The Horde Descends Upon Ellomyr!
over 8 years ago
– Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 10:32:52 PM
We did it! With your great help spreading the word, we gained enough backers to call forth not just one follower to aid the city, but four! Only through your support and your participation has Ellomyr survived its greatest threat. And it was your choices, through our online poll, that selected the followers who came to the fore and played the major roles in helping the city’s defense: a canny Aeon Priest, an imaginative architect, a veteran commander, and a tricky spy.
A harrowing fight. But one that ensured the city’s safety. But is there more? Is something strange happening? We’re not yet certain.
Thrum. Thrum. Thrum.
Heiren imagined fists the size and weight of anvils slamming against the gate. That was the only way to explain the sound in her mind. The fact that it could withstand so many blows like that was a testament to the imagination of the architect, Navine, and her ideas on how to reinforce it.
Smoke billowed from the remains of both towers. Some weapon or power of the margr had taken out one, but the other exploded on its own. A mishap with the device inside? She didn’t know. She just hoped that Joye and Boches were okay. She wanted to check on them, but she knew to do so would be to leave her post.
Thrum. Thrum. Thrum. Her unit stood before the gate, feeling every blow from the other side right in their own chests. Heiren could see the thoughts in their minds by the looks on their faces. It was simple, because they were her own thoughts as well. When those beasts broke through the gate, she and the others would be the only thing preventing them from getting into the city. And if the margr were big and powerful enough to break through this huge gate, what would they do to a handful of humans in leather jerkins holding spears?
And yet not a one of them fled. Commander Ghiles stood with them—and not behind them, but in the front rank. His wisdom had been a boon, but right then, his bravery and loyalty had even more value. Heiren and her cohorts would never let him down, nor abandon him.
Thrum. Thrum…. The third strike was a crack like lightning splitting a tree as the gate burst asunder. The margr seethed in, more like floodwaters than like creatures. Those in the front rank were monstrously big, multiple, massive arms holding giant hammers, the heads of which appeared to be prior world metals formed and compressed from scavenged junk.
“For Ellomyr,” the commander shouted. But then a margr hammer knocked him aside like a child.
Heiren wished she had a god to pray to. Yet even if she had such faith, she still would have been surprised as the first margr’s head imploded and its body collapsed like a felled tree. Then the same thing happened to the next one, and the next. A strange sound amid the gore caught her attention and she glanced behind her.
A woman she did not know, in the garb of an Aeon Priest, held aloft a device of synth and glass. Next to her was a man Heiren did recognize. Alathazar had left the city a week ago to spy upon the margr encampment. She realized he’d returned. But now he stood next to the priest with a device of his own, glancing at the oncoming margr and feverishly adjusting the controls. It seemed as though his device was feeding hers somehow. That’s the only way Heiren could explain it. Was he somehow giving the Aeon Priest or her device information?
Heiren didn’t know about such things. But she knew that with power and skill like that on her side, there was still a chance.
And she still heard the thrumming sound. But it was different now. Beneath her? She wasn’t certain. Perhaps her imagination.
She gripped her spear tightly and leapt into the fray. “For Ellomyr!”
Thank you for all your support!
—The MCG team
The Io Deck Is Happening!
over 8 years ago
– Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 07:15:01 PM
This is it, everyone—the final two days of the campaign. For a big campaign—and this is now officially MCG’s biggest, and one of the top few RPG campaigns ever—the final days are often very exciting. After unlocking two stretch goals in a monster day yesterday, we’ve hit another one already today. So this campaign is living up to the excitement—in a huge way!
The Io Deck (pronounced like the moon of Jupiter) is now a reality. It’ll help you quickly generate iotum and other results from salvaging the numenera. But it has a bit of a bite, too, because the numenera and the ruins in which they are found are almost always dangerous. This deck will be a fountain of creative ideas, and a huge time-saver, in prep and at the game table.
This is now a reward for every backer who is getting all the titles. If you’re backing at ALL THE BOOKS IN PDF, you’ll get the deck in PDF now as part of your reward. If you’re backing at ALL THE BOOKS IN PRINT AND PDF—or any higher backer level—you’ll also get the Io Deck in print. Ain’t stretch goals great?
