[Numenera]Interest Check - Post apocalypse science-fantasy, all players welcome!

[Galactic Druid]

Note: Well, we're officially past the interest check Phase. I've got a number of interested players, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to cap the player count here to make sure everyone gets fair input. Over the next few days, I'll be adding bits and pieces to this page about core rules everyone should know going in and helping with character sheets.


“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” - Sir Arthur C. Clarke
Welcome to the 9th world!

Numenera at a glance...

Imagine, if you will, that our civilization grew to it's absolute peak. Nanotechnology, cybernetics, terraforming, all things easily within our grasp. We've explored the stars, seen other worlds, seen other realities, even unlocked the secrets of our own bodies, altering our very DNA as we please, even blurring the line between man and machine. Then, at the height of it all, we simply... disappeared. No one knows why, the and we is lost to history, perhaps humanity found a better home in another universe, perhaps they went too far with their own experiments, perhaps they wiped themselves out in a global war. The answer is unclear, but for whatever reason, humanity is gone, leaving behind an empty Earth for whoever may come next.

Imagine this happening, again and again, with 8 other civilizations, some human, some not, some not even originating from our world, each finding themselves on our world, reaching unbelievable heights, then vanishing, with no reason as to why left behind. What we do know is that of these eight past worlds, at least a few were not human, at least one had the technology to alter the world with terraforming and nano machines, and at least one found a way to increase the life span of the now-orange sun, at least one placed satellites around the world, providing a source of energy for some devices, as well as the data sphere that still exists in the world, and several of these civilizations, whatever may have happened to them, left things behind to be found by adventures ninth workers. These seemingly magical pieces of the past are referred to collectively as The Numenera.

All of this is merely backstory. Where Numenera begins, humans have made a return in the Ninth World. At the time of Numenera's setting, humankind has achieved about 900 years of recorded history, existing in a dark ages society. The Ninth world is all these people have ever known, including those descended from off worlders, known as visitants. The fact that strange ruins that "magically" distort gravity in the nearby forest, or that the vast, hard, smooth expanse between two towns is is a huge piece of metal from some ancient project is no stranger to them than the fact that the sky is blue or that water is wet. It’s simply how the world is. The core of Numenera is the quote from Clarke at the top of the page. Most Ninth Worlders see Numenera and the strange things that happen whenever Numenera involved as magic. Even some trained in it’s use may believe themselves to be wizards or mages, and the focus required to use psionics or the tapping on the screen of a device to simply be the way of conjuring the spirits within a device or communicating with the powers within. Only the most learned scholars of the era, the Aeon Priests, founders of a quasireligious group known as the Order of Truth have even begun to accept the possibility that Numenera may be something other than magic.

The single, massive continent that makes up the majority of the Ninth World can be harsh at times, and people rely on Numenera, the adventurers that seek it out, and the Aeon Priests that interpret it’s use for everything from agriculture to security. Many people make a living, or more, seeking out relics of the past.

Numenera is a game about exploration, storytelling, and discovery. While combat is involved, and will happen in this campaign, it’s not meant to be the focal point. In fact, experience isn’t gained at all from fights. Instead, characters grow by exploring their world, making discoveries, finding ways to solve problems, and interacting with one another and the world around around them.

Getting Started

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E26Id3jBB7Q

Monte Cook's How to Play Numenera video is a great way to get started, as it shows all the basics of how the game and it's system works. For those that aren't interested in a video, I'll explain the rules in brief below. After the video, the Character Creation Walkthrough on numenera's website is a useful tool for putting together a character as well. Alternately, there's a number of Character Generation Tools you can use as well to make a character as well. There are plenty of places online to get a copy of the "Numenera Player's Guide" as well, and PDF copies are relatively cheap. Naturally, I'll be happy to help any interested player with character creation if the need me to as well.

The System in a Nutshell
Numenera's system is incredibly easy to use. Rather than trying to memorize an endless list of challenge ratings, skills, and stats, when a player chooses to perform a task, the GM rates the task on a scale of 1 to 10 for how difficult the task would be, 1 being a routine task that nearly anyone can do, 5 being something that even a person trained in the task would have a 50/50 shot at it, 7-10 being virtually impossible, legendary feats. The number is then multiplied by 3, which is the target number to meet or beat on a d20 to complete the task.

But doesn't that make some challenges (7-10) impossible?
Indeed it does, which is why the difficulty is adjusted before the roll, based on a character's skill, as well as any help they're getting from a tool or ally. A player trained in a skill reduces the difficulty by one step, two if they're specialized. While a 5 is a 15 to beat on a d20, with about a 25% chance of success, a person specialized in the task can reduce it to a 3, or a 9 to meet or beat. That's a little over a 50/50 shot, and why a 5 is rated as a task a person skilled in the task would succeed about half the time. If that same person also had the right tool for the job, that's another step down, and another again if they're being helped by an ally.

In addition, characters can apply effort to a task they're attempting. To apply effort, a player spends 3 points from the stat pool most relevant to the action (might, speed, or intellect), though that can be reduced with an edge in that stat. Each level of effort a character puts into a task reduces the difficulty by one step.

Combat works the same way. In Numenera, the players roll all the dice. When attacking, they make an attack roll. When being attacked, the player makes a speed roll to dodge, block, or otherwise defend the attack. The challenge of the task is equal to the NPC/monster's difficulty level (also a 1-10 scale).

There's a few more rules regarding ranged attack/movement distance and circumstantial rules, but we can get into that more if there's enough interest in the game.
There is, so here they are...

Combat, distance, and damage.

As I mentioned, many aspects of combat with NPCs or creatures are easy to figure out just by looking at a creature's challenge rating, or level. Unless the game otherwise states it, that's their difficulty for all tasks related to it. Bluffing a level 4 NPC is a level 4 challenge, hitting him is a level 4 attack challenge, if he attacks a PC, that's a level 4 defense roll.Some PCs and creatures have modifiers, such as an NPC who'se a particularly skilled swordsman may attack as a level 4, despite being level 3, or an especially hardy creature may defend as a level higher.

Armor is easy to figure out in Numenera; when a character or creature takes damage, their armor value is subtracted from the damage sustained. If a character with 2 armor gets hit for 4, they take 2 damage. Unlike the PCs, all NPCs simply have a health value. When it reaches 0, the NPC is dead, unless the PCs specifically mention they were attempting to incapacitate. There's no mechanical difference between lethal and nonlethal attacks, just a statement of one's intent, and some roleplaying (attacking with the flat of the sword, for example).

When a PC is attacking, they can choose to use might or speed when applying effort to an attack. When a PC is defending, they almost always are making a speed roll, with the exception of specific special attacks, or abilities the PC may posses, such as a Nano's resonance shield, which allows them to defend with intellect instead. Just as when making any other roll, a PC may choose to apply effort before making their roll. 

Damage dealt is dependent on weapon size. Most weapons, including Numenera, do a set amount of damage, instead of a roll. You can always rely on a medium sized weapon to deal 4 damage with a standard attack.

Light Weapons, including daggers, whips, worn blades, blowguns, unarmed attacks (unmodified by skills), and smaller numenera devices such as a buzzer, inflict 2 points of damage.

Medium weapons, including spears, bows, crossbows, maces, spears, staves, most full sized blades, axes, and so on deal 4 points of damage.

Heavy weapons, such as a greataxe, halberd, greatsword, mauls, and so on inflict 6 points of damage, but require both hands to use, and often require special training most character's won't begin with.

When attacking, a player can choose to apply effort to the attack, which makes it easier to hit, reducing the difficulty to hit by one step, or a player can apply effort to damage, dealing three additional points of damage per effort level applied. Both aspects apply to a player's maximum effort level. In other words, if a player has an effort level of 1, he can apply effort to hit or to damage. A player with an effort level of 2 can apply one to each, or two levels of either to either aspect, and so on.

In addition, rolling a 17 on an attack provides a bonus point of damage, an 18 grants an additional 2 points. On a 19, a a player may choose to apply an additional 3 points of damage or a minor effect. A minor effect may be something such as dazing an opponent, making him easier to hit for a round, knocking them back a few steps, or a minor effect granted by a focus, such as catching the target on fire. On a 20, a character may apply 4 points of bonus damage or a major effect. A major effect could include knocking an opponent to the ground, performing a quick follow-up attack, or a foci's major effect, such as shattering a weapon with kinetic force.

Range

Like many elements, range is rather simplified in Numenera, focusing more on the narrative of combat. There are three main ranges that all weapons, abilities, and esoteries will be divided into.

Immediate range is anywhere a character could reach in a few steps, anywhere from right next to the character to no more than 10 feet away. Needless to say, most melee weapons are immediate range weapons, with the exception of weapons that can be thrown.

Short range is anything longer than immediate range, but still within 50 feet. Many abilities, such as a nano's Onslaught, fall into this range. A character can usually move a short range within a single round.

Long range is anywhere further than 50 feet, within 100. Most bows, crossbows, and ranged Numenera devices are long range weapons. Without the aid of cyphers, abilities, or artifacts, a character should not be able to close a long range gap in less than 2 rounds.

Anything further than 100 feet will often be given as a number. Weapons that can strike beyond long range exist, though they are rare.

Damage and Recovery

Most attacks will require a speed defense roll. Some may require special, or even multiple rolls. If a PC fails to defend from an attack, for example, they may then be required to make a Might defense roll to resist the poison coating the blade they were struck by. If a character does sustain damage, unless otherwise specified by the attack/GM, the damage is applied to the character's might pool. When a character's might pool is 0, they sustain damage to their speed pool, then finally, to intellect. Any time a pool hits 0, a character shifts on the Damage Track.

Characters have 4 possible conditions on the damage track; Hale, impaired, debilitated, and dead.

Hale characters are perfectly healthy. All 3 pools are above 0, and they suffer no penalties (at least not from the damage track).

When a stat pool drops to 0, a character becomes impaired. They are still able to fight and perform tasks, but they suffer a penalty due to exhaustion. Applying effort to any task costs an additional point from the respective pool, and he ignores any damage bonuses or effects granted from rolling well. If an impaired character had a stat drop to 0, they become debilitated.

Debilitated characters are unable to take any action other than moving (usually crawling an immediate distance). If a debilitated character's speed is 0, they are unable to do even that. A debilitated character who has a stat drop to 0 is dead.

Using the official rulebook's description of the state here, because I find it amusing' "Dead is dead."

Recovery Rolls

Four times a day, a character can make a recover roll to gain some points in a pool back. The first roll takes 1 round to make. The second in a day requires a 10 minute rest. The third takes an hour rest, and the final takes a 10 hour rest, or essentially, going to sleep. To keep things simple, I intend to refresh player's recover rolls every morning.

When making a recovery roll, a player regains 1d6+1 points to a pool of their choosing, selected before the roll is made. A player cannot recover past their maximum, nor can they apply 'overheal' to another stat pool.

Any time a character brings a stat pool from 0 to a positive value, they recover one step on the damage track. An impaired character that recovers some points in his Might, for example, becomes Hale by doing so.

There are attacks, poisons, and events that may occur that will shift a player on the damage track immediately. It's possible a character could get poisoned and become impaired even with full pools. In this case, if one of his pools dropped to 0, he would shift to debilitated with only one stat pool at zero, and shift back to impaired upon recovering in that pool. If a character's damage track is out of sync with their stat pools in this way, they can spend one recover roll use to move back towards Hale on the damage track, though they don't heal any other points when doing on.

There are also recovery items in the game, both Numenera and otherwise. Using one of these items to recover a pool above 0 will also shift a character towards Hale on the damage track.

Choosing/Creating a Character
Creating a character in Numenera is as easy as filling out a sentence. All PCs in Numenera come from the same structure; "I am a(n) [adjective] [noun] that [verb]s."

The noun determines your class. There are only three choices in Numenera, which may not sound like a lot, but the way the other parts of character creation flesh them out, the possibilities are nearly endless.

Glaives are something of the fighters of Numenera. That doesn't necessarily mean melee, either. A 'swift glaive who carries a quiver' can be a incredible ranger. Glaives get the most options to fine tune their combat abilities, with plenty of choices for both melee and ranged weapons alike, along with skills related to survival and endurance. In short, if your party's physical well-being is your primary concern, you may be a Glaive.

Nanos are the wizards and mages of the Ninth World. Whether their powers come from nanotechnology, a gene mutation that grants psionic powers, or something else entirely is up to you and the backstory you choose to write. Nanos are the most likely characters to view the technology of the past worlds as exactly that, though there are still plenty who believe they are magical, and with their powerful spells, known as esoteries, backing their claims, who'se going to argue?

Jacks, derived from a jack of all trades, are somewhere in between the two. Often, a jack will use both weapons and esoteries to get by. While they have the largest variety of options, they also tend to gain new combat maneuvers at a slightly slower pace, with the exception of a few abilities that focus on the finesse of combat over power. There are also a few skills that only jacks can use, and often, out of combat, the party will rely on their jack to tackle obstacles they cannot.

The adjective, or descriptor, helps define your character. There's a bunch listed in the Player's guide and on the generation tool I linked, and two many to list here. Each description gives at least a small boost to a character, such as some stat points or even an edge, some give large boosts but also some penalties. (A stealthy character, for example, gains a bonus to their speed stat pool, and starts trained in a variety of stealth related tasks. What they have in stealth, however, they lack in swiftness, and any task that requires speed, such as running, is one step more difficult.)

