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Numenera 2: Discovery and Destiny

Created by Monte Cook Games

Numenera is a game in which player characters explore the ruins of aeons past to gather amazing treasures and help build a new future for a world struggling in darkness. Since the launch of Numenera in 2013, we have delivered well on the first part, but we’ve always wanted to do a more thorough job exploring that second part. That desire has led us to Numenera Discovery and Numenera Destiny. Numenera Discovery will be a book that covers familiar territory; it is basically a revision of the original Numenera corebook. Next summer, we will allow the original corebook to go out of print, and Numenera Discovery will take its place. In Numenera Discovery, you’ll get some revisions to make things clearer and more fun, and to increase the options available to players. Nanos, Jacks, and Glaives will get an overhaul. Many foci and some of the descriptors might see some reworking. You’ll have more options, clearer rules, and perhaps a bit of expansion to the regions of the Steadfast and the Beyond that are covered in the existing corebook. As excited as we are about Numenera Discovery, we may be even more excited about Numenera Destiny. This title will enable characters to truly become a part of the setting—to help shape the future of the Ninth World. The people of the Ninth World are locked in a medieval-like state, a world of struggle and danger and often suffering in the shadow of the prior worlds’ wonders. Numenera Destiny allows you to build adventures and campaigns in which players don’t just explore the wonders of the past—they utilize them to help lift the Ninth World out of darkness. You can make the world a better place. Help a community defend itself from abhumans or the iron wind. Create centers of learning or trade. Innovate, build, and protect. Manage an entire community and help it prosper and grow—or simply create a cool base or vehicle for your adventuring group. Numenera Destiny will allow you to take what you discover and make your mark on history as someone who elevated the Ninth World into the future. Adventuring—exploring the weird and wondrous remnants of the prior worlds—remains, of course, at the core of Numenera play. Numenera Destiny will give you new things to do with your discoveries, along with entirely new and epic ways to structure your campaigns. You’ll discover materials, power sources, and treasures that you can utilize in an entirely new, robust crafting and building system. And perhaps best of all, Numenera Destiny will offer three new character types and a number of new descriptors and foci geared toward this innovative style of play.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

The Ruin Deck Is on the Way
over 5 years ago – Fri, Dec 14, 2018 at 11:15:14 PM

As we reported in our last update, the Ruin Deck shipped from our printer back in November. It’s now on US shores, and is scheduled for delivery to our warehouse within a few days. Our tentative plan is to release it next week. However, take a look at this:

With new tariffs on the way at the end of this month, port congestion has become extreme. The ship carrying the Ruin Deck was able to dock and unload in Long Beach, California, pretty much on schedule. But that’s not the end of the Ruin Deck’s journey—after that comes Customs and trans-shipment to us, both of which are affected by the sort of snarls you see above. (That's an actual photo from Long Beach harbor this week. And our shipping broker tells us those trucks waited in a two-hour line just to get to that point!)

The upshot: If you’re getting the Ruin Deck, look out for an email from us letting you know when we’re ready to fulfill it (and shin sets, too, if you’re getting them—they’ll fulfill at the same time). If all goes to plan, that will be early next week. But until they’re clear of Long Beach, that plan has to remain a little flexible.

Deluxe Corebooks Are Coming Soon!

It’s been a long time coming, but there's great news about the deluxe corebooks. The slipcases are complete and on a ship. They’ll be combined with the books themselves at the book printer, and then shipped to our warehouse. We hope to be sending them your way in about four weeks. (And, thankfully, they shouldn’t be subject to any of the port congestion issues—although international shipping is more prone to GM intrusions than any other phase of creating and delivering product.) Here’s another look at the first-off-the-presses copy!

BackerKit Is Open for Invisible Sun

If you missed the Invisible Sun reprint Kickstarter, it’s not too late to get in on some of the deals. For a limited time, BackerKit is open, so you can get the Black Cube, the Directed Campaign, and a number of other items, including some exclusive to this campaign.

A Gift for Charity or for You

Continuing an MCG holiday-season tradition, we’ve launched the 2018 MCG Holiday Gift! We’re giving you a $5 coupon for the MCG store. Use it to get a little something for yourself or a loved one—or turn it into a donation to one of three charities we’re supporting this holiday season: Dogs for Better Lives, Operation USA (California wildfire relief), or the ACLU. Your $5 donation is on us!

You can find all the details here.

Shiny Shins (and Priests, Slaves, and Ruins)
over 5 years ago – Wed, Nov 14, 2018 at 12:27:15 AM

It’s a little bit of the Ninth World you can hold in your hands. Shins are in the house!

We’ve received the shin sets from our friends at Campaign Coins, and they really look great. We can’t wait to get these into your hands. Our warehouse is a little backed up right now, and next week is a holiday, so we can't start fulfilling them right away--but it won't be long.

