Hashing Out Ideas

Let's talk a little about life in the town. You know as much as me, it's an open canvas, and I'll fill in the extra details I need before play.

I'd suggest finding a fun concept and then we build the town around making that concept(s) make sense. Numenera is a world of the strange, so don't assume Cooperstown is a mundane mining community. Have fun!

I would very much like to have a good portion of the portal-land be specifically dangerous, the terrain itself be dangerous: void, antimater, fire, creeping ice. Something like that. Possibly the portal-land mine is an asteroid or distant moon of some sort. I like the space element Moonfall Station adds, and kinda want to double down on it.

Side note: Thinking of building a tank former or current guard character (impulsive seeker that sees beyond).

I'm not familiar at all with Cypher, so please forgive my lack of experience. Fortunately, I find a strange satisfaction from learning a new system, so I'll catch on quickly.

Same with Numenara. I've read about it, but I've never played in it.

The mining town feel makes me think of a western and makes me want to play a small-town lawman of some type. Maybe the portal to somewhere else brings in some Weirdness or alien threat. Something that's way above a lawman's usual pay grade.

Also, what are we looking at for game/posting speed? Life is becoming more complicated as we approach the summer, and I can't guarantee a daily posting rate, though I'll certainly try.

I set it for three times a week, but I'm entirely flexible. Good topic for this discussion, too.

I can post up to once day..

Side note. The other character I was thinking of playing is a mutant who was one of the first through the portal, when it was still unstable and gained mutations from i and is now motivated to find out more behind the portal and the places beyond.

I see we're using the Destiny, Discovery, and Into the Night books. Will I need to pick anything else up, or will the three of those give me anything I would need to play? For instance, do I need the core Cypher System rulebooks?

Into the Night you won't need. I don't think there is much character stuff in there.

Destiny and Discovery are the v2 of the corebook, but if you have the original, that's fine, they're perfectly compatible. You don't need anything more.

I intend for outer space to be a theme and environment you need to contend with. Where we go from there is up in the air: a war for resources on land, exploration of the crafting system, space opera, strange Cthulhuian horror. All of the above.

I've always loved crafting in games, though I haven't explored it in TTRPGs. Sounds fun, and Numenara is supposed to be good for that.

Qralloq, is there anything you want? Any theme to explore, particular story to tell?

Good question. My modus operandi is to begin with a story planned and follow the characters. In this case, when I first heard Monte Cook Games were releasing Into The Night, I've wanted to see how space intersects with the Ninth World. So that's my plan, I have story planned, but I won't railroad you if you find something more interesting to explore.

Hi, thanks for letting me in. so for the town how about it being divided by those guided by the order of truth and the malakhists? i need to check the books again. But i thing they are a religion that worships aliens. It might make sense if the connection to outer space is somehow known ( or maybe a poorly covered secret) in a place like that, nanos could have much potential

I was only able to ger my hands on the preview of Into The Night (money being a thing...) but it looks quite interesting.
I am looking forward to learning about the portal, how it got there, what it's really doing and the land behind the portal. I think it makes sense for there to be some sort of entity(s) on the other side. (Some, one, many... I am undecided) but think an 'out of our depths' tone is appropriate.

I'm thinking about the space station, Moonfall, where Cooper lives. I'd like to get an idea of what the station is for in relation to Coopertown. Does Cooper run the town through proxies that come to him via the gate? Is there another gate on the station that goes to the REAL location of the ore? Perhaps the station isn't small, but more like Knowhere from Guardians of the Galaxy. Maybe the station is a giant relic of a past world and the ore is just big chunks of it brought down to be used for constructions that are pathetically rudimentary in comparison.

I'd also like to explore the character "Cooper". Is he evil? Perhaps he'd like to think he's good, but pragmatic in nature and is forced to make difficult decisions that others don't understand. He may not be human at all, perhaps he's an immortal alien here to pull the strings of humanity like a puppet, either to bring them back to their former glory or to prevent them from rising above the surface ever again.