The verb is your character's focus, what makes them unique. Many of them are relatively self explanatory. "Carries a quiver", for example, defines a character as an archer, and gives bonuses that reflect as much. While some of them may seem class specific, every focus is a valid choice for any character. "Bears a halo of fire" has obvious benefits for mages looking to define themselves as a fire mage, but a Glaive with a burning weapon and the ability to toss a fireball at ranged foes can be quite a terror.

I'd prefer to, for this game, keep to the descriptors and foci listed in the Core Rulebook (or player's guide, which is just a segment of the CRB) and "Character Options" books for the sake of balance in this campaign. All the options available are in the generator I liked to earlier.

Character Advancement and Experience Points

Every character starts off at tier one, giving them access to their tier one abilities from both their class and their focus.  While a character's class tends to see a number of benefits each tier, a focus typically adds one new ability to a character's arsenal per tier. Unlike many RPGs, the point of Numenera isn't to be constantly increasing various numbers. While higher tier characters are certainly more powerful, often that comes in the form of the larger variety of things they are able to do, rather than a straight amount of damage or health.

Any time a character has enough experience he can spend 4XP to do any of the following, once per tier.

1.) Get 4 points to add to you stat pool maximum.

2. Increase your Edge in a stat by 1. For every point of Edge you have, it costs 1 less point to use effort or abilities related to that stat. A nano with an Int Edge of 1, for example, can cast Hedge Magic without spending any points. A character with an Edge of 3 in a stat can apply a level of Effort to a related task for free. A character with an Edge of 5 can apply 2 levels of Effort for free.

3. Increase your Effort Level by 1. All characters start with an effort level of 1. Your effort level determines the maximum amount of effort you can apply to a single action. Applying effort to an attack allows a character to either decrease the difficulty to hit by one step, or increase the damage of the attack. At effort level 2, you can do one of each, or apply two effort to a single task (climbing, swimming, numenera, etc.) to decrease the difficulty multiple steps. A high tier character will be able to apply multiple levels of effort, making even seemingly impossible tasks seem mundane if they simply try hard enough.

4. Choose from a variety of skills.

This 4th slow is the most varied. You can use this perk to give yourself a new skill, negate an inability, or become specialized in a skill you're already trained in. While the rulebook offers some suggestions for skills, there's no actual skill list, and characters are free to deice for themselves what their skills might be. You could, for example, combine bluffing, intimidation, and charming into one skill you call 'persuasion' or 'conversation', or throw climbing, jumping, tumbling, etc, into one blanket 'acrobatics' skill. As long as you can describe, in character, how the skill applies to your situation, you'll get the training bonus. 'Assess Danger' is a great example of a skill from the video that's not in the book. The only catch is a skill has to be GM approved. You won't be able to make a skill called 'doing stuff' and apply it to every roll you make. Furthermore, you can't use this skill to say you are trained in attacking, defense, or any kind of weapon. There are specific skills related to classes and foci that will give those benefits.

In addition, you can use this skill to make yourself trained in a specific special attack, such as a Glaive's "Thrust", or a Nano's "Onslaught" ability. As long as a character is using that specific skill, they'll get the difficulty reduction towards hitting the target. (Yes, that does mean that if a character trained in swords and in "thrust" uses thrust with a sword, difficulty is reduced by two steps).

Lastly, you can use the skill slot to do any of the following;
Add +2 to your recovery rolls - 4 times a day, you can make a 1d6+1 roll to recover lost points. This skill adds to the result.

Reduce the penalties for wearing armor by 1. Armor costs a certain number of might points per hour to wear, as well as a straight reduction to your speed pool max. Each level of this reduces that by 1.

Learn a new technique/ability: Glaives learn a new combat trick, nanos a new esotery, jacks a new trick of the trade. In all three cases, it has to be a skill from the character's current tier or any lower tier.


Once a character has done all 4 advancements, they increase to the next tier. It takes 16XP in total to g up a tier, at which point all tier 2 bonuses are immediately applied. A character can then take the 4 bonuses again to begin working towards their next tier.

Experience is rarely gained in combat. There is no benefit to rushing sword first into every new encounter. Oftentimes, more will be earned through exploring one's options and making new discoveries. Expeirence points in Numenera are mainly earned in a few ways.

Finding an artifact - any time an artifact is discovered, the players are awarded 1xp each. This doesn't count in situations such as an attacking bandit dropping his weapon,

Making a discovery - When the players learn something about their world, or figure out how to use a discovery, XP is awarded. This may be as simple as stumbling across the surface of a giant clock within the dessert, or as complex as working together to move an ancient lightning turret from a numenera tower to a small fringe village in dire need of protection.

GM Intrustion- My personal favorite. At any time, the GM can intrude on a story, adding a new twist to the plot. This could be the snapping of a rope on a bridge, a bandit suddenly pulling a cypher from his pocket that sucks a PC's health, an AI companion going haywire at an unexpected moment, a trap door opening, and many, many other possibilities. Intrusion is used to inject new excitement, or steer the plot of a tale. Whenever an intrustion is used, the player most effected by it is awarded one XP. That player then chooses another player to gain one as well. In the event that the intrusion effects the entire party equally (you all fall in the trap door), the entire party gains one XP.

GM/Player driven awards - Hand in hand with discoveries, XP may occasionally be an award for a job well done. Similarly, a player may take a mission upon themselves that would reward XP upon completion. Perhaps a PC's hometown is destroyed, and they vow revenge on the ones that did it. Upon completion of their personal agenda, XP may be awarded.

Variety of Numenera
Numenera devices can be nearly anything. Often times, how a device is used is not necessarily it's original use. A device a player throws for a detonation, for example, may have actually been the power cell of a machine, not necessarily a grenade. Most Numenera is beyond our comprehension, which is why a skilled craftsman might be able to turn a single use detonator into a ray emitter. To the people of the Ninth world, Numenera appears magical, and no two devices necessarily moreso than the other. A Ninth Worlder, for example, would have no way of knowing that an electric force field is any more advanced than a two way radio. In fact, the radio may seem like the more powerful artifact to such a person, as it arguably can be used more ways, and the spell that binds the two is 'invisable'.

For the most part, Numenera come in four flavors.

Discoveries are any kind of Numenera a player can't take with them. Whether it's the ruins of a previous world's facility with still functional devices, a 'glimmer' from the datanet that can't be physically touched, or a half-organic, half synth beast, these are all discoveries. Not all discoveries the player will make are necessarily Numenera, but all Numenera of these kinds are discoveries.

Cyphers are single use items that are used up and discarded. That might be a pill that grants a bonus, a device that causes a detonation when thrown, a device that generates a force field for a short time, and many, many more varieties. They come in two varities; anoetic and occultic. Anoetic cyphers are easy to use and understand; throw this, swallow this, drink this for it to do it's thing. Occultic cyphers tend to be more complex, bearing touchscreens, keyboards, wires, buttons, and so on. Many seem to have many settings, but only one produces the desired effect. These count as two cyphers in terms of determining the maximum carried.

Cyphers are typically found through scavenging locations or defeated foes. A player can make an intellect action to search an area, which usually takes between 15 minutes and an hour. Often, Cyphers such as pills and enhancements can be found in various ruins. The blood or venom of a synthetic beast may be scavenged to make a healing tonic or rage inducer. The power cell of an automaton might make a decent detonator. The exposed wires of an unknown device might make an excellent shock prod. Ninth worlders find many different uses for the same items.

Because of their nature, Cyphers are dangerous. Many people advise against carrying too many at once. Most people are too afraid of what could happen to bear more than a few cyphers at a time, and those that do often end up as examples for the rest.

Artifacts are more complex devices. Often, the benefits they offer aren't as powerful as cyphers. An artifact may be a force field generator that provides a natural +1 to armor indefinitely, as opposed to a cypher that provides 5 armor for 10 minutes. All Artifacts can be used multiple times, some have a chance of depletion, while others do not.

Oddities are similar to artifacts in that they are not single use items. The difference between an artifact and an oddity is that an oddity doesn't seem to have a purpose other than interest or entertainment value. A piece of glass in a colorful casing that displays alien images and icons, for example, or a tube made of synth that gives a soft glow when shaken, or a pair of shoes bearing stones that light up when the wearer takes a step. Often, oddities will have no real use or purpose other than to provide some intrigue or flavor. There may be a few exceptions to the rule, such as an item that measures distance of an object if the user studies to decipher the readout.

Artifacts and Oddities come in many different forms and have many different appearances that fall into four categories, scavanged, cobbled, bonded, and fashioned. Scavenged technology is exactly that. Say, for example, the party defeats an automaton warrior, claiming the arm of the robot as their own, and discover that if two loose wires are crossed, it still fires a ray. Cobbled technology tends t look like multiple devices, or parts thereof, patched together to serve a function. Say the PCs get tired of crossing the wires and getting a jolt every time they want to fire that ray emitter, so they find another device with a button that activates it, salvaging the butting to use to activate the ray emitter. Bonded devices are much rarer, and show a great deal of skill. Let's say the PCs brought that robot arm to an Aeon Priest. After much study, they remove all the unimportant parts, casing the emitter in a much less cumbersome stock of their own design, and giving it an easy to use, reliable trigger mechanism, as one would see on a crossbow. The end result looks much more refined, and you can no longer tell it was pulled from a scrap heap.

Lastly, let's say that same priest learns enough from that emitter to design his own from varies pieces of tech, or even pieces he makes himself, crafting an entirely new item for the ninth world, based on technology of the past. This is a fashioned item, the rarest of the rare, and unlikely to be seen too often without a PC who Crafts Wondrous Items in the party.

Disclaimers

There are a few things I feel I should mention to anyone interested in playing, just to get any deal breakers out of the way early.

- I don't have as much time to dedicate online as I used to these days. While I can promise at least 2 posts a week, and that more will likely occur, I can't make promises beyond that. I should also note that weekends are especially busy for me, so weekend posts will be a little on the infrequent side.

- This will be my first time GMing a system game online, as well as my first time ever GMing Numenera, and to be honest, the first time in about 10 years I've GMed something that wasn't freeform. There's a chance I'll make the occasional mistake.

- Numenera is a fantastic, weird world, filled with all kinds of surprises, some of which may be a bit nonsensical at times. Prepare for the unexpected, the bizarre, the strange.

- Due to the nature of the game, from the combat to to genetic mutations to all the fun things you'd expect to see in a dark ages, post apocalyptic fantasy world, I'm planning on running this game in the EX section. I'm not, planning on springing a bunch of EX sexual elements on everyone, especially with no warning, but I wanted to be sure everyone was okay with where I'm planning to put this.

[Galactic Druid]

It occurred to me that I have a bunch of information about the game itself, but nothing at all about my game. I don't want to give away a lot of details, but I have several story arcs planned out, ranging from small beginnings to major impacts on the Ninth World, with a variety of themes, ranging from horror to adventure to puzzle-solving.

For those curious, this is E, and I don't intend for the game to be a completely NA adventure with no adult themes. Not only am I planning for plenty of fun, there are several elements in Numenera (certain enemy types, artifacts and Cyphers, and more!) designed for a mature adventurer.

Sexuality is a much more open thing in the Ninth World. There's no time for prejudice, and the world, as well as my game, is completely LGBT friendly.

[Crash]

What part of the world are you planning on starting the players in?  I am really interested in playing Numenara and have the PDFs.

[Galactic Druid]

I'm planning to start us off in Thriest, but depending on how things unfold (there's a few choices the party will need to make that will determine where they go next), things will begin to shift northward towards Charmonde, and eventually beyond the Black Range once players are acclimated with the world so I can start breaking out the really bizarre.

Also, hi Crash, pleasure to meet you! What kind of character were you thinking of?

[Crash]

Hello.  I am honestly not sure.  Leaning towards Glaive or Jack.

[Galactic Druid]

Both are really fun to play. You can really make some crazy characters too with a little experimentation.

[Crash]

Are you allowing stuff from the character options book?  Not sure I will use anything from there but wanted to be sure it was allowed before I did look at it.

[Galactic Druid]

Absolutely! Anything from Monte Cook's publications is fair game. The only thing I want to avoid right now is user generated classes and foci, I'd like to make sure I keep things balanced in the first game I run.

[Crash]

If you get enough interest I will definately give it a go.

[Galactic Druid]

Awesome! I'd be willing to run a game for a party as small as 3, so I'll mark you as one!

[CeruleanSerenity]

I'm curious... I don't know much about Numenera, but I might be willing to give it a try, especially if you end up needing more players. The style seems different, and it looks like it could be fun. I'm hesitant to commit 100% to joining since life has been hard on me recently and I'm looking at a game already, but I'm hoping things will get better rather than worse, so I'll be keeping an eye on this.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

I am interested.  Been sitting on the main book for awhile.

[Urbanzorro]

Not familiar with the settin but I intend to look into it today. If it is as interesting to me as it seems like it will be then I'd be interested.

[Crash]

I am interested.  Been sitting on the main book for awhile.

Sweet.  Now to decide on what I want to play....hmmmm.

[Aiyanna]

I'll throw my name in for interest.

<------Glaive, all the way.

loves badass fighter characters

[Crash]

I think I am going to go Jack.

[Galactic Druid]

I'm curious... I don't know much about Numenera, but I might be willing to give it a try, especially if you end up needing more players. The style seems different, and it looks like it could be fun. I'm hesitant to commit 100% to joining since life has been hard on me recently and I'm looking at a game already, but I'm hoping things will get better rather than worse, so I'll be keeping an eye on this.