And speaking of more stretch goals:
We’ve already upgraded Priests of the Aeons, Building Tomorrow, Slaves of the Machine God, and The Trilling Shard. That’s around 120 pages of new content—the equivalent of a medium-sized book—plus four poster maps, all added to your rewards. Since there’s no upper limit to the number of awesome creatures we’d all like to see, let’s do the same thing for the Ninth World Bestiary 3. If you can get us to $720,000, we’ll upgrade that title as well, making it a huge 192-page book with a double-sided poster.
And after that? We’re hoping for more big things, with your help. We’re not done yet. We have another book we’d like to fund—and hitting that and additional stretch goals beyond it is not at all out of the question. So let’s make this upgrade happen, and then unlock another cool book!
Oh--and one more thing. In just an hour or so, Monte will be running a game live on Twitch! Be sure to join Monte and the creative team as the adventure in the Ninth World!
Thank you for all your support!
—Charles and the MCG team
New to Numenera 2: Discovery and Destiny? Or just want to make sure you’re up on all the info we’ve shared and the stretch goals we’ve hit in this fast-moving campaign? Here’s a quick-reference guide to the campaign so far.
Stretch goals have unlocked these new products, all of which are part of any backer level that gets all the titles.
Don’t miss these very cool add-ons, most of which are exclusive to this campaign. To get an add-on, simply increase your pledge amount by the cost of the item, without changing your backer level. We'll ask you after the campaign what the extra was for. You can use our handy pledge calculator to figure out your total pledge.
And if you want a taste of some of the wonderful fiction, art, and other contributions to the Ninth World and the fate of Ellomyr from our backers, you can find a great sampling here, here, and here.
Priests of the Aeons Is Upgraded!
over 8 years ago
– Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 01:25:10 AM
Things usually get pretty fast-paced in the final few days of a big Kickstarter campaign. Nonetheless, when I posted this morning’s update announcing the tenth stretch goal, I didn’t expect to by typing up a second stretch goal update on the same day!
But it’s true: You’ve just taken us over the line, and made the upgrade to Priests of the Aeons a reality. This book will now be a massive 192 pages, and come with a double-sided poster map. Thank you for helping us make this book even better!
Our next goal is the Io Deck. (To be super-clear, that’s EYE-OH, as in iotum, not LO and certainly not TEN!) I’m particularly excited about this one (as a GM, I really love our decks), because it’ll be great for generating iotum and other results when salvaging the numenera, and it will integrate perfectly with the rules in Numenera Destiny. However: some of the cards also contain potential dangers, making every draw from the deck a possible game-changer. The Io Deck will be 100 cards of random iotum goodness. And if we make it to $680,000 it’ll be added to your rewards, in print or PDF, if you’re backing at any level that includes all the titles.
This will make eleven titles funded by this campaign, and the ALL THE BOOKS IN PDF—and especially ALL THE BOOKS IN PRINT AND PDF (and above)—backer levels are becoming an incredibly good deal. (And might we have some additional titles in mind before this all comes to an end? Could be!)
So tell your friends! There are still tens of thousands of gamers out there who haven’t even heard about this campaign. And thousands—even thousands of known Numenera fans—who haven’t joined us yet. Convince them to back this campaign, and we can smash through this and perhaps several more stretch goals!
(Oh, and by the way: We just got this new artwork in for the Numenera Player’s Guide, and couldn’t wait to let you see it!)
Thank you for all your support!
—Charles and the MCG team
New to Numenera 2: Discovery and Destiny? Or just want to make sure you’re up on all the info we’ve shared and the stretch goals we’ve hit in this fast-moving campaign? Here’s a quick-reference guide to the campaign so far.
Stretch goals have unlocked these new products, all of which are part of any backer level that gets all the titles.
Don’t miss these very cool add-ons, most of which are exclusive to this campaign:
And if you want a taste of some of the wonderful fiction, art, and other contributions to the Ninth World and the fate of Ellomyr from our backers, you can find a great sampling here, here, and here.
Who Will Step Up for Ellomyr?
over 8 years ago
– Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 11:33:13 PM
There’s no one to call for help this time. We have to defend Ellomyr ourselves. But there’s good news: we reached 3100 backers yesterday (easily, in fact), so the basic defenses around Ellomyr are solid. We have what we need to defend the city, but do we have who we need?
Yesterday we showed you a bit about how followers work in Numenera Destiny, and how they can affect the fortunes of the community you build and foster in the Ninth World. So let’s choose some followers for Ellomyr.
