Strangers Come to Ellomyr
over 8 years ago
– Sun, Sep 24, 2017 at 01:11:54 AM
Iadace, traveler, and welcome back to Ellomyr. Before we get started, a short note: Due to popular demand, we’ve added a deluxe corebook set upgrade option. If you’re getting a standard corebook set as part of your rewards, but would like to upgrade that set to a deluxe set, you can now get that upgrade as an add-on. See the add-on graphic on the Kickstarter page for details.
Here’s some backer level news: As of this writing, we have 1888 backers. We’ve already upgraded Ellomyr’s defenses by +2, and are closing in on +3. Please help spread the word, because the margr are on the march and Ellomry’s defenses are far from complete!
Thayel was glad to be taken off of rock-hauling duty. Building the wall was important, but her keen eyes meant she was much more useful searching the horizon from the top edge of the partially-built watchtower. She was the first one to spot the visitors as they approached her town. The metal-faced man. The woman who breathed flames. The hairy creature who spoke with the voice of a child. They were all so strange compared to everyone in Ellomyr, or even to anyone she had ever met. Dangerous. Exciting.
As the villagers worked more on the wall, Thayel heard them gossip to each other in quiet breaths about the strangers. The metal man wants to train the village hunters to fight. The fire woman has a plan to build a tower—a second tower in their little village!—that shoots lightning. The hairy one is storing river water in barrels, gourds, and anything else than can hold it. Their weapons, tools, and even their jewelry is weird and beautiful, with flickering lights and exotic materials.
Nobody knew why the strangers decided to stay in Ellomyr, but Thayel was grateful for their help—and yet, she was still worried that it wouldn’t be enough to stop the horde.
Iadace!
—Monte and the MCG Team
Ellomyr and Brucha One-Hand
over 8 years ago
– Sat, Sep 23, 2017 at 12:42:27 AM
Iadace, traveler, and welcome back to Ellomyr. The margr are coming, and the people of Ellomyr need to prepare. As part of our ongoing story of Ellomyr, which will be the basis of The Trilling Shard, for every 50 new backers we gain a +1 to the town’s defenses. (And there’s a bonus if we get 10 really amazing vignettes or fan art sketches having to do with preparing the defenses posted in the Kickstarter comments or social media by Monday—share with the hashtag #numenera2.) So please help spread the word, and lets get our defenses in place before the margr arrive!
Brucha One-Hand had told them, but had they listened? Of course not. And now look. Everyone in Ellomyr rushing around like laak when their burrows were dug up. Yelling, arguing, and eyes bulging with fear. The margr were finally coming. Just as Brucha had been warning since the last attack a few years ago. The only one who would listen in all that time was the woodworker.
Now that people were seeking him out, Brucha realized that maybe being the center of attention wasn’t what he’d wanted after all. Over the years, he’d inflated the stories of his youth . . . but he knew defensive walls and ditches, didn’t he? Yes. Getting people working on those made sense, and he knew a few tricks to move things along. And when he told Gurner and the others to build a tall watchtower, so they could see farther in every direction and be forewarned, they’d clapped him on the back. Grinning, they told him that was just the kind of thinking they needed to survive.
For the first time in years, Brucha felt part of Ellomyr.
Iadace!
—Monte and the MCG Team
A Look at Numenera Discovery
over 8 years ago
– Fri, Sep 22, 2017 at 08:42:42 PM
Iadace, defenders of Ellomyr!
Are you curious about what sorts of changes we’re going to be making in Numenera Discovery? Here’s a short list to whet your appetite.
We’re improving the Jack by providing it its own list of abilities, particularly non-combat abilities, so it stands out as its own unique type instead being sort of a hybrid between a Glaive and a Nano. For example, a new ability might allow a Jack to easily bypass doors or other physical obstacles, whether that’s done with numenera, coincidence, or being lucky. We’re updating the Glaive (particularly at higher tiers) so it is as fun to play and the same power level as a Nano—a powerful Glaive should be able to do some incredible things, just like legendary warriors from old stories.
One of the new things we’re working on for all three types is the ability to acquire a follower who helps or complements a character’s own abilities. A Glaive might recruit a crafty Nano to make cyphers, a Nano might recruit a talkative Jack to handle negotiations, or a Jack might recruit a tough Glaive as a bodyguard. We’re also adding more choices to all three types, with an eye for things that are useful when exploring the world and while in a community-oriented campaign. Likewise, we’re updating foci so you get to choose from multiple abilities at tier 3 and 5, so two characters with the same foci can end up very different.
We’re going to replace the adventures in the Numenera corebook with brand new ones. Not that there’s anything wrong with the current adventures, we just think it’s a good opportunity to give you some new adventure content! We’re also adding to the setting material in the book—in the years since the original release of Numenera, we’ve expanded our coverage of the Ninth World in several other supplements, and Numenera Discovery will include some information on those areas. We won’t be lifting large sections from those books, but we’ll include enough that a person new to the Ninth World will be intrigued by these snippets and want to find out more.
One general change we’re making throughout the book is making the rules language more natural so it’s easier to read and understand. Numenera is a narrative game with an emphasis on story, and if the rules sound like a person talking rather than a textbook, that helps put the focus what happens in the campaign instead of the underlying dice rolls. For example, we might use the term “hinders” to mean “increases the difficulty of a task by one step,” so a character ability description could say, “this hinders the target’s attack,” which could be how your character describes the ability to another character in the world. We’re also considering importing rules that we developed in our other books, such as how armor works in the Cypher System Rulebook and the companion creature rules from Predation.
