The World of Sonic

Sonic the Hedgehog's world, henceforth called Mobius because I need a simpler name to call it and by Gaia this series refuses to name things, is a world of adventure and extremes. Loop-de-loops are natural land formations, it's not rare for objects to just float, energy and powers come from unusual sources or are just never named, a variety of ancient civilizations and aliens have existed and disappeared, a strange an unlimited energy flows freely almost everywhere, and a blue hedgehog is the world's fastest thing alive for no discernible reason.

This is an amazing setting to explore, and while I won't go into details about the setting, I do recommend researching the lore of the world at various points in the timeline.

...

Timelines. Plural. As well as all the moments that no longer exist thanks to time travel shenanigans.

What I will explore are some very basic rules about how to make a character that can keep up with the ridiculous feats seen across Sonic media.

Mobians, Badniks,
& Power Levels

Sonic may be an outlier, but Mobians in general far exceed the capabilities of normal humans. Amy Rose is a primary example of this. She is capable of reaching supersonic speeds and also wield a hammer most humans wouldn't be able to lift and yet she is a completely ordinary three foot three Mobian. She simply trained and was motivated enough to push her body to limits humans couldn't even dream of. As such, this setting will use the Power Shift rules from Claim the Sky in order to at least approximate the feats we see performed by Mobians and Badniks alike (As well as other species we see throughout the series.)

My recommendation for power shifts is to start with 1 power shift at tier 1, and gain an additional 1 with each tier. Allow your players to take arcs in order to gain more power shifts, or let them purchase them at a cost of 5 XP or more, if you want power shifts to be rarer. The total number of power shifts should not exceed 10 though, meaning character should only be able to gain 4 through arcs and purchases. Sonic characters tend to be powerful, but they do have limits (without access to super forms). In addition the number of power shifts in a single category should not exceed 5. Even Knuckles and Shadow have limits to their powers. Sonic... Might not through, to be fair.

Threats

The threats that Mobius faces are many, and often very powerful. While the Cypher System doesn't have an examples of threats above a difficulty 15, Sonic has faced threats quite possibly even more powerful than that, admittedly very rarely. If you want to force your players to hunt down the chaos emeralds or some other incredibly powerful item, don't be afraid to throw a level 20 enemy at a group of tier 6 characters. However, this should be done exceedingly sparingly, and only in cases where the players are fighting literal gods or embodiments of concepts such as time, or extinction.

For the most part, level 15 foes are a decent limit to use. Even Metal Overlord likely was a level 13 or 14. The majority of enemies however rely on numbers and not strength in order to fight. Admittedly often very ineffectually. These threats can be Eggman inventions, Anchient Technology, Aliens, or even aspects of the world itself. In addition, introducing rivals as NPCs is common across Sonic media. Don't be afraid to pallet swap a player character to make an NPC with an incredibly edgy name.

Names

Mobian names tend to be all over the place. Some, such as Amy Rose, are completely ordinary names. Others, such as Miles "Tails" Prower take nicknames. And others are just called Knuckles. Almost anything can work as a Mobian name, but to stick with the feel of a sonic character, sticking with short or quick words that describe an aspect of your character works really well.

Skills

At the end of this document are some examples of skills that make sense in a setting based on Sonic the Hedgehog. Important distinctions are made in canon between Mobian, Eggman, and Ancient technology. While knowledge in one might help you in specific tasks involving the others, the vast differences mean many tasks require specific knowledge with that kind of tech.

Flavors

In addition to the types and flavors in the core rulebook, consider using the flavors on the following pages that are themed around the Speed, Power, and Fly power types often used in Sonic media. Each ability is followed by the page of the Cypher Rule Book that it appears on.

Speed

Characters with the Speed Flavor tend to be incredibly fast on the ground, moving much faster than other members of their team.

Example Characters: Amy, Blaze, E-10000R, Espio, Jet, Mephiles, Metal Sonic, Shadow, Silver, Sonic, Sticks, Zazz

Power

Characters with the Power Flavor tend to be incredibly strong and capable of immense destruction to things around them. Many use their fists, but some utilize overwhelming firepower.

Example Characters: Big, Blaze, E-10000G, E-123 Omega, Eggman, Knuckles, Sonic (Werehog), Storm, Vector, Zavok

Fly

Characters with the Fly Flavor have the capability to take to the skies and are incredibly agile and often very perceptive.

Example Characters: Charmy, Cream, Tails, Rouge, Tikal, Wave

Skills List