Go to this poll—it lists a variety of high-level followers who might be useful in Ellomyr’s defense. Vote for your favorite. For every 100 backers we get, beyond the 3100 we needed for basic defense, one of these followers will rally to our aid. So if we get to 3200 (we’re closing in on it now), your top choice will step up to help Ellomyr. If we get to 3300, it’ll be your top two choices. And so on. The more of these key people step forward, the more likely Ellomyr is to come out alive—or perhaps even stronger than ever!
The margr arrive tomorrow, so do your part to help Ellomyr: Get the word out about this campaign, and help us find new backers!
We’ve got reinforced walls and even some forcefields in place, but we’ve heard that some of the margr fly now.
Can you believe that?
I mean, I’ve heard the stories about the Battle of Ellomyr from older folks, and there have been a few tales here and there of people who wandered into the hills when they shouldn’t, but none of that seemed very real. None of it seemed to apply to me.
But now I’m standing here, listening to this woman explain to me how to load and crank this crossbow and it just all seems unreal.
I wonder how Chevath is doing. She’s training with the fire brigade to help put out any fires that might start and keep them from spreading. Apparently, margr like fire.
They like eating people too, I’ve heard, but no one’s talking about that. We’re all thinking it, though, believe me.
No one knows when they’ll get here exactly, but you can tell that everyone expects it to be soon. The wrights have built some kind of towers at the gate with numenera weapons. Everyone thinks they’ll play a significant role in saving us, but clearly no one thinks they’ll be enough all by themselves.
Apparently, that’s why I have to learn how to crank this damn crossbow.
I’ll admit it. I’m scared.
Thank you for all your support!
—The MCG team
Tomorrow’s Bones is Unlocked!
over 8 years ago
– Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 10:51:18 PM
Thank you, backers, for an incredible day yesterday. Well, really, for several incredible days recently! We’ve had a great influx of new backers (welcome, new backers!), and as a result we quickly unlocked yet another great stretch goal:
Tomorrow’s Bones will be the third official Numenera novel, and like The Poison Eater (available now at the MCG Shop and wherever you buy books) and The Night Clave (coming out in just a couple of weeks), we’ll produce it as a deluxe hardcover and in all the popular ebook formats. If you’re getting all the titles, this novel is now part of your rewards. And Shanna is going to start writing right away!
Let’s hit some more stretch goals before this campaign ends on Friday. Next up: Let’s upgrade Priests of the Aeons.
We unlocked Priests of the Aeons way back near the beginning of the campaign. (Don't recognize that image? We had to use a piece of existing art for the early mockups, but now we have actual cover art!) Priests of the Aeons includes new foci and descriptors, cyphers and equipment, and other options and items for your character, and also covers the Aeon Priesthood in detail, giving you information on working with—or joining—the Aeon Priesthood to help enlighten the Ninth World.
If we hit $630,000, we’ll upgrade Priests of the Aeons to a massive 192-page hardcover with a double-sided poster map. Loads of additional material about the Order of Truth, and how it can figure in your campaign!
At this point in a big Kickstarter like this things can move pretty quickly. There’s a good chance, if we all put out the word, that we’ll hit this goal within a day or two. So here’s a quick peek at what we have next: The Io Deck. It’s a super-handy way to generate iotum and other results when salvaging the numenera, and it will integrate perfectly with the rules in Numenera Destiny. But use caution: there are dangers in there as well. We’ll have more details in a future update.
If the past is any guide, the last few days of this campaign could be huge. But every Kickstarter, no matter how big, lives and dies by word of mouth. Please go out and tell your friends—it’s the only way these big finishes happen, and turn the last few days into a pile of new stretch goals added to your rewards.
Thank you for all your support!
—The MCG team
New to Numenera 2: Discovery and Destiny? Or just want to make sure you’re up on all the info we’ve shared and the stretch goals we’ve hit in this fast-moving campaign? Here’s a quick-reference guide to the campaign so far.
Stretch goals have unlocked these new products, all of which are part of any backer level that gets all the titles.
Don’t miss these very cool add-ons, most of which are exclusive to this campaign:
And if you want a taste of some of the wonderful fiction, art, and other contributions to the Ninth World and the fate of Ellomyr from our backers, you can find a great sampling here, here, and here.
