Character Creation

I would like to play a navigator. Thinking Delve who knows the area well because she was involved with smuggling for the rebellion. Always on the lookout for new places to explore.

I'm thinking the ship definitely has to have some kind of submersible where we can store the more questionable cargo or to get away in dicey situations.

I am not at home at the moment, so sorry this is short, but I would be interested in creating the ship’s doctor/surgeon.

Edit: Alright, I am back home so I can be more specific:

Cordall is a mechanical nano who works miracles.
Background (nano): Forbidden Knowledge
Connection (nano): You served as an apprentice under a nano respected and feared by many people, and you now bear her mark.
Skill (mechanical): You’re trained in all actions involving identifying or understanding the numenera.
Sense "magic" (mechanical): You can sense whether the numenera is active in situations where its presence is not obvious. You must study an object or location closely for a minute to get a feel for whether the touch of the ancients is at work.
Inability (mechanical): You have a manner or an aura that others find a bit unnerving. The difficulty of any task involving charm, persuasion, or deception is increased by one step.
Connection (works miracles): Another PC quietly suspects that you’re a messiah or supernatural being. He is not aware of the suspicion.
Esoteries: Hedge Magic (mechanical), Onslaught (nano), Scan (nano), Healing Touch (works miracles)

General backstory: Cordall is a biomechanical hybrid that has no idea where he originally came from. Though Cordall was not part of the rebellion (too young), he was the adopted child/student of a nano-healer who was killed in a targeted attack by the Empire. Since that time, he has trained under another nano-witch to hone his abilities as a doctor. Cordy is against the idea of calling numenera 'magic' and sees it as science and technology that can be learned, and that it is meant to help people. He has joined this troupe to travel and extend his knowledge of the numenera, and learn the medicine of the previous eight worlds.

I think a wind-powered sailing vessel sounds nice! Would NPCs just be general NPCs that are thought up on the fly, or do we make suggestions?

I'll be dusting off my book tomorrow morning and having a look-see. It's been a few years since I last played in a Numenera game.

As usual, I can play any type of character, if we need something specific, or if one of you want something specific to act as a foil to your gem, say so and I can try make it work.

I am happy to have the captain be a PC, it can add an interesting element to games if done right.

I will need to hunt down my Numenera book and read it again, it has been many years since I looked at this.
Do I need the new book? I might be able to borrow it.

I'm thinking a Clever or Intelligent Glaive who Explores Dark Places.

Okay, thinking a bit more about it, I now have: Areen Sincos is an adaptable Delve who possesses a shard of the sun (Not really set on the focus though, so if we need something different, I can still change it)

Edit to answer all questions: I'm totally okay with having a player be the captain, just don't want to be a leader myself. As already described, Areen was involved in the rebellion as a smuggler. I think the PC roles should be what everyone likes best themselves, we're already set up nicely with a medic, a fighter type, a navigator. Don't know what vagueGM likes, maybe they want to be captain. We could probably use someone who handles cargo and someone who establishes contacts too (though having more of one type wouldn't hurt either), my suggestion would be for the NPCs to be average deckhands or one of the roles I mentioned if it doesn't get filled.

Refugees on board would be more of an exception than a rule I would think, passengers maybe (as a cover? People we know hitching a ride?)

I have not looked through the books yet. Is this 'Empire' something you cooked up (for the 'Firefly' theme) or an existing thing from the book?

I glanced at the start of the Destiny book, and was intrigued by the 'Enhanced' background option for the Arkus. Maybe I was made to be a leader for the empire, and served them?
Maybe I eventually fought for the rebellion, but also maybe not. For sure, I don't like them, and now oppose them, but may have been on the other (wrong) side for a while (possibly not voluntarily).
Part of the attraction for the Enhanced background is the need to find upgrade Numenera to Advance. This was spurred by how that might interact with Data's Nano's interest in using Numenera to help people (or help me install upgrades).

I like that I need to rely on the Nano, and don't want to be too good at finding or understanding Numenera due to the other two respectively being a Delve, and having Explores Dark places. An Arkus could help being them all together.
I am slightly inclined to focus on the PCs at the start rather than taking on refugees. Maybe we get to know us before we add too many non-crew NPCs? Especially if they will be around long-term rather than just 'covert transport'?
I am not all that keen on having a NPC in charge of us. I would prefer the captain to be one of us. But I don't feel strongly about this, it is just an unreasoned initial reaction.

I can imagine that the empire neglected a bunch of the smaller islands, people there were suffering so they tried to rise up (that could have also been when Areen became involved. She was disillusioned seeing her family struggle and took it upon herself to get stuff to the people who need/want it)

I’m not sure if I was able to answer the questions correctly, so please let me know if any clarification is necessary!
I’m not sure if Cordy has a definite ‘opposition to the Empire’ goal, but he is against them considering they killed his mother and he (as a biomechanical hybrid) would be considered a general outcast at best and a tool at worst to them.