Don't feel the need to rush! If you want to see the game in motion and wait a bit, you can always join a little late with a dramatic introduction.

I am interested.  Been sitting on the main book for awhile.

It's a beautiful book! Really, the first 12 or so pages are all you need, plus skimming character creation. Everything else you can learn about in game!

Not familiar with the settin but I intend to look into it today. If it is as interesting to me as it seems like it will be then I'd be interested.

Awesome! That's almost a full set already! If you need any information, feel free to ask!

[Galactic Druid]

Awesome! Any foci you're eyeing yet?

Welcome, Baroness!

[ChaoticSky]

Im also very interested!

[Galactic Druid]

Looking at your avatar, you'll fit right in!

I'm excited to see how much interest there is so far. Crash, I think it's safe to assume I'll definitely be running this. If anyone needs help with the system or putting together a character, please ask. I'll be putting up more rules information tonight that should help. I'll just edit it into the initial post.

[ChaoticSky]

I see a Glaive and a Jack, So Nano ho!  ;D

[Galactic Druid]

Good call! Always handy to have one around, especially to salvage and interpret cyphers.

[Crash]

I am thinking...

I am a Clever Jack who Rides the Lighting

[Re Z L]

I'd be interested in this too, I just need to give the book another read through I think...

[Galactic Druid]

Ohhhh, yes, that one looked like a lot of fun! From there, all you need is a bit of history about your character, and you're good to go. I won't make you choose a PC for your Focus connection until all the PCs have been made.

[ChaoticSky]

So what im thinking is a Empathic Nano Who Fuses Mind And Machine

[Crash]

Now male or female...

[Galactic Druid]

So what im thinking is a Empathic Nano Who Fuses Mind And Machine

I was hoping someone would pick that, but I didn't want to say anything and alter people's choices. That datasphere tap ability just looks like it's going to be a lot of fun, especially for the GM. *Grins*

[ChaoticSky]

 :o Now I'm scared.

[Galactic Druid]

So In total, we have;

1. Crash - A Clever Jack Who Rides the Lightning
2. Darkling - An Empathic Nano who Fuses Mind and Machine
3. Urbanzorro (more or less confirmed via PM)
4. Pumpkin Seeds (interested)
5. Re Z L (interested)
6. Cerulean Serenity (Maybe)
7. BaronessAiyanna (interested)

For right now, I think I'm going to cap it there; I don't want things getting so big that each character doesn't get a chance to shine.

[Galactic Druid]

:o Now I'm scared.

Oh, no worries, I'm not that evil a GM...

In all seriousness, Numenera is designed to be a game where everyone works together to craft a story. Drama and danger make a story exciting, but I don't intend to play this as a "gotcha" GM that leaves his players hanging, or worse, punishes his players for small mistakes.

[Galactic Druid]

Well, it's getting late for me, but before I go, I wanted to ask;

The ninth world has a lot of crazy things that might happen; cannibalistic bandits, mind altering/controlling creatures and constructs, robots designed for pleasure gone haywire, slave traders, and much, much more. Is there anything that anyone is particularly uncomfortable with that they'd prefer I leave out?

I'm tempted to ask before each encounter, but I'd be kind of spoiling the big surprise for each arc is I started out with something like "Hey, I was thinking of having the men in the party investigate/visit a brothel that turns out to be a group of ancient pleasure androids that got some black widow virus in their programming and attempt to kill their clients after sex?" and spoiling the whole thing. So in short, if there's any themes you want left out, please let me know now.

I'm a bit odd. Something like vore is a massive off, for example, but if it's not being used in a sexual setting, I have no problem portraying a group of bandits as cannibals. The same goes with a lot of things. I'd generally not get into a kidnapping story, but I'd gladly have a PC kidnapped for a story arc in which the others rescue them, while the kidnapped PC makes their own attempts to escape. You guys get the idea. Anyway, just let me know if there's any hard offs for you guys as I plan encounters.

[Galactic Druid]

In retrospect, shouldn't have used black widow sexbots as a throwaway example. That could have been a really fun encounter...

[ChaoticSky]

Well, it's getting late for me, but before I go, I wanted to ask;

The ninth world has a lot of crazy things that might happen; cannibalistic bandits, mind altering/controlling creatures and constructs, robots designed for pleasure gone haywire, slave traders, and much, much more. Is there anything that anyone is particularly uncomfortable with that they'd prefer I leave out?

I'm tempted to ask before each encounter, but I'd be kind of spoiling the big surprise for each arc is I started out with something like "Hey, I was thinking of having the men in the party investigate/visit a brothel that turns out to be a group of ancient pleasure androids that got some black widow virus in their programming and attempt to kill their clients after sex?" and spoiling the whole thing. So in short, if there's any themes you want left out, please let me know now.

I'm a bit odd. Something like vore is a massive off, for example, but if it's not being used in a sexual setting, I have no problem portraying a group of bandits as cannibals. The same goes with a lot of things. I'd generally not get into a kidnapping story, but I'd gladly have a PC kidnapped for a story arc in which the others rescue them, while the kidnapped PC makes their own attempts to escape. You guys get the idea. Anyway, just let me know if there's any hard offs for you guys as I plan encounters.

Personally, I would say your putting the game in Ex, so no need to be squeamish. Outside of sex/kink? Everything is fair.

When it comes to sexual stuff? Well, just keep peoples Offs in mind i guess. If you need a character to be abducted and raped... dont pick someone with noncon as a Off. Pick someone who likes it. *holds a sign with a arrow pointing down at her head*. On the other hand however, the game is Ex, and sex generally doesnt happen in the main game thread (tends to bog down, so its often played out in side threads if there is a interest.), so I'm kinda of the opinion that anything can happen behind a Fade-to-black as long as you dont expect characters to enjoy it. I think most of us are mature enough not to mind.

Also:

"Hey, I was thinking of having the men in the party investigate/visit a brothel that turns out to be a group of ancient pleasure androids that got some black widow virus in their programming and attempt to kill their clients after sex?"

You sexist bastard, why cant I go to the murder brothel?  :P

[Crash]

Non-Con is a big off for me, but like Darkling says as long as it isn't happening to me I don't care what you do to others if they like it.

Also:You sexist bastard, why cant I go to the murder brothel?  :P

*snicker*

[Crash]

Looking at using this are my avatar.

[Galactic Druid]

Ohhhh, that's very fitting! Where'd you find that?

[Crash]

Pinterest after much searching.

I did a search and tried a bunch of combinations of the words: Numenera, Concept Art, character, Jack, lightning, weird, mage...probably a few others thrown in there to and ended up with that. 

Some awesome Nemenera creatures and character concept art there.

[Galactic Druid]

I should give pintrest a try myself for plot bunnies!

Today was a little crazy, the weather really messed with my work schedule, but I should have some time tomorrow to work on the rules post some more, specifically how experience and advancement works. I know Urbanzorro is close to finishing his character, and maybe we can get some character sheets made over the weekend so I can make notes about your stats and skills.

I've got a good feeling about this game!

[Urbanzorro]

Ok, I'm going to go for A Graceful Jack who Howls at The Moon

[Crash]

I am targeting this weekend for character gen.

[Galactic Druid]

So I haven't added much to the thread in the last couple of days, but I have scribbled down a bunch of notes and encounter ideas in my binder during breaks. There's a couple things I wanted to touch base on, and see what you guys thought;

Does anyone actually enjoying having to manage their inventory, such as the amount of arrows or crossbow bolts they have left? If it's not something powerful and rare, such as a cypher or explosive bolt, I'm totally fine just assuming those of you who have crossbows keep themselves well supplied with their everyday ammunition.

Since there's a beast among us, I'll be keeping track of a lunar cycle. When it comes to things like a weeklong travel, I intend to skip over the boring bits, however. Mention you travel and camp for a few days, RP an encounter to gather or trade for more food, possibly an encounter with some bandits or beasts along the way, RP out the events at camp one of the 5 or 6 nights (things can happen in the main or side thread, whichever is preferred), then skip over the remaining two days and jump to the arrival at the next point in the adventure. Does that work well for everyone?

I probably will keep track of food supplies, as I do find it interesting to either stop and hunt or barter with (or rob!) other travelers for their next meal. It also makes money a bit more valuable, gives hunters more opportunities to shine, and those scenes can turn into some exciting encounters.

Lastly, there's two ways to handle challenges. One way is for the GM to be upfront about the difficulty of a task. If the players need to cross a river, let the players know in a spoiler box at the bottom "swimming across the rapid river is a difficulty 4 task." The other option is to give enough information the players can make a decent assumption about the difficulty, without ever telling them what it is exactly. "The water is flowing rather fast, enough to be rather intimidating to anyone untrained crossing, though any seasoned swimmer has likely crossed far worse." I personally prefer the latter, not knowing the exact number makes things more exciting in my book, but I thought if ask what my players thought before committing to a method.

[ChaoticSky]

Personally I like the idea of keeping a proper inventory, its the same thing as keeping track of food, makes resources more valuable. Of course, i plan to pull energy blasts out of my ass so someone with a more critical resource like bolts for their gun might feel differently. Also support the inclusion of water/food we have to carry.

Skipping over the blah-travel is fine, unless there is something interesting happening.

And the Latter method, so much. Numbers ruin immersion, you can eyeball a raging river and try to figure out your odds, maybe test a skill if there is reason to believe a character would know that, but you cant know for sure. Game should reflect that. ;D

[Urbanzorro]

And the Latter method, so much. Numbers ruin immersion, you can eyeball a raging river and try to figure out your odds, maybe test a skill if there is reason to believe a character would know that, but you cant know for sure. Game should reflect that. ;D

I agree entirely.

As far as travel goes your idea sounds great. With regards to things like ammo etc. I can see advantages to having to keep track of inventory. I can also see how it would make someone's day harder if they have a crossbow or bow and arrow vs a blade or mind powers. Maybe a good counterbalance to that would be to assume that in situations where the group wins/isn't forced to run for their lives. Characters using such weapons could be assumed to take a second to pick up their normal/not one shot arrows and put them back in the quiver. Could even go so far as figure out some stat based roll to determine how many undamaged arrows remain post combat.

Just spit balling

[Crash]

It all sounds good.  As for numbers I would go with whatever the rule book suggests first since a few of us have never played before.  We can modify it later once we are comfortable.

[Galactic Druid]

I'll probably stick to something simple for inventory management, like shots that miss horribly and fly off, break, or are otherwise unrecoverable are marked down. Arrows are cheap and easy to craft, so it's not likely to be a very big deal however we handle it.

Numenera items take care of themselves, so that part is awesome. All Cyphers are single shot items, and artifacts like energy weapons or advanced ballistics that PCs can't determine the magazine size of are handled the same way; each time they're used you roll for their depletion. The official rule is that if a 1 is rolled on a die (different artifacts have different die rolls, a d6 may wear out quickly, while a d100 is almost infinite. I'm tempted to assign a different depletion number to artifacts PCs find, and if that number is rolled, that use was the last, so that you guys don't automatically know that was your last use of an item when you see a 1...)

[Urbanzorro]

Considering the setting that would be quite hilarious.

"This is my BOOM STICK!!"

*fizzle*

"Oh... Well Crap"

[Galactic Druid]

*Evil GM cackle* And that, my friend, is the exact reason why I don't want you to know the exact moment your gear is depleted.

Some things will be more obvious than others. Some kind of force field or barrier will fizzle it pop on it's last use, but other items give no indication, especially those that use ballistics.

[Crash]

Do you have a character sheet format you want us to follow?

[Galactic Druid]

Numenera's sheets are very pretty, but slightly impractical online, you'd have to edit them in something like photoshop. The sheet generator I linked formats them in a very practical way, but if you'd rather do them by hand, we'll keep it simple;

Name

I am a __ ___ who ___.

Damage Track: Hale

Might: x/x
Might Edge: x

Speed: x/x
Speed Edge: x

Intelligence: x/x
Int Edge: x

Armor: x

Effort Level: x

Weapons and Damage:
Unarmed and it's damage rating goes here too.

Cyphers (Max 2) (3 for nanos)
-x
-y

Skills and Inabilities:
-x
-y
-z

Special Moves, Abilities, and Esoteries:
-x
-y

Equipment and items:

Artifacts and Oddities:

Backstory:


That'll be all we need to get started!

[Galactic Druid]

Added some info on XP and advancement.

[Re Z L]

I was thinking of perhaps a Mechanical Jack who Talks to Machines, but it seems like we have a lot of utility amongst the other various Jacks...  Maybe a Glaive then?  Hmmm...

[Galactic Druid]

My character (in another game, I'm not planning on having a PC in this, just NPCS) is a Hardy Glaive who Fuses Flesh and Steel. It's insanely fun, and oftentimes, just regular insane.

[Crash]

Work in progress

Name Xuin Fletchwick (Pronounced Quin)

I am a Clever Jack who Rides the Lightning.

Damage Track: Hale

Might: 10/10
Might Edge: 0

Speed: 12/12
Speed Edge: 0

Intelligence: 16/16
Int Edge: 1

Armor: None

Effort Level: 1

Weapons and Damage:
Unarmed with charge 3
Medium Bashing 4(5 with charge)
Medium Ranged 4(5 with charge)

Cyphers (Max 2)
-(Anoetic) Weapon: Handheld (Level 6)
A light metal mechanism. When thrown, covers a zone at short range on a small area, causing hallucination for one hour. The effect lasts for one round and affects anything passing through it.
-(Anoetic) Buff: Handheld (Level 4)
A large, shiny mirror with colored markings. When attached and activated, adds 4 points to might pool for one hour.

