Questions and Chatter

Nov 29, 2015 6:01 pm
Here's where we can discuss anything that doesn't have an obvious place in other threads.
Dec 3, 2015 8:13 pm
Since Character creation is mostly handled what kind of questions do people have? About Combat/Tasks/Numenera/etc? If it's about the setting and what not I'll leave that up to Foolsmask. If it's simple game mechanics I don't mind answering. Personally I think the system is a bit crunchy but mostly rules light and story driven, not a lot of maintenance on character inventory either.
Dec 3, 2015 8:19 pm
I've run and running Num games and from my experience I found that most of new players are unaware of some vital but subtle mechanics as :
combined efforts and cooperative actions and different modifiers, what is asset modifier etc. Main part is around pages 100-110 of corebook(I do not recall which page exactly) but it could be very good read for newer players
Last edited December 3, 2015 8:20 pm
Dec 3, 2015 8:26 pm
I expect to have a lot of questions as we play through. That's kind of how I learn best unfortunately: by doing.

A question I have right now: What does it mean to be "skilled with defense"? This was something from my Type (Jack). It says, "Choose one type of defense task in which you are not already trained: Might, Speed, or Intellect. You are trained in defense tasks of that type."

Mechanically, what does it mean to be "trained" in a skill or defense?
Dec 3, 2015 8:26 pm
You lower the difficulty of a defense roll by one step, right?
Dec 3, 2015 8:29 pm
Correct. If you are Trained in any skill, you reduce the difficulty of using those skills by one step. If you're Specialized, you reduce it by two.

So a Difficulty 3 Speed Defense roll (roll 9+) becomes Difficulty 2 (roll 6+) if you are Trained in Speed Defense
Dec 3, 2015 8:37 pm
BlackStork says:
I've run and running Num games and from my experience I found that most of new players are unaware of some vital but subtle mechanics as :
combined efforts and cooperative actions and different modifiers, what is asset modifier etc. Main part is around pages 100-110 of corebook(I do not recall which page exactly) but it could be very good read for newer players
p101 of the RuleBook lists the different Cooperative Actions, which I would agree seems to be an overlooked mechanic. And actual use varies. I played under a GM once who forced us to do something in character to qualify for The Old One-Two-Three bonus to attack rolls. Even if there was only one baddie left, someone would have to declare a unified attack. And he would conveniently forget about the High and Low mechanic as well. But other GMs I've played under have been upfront about the cooperative things we could do and encourage their use.

I think Numenera (and Cypher) has gained a reputation for being mechanics-light, but I haven't found that to be all that accurate. There's a decent amount of mechanics that go into your actions, especially as you start stacking Effort, Assets, Effects, etc.

Just out of curiosity, how familiar is everyone with the system? I'm no expert, but I have quite a bit of experience with it.
Dec 3, 2015 8:38 pm
This is my first game of Numenera, I hadn't even opened the cover of the books until I joined here. I like to think I'm a quick study though :)
Dec 3, 2015 8:44 pm
I've leafed through the Numenera Core book and the Cypher system rulebook. Never played a game.

I'm the kind of person who can read a bit of information over and over, but it won't stick in my head until I have to apply the information. So I've read the rules, but y'all should assume I know almost nothing.
Dec 3, 2015 8:56 pm
*Mind you even if you don't have a defense skill you still get to make a roll or just state you take the hit (Clench dem cheeks). Sometimes you do have to do that math if you're thinking of using Effort to see if it's really worth it or did you just take double the damage pretty much.

In some ways it is crunchy and doesn't seem rules light but I've usually gotten away with a few things due to being story driven, made sense for the character, or the GM was just shocked by the idea. But you gotta admit rolling up a PC or monster is pretty quick, connections and background took more time really.

I'm kind of familiar with the system, my face to face group started out in The Strange (Which was awesome) and we switched after one Season to Numenera, everyone had pretty much the same character. We took a break a while back to play 13th Age which is fun as well (we've rebooted in 13th Age and this Season looks like it will be interesting.)
Dec 3, 2015 9:08 pm
I really fond of Numenera and have quite some experience with it, and i am built/building very complex-rule-heavy system on it (extension, there is a game played on GP right now) with it.

@Friar_Tuk
Defence rolls are your general defence. When you need to defend yourself or resist something there 3 types of the defence roll - Might, Speed and Intelligence.
If you are trained with certain type that means all defence rolls will be 1 lvl easier for your character.
This means Int Defence will make all rmental and esotery resistances highter (spell resistances), Speed will make combat defence/evasion better and Might will make all rolls related to physical endurance/strenght easier.
If one will translate to fantasy system language it would be something like:
Int Defence = Mental/Psychic/Spell Resisistance
Speed Defence = Agility-based/Evasion/Dodge defence
Might Defence = Endurance/Health/Strenght-based defence.

Those are very cruicial and important skills to have, and you can not get them easily through lvl up as defence skills are threated in bit different way that the any others skills in the system.
Last edited December 3, 2015 9:13 pm
Dec 4, 2015 4:36 pm
As with a couple of the others, I've never played the system. Looking forward to it.
Dec 5, 2015 5:54 am
So, we are technically just waiting for falryx to give us his character and then we can start. There are some questions that a few need to respond to, but they are not immediately necessary. So we are close to launching the actual play of the game.
Dec 5, 2015 5:52 pm
I'll have my character done today. I think I have my sentence, but I'm pushing it around to make sure I've a backstory I'm interested in and can play.
Dec 8, 2015 9:53 pm
Hey everybody, I wanted to apologize for the delay. The RP you've been doing is great. I will post a good response to what you've done and we will advance to the start of the Rite after that.
Dec 9, 2015 3:43 am
No worries.. there's plenty of trouble we can get into if left on our own. ;)
Dec 12, 2015 8:44 pm
Ack! Until just this moment, I didn't realize the game had begun. I wasn't subscribed to the other forum, so I wasn't getting any notifications. :(

I'll read up on everything that has transpired and join in later today. Sorry about that!
Last edited December 12, 2015 8:44 pm
Dec 12, 2015 9:13 pm
I was beginning to wonder. No problem.
Dec 23, 2015 10:59 pm
Aha! A minor effect! I'm thinking that when Carrick strained for the lead, he inadvertently released a flash of light, which made those around him hesitate slightly. Perhaps that hesitation put him in the lead or gave him additional room to maneuver. Potentially adding an asset to his next action?
Dec 24, 2015 4:31 pm
Ok, I'm really sorry, but I am completely lost on the mechanics of what is happening here. I've been super busy, and this system is new to me, very sorry!

I understand that folks are expending effort to reduce the difficulty level of the task. But if one expends effort now, how do we gain it back? Is there a benefit to saving it?

I see a lot of "vs 6" in the die rolls. I have no idea what that means.

I understand that I am rolling a d20 and that I am using speed or might. My speed is better, is there a bonus or advantage from that? Also, I have 1 edge in speed, what does that do for me?

I'm sorry for slowing things up! I learn best on the fly like this (as opposed to reading examples), thanks for your patience everyone!
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