He makes more sense to me as someone pragmatic but not evil. If Moonfall is a vulnerability, it means there's something else out there that may prey upon it. Maybe an alien force come to take back technology a prior civilization "stole" from them a hundred million years ago. Or perhaps Moonfall is like Knowhere, and the alien creatures recognize it as one of their own.

Great questions. We'll explore that (either in gave or in a knowledge dump) once we know more about your characters. Are they on the inside track and in the know of these secrets, or are they merely suspicious?

My presumption is that outsiders will know none of that and likely assume the ore is actually mined in the mine.

I think I'd like to move forward with a "lawman" archetype. I'm reading through Numenara: Discovery, but haven't gotten far yet, so please let me know if I step on any established setting lore.

My lawman wouldn't be a part of the circle that knows the truth of the mine. He's a rogue with a heart of gold, burned more than once by betrayal, loss, greed, whatever. I'd like to think he's a former soldier of some type that settled down in a mining town, hoping for an easy life. He came to love the simple people there, and has an idealistic perspective on their lives, willing to die (or kill) for what he thinks they deserve. He wouldn't appreciate secrets being kept from him, especially if they affect the lives of the people of Coopertown. It would be easy enough to move his protective nature to innocents of all types (for bigger conflicts).

He's rich in sarcasm, quick smiles, mild cynicism and a competent fighter, but poor in most other things. He's got a strong sense of right/wrong, but will get his hands dirty. Often, and likely due to a past in brutal battles, he finds that the ends justify the means. He's witty, but not well-learned. After a quick glance at the Numenara character types, he'll likely be a Glaive.

Tropes-wise, I'm going for a Timothy Oliphant in Justified or also Timothy Oliphant in the most recent Mandalorian season. Maybe some Malcolm Reynolds, too.

hi guys. I was checking the books and i couldnt find those alien worshipping malakhists anywhere, so i take that idea out (unless someone finds it interesting enough to elaborate on it) i did find in the ninth world guide a cult beyond the steadfast that worships a transfigured god that is actually orbiting around the planet. Anyway if there’s some cult in coopertown my Nano could use it as a background . I guess we might have a an Arkus or jack with the lawman. It would be interesting to see what other characters you have in mind so our GM can think of interesting stuff to do with them. And maybe start with characters sheets if PCs are aprooved

I've got so much more reading to do before I start a character :P

I debated an Arkus for my lawman, but in my head that ends up being more of a politician or mayor than a sheriff. I feel like a small mining town lawman would have plenty of opportunity for cracking heads, and I like the dark past as a soldier with experience in a brutal war. The kind of thing that you don't tell your grandkids about, ya know?

I don't know if there's any mechanic to support multiclassing yet, but maybe I can dabble in Arkus while having most of the character as a Glaive.

The cult idea sounds great, we can certainly make one if the one you found doesn't work for you.

I reallylike these ideas bouncing around.
I like Cooper beint not togaly human and being manipulated, but they, themselves not evil, just pragmatic.
I do like the truth of the moonbase being kept from the players.
I like tgere being a cult. Does the cult worship the aliens that made the portal? Or maybe they fear them? I dunno. Or are they totally separate?

All my experience is with first edition, so I’m currently making my way through the Discovery book. The new character types are interesting. I’ll hopefully have a concept ready by tomorrow.

I realised the same, I have 1st edition, though and Character Options Books 1 & 2.... Though Qualloq said
That V1 and V2 are compadable, so I may just stick with the limited options of V1. (Besides I am happy wuth the idea of a nano-character mutating because of the portal... or maybe something beyond the portal?

Did those interested, there's a sale on Numenara pdfs at DriveThruRPG

Coming in late- thanks for having me. I bought a bunch of the Numenera books a while back in a humble bundle for cheap- but it’s been a while since I’ve picked them up and I’m not sure how current they are. I was thinking about playing either a glaive or a Jack but am happy to fill any gap the party needs filled. I’m still pretty green with the system.