Skills and Inabilities:
-Charm
-Lies and trickery
-Resisting mental effects
-Assessing danger, lies, quality, importance, function, or power
-Poor at Studying (Knowledge tasks +1 step)

Special Moves, Abilities, and Esoteries:
-Flex Skill
-Practiced With Light/Medium Weapons
-Smart
-Electrical esoteries
-Shock (1 intellect)
-Charge (1+ intellect)
-Hedge Magic (1 Intellect)
-Trained without armor

Equipment and items:
Clothing
Medium Ranged
Medium Bashing
Leather Jerkin
Explorer's pack
Bag of Light Tools
Bag of miscellaneous batteries and power cells
18 Shins

Artifacts and Oddities:
Chair that can be stored in an extradimensional space when activated.

Backstory:
Connection: One PC is an old friend, and can come along with Bolt Rider or Electrical Flight.

[Re Z L]

Also I found this neat thing:  http://www.prime-junta.net/numenera/

[Crash]

My character (in another game, I'm not planning on having a PC in this, just NPCS) is a Hardy Glaive who Fuses Flesh and Steel. It's insanely fun, and oftentimes, just regular insane.

Yeah Glaives look like a lot of fun.

[Galactic Druid]

If I'm not mistaken, Resisting mental effects is the one free choice skill you went with, correct?

[Galactic Druid]

Oh, almost forgot, did you roll a die for your cyphers and oddity?

[Crash]

I did but not here so if you want me to roll again I certainly can.

[Crash]

If I'm not mistaken, Resisting mental effects is the one free choice skill you went with, correct?

No it is part of Clever.

Charm was my free choice skill.

[Galactic Druid]

I did but not here so if you want me to roll again I certainly can.

Naw, Cyphers are single shots, those will be used up and replaced before the end of the encounter. I was half tempted to give you the cape that flaps in the breeze without wind as your oddity though. Oh well, soon enough...

[Crash]

Hah that would have been perfect.  I picture him as a bit of a show off con artist type.

[Galactic Druid]

That or some bracelets that light up with various neon colors, changing every so often. I love the idea of a rave rogue.

Speaking of, I added some information on Numenera, including artifacts and cyphers, to the original post. Tomorrow I'll work on the basics of combat and damage, and once that's done, I'm pretty sure we'll have all the basics everyone needs to know to make informed decisions and get started.

[ChaoticSky]

@#$% I just lost my whole sheet which was almost done.

[Galactic Druid]

I've lost a few things when tablet posting, it's the worst. I'm really sorry to hear that, Darkling. If you want some help reconstructing, I'd be happy to, I know the system pretty well.

[ChaoticSky]

I've lost a few things when tablet posting, it's the worst. I'm really sorry to hear that, Darkling. If you want some help reconstructing, I'd be happy to, I know the system pretty well.

Its alright, ill get most of the crunch part up tonight, if not all, will have to wait till tomorrow for the fluff though.

[Galactic Druid]

No rush, there's plenty of time! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

[ChaoticSky]

WIP it is. Bio remains

Name: Avari Kell An Empathic Nano who Fuses Mind and Machine
Stats

	Might	Speed	Intellect
Pool	8/8	10/10	24/24
Edge	0	0	1

Effort: 1

Damage Track: Hale

Traits
Skills and Inabilities
+Sensing other emotions, discerning dispositions, and getting a hunch about people.
+All social interaction, pleasant or otherwise.
+Knowledge of Numenera and Identifying them.
+Knowledge of Wireless Signals
-The difficulty of Intellect defence rolls is increased by one step.

Abilities
-Open Mind: +4 to your Intellect Pool
-Practised With Light Weapons: Can use light weapons without penalty.
-Numenera Training: You are trained in the numenera and can attempt to understand and identify its properties.
-Mechanical Assistance. +4 Intellect Pool. [Enabler]
-Stored Memories: You are trained in one area of knowledge (Wireless Signals) of your choice. [Enabler]

Esoteries
-Onslaught (1 IP): Attack a foe's Body and deal 4 points of damage, or his Mind and deal 2 points of Intellect damage which ignores armour, though may not affect mindless things. Must be able to see target. [Action]
-Resonance Field (1 IP): Can make an Intellect defense roll in place of a normal defense roll. The effect lasts for one minute. Minor Effect causes 1 damage, Major causes 4. [Action to initiate]

Items Shins: 4
-Clothing
-a book about the numenera

Weapons
-Unarmed
-Dagger (Light. 2 Damage. Attacks one step easier, Can be thrown Short Range.)

Armor: 0
-None

Numenera
Cyphers
-Blinking nodule (lvl 3. A small crystal nodule that activates when affixed to armor or clothing. For the next 28 hours, each time (but not more than once per round) the wearer of the armor the nodule is attached to is struck hard enough to inflict damage, he teleports an immediate distance in a random direction (not up or down). Since the wearer is prepared for this effect and his foe is not, the difficulty of the wearer’s defense is modified by one step to his benefit for one round after he teleports.)
-Orbital Launcher (lvl 5. A hollow cylinder, about 9 inches wide and a little more than a foot long. Launches an object placed inside with enough velocity that it does not return.)
- X-ray viewer (lvl 6. A small glass panel embedded on a strip of metal, when held up against a solid surface, this panel allows the user to see through up to 2 feet (0.6 m) of material. The panel works only if the cypher’s level is higher than the material’s level. The effect lasts for one minute.)

Oddities
-Mood Bracelets (Glows brightly and changes color, seemingly dependent on the wearer's mood)

Artifacts
-Monodirectional Signal Dongle (Hairclip. Decreases the difficulty of resisting Attacks/Intrusion on your implants and enhancements by one step)

Notes
-Habitually keeps resonance active whenever shes concious.

Bio

wip

[Galactic Druid]

Good lord, that is a massive Intellect pool for a first tier character! Looking good Darkling!

When it comes to your note on resonance field, I'll allow that within reason. I'm assuming she wouldn't be recasting the spell and giving off a fresh glow every minute when engaged in an important conversation, for example. Also, if she's not spending the first round of a scuffle activating the ability, there's a chance that minute will be up 4-5 rounds into the encounter.

[ChaoticSky]

Good lord, that is a massive Intellect pool for a first tier character! Looking good Darkling!

When it comes to your note on resonance field, I'll allow that within reason. I'm assuming she wouldn't be recasting the spell and giving off a fresh glow every minute when engaged in an important conversation, for example. Also, if she's not spending the first round of a scuffle activating the ability, there's a chance that minute will be up 4-5 rounds into the encounter.

*nod* The way i figure it, theres a really obvious sign when its on (her lines glow XD) and its really useful as a defensive measure. So she got into the habit of keeping it going all the time, and by this point is pretty much a ingrained habit, like breathing. Though it doesnt work when shes unconscious obviously, and if shes sufficiently distracted she could forget (sounds like a good GM intrusion*poke*). I do plan to have her clear/reactivate it at the start of combat though, its more a paranoia measure than a attempt to save myself a turn.

Of course, glowing probably plays merry hell with stealth, and its not hard to imagine other circumstances when shed have to turn it off.

[Galactic Druid]

I was already thinking of some intrusion ideas (I imagine many town guards would see someone constantly warding themselves as a threat...), but your philosophy on how to handle it in combat is perfect. On that note, one round of combat is around 6 seconds or so, so a minute will give you a good 10 rounds.

[Galactic Druid]

Added the basics for combat, combat ranges, damage, and recovery into the original post. I think that's all the basics I need to point out for us to get started. Is there anything about the system that someone would like me to clarify? I want to make sure everyone is comfortable with the rules.

[Aiyanna]

I am so sorry! I forgot to bookmark the thread and I am so behind. RPguy, can you please, please PM me what I need to know and what I need to do? I'm just getting confused trying to find everything in the thread :/

[Galactic Druid]

No need to worry, Aiyanna. We're all still working on things like character sheets and game info, so you're perfectly fine. Really, everything you need to know to have a basic understanding of the system and how to make a character (including tools to help) is in the initial post of this thread, which I've been updating.

[Aiyanna]

And this is the easy system? All of this is giving me such a headache...

I still have no idea what I'm doing character sheet wise, but here is my character line:

Naomi, a Graceful Glaive who Controls Beasts.

I said that before I saw the moves like a cat option!

EDIT

Naomi, a Graceful Glaive who Moves Like a Cat.

[Galactic Druid]

No worries, we'll work on your sheet together in PM. Anyone else that's trying to figure out a detail or two, I'm happy to help as well.

[Crash]

My muse has just died at the moment.  Sorry all I am going to drop.  Enjoy the game!

[Galactic Druid]

Awwww, I'm really sorry to hear that, Crash. You and Xuin will be missed!

[Galactic Druid]

Just confirming; Re Z L, pumpkin Seeds, Urbanzorro, and CeruleanSerenity, are you guys still interested?

[Urbanzorro]

I am, was out for the weekend but I should have a character sheet up sometime Monday.

[CeruleanSerenity]

I'm still around... still interested, but still on the fence too. I haven't been able to give this much thought recently...

How many players do you have? I was thinking of staying out since it looked like the game had a lot of interest already, but since some other players are backing out, I'm not so sure anymore.

[Galactic Druid]

It looks like 3 confirmed so far; Urbanazorro, Aiyanna, and Darkling. There's still room!

[Urbanzorro]

*Mumbles something about the benefits of being the only guy in a group with 2-3 women. *

[Urbanzorro]

Ok, I think I got the stats down. I'll have the back-story up shortly.

Max(Short forMaximillian)

I am an Exiled Jack who Howls at The Moon.

Damage Track: Hale

Might: 12
Might Edge: 0

Speed: 15
Speed Edge: 1

Intelligence: 11
Int Edge: 0

Armor: Leather Armor(1 Armor Point)

Effort Level: 1

Weapons and Damage:
-Unarmed: 2 Damage
-Axe:4 Damage
-Bow: 4 Damage


Cyphers (Max 2)
-Matter Disruption Detonation: A small handheld sphere that can thrown up to a short range. Explodes in an immediate (10 foot) radius, releasing nanites that rearrage matter in random ways. Inflicts damage equal to cypher level.

Skills and Inabilities:
-Practiced with Light & Medium Weapons
-Trained in all tasks involving sneaking.
-Trained in all tasks involving foraging, hunting, and finding safe places to rest or hide
-Assessing danger, lies, quality, importance, function, or power
-The difficulty of any task involving social interactions is increased by one step.
-Loner (No benefit when helped with a task from another character who is trained or specialized in that task.)

Special Moves, Abilities, and Esoteries:
-Flex Skill(Running)
-Practiced in Armor
-Pierce (1 Speed point - Speed Edge = 0)
-Beast Form
-Connection: One other PC is able to soothe you when you’re in beast form. You’ll never attack them while transformed, and if they spend three consecutive turns using this action to you can revert to your normal form without having to make a roll.

Equipment and items:
-8 Shins
-Clothing
-Explorer’s Pack
-Pack of Light Tools

Artifacts and Oddities:
-GM Assigned Oddity #1
-Accurate Chronometer:(Chronometer artifact that always lets you know when the next transformation is coming)
-Bracelet: Has a tiny bell charm that, when intentionally rung, bellows as loud as a belltower.

Backstory:
Max was a farmer once, an average man living a peacful life. He had his crops, his livestock, his home, and his town. All in all it was a pretty good life, at least he thought so. If you had asked him then where he thought he'd wind up his answer would have probably been that he would soon be married to one of the women of the town, with children of his own to look after. What it would not have been was that he would be an exile from the place of his birth. Forced to flee and never return. But as fate had it, that was to be Max's story.

Things began to turn south one night when Max was awakened from his sleep by the sound of one of his animals crying out in pain. Believing it to be one of the smaller predators that frequented the area Max grabbed his axe and made his way out to either kill the beast or at least scare it off. But, what Max found was something else entirely. Instead of a small creature, ill suited for killing anything as large as a man, Max found himself face to face with a monster. A massive beast of fur, claws, and teeth. A living breathing engine of violence and destruction. It was by some miracle that Max managed to survive the night.  But he did not survive unscathed. The beast left him with a large claw wound across his chest from which to recover.

Max was still not fully recovered by the time that the town's harvest festival arrived, but his fellow townsfolk wouldn't let him sit it out. Much like Max's life in microcosm, things went well at first. Max ate good food, danced with beautiful girls, laughed, and was merry. But as the afternoon grew into night he found himself feeling ill. He started to sweat, he felt a pain in his chest, and finally he felt his stomach cramp. The last thing about that night that he clearly remembers is standing doubled over in the street, with his best friend trying to call for help. Max's next memory is of the morning after, of the destruction, the bodies, the burning houses, and the blood on his hands. He awoke to a hell of his own making, to the bodies of several of his fellow townsfolk ripped apart, to the rest of the town having fled the scene, and to the fact that he was the guilty party.

Since that day Max has lived the life of a exile, hiding in the wilderness for as long as he can, hoping to keep others safe from the beast within him. Very rarely does he travel into populated areas for fear of another catastrophe.

[Galactic Druid]

Holy shit, Loner is one brutal inability! I'll PM you your Cyphers and Oddities in a bit so you can edit them in. I think I overlooked it though, what gave you the second oddity?

Also...

*Mumbles something about the benefits of being the only guy in a group with 2-3 women. *

What about me? =P

[Urbanzorro]

The Jack sheet says I carry two, unless I misunderstood it. Lemme double check.