The Ruin Deck Is on a Ship

Production of the Ruin Deck is complete, and it’s now in transit to us. We had hoped to air-freight it and have it in our hands before the end of November, but air freight costs are currently crazy high, so we’re sea-freighting it instead. This means we’ll have it in our warehouse in mid-December.

A caveat: The Ruin Deck is not affected by the major increase in tariffs occurring at the end of the year, but the general rush by most US importers to beat the end-of-December increase is expected to cause a lot of port congestion in December. In fact, that’s why air freight costs are currently so crazy. International freight is a bit unpredictable under the best of circumstances, and a port delay is a possible GM intrusion waiting out there for us.

Regardless, we’re really excited to get our hands on the Ruin Deck—it’s not long now!

Priests of the Aeons

How would you like a book with:

  • New descriptors and foci, plus alternate tier abilities for every focus in Numenera Discovery and Numenera Destiny, so you can custom-craft your character to work alongside the Aeon Priests—or to join them.
  • New gear, cyphers, and artifacts that can be crafted by the Priests of the Aeons, including artifacts they specifically build to make the most of your character’s abilities.
  • An in-depth look at the Order of Truth: Its philosophies, structure, and role—large or small—in your campaign.
  • Guidelines and rules for joining the Order of Truth—no matter what your character’s type or abilities.
  • Sample claves, story hooks, and two complete adventures.
  • A really nice double-sided poster map.

That’s just a taste of what awaits you between the covers of Priests of the Aeons. The book is moving into layout in the days to come. Sean really outdid himself in this book, giving it something for everyone: in many ways, this title is the successor to the now out-of-print Numenera Character Options and Numenera Character Options 2. Every player will find something useful for their character in this book!

Don’t Miss Your Chance for a Black Cube!

The Invisible Sun reprint Kickstarter comes to an end in just a couple of days. The original print run sold out before its street date, and we don’t anticipate any additional reprints of this game—so this may be your last chance to reserve this piece of gaming history.

Invisible Sun is Monte’s radical, visionary game of surreal fantasy and magic that is truly magical. Invisible Sun is an incredible production, a game unlike anything that has come before. This is the RPG Game Informer said, “sets a new bar for originality,” the LA Review of Books called “brilliant and revolutionary,” and Encounter Roleplay said, “isn’t just a tabletop roleplaying game—it is an event.” Step into the Actuality with us, walk the Path of Suns, and unlock the true secrets of reality.
 

We Invite You into the Actuality (plus Shins and Other News)
over 5 years ago – Fri, Oct 26, 2018 at 04:56:23 PM

On Tuesday we launched a Kickstarter campaign to reprint Invisible Sun, Monte’s radical, visionary game of surreal fantasy and magic that is truly magical. Invisible Sun is an incredible production, a game unlike anything that has come before—and it sold out even before its street date. We are now looking to reprint Invisible Sun, and we invite you to join us, reserve your copy, and get a bunch of extras and a great deal on a ground-breaking game.

 

The Invisible Sun reprint Kickstarter is underway now. Even if you backed the original Kickstarter and have your Black Cube, you’ll find some interesting deals on supplements and add-ons. And if you didn’t, we invite you to take a look at the RPG Game Informer said, “sets a new bar for originality.” Step into the Actuality with us, walk the Path of Suns, and unlock the true secrets of reality.

A Peek Inside Slaves of the Machine Gods

In the last update we showed off a piece of art from Slaves of the Machine God. Now we can take it a step further: Here’s a look at a page spread. We’re well into the layout process—soon the book will head toward proofing, and then, in a few weeks, to press!

Ruin Deck

Speaking of going on press, the Ruin Deck is on press now. We expect it to ship to us in November. Here’s a look at a few cards in layout!

And Shins

The Shin Set is wrapping up production now—the shins themselves are all made, and production is finishing up on the cloth bag that each set comes in. As soon as those bags are finished and the sets assembled, they’ll be shipped to us for delivery next month.

Building Tomorrow Is Now Out!
over 5 years ago – Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 11:50:18 PM

Wow, it seems like just two weeks ago we were celebrating the street date of the Numenera corebooks, and now Building Tomorrow has reached the public. Wait, what? That was just two weeks ago. Things are really trucking along for Numenera!

Great! What’s Next?

We began fulfilling Building Tomorrow two weeks ago, so if you backed for this awesome 192-page hardcover (or PDF), hopefully it’s in your hands already. (If not, just log into the MCG Shop, go to My Account, and click on Coupons.) If you didn't back it, you can order your copy now from the MCG Shop.

Next up are the shin set and the Ruin Deck, both of which are in production now. We expect to see them in the warehouse within the next month—so look forward to receiving your redemption email in the not-too-distant future!

Here’s a peek at some Slaves of the Machine God art. This is the next book title, and it’s well into layout. Slaves of the Machine God is a 144-page hardcover adventure book (yes, you read that right: a 144-page hardcover adventure) that features two story arcs in eight parts each. They interweave to create a rich, multi-themed long-term campaign—or can be run separately as two multi-adventure mini-campaigns. Many of the parts also work well as standalone adventures, providing a bunch of full-sized adventures you can insert into any ongoing campaign.