The ones we're using (per Qralloq) are Numenara: Discovery (which is the core rulebook) and Numenara: Destiny (an add-on that has a bunch of character options among other stuff). He'll also be using Numenara: Into the Night, but from my first glance it looks like a setting book and won't be required.

From what I've read, the first edition rulebook (the name of which I'm not sure) has older information, but is apparently still workable? Admittedly I'm going off hearsay and I don't understand how that stuff could work correctly.

The Discovery/Destiny books are a rewrite but haven't changed anything. They've added stuff, but they're compatible.

I got the books and I'll be reading over them and have a character by this weekend. What's the general idea of the story? Looking over the books, ancient ruin delving and building seem to be the core of the game. There are even underwater books and stuff which is cool. It seems so far it's going to be a western frontier vibe with some space stuff?

I got the vibe of space stuff with some wester/frontier stuff.

That's partially what this thread is for. Hash out what you want.

We'll learn the game works mechanically, but also the atmosphere that makes Numenera somewhat unique. On the road, anything you want to add for me to include, now's the time for suggestions.

Or questions.

I am fascinated by the water stuff. Rarely do games go underwater so that seems like a unique space. Maybe a frontier water world?

I checked the pdfs I have- I do have Destiny and Discovery...but they are the 2018 version and they don't have the three new classes. I'm not sure how drastically the rules changed in the newer version, would you recommend investing in a copy? I read somewhere they revamped the Jack class to not simply be a mix of glaive and nano- but to have its own unique properties- and they revamped a bunch of other things for the glaive and nano class (as well as adding the 3 new classes).

As far as setting goes, eventually spending time in a huge city... a really urban setting with a social hierarchy and a governing body- and a seedy underbelly we can either rally against (or join!). Could be underwater? deep underground? floating on a mysterious disc high above the surface of the planet...

This might be good for character creation? Numenera Character Options Oh- no, I guess this was published in 2014...

There is a Character Options 2 as well from 2016- I see it has new classes and races, and foci.

Is there ONE text you would recommend that has all the updated material in it, or are they in multiple places kind of spread out in different publications?

Those are the right books. Three Types are in Destiny and the other three are in Discovery.

Ok! Thanks!

Well, for that one , One candidate that is showing in pretty much all source books are the Convergence: the "Sith" version of Aeon Priests, so they might show "scientific" interest in the mine but mainly for greed . they might be useful for moving the story forward, being villains etc.
The alien worshippers like the Cult of the Transfigured God, well , might be difficult to combine with the secrecy of the space station, at least for my character background, But hey! you might also want to use in a interesting way..

So. Since we have a cult I was thinking my character would be in debt to the cult, unknowingly... Possibly with one of the group members being my debt 'handler' so maybe unknowingly working fir the cult. Maybe @Lightwielder's character since they were maybe going to be connected to the cult, it would make specific sense if neither of us knew we were worki g for 'sith' Aeon priests.

No pushing ideas on anyone. Just brainstorming.

Would this cult be straight up evil, or beneficial in some way? What's its goal? I just don't want to start the game at odds with half the characters, sounds exhausting :P

I should elaborate, sorry, I figgured we would be being manipulated by the cult. But working with and allies /friendly with the restod the PC.
Thoigh if that soumds confusing... like just pointed out we can toss that idea.

What's the cult trying to do? Are they a part of the town? Tha t would mean the town is bigger than classic "small mining town", unless they're an arm of a larger organization that's come to town due to some intel regarding the portal.

You said they're essentially alien worshippers? That tracks. They think all these numenera are gifts from god-like creatures from space, so when they hear there's a portal up there, I'm sure they'd be interested in it. More than likely, they'd like to control it, possibly attacking the town after they've investigated and manipulated enough.