Whoops lol, mistook "Cypher" for "Oddity" somehow when I was typing up the sheet.

[Galactic Druid]

No worries! It's not like an oddity is a gamebreaker anyway.

[Galactic Druid]

I'll do the same thing for cyphers I did with Darkling, do you have any preferences for which way the die may roll? Offensive toys? Defensive toys? One shot weapons? Strange utility devices?

[Urbanzorro]

I'm open for anything really. I enjoy the randomness of the whole 'roll for stuff' aspect of systems.

[Galactic Druid]

2 randoms it is!

And wow, that first roll was a hell of a roll.

A level 6 Matter Disruption detonation.

A small handheld sphere that can thrown up to a short range. Explodes in an immediate (10 foot) radius, releasing nanites that rearrage matter in random ways. Inflicts damage equal to cypher level.

That catch on that is that it's an Occultic Cypher, meaning it counts as two, and I wouldn't want to start you off with more cyphers than you can carry, triggering a cypher danger roll. So, you can either take that or....

Cypher 1: Memory Lenses
A pair of eyeglasses that, when activated, allow the wearer to mentally record whatever they see for the next 30 seconds, permanently committing it to a photographic long-term memory. Useful for watching someone perform a quick action to dissect later.

Cypher 2: Metal Death Level 3
Synth canister with a pliable hose with an open end. When activated, sprays a foam that coves a 3 foot area, turns any metal it comes into contact with into a substance as brittle as thin glass. Effects penetrate up to 6 inches of metal.

[Galactic Druid]

For the Oddity....

Huh, this one is interesting.

A bracelet that has a tiny bell charm that, when intentionally rung, bellows as loud as a belltower.

[Re Z L]

Still interested!  I'll hopefully have something pieced together tomorrow-ish

[Urbanzorro]

I shall take the Matter Disruption Detonation, I flipped a coin to decide ;D

[Galactic Druid]

I shall take the Matter Disruption Detonation, I flipped a coin to decide ;D

Good choice, that seems like a hell of a toy!

Still interested!  I'll hopefully have something pieced together tomorrow-ish

Awesome! If you need any help, feel free to ask.

[Galactic Druid]

So question; are you guys looking to do grand save the world kinda stuff right out the door, or would you prefer smaller stories that aren't all going to one big grand scheme?

Right now, I have a couple of side stories planned that focus on each character's background and abilities, especially Urbanzorro. I just wanted to be sure you guys were interested in smaller, personal story arcs.

[Urbanzorro]

Personally, I'd be interested in some smaller side stories. I like the idea of our characters not always being on some grand mission to save the world.

But then again I'm also the person who always gets SUPER distracted from the main quest during rpg games.

[Aiyanna]

So question; are you guys looking to do grand save the world kinda stuff right out the door, or would you prefer smaller stories that aren't all going to one big grand scheme?

Right now, I have a couple of side stories planned that focus on each character's background and abilities, especially Urbanzorro. I just wanted to be sure you guys were interested in smaller, personal story arcs.

Little missions are good. I wanna save the trees before I save the world!

is just kidding about the trees.

[Galactic Druid]

Funny you should mention the trees...

[Urbanzorro]

And now I'm thinking of the trees from The Wizard of Oz

[ChaoticSky]

I too am pro-little missions. I find a segmented epic arc with little personal stuff in between is the best mix. But little things that eventually lead to a big thing is also interesting and underdone.

[Re Z L]

So I'm kind of torn between two ideas, probably because I've never used the system before...

A Riddick-like Stealthy Glaive who Explores Dark Places

or

A Technomancer-like Nano--probably using the Talks To Machines verb and an undecided adjective.

I too am pro-little missions. I find a segmented epic arc with little personal stuff in between is the best mix. But little things that eventually lead to a big thing is also interesting and underdone.

This is also what I like, though it's sometimes difficult to pull off I know.

[CeruleanSerenity]

I think I'll take the dive and make a character for this. Right now, I'm thinking I'll play an Impulsive Jack who Exists in Two Places at Once, but other ideas are a (Something) Nano who either Works Miracles or Explores Deep Waters... or using the Howls at the Moon focus for a Glaive or possibly even a Nano, but we already have a Jack who does that...

*Mumbles something about the benefits of being the only guy in a group with 2-3 women. *

You mumble that now, but if I go with my first idea, you're going to have more than just 2-3 women on your hands. Just you wait.

(Can a character who Exists in Two Places at Once have more than one duplicate? The name implies not, but the text doesn't seem to say they can't...)


And, all these questions I missed...

Well, it's getting late for me, but before I go, I wanted to ask;

The ninth world has a lot of crazy things that might happen; cannibalistic bandits, mind altering/controlling creatures and constructs, robots designed for pleasure gone haywire, slave traders, and much, much more. Is there anything that anyone is particularly uncomfortable with that they'd prefer I leave out?

I'm tempted to ask before each encounter, but I'd be kind of spoiling the big surprise for each arc is I started out with something like "Hey, I was thinking of having the men in the party investigate/visit a brothel that turns out to be a group of ancient pleasure androids that got some black widow virus in their programming and attempt to kill their clients after sex?" and spoiling the whole thing. So in short, if there's any themes you want left out, please let me know now.

I'm a bit odd. Something like vore is a massive off, for example, but if it's not being used in a sexual setting, I have no problem portraying a group of bandits as cannibals. The same goes with a lot of things. I'd generally not get into a kidnapping story, but I'd gladly have a PC kidnapped for a story arc in which the others rescue them, while the kidnapped PC makes their own attempts to escape. You guys get the idea. Anyway, just let me know if there's any hard offs for you guys as I plan encounters.

If it's not being used in a sexual scene, I'm open to pretty much anything being in the game... there are plenty of things I find unpleasant, but when that's often the point, I'm not going to complain. Cannibal bandits aren't usually supposed to be fun people. Describing things like that in elaborate detail might be unpleasant to me, but I have read some pretty dark horror, so don't worry too much about that.

For themes that come up in a sexual sense... I'm not into non-consensual scenes and there are plenty of fetishes I'm picky about, but as others have said, I'm fine with whatever happens to the others if my character doesn't have to be involved. And if anyone has any questions about what I like (or don't), feel free to ask.

And I want to go to the murder brothel too.

So I haven't added much to the thread in the last couple of days, but I have scribbled down a bunch of notes and encounter ideas in my binder during breaks. There's a couple things I wanted to touch base on, and see what you guys thought;

Does anyone actually enjoying having to manage their inventory, such as the amount of arrows or crossbow bolts they have left? If it's not something powerful and rare, such as a cypher or explosive bolt, I'm totally fine just assuming those of you who have crossbows keep themselves well supplied with their everyday ammunition.

Since there's a beast among us, I'll be keeping track of a lunar cycle. When it comes to things like a weeklong travel, I intend to skip over the boring bits, however. Mention you travel and camp for a few days, RP an encounter to gather or trade for more food, possibly an encounter with some bandits or beasts along the way, RP out the events at camp one of the 5 or 6 nights (things can happen in the main or side thread, whichever is preferred), then skip over the remaining two days and jump to the arrival at the next point in the adventure. Does that work well for everyone?

I probably will keep track of food supplies, as I do find it interesting to either stop and hunt or barter with (or rob!) other travelers for their next meal. It also makes money a bit more valuable, gives hunters more opportunities to shine, and those scenes can turn into some exciting encounters.

Lastly, there's two ways to handle challenges. One way is for the GM to be upfront about the difficulty of a task. If the players need to cross a river, let the players know in a spoiler box at the bottom "swimming across the rapid river is a difficulty 4 task." The other option is to give enough information the players can make a decent assumption about the difficulty, without ever telling them what it is exactly. "The water is flowing rather fast, enough to be rather intimidating to anyone untrained crossing, though any seasoned swimmer has likely crossed far worse." I personally prefer the latter, not knowing the exact number makes things more exciting in my book, but I thought if ask what my players thought before committing to a method.

I kind of like the idea of tracking inventory details, for the reasons you described with food... scavenging and dealing with lack of ammunition or loss of tools or things like that sounds like a lot of fun, in the right game. But it really depends on the game... so however you handle that will be fine with me.

Your way of handling time and travel sounds good to me too - abstracting an entire journey to "you walk for a week, and now you're there" makes it seem less meaningful to me, while actually playing out every day would just be too slow, so having a couple of scenes scattered throughout a journey and skipping the rest seems like an ideal way to handle it.

So question; are you guys looking to do grand save the world kinda stuff right out the door, or would you prefer smaller stories that aren't all going to one big grand scheme?

Right now, I have a couple of side stories planned that focus on each character's background and abilities, especially Urbanzorro. I just wanted to be sure you guys were interested in smaller, personal story arcs.

Smaller stories sound good to me too. I wouldn't mind if some of them formed the pieces of a puzzle that leads to something greater from time to time, but it's ultimately up to you.

[Urbanzorro]

... or using the Howls at the Moon focus for a Glaive or possibly even a Nano, but we already have a Jack who does that...

We can have a wolf pack! lol

[Galactic Druid]

So I'm kind of torn between two ideas, probably because I've never used the system before...

A Riddick-like Stealthy Glaive who Explores Dark Places

or

A Technomancer-like Nano--probably using the Talks To Machines verb and an undecided adjective.

This is also what I like, though it's sometimes difficult to pull off I know.

I don't want to suggest you play one or the other, I always prefer players to play a character of their own choosing, but I don't mind making suggestions for tweaking. For a descriptor, take a look at "Mystical/Mechanical". The descriptor does the same either way, free esotary, bonus to intellect pool, special ability for sensing "magic", the only difference between the titles is how you view your power, whether you consider yourself very in tune with the spirits and magics within the numenera, or someone who understands the devices rather well.

[Galactic Druid]

I think I'll take the dive and make a character for this. Right now, I'm thinking I'll play an Impulsive Jack who Exists in Two Places at Once, but other ideas are a (Something) Nano who either Works Miracles or Explores Deep Waters... or using the Howls at the Moon focus for a Glaive or possibly even a Nano, but we already have a Jack who does that...
You mumble that now, but if I go with my first idea, you're going to have more than just 2-3 women on your hands. Just you wait.

Everyone keeps forgetting me and my NPCs....

(Can a character who Exists in Two Places at Once have more than one duplicate? The name implies not, but the text doesn't seem to say they can't...)

The answer is... kinda. Yes, but not until they reach their absolute top tier (the equivalent of hitting level 20 in DnD). In short, it'll be a while....

And, all these questions I missed...If it's not being used in a sexual scene, I'm open to pretty much anything being in the game... there are plenty of things I find unpleasant, but when that's often the point, I'm not going to complain. Cannibal bandits aren't usually supposed to be fun people. Describing things like that in elaborate detail might be unpleasant to me, but I have read some pretty dark horror, so don't worry too much about that.

For themes that come up in a sexual sense... I'm not into non-consensual scenes and there are plenty of fetishes I'm picky about, but as others have said, I'm fine with whatever happens to the others if my character doesn't have to be involved. And if anyone has any questions about what I like (or don't), feel free to ask.

And I want to go to the murder brothel too.

*Laughs* The murder brothel was a really bad example... Or more accurately, saying 'men' was.

Anyway, I'm personally not a fan of NC myself, but I don't mind writing an NPC kidnapping a PC for nefarious purposes as much as I would mind writing a solo of the same subject. I guess it has something to do with the fact that in the RPG, the intent is for that player to eventually manage to break free and rescue themselves, or the other PCs to provide an escape, and so on. At any rate, for such scenes, we might end up making something like a 'fade to black' side thread where scenes can be fleshed out in greater detail, whether it's interactions between NPCs and a PC, or two PCs during a night when the party camps, and so on. Focus on the kidnapping and rescue in the story, what happens back at the hideout on the side, you guys get the idea.

I kind of like the idea of tracking inventory details, for the reasons you described with food... scavenging and dealing with lack of ammunition or loss of tools or things like that sounds like a lot of fun, in the right game. But it really depends on the game... so however you handle that will be fine with me.

Your way of handling time and travel sounds good to me too - abstracting an entire journey to "you walk for a week, and now you're there" makes it seem less meaningful to me, while actually playing out every day would just be too slow, so having a couple of scenes scattered throughout a journey and skipping the rest seems like an ideal way to handle it.

It'll be something along the lines of "After a few days of travel, you've crossed over the river that marks the border to (describe a new region, maybe something about how they used to be at war with the region you came from). The road you follow travels past the ruins of one such fort. As you approach..." and boom, trouble, or maybe not. I'm not planning on every encounter being a fight.

Smaller stories sound good to me too. I wouldn't mind if some of them formed the pieces of a puzzle that leads to something greater from time to time, but it's ultimately up to you.

Some of them will, I have plans for something big, but I have a soft spot for those smaller quests. To me, they make things feel more real than just starting off needing to save the world.

[Galactic Druid]

Backstory looks great, Zorro! Definitely something I can work in to a major plot I was already working on. Should be fun!

[Aiyanna]

I don't have a background yet because I don't know what's allowed, and I'm not sure if my equipment set is complete, but here's my character sheet!

Alternate Character Image

If I can't get away with a nanovirus turning my girl in to a kitsune-like warrior (one tail, not nine), then I'll use this as my character image.

http://cache.desktopnexus.com/thumbnails/1166807-bigthumbnail.jpg

Name:Naomi

I am a Graceful Glaive who Moves like a cat.

