I have been looking forward to today. At 8 P.M. my time I am going to be running a game of Numenera! It is a one-shot to whet my taste buds and see if I want to extend it to a more regular style game in the new year. Thing about Numenera is I really like the Cypher system. Really like it. From a GM perspective it is really quite good and I want to give it a run. The thing that lost me a bit reading the core book was all the world details. I just could not focus in that section so instead of use the material there for the game tonight I have created my own little part of the Numenera universe for use. I am trying to highlight the things that make the Numenera the Numenera so to speak and so I have built up a nice tight little story that will hopefully run well in the three hour session I am expecting.
The Characters
I wanted five people and I got five people. I am fairly certain that most of them have not played the Numenera either so it is a nice little injection of the game into the Australian/New Zealand area. Of the characters I have one Jack, one Nano and 3 Glaive characters. I am attaching the PDF scans of the characters that I created from each players choice of descriptor, type and focus so that other GM’s can use them as starting characters or even NPC’s.
- Matt C was first on board and is playing Ankrauser, the clever Jack who employs magnetism;
- Then came Libby Furr playing Teboh (Tay-bo), the tough Glaive who masters weaponry;
- Blue Tyson is playing Cairena, the swift Glaive who wields two weapons;
- Ken Kthulhu came up with Venn Gramma, a mechanical Nano who talks to machines; and
- John Lindley rounds us out with Uder, a strong Glaive who fuses flesh with steel!
I had a lot of fun making these characters. I think that Uder is my favourite as I love his make up of being strong, slow and loyal. He also came out with some really amazing numbers (20 might pool!). Cairena is a close second, taking on the stylish Indianna Jones quality of using a whip and a gun…
City of Straub
Straub is a settlement in the wilds of nowhere. A vista of crystal mountains and metal monuments dwarf the tiny settlement that clusters around a river that rises from beneath the crystal mountains, makes its way along the only arable land in hundreds of miles and then disappears down a seemingly endless perfectly circular hole. The settlement has been named a city for the population of its surroundings, an area laced with thieves and bandits trying to catch merchants coming in or leaving the city itself that houses only a few thousand residents. Adding on the estimated population of bandits and the like it is more like fourteen thousand in the area.
The residents of Straub are pretty affluent however due to the abundance of arable land which they use to grow produce, but above all they are famed for their Aneen, a large herd creature raised for meat, milk and even pulling merchant caravans. The Aneen are ever present in thousands of head and most arable land is devoted to them. Much of the city itself has been built by creating clay brick mixed with Aneen waste giving the city a distinct odour that seems offensive to most but the locals.
The City itself has a strong black market also. With so many bandits in the vicinity there is always someone to take up such a role. Proud is the mysterious local that heads up the operation. He has a strong source on the drug “Space” and also a big hand in protection rackets. As vicious as he is rich, Proud is not a man to be crossed lightly. Especially as he seems to have the unique ability to disappear just when he needs to.
The final major figure in town is Malkit. A big sorcerer from the much larger cities far to the East Malkit has built a tower that appears to blend in with the metal monoliths that border the furthest edges of the town. His protege was taken from his family in town and has recently finished their apprenticeship with the powerful sorcerer. They generally stayed out of town and investigated some of the Numenera that is so intrinsic around Straub.
Recent Happenings near Straub
Whispers of a large metal pyramid descending from the sky and setting atop one of the crystal mountains have been concerned. The information has come through Proud and somehow stretched to Malkit as well. If it has ever been seen before it was some time ago and the device itself is said to be laden with secret powers of the Numenera. Its approach has scared some of the larger bandit groups in the North-East and Proud wants it out of the way. Malkit apparently sees it as some kind of treasure vault of the Numenera and also an excellent final test for his once apprentice.
One way or another, it seems the pyramid may make or break a few members of the city up for a bit of exploration…
The game starts
At 8 PM this evening, Australian Eastern Summer Time. I hope to be recording it and offering it to watch via the blog. Until then, keep rolling!