We can still get that "small mining town" feel, but also have a cult that way.

I was thinking about the mines... if they’re not being used to get ore what were they repurposed into? Maybe they are an elaborate front to keep people far from the secret of the portal. Maybe the cult uses a long abandoned part of the mines to conduct terrible sacrifices (or run a new age crystal chamber where you can realign your chakras). Maybe the mines have been co-opted as low income housing for a group of refugees that came to the town seeking solace? Or there’s an underground casino there. Tons of fun things you can do with the mines.

I’m thinking about making a character that is comfortable working outside of the law (but not an evil murder hobo- more like a smuggler or second story man).

What the mine is used for depends on whether or not the portal is public knowledge. What Qralloq dropped in the game description was saying it's secret, so it might even be a secret from the town itself. If that's true, everyone except for the people working in the mine would think it's just a place where dirt comes from.

If it's something everyone in town knows, then it would probably be used for stuff to keep the portal unknown to outsiders. Maybe storage for tools and support items for travel to somewhere with no atmosphere. Maybe it's not even a mine at all, just a tunnel with no off-shoots going straight to the portal.

Your character and mine are going to have a nice little rivalry :)

I was thinking about running combat with PbP. This game has a pretty streamlined process to combat (only the players make rolls), but because each player needs to decide whether to use Edge before a defense roll, it could end up causing combat rounds to last twice as long, since the player needs to respond every time they're attacked.

DM, are you worried about that at all, or do you think it'll be ok in the end? (I'm honestly not fishing, just thinking about potential issues)

Lol- a friendly rivalry, I hope! Maybe we have a history that lets you see past my many character flaws? Maybe I’m an informant (yuck!) who helped you shut down a malevolent rival of mine (who was into some bad bad stuff). Lots of possibilities.

Yeah, definitely a friendly sort of rivalry. Real life is stressful enough, I don't want to have an enemy in my entertainment :P.

A lot of it depends on the type of character. If you decide to have a lovable rogue who commits slight offenses, we can come up with something. If you're an edgy, hardened, badass criminal, we'll have to come up with something else. Time will tell!

I've run Numenera, and The Strange multiple times and haven't found combat pace to be an issue. What I ask you to roll might just be streamlined, as your defense and attack rolls should occur in the scene post.

The mine I envisioned to be secret, with only a select some knowing the truth. If you have string reason to want that to be different, I'm flexible.

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Based on all of this, this weekend I will finalize the setting and try to fit your suggestions in to the best I can. If you have any needs for your character, please let me know by tomorrow.

Solid, I trust you.

I'll try to finish my character and complete a sheet by tomorrow/Saturday. I've got the whole concept, it's just a matter of finalizing small decisions and writing it down. And the hardest part, finding an image...

A mood. I am still deciding between four.

I'm almost certainly just going to use one from the book. The art in there is too good to pass up.

Personally I am most interested in space trader /explorer.

I want them all! lol, but I'd be happy exploring. The idea of setting up a colony sounds fun as well (and there's potential for lots of story arcs to spring from the colony). I'd say whatever motivates you as a GM throw that in the mix- sometimes you need something for yourself as well.

Agreed, I'm ok with anything, just happy to be included. The exploration aspect is definitely intriguing, and I'm wondering what else could be out there in space. There are still a bunch of threads left to tug on related to this story, too.

I like the idea of colony building as well, though I've never done it and don't know how it's done. It could be a learning experience!

Personally I don't see any motivation for our characters to set up a space colony, especially when they have a working hometown. Especially when they can get to their current home with such ease.
Plus it would be even harder to convince people to leave where they are for something even harder than basic settlement. And there's a fairly sucessful mine here they are

Yeah, I'm either going to have to ignore the mining town and Emmett's connection to it or find a reason why he would leave it to go a-wandering. Or Qralloq will have to nuke it from orbit, but that's super dark, haha