Damage Track: Hale

Might: 13/13
Might Edge: 1

Speed: 17/17
Speed Edge: 1

Intelligence: 10/10
Int Edge: 0

Armor: Leather Armor(1 Armor Point)

Effort Level: 1

Weapons and Damage:
-Unarmed: 4 Damage
-Sash Whip:


Abilities
- Practiced in armor - penalties reduced by 2
- Practiced in All Weapons
- Pierce
- Needs No Weapons

Skills
- Speed Defense Actions (Trained)
- Balancing (Specialized)
- Sneak (Trained)
- Performance, dance, or Martial arts (Trained)
- Climbing (Trained)

Connection: 3. Pick one other PC. You aid her with advice and a helping hand when she needs it. Anytime the two of you are next to each other, the difficulty of balancing, climbing, and jumping tasks is decreased by one step for her.

Equipment and items:
-Sash Whip
(Watch video at the bottom for demonstration)

Artifacts and Oddities:


Backstory:

Sash Whip Inspiration/Demonstration
The video shows a sash whip using two blunt weights on the end. My character's version will have a metal dart on one end and a loop on the other. It is about 20 feet long, and is strong enough to be used to help with climbing or any use you might have for a 20 foot piece of rope.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IPl2tFNihc

[Galactic Druid]

There's really nothing in the rules about it, so I guess it comes down to a GM call. As long as it's purely cosmetic or just part of your 'moves like a cat' focus, I don't really see the harm in it as long as everyone's fine with slightly anthro characters (Which I'm guessing they are, since we have lycans in out midst.).

[Aiyanna]

There's really nothing in the rules about it, so I guess it comes down to a GM call. As long as it's purely cosmetic or just part of your 'moves like a cat' focus, I don't really see the harm in it as long as everyone's fine with slightly anthro characters (Which I'm guessing they are, since we have lycans in out midst.).

Yep, just part of the 'Moves like a cat' thing, but I liked the idea of a nice fluffy tail instead of a narrow cat's tail. So cat/fox like ears and a lovely white tail. She can move the tail like any other animal with one, of course, but her ears don't need to be any more powerful than a human's, they just look like a cat's. The virus will explain the other oddities of her appearance as well, the violet/white/black streaked hair, the red eyes, the facial markings.  If that's alright, then I think I can at least get started on a background.

[CeruleanSerenity]

Everyone keeps forgetting me and my NPCs....

In my defense, your avatar does make me think of you as some sort of classy but mysterious puppet master lurking in the shadows... and it's hard to remember someone when you don't even know they exist.

The answer is... kinda. Yes, but not until they reach their absolute top tier (the equivalent of hitting level 20 in DnD). In short, it'll be a while....

Oh, all right. I was wondering if you could just keep activating the ability... but that would be a little silly, if dangerous.

There's really nothing in the rules about it, so I guess it comes down to a GM call. As long as it's purely cosmetic or just part of your 'moves like a cat' focus, I don't really see the harm in it as long as everyone's fine with slightly anthro characters (Which I'm guessing they are, since we have lycans in out midst.).

Absolutely. I love slightly anthro characters, so if Aiyanna wants her character to have a fluffy fox tail, she has my support.


And I think I'll go ahead with my sheet tonight, since it's pretty easy to make them in this system... though I'm still open to changing my character for any reason. I just need to figure out what exactly Edge does, so I know where to put my point (any suggestions?), and a another question...

If I take both Skilled With Defense and Trained Without Armor, do they stack? I assume so, since otherwise there wouldn't be a point to the latter... but I'm not familiar with the system yet, so I wanted to make sure.

[Aiyanna]

Absolutely. I love slightly anthro characters, so if Aiyanna wants her character to have a fluffy fox tail, she has my support.

^.^ I like her! :D

[Galactic Druid]

In my defense, your avatar does make me think of you as some sort of classy but mysterious puppet master lurking in the shadows... and it's hard to remember someone when you don't even know they exist.
Oh, all right. I was wondering if you could just keep activating the ability... but that would be a little silly, if dangerous.
Absolutely. I love slightly anthro characters, so if Aiyanna wants her character to have a fluffy fox tail, she has my support.


And I think I'll go ahead with my sheet tonight, since it's pretty easy to make them in this system... though I'm still open to changing my character for any reason. I just need to figure out what exactly Edge does, so I know where to put my point (any suggestions?), and a another question...

If I take both Skilled With Defense and Trained Without Armor, do they stack? I assume so, since otherwise there wouldn't be a point to the latter... but I'm not familiar with the system yet, so I wanted to make sure.

I explained Edge in a little more detail in the first post under character creation, but here it is in short; There are some abilities that have a cost to use (2 int, 1 might, etc.). These take points out of the respective stat pool, that serves both as your resources for accomplishing tasks, as well as your hit points (especially might). If a pool reaches 0, it could put your character into a critical state. Applying effort to a task makes it easier to complete (each level of effort increases the chances of a successful die roll by roughly 15%), but costs points from a respective pool (applying effort to climbing, for example, costs Might, whereas applying effort to figuring out how a device's controls in an alien langue work would cost Int.). An Edge in a stat reduces the cost of all tasks associated with it. So an Edge of 1 in might means you only spend 2 points to apply effort to climbing, rather than 3. It also means you could use the combat ability Thrust, which costs 1 might, for free.

[ChaoticSky]

I fully support the inclusion of fluffy tails.  ;D

(And I dont consider ear/tail-girls Anthros, really, that term is more associated with the dreaded furry)

[Urbanzorro]

Backstory looks great, Zorro! Definitely something I can work in to a major plot I was already working on. Should be fun!

Yay!

Also, I have no issues with tailed women. ;D

[CeruleanSerenity]

Don't forget the ears! Fluffy ears are adorable too.

I explained Edge in a little more detail in the first post under character creation, but here it is in short; There are some abilities that have a cost to use (2 int, 1 might, etc.). These take points out of the respective stat pool, that serves both as your resources for accomplishing tasks, as well as your hit points (especially might). If a pool reaches 0, it could put your character into a critical state. Applying effort to a task makes it easier to complete (each level of effort increases the chances of a successful die roll by roughly 15%), but costs points from a respective pool (applying effort to climbing, for example, costs Might, whereas applying effort to figuring out how a device's controls in an alien langue work would cost Int.). An Edge in a stat reduces the cost of all tasks associated with it. So an Edge of 1 in might means you only spend 2 points to apply effort to climbing, rather than 3. It also means you could use the combat ability Thrust, which costs 1 might, for free.

I think I get it now... thank you. I was just a little confused about pools and Effort and Edge and what they were all used for and how they interacted since this whole system is so new to me, but I think I have a good grasp on it now.

So... my character...

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Name: Kat

I am an Impulsive Jack who Exists in Two Places at Once.

Damage Track: Hale

Might: 12/12
Might Edge: 1

Speed: 16/16
Speed Edge: 0

Intelligence: 10/10
Int Edge: 0

Armor: 0

Effort Level: 1

Weapons and Damage:
Unarmed: 2 damage
Dagger: 2 damage (Can be thrown up to short range)
Verred: 4 damage

Cyphers (Max 2)
-Level 3 Motion Sensor
A small disk that can be affixed to a surface, that indicates any movement within a short range (up to 50 feet), or any large creature within a long range (up to 100 feet). Also indicates the number and size of creatures it detects.

-Level 6 Visual Displacement Device
A bracelet that protects images of the wearer to confuse attackers, providing an asset to speed defense actions (1 step easier) for 10 minutes.

Skills and Inabilities:
-Initiative actions.
-Speed defense actions (Specialized when not wearing armor.)
-Athletic actions - climbing, swimming, jumping, etc.
-I'll try anything once or twice. The difficulty of any task that involves patience, willpower, or discipline is increased by one step.

Special Moves, Abilities, and Esoteries:
-Duplicate (2 Might points)
-Flex Skill (Interacting)
-Trained Without Armor
-Vision

Equipment and items:
Clothing
Verred
Dagger
Explorer's pack
Pack of light tools
8 shins

Artifacts and Oddities:
A crystal that shatters easily, but instantly reforms.

Connections:
-Soul seems convinced that I am really a pair of identical twins with no actual powers.
-I heard what the other PCs are up to and suddenly decided to join them.

Backstory:
Kat has little more than vague memories of the earliest years of her life... or of her family. She knows she lived with her father, though she can hardly remember his face. She knows she was happy, though his work often left him with little time for her. She doesn't know what his work was, only that if he were still around, it would still be way over her head. Some sort of magician? Scholar? Inventor? She doesn't know, and it wouldn't matter anymore, except for the way his influence left her with a curiosity about the unusual and arcane that would often lead her into trouble.

But one day he left for reasons she didn't know or understand, leaving her in the care of a group of traveling merchants. She knows now that she shouldn't have believed him when he said he would be back soon, but back then, trusting his words and excited at the idea of seeing new places and meeting new people... she only cried a little. That's what she likes to think, anyway. Mostly she doesn't let herself dwell on it.

She settled into her new life well enough, and as time passed and she grew up, memories of her past soon felt like little more than a distant dream. She stayed close to the caravan and merely helped with chores at first, but in time, her energy and curiosity drove her to wander off on her own and explore heedless of danger - a habit that almost got her killed on more than one occasion, but more often than not, the useful information or valuable trinkets she brought back meant they didn't lecture her too harshly. She never listened, anyway.

In time, of course, they started drifting apart, as life's course took the group their own separate ways. Some settled down and set up shop in the city, others to less stable but more exciting jobs, some merely to make their way on their own, while Kat... well, for her part... she learned that, when you find a strange object and have no idea what it does, looking like some weird fusion of mirror and clock, it might not be the best idea to literally poke it with a stick. And a little too hard, at that: something broke, and it wasn't just the artifact.

When she came to, she found herself face to face with... herself. Herself, and once she got over that little shock, a world that didn't seem to remember her at all. A normal person might have gone mad. Luckily, Kat always prided herself on being just a little crazy. The event left her too lost and dazed to even be properly upset for several days, of course, but when it all started to sink in... she found something about having the world pulled out from under her to be rather... liberating. Exciting. Her newfound powers, if they could even be called that, on top of her sudden lack of responsibilities and ties...

That's not too crazy, is it?

Or maybe it is. She's past caring. She can do anything, now, and there's a whole world out there she's just dying to experience.

Additional Image

Additional Image Plus Plus

Are "athletic actions" and "interacting" too broad for skills? They covers more than one area on the list of suggestions, but that list also says you can do that and I think interacting is one example... but I wasn't sure.

I didn't bother including light armor on the equipment list, since I figure she doesn't wear any. And I think I'll have to fill in the backstory later... I think I have a good enough mental image of my character, but the setting is a little unfamiliar to me, so I'll need to give it some more thought in order to figure out the details.

[ChaoticSky]

Your character trait things sometimes give you very broad ranges of skills (like empathic basically gives me all social interactions), but for normal skills you have to pick more specifics fields. Interaction is probably too broad, and Athletics might be. Things like charming, or freerunning might be more appropriate.*

*Afaik, wait for GM before changing anything

[Galactic Druid]

You took trained without armor, which is a good call, that'll make defense actions one step easier.

And no, especially for a flex skill, since it makes perfect context. Basically, the idea of the flex skill is that your character chooses something she's really going to focus on for that day, and as such, social skills makes a lot of sense. It'll be changing the first day you feel like focusing on something else anyway, so it's not a big deal.

Speaking of, any time I do one of those 'time passes' moments we discussed earlier, I'll try and make it a point to ask all of our jacks if they'd like to adjust their flex skill. If I happen to forget, don't feel shy about reminding me.

I'm going to get caught up on a post or two for now, and tomorrow I'll roll cyphers, do you guys prefer to focus on a particular kind, such as offensive, defensive, utility, or unusual, or would you like to leave it to the dice entirely?

With off these interesting characters, I'm thinking I might drop an NPC into the party, or have a few that come and go from time to time, so I have a chance to get to know all these characters at more places than just the murder brothels.

[Galactic Druid]

A couple more things before I go to sleep;

Baroness, for your PC connection, you actually take all 4, so someone is going to owe you some shins.  >:)
Does your character know exactly where her nanovirus (or herself, for that matter) originated from? I think I may have a sidestory to work in with you...

[Aiyanna]

I'm going to get caught up on a post or two for now, and tomorrow I'll roll cyphers, do you guys prefer to focus on a particular kind, such as offensive, defensive, utility, or unusual, or would you like to leave it to the dice entirely?

With off these interesting characters, I'm thinking I might drop an NPC into the party, or have a few that come and go from time to time, so I have a chance to get to know all these characters at more places than just the murder brothels.

'Get to know characters at more places than just the murder brothels'
I am laughing so hard over this right now. These are things you never thought you'd hear/say XD

A couple more things before I go to sleep;

Baroness, for your PC connection, you actually take all 4, so someone is going to owe you some shins.  >:)
Does your character know exactly where her nanovirus (or herself, for that matter) originated from? I think I may have a sidestory to work in with you...

Oh, I thought you just picked one....that's okay, more money is not a bad thing lol. I hadn't gotten too far for where the virus actually came from. My idea for her background isn't fully formed yet. If you have an idea, I am open to suggestions. This was my idea, but I didn't know how feasible it was.

