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19:13, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Numenéra, Discovery and Destiny.

Posted by the_Cava
the_Cava
member, 112 posts
Drapetomaniac
Sat 13 Jan 2018
at 16:00
  • msg #1

Numenéra, Discovery and Destiny

Just out of curiosity, how many people here participated in the kickstarter?

Mostly I'm interested in what you think of the game, I only played it once and I think the setting is very clever, but I'd like to know if the system manages challenges and character advancement smoothly, or if you found some issues with it.

I got the Cypher System rulebook after playing it, and, while I find the mechanic interesting and engaging, I've had difficulties on making it work with a homebrew setting, as the game mechanics sound meant for a very specific style of play.

I'll be grateful for your opinions on the game!
chadpants
member, 23 posts
Sat 13 Jan 2018
at 16:43
  • msg #2

Numenéra, Discovery and Destiny

I did participate in the recent Numenera 2 Discovery and Destiny Kickstarter though I didn't participate in the original kickstarter.

I personally love the system. Not at all crunchy. It's a very flexible system that allows you to find the best fit for applying a particular stat. It lends really well for homebrewing IMO because of that flexibility. For challenges you just decide on its scale of difficulty and voilà! you have a target number. Same with creating creatures, just give it a level and the rest writes itself with description and tweaking.

Cypher system is actually designed to be useable in any setting or background. For people that like tons of tables and lots of crunch like Pathfinder it might not be a good fit. It may not be a good fit for lovers of combat as many of the Cypher system games don't center around it. Not that it doesn't work for combat; it just isn't that stat heavy and doesn't really lend well to min-maxing.

The other complaint with Numenera is that it maxes character "advancement" out at Level 6, which can be offensive to players that come from a constant leveling up type of system. I find that Numenera character advancement would lend better to a personal story arc and how they move through the Ninth World, how they become better adept at handling the dangers and weirdness that they are constantly confronting.
Yaztromo
member, 138 posts
Sat 13 Jan 2018
at 17:31
  • msg #3

Numenéra, Discovery and Destiny

Are you taking about kickstarter 1 or kickstarter 2?
I also participated to some playtesting phase that preceded the very first release ;)
Said that, I think that this game needs brillian game masters, especially if you invent your adventures and don't follow official adventure modules, that in general are of amazing quality. Another very strong point is artwork.

On RPoL there are various Numenera games that is well worth joining currently ongoing.
the_Cava
member, 113 posts
Drapetomaniac
Sun 14 Jan 2018
at 08:22
  • msg #4

Numenéra, Discovery and Destiny

I'm talking about kickstarter 2, apologies for the lack of clarity.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the system straightforwardness, and I'm not fond of Pathfinder / D&D 3.5 as a system (even though I enjoyed many games with 3.5), I think I just can't get my head around Cyphers in settings that aren't Numenéra, or a fantasy equivalent.

Let me make an example: I tried to GM a cyberpunk setting with Cypher (cypherpunk?), and the cyphers always felt a little off, one way or another. When I tried to apply them as experimental tech gadgets, they felt more like deus ex machina, than an organic part of the setting, and when I followed the book's suggestion to just use subtle cyphers, it felt like a part of the game was missing.

Thanks to your answers I think I realized what I really meant to ask was: can a homebrew setting for the cypher system not feel like a reskinned Numenéra?

Bear in mind that I find Numenéra to be an excellent game, and I'm really looking forward to play Discovery and Destiny.
About the games running here on RPoL... I discovered I'm not that much of a player, but more of a GM, even though I've been glad to find the game has quite a following. Thanks for pointing it out, though!

PS: the art from Numenéra is astounding, they're really setting a high standard, but most of all it always feel coherent, and it's quite the feat with a complex setting like that.
Yaztromo
member, 139 posts
Sun 14 Jan 2018
at 15:05
  • msg #5

Numenéra, Discovery and Destiny

In general I agree with you: Numenera setting and ruleset work brilliantly together, but other settings don't run as smoothly with the same ruleset. At least not without a good thought and some setting adaptation, but not something that you can do "as you go". You need to think them through carefully well before starting the game.
This message was last edited by the user at 15:59, Sun 14 Jan 2018.
Isida KepTukari
member, 184 posts
Elegant! Arrogant! Smart!
Sun 14 Jan 2018
at 15:52
  • msg #6

Numenéra, Discovery and Destiny

I've backed every Cypher System Kickstarter since the first Numenera. Aside from the original Numenera, I've also GMed a 2-year campaign of both Numenera and The Strange with my face-to-face group, and also have the three "world" books (Gods of the Fall, Predation, and Unmasked).  I found that The Strange easily integrated the cyphers, as they were bits of "code" from the dark energy network the characters used to move around different recursions (areas).

After reading the three world books, each of them incorporated the cyphers in a different way.  In Gods of the Fall, they were artifacts of a destroyed realm of the gods.  In Predation, they were subtle cyphers garnered from time anomalies and coded in the user's DNA (though the cyphers were not always from the subtle cypher table - there were reasons for why a wider range could be used). In Unmasked, they are ordinary objects whose potential can only be seen by those with the talent to see it (probably closest in cypher concept to The Strange).  The incorporation of the cyphers into a particular world was something that was built up with the world.

Just like deciding on types and foci, figuring out how cyphers fit into your homebrew world is something you'll have to consider.  They could be found objects, crafted objects, granted objects, crystallized thoughts, wild magic - doing a brainstorm session for how that would work could be a lot of fun.
the_Cava
member, 115 posts
Drapetomaniac
Mon 15 Jan 2018
at 09:25
  • msg #7

Numenéra, Discovery and Destiny

Well, that's enlightening, I think I'm starting to get where I went wrong.

Maybe it's time to start anew.

I'm curious about the other Cypher settings, though, I checked out an excerpt from Gods of the Fall some time ago, but didn't find it inspiring. I'd like to know what people who played it (or any other setting) think about them.
Samus Aran
member, 374 posts
Author, game designer
Part-time Metroid fighter
Tue 30 Jan 2018
at 10:31
  • msg #8

Numenéra, Discovery and Destiny

Did the KS release any info about the new books and what they're changing with the rules?
Isida KepTukari
member, 187 posts
Elegant! Arrogant! Smart!
Tue 30 Jan 2018
at 11:26
  • msg #9

Numenéra, Discovery and Destiny

They talked about it in general.  There were going to be more explicit rules for crafting (with a new type, the Wright, being very good at it), rules for strengthening a community (through leadership, allies, making defenses, trade, etc.), and some other things I'd have to go back and read.  Basically it gave more of a direction to the game, something to do with all the fruits of a numenera-hunter's wanderings and exploration.
the_Cava
member, 120 posts
Drapetomaniac
Wed 31 Jan 2018
at 09:01
  • msg #10

Numenéra, Discovery and Destiny

For what I remember (there were loads of updates, making it difficult to keep track of everything) there shouldn't be relevant changes in the rules, mostly additions to manage a few aspects that were a little vague, as Isida pointed out about crafting and community building, and a reworking of the Jack, making it more unique and less of a Glaive/Nano hybrid.
What this edition aims to be, from what I gather, is a better organized and streamlined version of the basic rules and rule supplements, like Player's Guide and Character Options, in a single (well, double) package.
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