That being said, Cordy is the opposite of an independent, moody loner. His personality is a bit more like Kaylee from Firefly. He’s a bit of a prodigy and focused very heavily on his desire to help people and further medicine, but he’s also got a very innocent/sheltered personality due to 1) still being pretty young and 2) never getting the chance to go out and explore the world before.

He’s both excited/determined, but also nervous and out of his depth. He’s far more likely to want to stick with someone than go off alone, which works well as a healer.
Generally a war orphan? The implication in his backstory is that the Empire committed (what we would consider to be) war crimes by targeting the rebellions healers/medics. This could tie into the overall Numenera setting having suspicions/fears about Nanos, which is why taking even the non-combatant nanos was a priority.

He was probably angrier about it when his mom was initially killed, but now his focus is more on helping others than taking down the empire. My impression was that our group would be similar to the Firefly group, in that they’re mostly trying to live their lives without Empire influence, rather than start a new rebellion, and any conflict with the Empire would require an inciting incident. If you would like me to rework that, let me know!
Doctor/surgeon was his intended role, but let me know if you meant something else by role.
I’m a fan of the idea of picking up refugees or passengers along the way, but maybe not start with them? Cordy would definitely be interested in helping those who retain injuries from the war, or whose cities/villages suffered illness as a result of the war.
It looks like we have a Navigator, Doctor, Fighter and Leader. I could see vagueDM’s Arkus being the Captain and Windyridge’s Glaive being a Zoe-like first mate potentially.

We’ll probably need a shipwright/carpenter (Wight?) as an NPC, maybe, though I think we’re well rounded otherwise. Any other NPC’s would be dependent on how many bodies it takes to sail the ship. We may assume NPC crewmen take over shifts/duties when the rest are sleeping.
Cordy doesn’t like to think about it, but he would probably be very angry if he ever found out who in the Empire ordered attacks against the medics. He mostly stays out of the Empire’s sights though, since he is a nano and partially mechanical, which could put him on their target list.
I’m also a fan of the Captain being a PC rather than an NPC. Since the Captain leads the group, it’s awkward for that to be a GMPC because the balance between having the character be a strong captain and it being a very one-sided adventure would be hard to navigate. When it’s a PC, everyone’s on the same footing and it makes sense to have a party-leader.

Oh, I like it, the crew has an identity crisis after their leader perishes. Though vagueGM's character sounds very much like a captain type, so we may have a PC captain after all

I like the wind-powered ship and the setting idea of an archipelago provides so much fodder for drama. The various islands could have different political bents, with some having loyalties to the rebellion, while others have ties to the empire or even a mix of both.

Having one of us be the captain vs an NPC feels better to me and I'm ok with Vague being that captain if everyone else is, and wants a player captain in the first place.

I'd like to see the PC's get established before refugees or passengers are taken on, but those would be interesting elements to introduce later.

For my part, my character comes from an island in the archipelago that is in a state of flux with some inhabitants being for the empire, and some against it. He is undecided as to who he supports when he finds himself on the ship, and the other PC's could convince him to support one side or the other. He might be a fighter type but he is thoughtful and doesn't feel he has enough information to make an informed decision and declare a side yet.

Function on board? He's a strong type so apart from his fighting prowess he could have something to do with cargo perhaps?

Why are we all on board in the first place?

That was the impression I got, and why being Enhanced and needing exactly such a medic who understands Numenera, sounded like fun.

While the Arkus in this scenario would also have some mechanical implants, the contrast between how people treat an Arkus versus how they treat a Nano could be interesting.
I will take you under my wing and keep you safe. :)
Fortunately I believe I was not involved in that. I am from before that time. My 'Enhancements' have kept me looking younger than I am, so I only look middle-age.

Even if we do have a PC captain, it does not need to be me just because I proposed playing a 'leader' type (which is not fixed in stone, just first in the book:). An Arkus could just as easily be a diplomat type --or something like that-- following the lead of our real captain (who could be one of you).

I am happy to be the captain if we want that. I will then lean into that role (maybe with a descriptor like Beneficent, Civic, or, Empathetic, depending on how much we want to play into communities and such).
Feeling a little worried about being captain, right now. :)
What is this Poison'd? Lasers and Feelings? :)

I just glanced at the table of contents on Discovery, I see that Empathetic is not there, it is a Cypher System Descriptor (Numenera does not have many!).

Are the Cypher System options available? (Only the ones that still fit the theme, of course.)