Naomi came from a tribe of wanderers. Her family in particular were merchants, who bought and traded and sold numenera that adventurers brought them, as well as the goods that the tribe produced. She never intended to be a warrior, she was good with numbers and had the free spirit, so she was going to follow in the family business. Until an adventurer traded a device to the family for some food and a new piece of armor. The device was thought to be a mere oddity, but was in fact a cypher. Naomi was carrying it back to her family's tent, to be examined later, when someone stepped in to her path, and they collided. The basket Naomi was carrying fell to the ground along with her, and the device fell out to be smashed under her palm. The jagged metal edges cut her skin, leaving her vulnerable to the sluggish black liquid flowing out of the broken device.

The accident caused a scene, as Naomi soon collapsed after being exposed to the liquid, but a quick-thinking Nano was able to stop anyone else from being exposed. Naomi was taken to the tent to be watched over, but there was nothing anyone could do for her. She was wracked by fever, and in rare moments of lucidity, all the young girl could tell her parents was that her head and back hurt.

Over a month later, the girl emerged from her family's tent a new person, and people realized she had fallen victim to a piece of numenera. Strange red markings had appeared on her pale skin, and her brown eyes had turned red. Midnight black hair was now streaked with purple and white. To top it off, her ears had grown fur and changed shape, while a bushy white tail now sprouted from the top of her tailbone and brushed her ankles. With the cosmetic changes came more speed, and a bit more strength, and Naomi no longer looked to a future as a merchant, but as a Glaive. Her family was supportive, and made sure she made it to a group of unarmed Glaives who could train her in fighting styles that suited her new mindset and abilities.

After meeting them, Naomi lived with the Glaives permanently, only visiting her family a few times a year. As she got in to her teen years, she began going on adventures herself, mostly protecting wanderers like her family's tribe. She acquired a bit of a reputation as fighter who wasn't so much strong, but moved like a blur, and she wouldn't charge a fortune for her services, just the basics that she needed to survive, and occasionally something the wanderers came across that might be useful.

I don't care about cyphers. My girl is going to take the minimalist approach fairly seriously. What she needs and nothing more. So be creative! :D I don't need/want a second weapon as a glaive either, the sash whip is pretty multi-purpose already.

[ChaoticSky]

Heh, thats depressingly similar to the background i have for my Nano, what with the 'mysterious liquid leads to powers and skinmarkings' type stuff. Only i used the Iron Wind instead of a broken numen. I must come up with something different!

[Aiyanna]

Heh, thats depressingly similar to the background i have for my Nano, what with the 'mysterious liquid leads to powers and skinmarkings' type stuff. Only i used the Iron Wind instead of a broken numen. I must come up with something different!

Oh dear, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to steal your thunder. RPguy said he might have something for me, I can just use that if you like?

[ChaoticSky]

Oh dear, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to steal your thunder. RPguy said he might have something for me, I can just use that if you like?

Oh no, its probably for the best, I typed it all out once but lost the post, now every time i try to write it my muse keeps going it was better the first tiiiiiime and its been writer's-blocking me like hell. New story will probably help me whip my muse into gear.

[CeruleanSerenity]

And no, especially for a flex skill, since it makes perfect context. Basically, the idea of the flex skill is that your character chooses something she's really going to focus on for that day, and as such, social skills makes a lot of sense. It'll be changing the first day you feel like focusing on something else anyway, so it's not a big deal.

Are you okay with athletics too? I was especially worried about that one... if not, I think I'll change it to climbing.

Cyphers... just leave mine up to the dice. I don't know any of them, so I want to be surprised.

Still need to do that Connection thingy too... I guess that will come with my background, hopefully tomorrow.

[Aiyanna]

Oh no, its probably for the best, I typed it all out once but lost the post, now every time i try to write it my muse keeps going it was better the first tiiiiiime and its been writer's-blocking me like hell. New story will probably help me whip my muse into gear.

Alright, as long as you're okay with it.

Are you okay with athletics too? I was especially worried about that one... if not, I think I'll change it to climbing.

Cyphers... just leave mine up to the dice. I don't know any of them, so I want to be surprised.

Still need to do that Connection thingy too... I guess that will come with my background, hopefully tomorrow.

The connections are in the players guide with whatever verb you picked, or at least that's where I got mine :)

[Galactic Druid]

Athletics is totally fine, especially for a Jack. Getting to places is kind if your thing, after all.

Once R E  has the basics of a sheet up, I'll be asking you guys to pick your connections, which as Aiyanna suggested, are listed in your focus. There's also some "links to the party" stuff in your descriptors, but those aren't as exciting, usually being something no more complex than "You saw them in trouble and jumped in." Or "They were offering a job and you needed the money.", so using those is optional, since I fully expect you guys will form tighter bonds than those suggestions over the course of the game, and within your PC connections.

[Galactic Druid]

Confirmed players:

Urbanzorro (jack)
Aiyanna (glaive)
CeruleanSerenity (jack)
Darkling (nano)
Re Z L (deciding)

That's a good team right there!

[Aiyanna]

Confirmed players:

Urbanzorro (jack)
Aiyanna (glaive)
CeruleanSerenity (jack)
Darkling (nano)
Re Z L (deciding)

That's a good team right there!

Hmmm, only glaive in the party so far? The fox girl shall RULE!!!!

j/k, she's more the strong, silent type

[Galactic Druid]

The great thing about Numenera is that characters can be so diverse, a lack of Glaives doesn't necessarily mean a lack of fighters.

Characters in this game can be amazingly diverse within the same class, I was marveling at that while Aiyanna and I were working on her character. If you described her character and mine without using the word "glaive", you'd never know we were the same class.

[Aiyanna]

The great thing about Numenera is that characters can be so diverse, a lack of Glaives doesn't necessarily mean a lack of fighters.

Characters in this game can be amazingly diverse within the same class, I was marveling at that while Aiyanna and I were working on her character. If you described her character and mine without using the word "glaive", you'd never know we were the same class.

Yes, dear, I was being a smartass, since the book says glaives are normally the leaders, lol

[ChaoticSky]

I for one welcome our fluffy tailed overlord.  ;D

[Aiyanna]

Updated character sheet!

Name:Naomi

I am a Graceful Glaive who Moves like a cat.

Damage Track: Hale

Might: 13/13
Might Edge: 1

Speed: 17/17
Speed Edge: 1

Intelligence: 10/10
Int Edge: 0

Armor: Leather Armor(1 Armor Point)

Effort Level: 1

Weapons and Damage:
-Unarmed: 4 Damage
-Sash Whip: 2 Damage


Abilities
- Practiced in armor - penalties reduced by 2
- Practiced in All Weapons
- Pierce
- Needs No Weapons

Skills
- Speed Defense Actions (Trained)
- Balancing (Specialized)
- Sneak (Trained)
- Performance, dance, or Martial arts (Trained)
- Climbing (Trained)

Connection:
1. Pick one other PC. Their occasional clumsiness and loud behavior irritates you.
2. Pick one other PC. This character comes from the same place you do, and you knew each other as children.
3. Pick one other PC. You aid her with advice and a helping hand when she needs it. Anytime the two of you are next to each other, the difficulty of balancing, climbing, and jumping tasks is decreased by one step for her.
4. Pick one other PC. He owes you 10 shins.

Equipment and items:
-Leather Armor (light, very soft and supple)
-Grappling Hook
-Basic Supplies (food and water)
-Sash Whip
(Watch video at the bottom for demonstration)

Artifacts and Oddities:


Backstory:

Naomi came from a tribe of wanderers. Her family in particular were merchants, who bought and traded and sold numenera that adventurers brought them, as well as the goods that the tribe produced. She never intended to be a warrior, she was good with numbers and had the free spirit, so she was going to follow in the family business. Until an adventurer traded a device to the family for some food and a new piece of armor. The device was thought to be a mere oddity, but was in fact a cypher. Naomi was carrying it back to her family's tent, to be examined later, when someone stepped in to her path, and they collided. The basket Naomi was carrying fell to the ground along with her, and the device fell out to be smashed under her palm. The jagged metal edges cut her skin, leaving her vulnerable to the sluggish black liquid flowing out of the broken device.

The accident caused a scene, as Naomi soon collapsed after being exposed to the liquid, but a quick-thinking Nano was able to stop anyone else from being exposed. Naomi was taken to the tent to be watched over, but there was nothing anyone could do for her. She was wracked by fever, and in rare moments of lucidity, all the young girl could tell her parents was that her head and back hurt.

Over a month later, the girl emerged from her family's tent a new person, and people realized she had fallen victim to a piece of numenera. Strange red markings had appeared on her pale skin, and her brown eyes had turned red. Midnight black hair was now streaked with purple and white. To top it off, her ears had grown fur and changed shape, while a bushy white tail now sprouted from the top of her tailbone and brushed her ankles. With the cosmetic changes came more speed, and a bit more strength, and Naomi no longer looked to a future as a merchant, but as a Glaive. Her family was supportive, and made sure she made it to a group of unarmed Glaives who could train her in fighting styles that suited her new mindset and abilities.

After meeting them, Naomi lived with the Glaives permanently, only visiting her family a few times a year. As she got in to her teen years, she began going on adventures herself, mostly protecting wanderers like her family's tribe. She acquired a bit of a reputation as fighter who wasn't so much strong, but moved like a blur, and she wouldn't charge a fortune for her services, just the basics that she needed to survive, and occasionally something the wanderers came across that might be useful.

Sash Whip Inspiration/Demonstration
The video shows a sash whip using two blunt weights on the end. My character's version will have a metal dart on one end and a loop on the other. It is about 20 feet long, and is strong enough to be used to help with climbing or any use you might have for a 20 foot piece of rope.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IPl2tFNihc

[Galactic Druid]

Well guys, how does everyone feel about getting started soon? I'll roll up some Cyphers tonight, and let you guys consider your PC connections. No rules on those, but please try and make sure no one is left out.

[Re Z L]

Phew, finally figured something out, now I just need a backstory...

Soul

I am a Graceful Jack who Fights with Panache.

Damage Track: Hale

Might: 12/12
Might Edge: 0

Speed: 16/16
Speed Edge: 1

Intelligence: 10/10
Int Edge: 0

Armor: 0

Effort Level: 1

Weapons and Damage:
-Quarterstaff (Medium Bashing/4)
-Razor Ring (Light Ranged/2)
-Jeweled Knife (Light Bladed/2)
-Unarmed (Light Bashing/2)

Cyphers:
-Comprehension Graft (occulctic cypher, counts as 2): A small metalic disk that when applied to a creature's head, releases microfiliments that make their way into the brain. Within five minutes, the creature will be able to understand a speficic language keyed to the graft. The effect is permanent. Once activated, the cypher no longer counts against the total number of bearable cyphers.

Skills and Inabilities:
-Balancing
-Careful Movement
-Physical Performing Arts
-Speed Defense
-Climbing

Special Moves, Abilities, and Esoteries:
-[E] Flex Skill
-[E] Practiced with Light/Medium Weapons
-[E] Agile
-[E] Attack Flourish
-[A] Bash (1M)
-[E] Skilled with Defense (Might)

Equipment and items:
-Explorer's Pack
-Pack of Light Tools
-Stylish Clothes
-8 shins

Artifacts and Oddities:
-A cup that instantly boils any liquid poured into it.

Backstory:

Connections:
-Pick one other PC. You’re always trying to impress this character with your skill, wit, appearance, or bravado. Perhaps she is a rival, perhaps you need her respect, or perhaps you’re romantically interested in her.
-Prove to the rest of the party that Kat is really a pair of identical twins, despite what they all think.  Side-goal:  become as good as Kat at conning people.

-There is reward involved, and you need the money.

[Galactic Druid]

Looks great, Z!

Just to confirm a couple if things real fast:

- Are you certain you want your edge in speed? Just checking since you have actions that cost might.

- since you're not taking the trained without armor for the defense roll bonus, you may want to consider some light armor. It won't cost you much, and will soak a point of damage per hit.

[Re Z L]

Looks great, Z!

Just to confirm a couple if things real fast:

- Are you certain you want your edge in speed? Just checking since you have actions that cost might.

- since you're not taking the trained without armor for the defense roll bonus, you may want to consider some light armor. It won't cost you much, and will soak a point of damage per hit.

The Fights with Panache abilities all key off of Speed, so I think I want it in that...  I'm still pretty new to the system so I may not be understanding exactly.  Can I reallocate it later?  I assume I get more as time goes by so I may want to have it in Might at this level and then just add more to speed later...

Graceful gives me Speed defense training, which I would also get if I took the "trained without armor" Trick.  To stick with a more un-armored fighter motiff I figured instead of getting armor (and also trained with armor) I'd just grab the Might defense training.  Maybe I'm understanding things wrong though.

[Galactic Druid]

Each category is basically a different kind of defense action. Most physical attacks, from swords to beams will be a speed defense action to dodge.

Let's say you fail that action, however, and end up hit by a poison dart or grappled by an enemy. That's when you'll make a night defense, to resist the poison or break free.

Int defense rolls are rare, but could happen if you go up against the right foe...

Generally speaking, with the exception of specific attacks, damage is taken in might, if possible.

[Galactic Druid]

Alright, so all we need are PC connections, and to start a thread!

Do you guys want to start off as a team, perhaps you've been hunting numenera together for a while now, and so on, or would you rather start on separate paths and come together?

[Urbanzorro]

I'm open for either start.

[Aiyanna]

Alright, so all we need are PC connections, and to start a thread!

Do you guys want to start off as a team, perhaps you've been hunting numenera together for a while now, and so on, or would you rather start on separate paths and come together?

