places. The book needs more monsters, but Godforsaken solves most of those problems. The monsters in here are brutal, from what I have seen, and hard-hitting.

The books are a stand-alone game, but they don't really need to be. I envision using Cypher as the system for this game and renaming the Cypher character types to match those in this book. However, I understand the goal; they wanted a 'boxed set' that people didn't have to buy other books to play with. This is, at heart, a standalone game, and an answer to D&D or other games.

Is it fun?

I would have to see. The only time I used fantasy was during my 'cozy gaming' period with Cypher, and my first run turned out to be horrible. This depends on whether you can have fun in fantasy outside of 5E, Pathfinder, or the OSR. Some people can't live outside of that world, which is sad.

The first book is the GM and setting book, while the second book is the player's guide. It's an interesting choice, selling the setting first and then letting the second book handle the characters.

This is a significant, premium, Cypher-focused fantasy setting in two hardcovers. Is it what the system needs? It's nice to have an official setting that can be used as a generic campaign base. This is like a non-technological Numenera, a good starting point for Cypher fantasy adventures, and it gives you just enough without overwhelming you.

It feels and hits differently than converting a setting over. This feels like Cypher, instead of "D&D run with Cypher." If you are looking for a setting that gits the game better than most ported-in worlds, this may give your Cypher fantasy games a home to build upon.