Lots More Coming!

Slaves of the Machine God will be out in February, with additional titles following quickly:

  • Sean has wrapped up writing on Priests of the Aeons, so it’s moving into editing this week.
  • The design team began concepting Ninth World Bestiary 3 yesterday, and we’re starting work on that now.
  • The Creature Deck 3 will release concurrently with that title—and we’ll be doing the really cool deck box to launch with Creature Deck 3, too. So that’ll be a triple-whammy release.

Did You Get Your PDF Poster Map?

When we delivered the PDF of The Trilling Shard, we mistakenly left the poster map out. Fortunately, astute backers pointed that out, and we fixed it! If you didn’t get the PDF of the poster map for The Trilling Shard, just log back into the MCG Shop and redownload the file for the book. You’ll find your poster map attached.

Invisible Sun Is Getting a Reprint

Did you miss out on the visionary, critically-acclaimed, and very sold out Invisible Sun? Or maybe you got the Black Cube, but not some of the related items, such as the Vislae Kit, supplements, or Wicked Keys. Good news: We announced yesterday that we’re going to Kickstart a reprint of this history-making game.

The Kickstarter launches on Tuesday (October 23rd). If you’d like to be notified of the launch, you can sign up here.

Building the Amber Keep

Cypher Play is our organized play program—new adventure scenarios from MCG, available only in game stores, and played in game stores to build a community of active gamers. The new season is just getting underway, so it’s not too late to jump in. It’s fun, it’s a great way to connect with your local Numenera community, and you get a copy of the exclusive adventures to take home.

If you’re keen to find new Numenera players in your area, want to experience a mini-campaign built specifically for the launch of Numenera Discovery and Numenera Destiny, or just want to get in a bit more Ninth World gaming, ask your FLGS if they’re running Cypher Play!

Numenera Street Date and Building Tomorrow—Today!
over 5 years ago – Thu, Oct 04, 2018 at 01:38:01 AM

It’s a super-exciting day for Numenera: Not only is it the street date for the new corebooks, but we’re also beginning fulfillment on Building Tomorrow!

We started fulfilling Numenera Discovery and Numenera Destiny back in July, first with the PDFs and then the slipcase sets. Backers have had it in their hands, in one form or another, for two months now—and of course we’ve had completed copies of the book files since we first sent them to the printer in the spring. So it’s easy to think of the corebooks as “old news.” But most of the gaming world hasn’t laid eyes on them yet—until today!

The Numenera corebooks are now in game stores around the world, and a new age for Numenera has truly dawned. We thank you, the backers, for helping make this a reality, and hope you’re as excited as we are to see Numenera grow in such a beautiful and dramatic way.

Speaking of growing, how about a few more titles to support the new corebooks?

Slaves of the Machine God is fully written and in editing now. We’ll start laying it out in the weeks to come.

Priests of the Aeons is being written. Right now. As you read this!

But the most exciting news is Building Tomorrow. This 192-page hardcover, which builds on the coolest new features of Numenera Destiny, releases later this month. But we’re fulfilling to backers starting . . . today. (See, I told you this is an exciting day!) If you backed for Building Tomorrow in either PDF or print, you’ll be receiving your fulfillment email today. (If for some reason you don’t get the email, simply log into the MCG Shop, go to My Account (under the Store tab), then click on Coupons. You’ll see coupons for all the rewards currently available to you.)

More Great News for Folk Down Under

If you’re in Australia or New Zealand, we have some more exciting news: We will soon be fulfilling from a new site down in your half of the world. By the time we’re ready to fulfill Slaves of the Machine God (hopefully well ahead of that time, actually), we’ll be ready to ship rewards from our new hub in New South Wales, saving you loads on shipping costs and potentially Customs fees, and speeding the ship time up as well.

If you want, you can hold off on redeeming any of your physical rewards (like Building Tomorrow) until that site is ready. We can’t make any guarantees, but that should be about six weeks.

Cypher Play: The Keep in the Badlands

Cypher Play is our organized play program—new adventure scenarios from MCG, available only in game stores, and played in game stores to build a community of active gamers. If you’re keen to find new Numenera players in your area, want to experience a mini-campaign built specifically for the launch of Numenera Discovery and Numenera Destiny, or just want to get in a bit more Ninth World gaming, ask your FLGS if they’re running Cypher Play!

Season 2018-2 is called The Keep in the Badlands, written by MCG’s Sean K. Reynolds. The player characters travel into the Beyond to an Amber Gleaners waystation, but when they get there, things are not as they expect. What horrors await them? You can only find out by signing up for Cypher Play!

And you don’t get to just play in the store: Every player gets to take home a copy of this exclusive adventure content. And that’s especially great this season, because while typical seasons are six or seven sessions long, season 2018-2 crams in nine sessions. So head into your FLGS and ask them if they’re running Cypher Play.