I think separate paths would be fun! Give us a bit of time for character development, and then we can make our PC connections more genuine :) I need to talk to someone about one of mine, the one about another character coming from the same place as mine. Not sure how that would work out, with us having such diverse characters!

[Galactic Druid]

Darkling, I believe I remember giving you your starting Cyphers, possibly over PM. If I didn't, please let me know.

Aiyanna, your Cyphers:

Level 4 Intellect Enhancement
An adhesive patch that activates when pressed to skin, adds 1 to your Int Edge for 1 hour.

Level 6 Retaliation Nodule
Crystal nodule, activates by being affixed to armor. For the next 28 hours, anyone striking you takes 1 point of shock damage (no roll required.)

Your Oddity: A pendant that appears black during the day, and sky blue at night.

CeruleanSerenity:

Level 3 Motion Sensor
A small disk that can be affixed to a surface, that indicates any movement within a short range (up to 50 feet), or any large creature within a long range (up to 100 feet). Also indicates the number and size of creatures it detects.

Level 6 Visual Displacement Device
A bracelet that protects images of the wearer to confuse attackers, providing an asset to speed defense actions (1 step easier) for 10 minutes.

Your Oddity:  A crystal that shatters easily, but instantly reforms.

Re Z L:

Comprehension Graft (occulctic cypher, counts as 2): A small metalic disk that when applied to a creature's head, releases microfiliments that make their way into the brain. Within five minutes, the creature will be able to understand a speficic language keyed to the graft. The effect is permanent. Once activated, the cypher no longer counts against the total number of bearable cyphers.

Your Oddity: A cup that instantly boils any liquid poured into it.

[Galactic Druid]

A few resources to go over;

Here's a map of the world, which has been compressed into a single, large continent (as far as humanity in this time knows).

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Here's a more detailed map of everything west of the black ridge, The two kingdoms, including The Steadfast, where the PCs are starting, specificcally, Thriest, in the mideastern part of the map.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Lastly, Here's a quick rundown of the 9 kingdoms that make up the shaky alliance of the Steadfast. I'll be going into more detail as we play, but a primer never hurts.

None of this is required reading, just things I thought might help visualize the setting a bit more.

[Galactic Druid]

I almost forgot to mention this; pieces of numenera are easily exchanged, traded, sold, or even discarded, so if you guys want to swap, that's fine. If you decide something new is more desirable than what you have, you can easily ditch it for your new cypher, and so on.

[Aiyanna]

I almost forgot to mention this; pieces of numenera are easily exchanged, traded, sold, or even discarded, so if you guys want to swap, that's fine. If you decide something new is more desirable than what you have, you can easily ditch it for your new cypher, and so on.

Yeah, cuz Naomi is lookin at this int thing like 'whaaat?'

[ChaoticSky]

Woopse, forgot, added them. Fixed it now. Ill trade my blink nodual if anyone has anything weird/interesting/inty they wanna offer up?  ;D

[CeruleanSerenity]

Alright, so all we need are PC connections, and to start a thread!

Do you guys want to start off as a team, perhaps you've been hunting numenera together for a while now, and so on, or would you rather start on separate paths and come together?

Sorry about the silence, especially after saying I hoped to finish it up tomorrow... I've been busy, and this game just kept slipping my mind. Do I just need to choose one Connection for one PC, or is it one for each PC?

And either way is all right with me. I might lean a little towards starting as a team... but I'm not picky.

[Galactic Druid]

The big advantage of starting together is getting to the actual game and arcs I have written out sooner, but a lot of people enjoy playing out how they meet, so I thought I'd offer a choice. I can always use intrusion if needed, as well.

Anyway, if you look at your "PC connections tab" under your focus, there's a handful of them for you, one person owes you money, one you're trying to impress if I remember, and so on. All I'm really looking for right now is a quick and easy response to them. "___ owes me shins, I'm trying to impress __," and so on.

[CeruleanSerenity]

Okay. Filled the Connections and backstory in... apologies if I'm doing anything wrong; I have been feeling off and not sleeping well recently. I'm not quite certain my brain is working right at the moment (more than usual).

My Focus said to pick one of the listed Connections, so I went with the one that seemed most entertaining, and linked it with the character I had a hunch it would fit best... but I can always change it, if anyone wants. The second one is her link to the adventure, though I wasn't sure if we would need that...

I was thinking Kat's father left to become an Aeon Priest, but I don't know the setting too well... so I thought I would leave the details behind events vague and generally up to you.

But I'm in a hurry so I have to rush off... sorry for any typos or anything. I wanted to put it up now while I have the chance, for feedback and in case I did anything wrong, but I'll have to proofread the backstory and things properly later.

[Re Z L]

Okay. Filled the Connections and backstory in... apologies if I'm doing anything wrong; I have been feeling off and not sleeping well recently. I'm not quite certain my brain is working right at the moment (more than usual).

My Focus said to pick one of the listed Connections, so I went with the one that seemed most entertaining, and linked it with the character I had a hunch it would fit best... but I can always change it, if anyone wants. The second one is her link to the adventure, though I wasn't sure if we would need that...

I was thinking Kat's father left to become an Aeon Priest, but I don't know the setting too well... so I thought I would leave the details behind events vague and generally up to you.

But I'm in a hurry so I have to rush off... sorry for any typos or anything. I wanted to put it up now while I have the chance, for feedback and in case I did anything wrong, but I'll have to proofread the backstory and things properly later.

Ha!  That should be amusing.  ;D

[Galactic Druid]

Zorro has his link set, but who his connection is will be a mystery until it come up in the story!

[Aiyanna]

Can we get a character thread or something RPguy? I can't find everyon'es profiles to decide who the connections will be, and I'm still having trouble with the one, since it would require an edit to the background on a character.

[Galactic Druid]

That's a great idea!

Here's a thread for character sheets! Once everyone's posted in there, I'll update the game OP and start the actual game thread!

[Aiyanna]

THANK YOU!!!

OMG epiphany!!!

HEY Darkling! You know how you wanted to do the numenera-virus-gave-your-character-powers thing like I did? Well, why not we both have that?! For my character connections, one of them says I need a character who came from the same place that I did. If you came from the same place, it would make sense that you somehow got exposed to the same weird virus! It just effected you differently, for some reason. Maybe you happened to be in the area where the nano disposed of the stuff, so no one knew you got exposed until later, and my character wouldn't know about it because she got sent away from the tribe. What do you think?

[Galactic Druid]

No problem!

[CeruleanSerenity]

Sheet posted and all ready to go.

I think...

[Galactic Druid]

Everything is looking good. Do you guys feel ready to start soon? I'm going to try and have a post up for you guys by the end of the week. I'd like to see if Darkling accepts BA's connection first, though.

[Urbanzorro]

I'm good to start.

[CeruleanSerenity]

I'll be ready to start any time, I hope.

[ChaoticSky]

THANK YOU!!!

OMG epiphany!!!

HEY Darkling! You know how you wanted to do the numenera-virus-gave-your-character-powers thing like I did? Well, why not we both have that?! For my character connections, one of them says I need a character who came from the same place that I did. If you came from the same place, it would make sense that you somehow got exposed to the same weird virus! It just effected you differently, for some reason. Maybe you happened to be in the area where the nano disposed of the stuff, so no one knew you got exposed until later, and my character wouldn't know about it because she got sent away from the tribe. What do you think?

Yea sure, that works nicely. Ill wiggle a little description in for how that happened, but its a good link.^^

sorry for the delay, started tradeschool last week and been alittle frazzled from reshuffling my schedule.

Will get the final little tweaks for my sheet/connections done today.

[Galactic Druid]

Looks great so far, Darkling!

Alright, I'm going to put a few notes up on the OP for the thread where I can keep track of your stats and damage track status, and we'll be ready to get started.

I don't know about you guys, but it's always been annoying to me when a GM starts a game off along the lines of "Okay, so you're in a guild, you all know each other and are a team, and the leader is giving you guys your new job. He wants you to go to..."

Unless anyone objects, I'm going to start us off by describing where you begin, allow you to introduce your own characters and decide for yourselves if you know each other (Sounds like Avari and Naomi likely do), and then work the story to get you all involved. I actually have a pretty good idea, depending on who does what...

[Urbanzorro]

Sounds good to me.

[Galactic Druid]

Before I forget, one last thing I need to know from our male players; are you guys okay writing scenes with female characters being written by a male writer? If you guys are okay with writing opposed to female NPCs, things like that murder brothel are totally going to happen. I thought I'd check though, don't want to push anyone outside their comfort zone.

[Urbanzorro]

Doesn't bother me any

[Re Z L]

Before I forget, one last thing I need to know from our male players; are you guys okay writing scenes with female characters being written by a male writer? If you guys are okay with writing opposed to female NPCs, things like that murder brothel are totally going to happen. I thought I'd check though, don't want to push anyone outside their comfort zone.

All is well!

[Aiyanna]

It was interesting picking someone for the clumsiness connection lol. Couldn't pick the graceful jack, of course, and the wolf didn't seem a likely choice.

By the way, RPguy, would it be too OP to add better hearing and the ability to see in the dark to my character? It just makes sense with the foxy additions. You can take something as a penalty, of course. Just a thought though, don't have to run with it :)

[Galactic Druid]

Yes, and there's actually 2 options on how we could go about doing it.

Option 1 is what you suggested a thematic inability to match her thematic bonuses. I'm thinking perhaps while she has some new abilities, she's also developed a foxy instinct that makes her a bit flighty, so checks to avoid fear effects or intimidation are one step harder, or perhaps any task done under duress or while incapacitated is harder due to fighting her natural instincts.

Option two is to take the abilities and apply an XP cost to them. There's a ruleset in the CRB for players that want to start as veterans or more powerful characters that basically has certain traits and backstories applied to them for the bonus XP, such as a background that a character is being hunted by a character or NPC is worth around 4XP, or that the character doesn't understand their abilities or where they came from, and can't progress further until they do would be worth 12 bonus XP.

[Aiyanna]

Yes, and there's actually 2 options on how we could go about doing it.

Option 1 is what you suggested a thematic inability to match her thematic bonuses. I'm thinking perhaps while she has some new abilities, she's also developed a foxy instinct that makes her a bit flighty, so checks to avoid fear effects or intimidation are one step harder, or perhaps any task done under duress or while incapacitated is harder due to fighting her natural instincts.

Option two is to take the abilities and apply an XP cost to them. There's a ruleset in the CRB for players that want to start as veterans or more powerful characters that basically has certain traits and backstories applied to them for the bonus XP, such as a background that a character is being hunted by a character or NPC is worth around 4XP, or that the character doesn't understand their abilities or where they came from, and can't progress further until they do would be worth 12 bonus XP.

So with the XP option, it will just take longer for my character to 'level up' the first time? If I'm understanding right, I'll go with that option. I think the fear and intimidation bit just wouldn't make as much sense for a Glaive.

[Galactic Druid]

I'm almost done here, I wanted to get some stuff done in my notebook before making the opening post. I'll be starting the game thread tomorrow!

[Galactic Druid]

The game thread is up!!

I decided to let you all introduce your characters however you like, I thought that would be more fun than "So you're all in the market, Borsch called you together for a job...". Anyway, hope you all enjoy!

[Crash]

So I need a connection to my rascal Xuin...

[Crash]

Do we have an ooc thread that I missed?

[Galactic Druid]

No actually. I should really make one....

[Crash]

I am hoping to get an intro post up in the next couple of days.

[CeruleanSerenity]

I have been busy recently, and I don't think things will get better until this weekend is over... but I'm still hoping to get my intro post up sometime over the next day or two. Sorry about the delay.

[Crash]

I am in the same boat.

[Galactic Druid]

Out if curiousity, how is everyone feeling about the game at this point? Is there anything I can do to help?

[Urbanzorro]

Sorry about the delay on a post from me. I wound up getting into a bit of a power struggle at work, which really left me with a case of writer's block. That having been said I'm feeling better now so I should have a post up either tonight or some time tomorrow.

[ChaoticSky]

Similar excuses, my mind has been elsewhere and ive had some tests and projects to work on. It has left me somewhat taxed in the brain. But ill have my post up tomorrow.  ;D

[Aiyanna]

Zorro Iove your post! I want to reply, can I do that even though other people haven't posted yet?

[Galactic Druid]

I don't see a problem with that! I don't plan on posting myself until everyone has had a chance to make an intro, however.

[ChaoticSky]

Fine by me! since our chars already know each other Aiya, i was planning on doing a 'second string' as it were, so you two can chat freely.

[ChaoticSky]

Post up... Avari is alittle.... manic, i tried to bring that across in the writing, but im not sure if i pulled it off or it just came out terrible. :P

Opinions? Should I write the posts alittle more normally from now on, or keep it up?

[Re Z L]

Perhaps an OOC thread would be good?  ;)

Also I'll be posting sometime today

[CeruleanSerenity]

Out if curiousity, how is everyone feeling about the game at this point? Is there anything I can do to help?

Could you hop back in time and cancel this weekend and the last for me? That would be a big help.

But no, silliness aside, it's going fine for me so far... sorry about taking so long. Starting is always the hardest part for me, and recent life didn't make things any easier on me. So hopefully my posting will be more frequent and regular from now on.

Post up... Avari is alittle.... manic, i tried to bring that across in the writing, but im not sure if i pulled it off or it just came out terrible. :P

Opinions? Should I write the posts alittle more normally from now on, or keep it up?

Your post seems just fine to me.

[Galactic Druid]

Here's an OOC for everyone!