If you want more details about these planned changes, we’ll be previewing some specific examples later in the Kickstarter campaign, and the playtester backers will have access to a whole lot more.
Iadace!
—Sean and the MCG Team
Dark Clouds Gather over Ellomyr
over 8 years ago
– Fri, Sep 22, 2017 at 12:39:07 AM
Iadace, traveler, and welcome back to Ellomyr. Yesterday we left off with the glaive Nieten, and that’s where we pick up today. If you’re just joining us, Ellomyr is the centerpiece of The Trilling Shard, and you will be guiding its story throughout this Kickstarter campaign as Ellomyr faces the many dangers common to isolated communities of the Ninth World—starting today! If you missed our first Ellomyr update, you may want to go back and read that one first.
One other note: Join us today for Glimmers from the Datasphere: A Live AMA with Monte Cook. Monte will be talking about Numenera and the Kickstarter, and taking your questions via Kickstarter Live. It starts at 7:00 EDT—visit the Kickstarter page for more. (Can’t make it tonight? Don’t fret—this won’t be our last one.)
Nieten was walking along the river's bank on her way back to the village when she first heard them. Grunts and labored breathing accompanying heavy footfalls. She found a spot amid the dark-leafed opallions that grew along the water's edge and waited. Just as she suspected: a dozen hairy brutes, curling horns twisting around their bestial heads and spears held in their thick fists, crouched low and moved fast. They were headed right toward the village. They knew where they were going. Ellomyr.
Nieten put her hand on her sword's hilt. It would be a bloodbath if they reached unsuspecting Ellomyr, but how could she—even with her remarkable blade and the element of surprise—stop so many? That's when she saw an even more surprising sight.
A burst of violet fire burst through the trees, striking the lead margr. Five people charged out of the woods from the east, each well-armed. Some wore armor and at least one wielded what Nieten could only call sorcery. The sorcery of the past, which Gurner called the numenera. These newcomers cut into the abhumans like an axe's blade. Nieten didn't hesitate. She drew her sword and leapt into the melee with a whooping cry.
It was over quickly. A few of the margr escaped back into the wilderness, but most lay dead. Nieten greeted the strangers, and thanked them. But they bore worrisome news. They had traveled from the east and saw hordes gathering. In just a few short months, they estimated, this whole region would be awash in the bloodthirsty abhuman warriors.
In the coming weeks, we’re going to play out the fate of Ellomyr like you are playing a game of Numenera (with all the options from Numenera Destiny) and MCG is the GM. We don’t have dice to use, so we’re going to use some of the tools a Kickstarter campaign gives us: backer numbers, comments and social media posts, and so on. Let’s get the game going!
This day brings both good news and bad, my friends. Thanks to your support, and the fact that we already have almost 1750 backers in the campaign, this initial, small raid was easily repelled. That’s the good news—but a much greater threat looms.
With the news of massing enemies, Ellomyr needs defenses built, and fast. We need to build some kind of fortifications, warn and rally the people outside of the village in outlying farms, gather or make weapons, and train every capable adult to defend themselves and their homes. Margr aren't the greatest danger the Ninth World has to offer, but in numbers this large, we will likely need defenses of at least level 5 to keep Ellomyr safe.
For every 50 backers we gain above 1750 before the 29th of September, we'll add +1 level to the defense. If we get more than we need to reach level 5, you’ll be able to choose to use those resources for other options, including exploring nearby prior world ruins for numenera, sending for help from another nearby village, and so on—more details on that soon.
Further, if we gather 10 really amazing vignettes or fan art sketches having to do with preparing the defenses posted in the comments or social media by Monday, the 25th, we’ll not only share them in an update (with permission) but we’ll add an automatic +1 to the defense. But we need to be really wowed. You’ve been wowing us already, but as Shakespeare said, “What’s past is prologue.”
Check back each day for updates on the preparation. We've got a little time, but the hordes will be here before we know it! The main way to contribute and help is by spreading the word to your gamer friends about this Kickstarter. Every additional backer helps the effort!
Iadace!
—Monte and the MCG Team
Slaves of the Machine God!
over 8 years ago
– Thu, Sep 21, 2017 at 09:13:46 PM
When we launched this campaign, back in our first update, I mentioned that we were focusing on fewer, larger stretch goals. Things that would be really exciting for us and for every backer. We had no idea that, even with these big steps, we’d unlock not one but three new books and be looking at our fifth stretch goal so early in this campaign! Take a gander at this:
That’s Slaves of the Machine God, an epic, multi-part campaign full of twists, turns, adventure, and Ninth World weirdness packed into a 120-page book. It’s now part of any reward that includes all of the unlocked titles—and it’s also available as an add-on.
(Speaking of add-on books, some backers have asked if they come with the PDF. They do. We’ve recently made some changes to the Kickstarter page Add-On graphic to clarify this.)
Our next stretch goal is also book-focused, but rather than a new title, we’re going to upgrade one you’ve already unlocked. We’d like to increase the size and scope of Building Tomorrow, adding 32 pages of new content (making it a 192-page hardcover) and giving it a double-sided poster map. This will upgrade the rewards of anyone getting this product as part of their backer level or as an add-on. Get us to $360,000 and we’ll make it happen!
Thanks so much for the incredible support. Please help spread the word, and let others know about Numenera and this campaign.
Iadace!
—Charles and the MCG Team
