Numenera is a science fantasy role-playing game set in the distant future written by Monte Cook. It is both a tabletop game and the setting of the upcoming Torment: Tides of Numenera video game. The game's publication was financed thanks to a Kickstarter campaign.
Numenera is based on the Cypher System, which mean it shared core game mechanics with all games from Monte Cook Games, like The Strange.
Authors
The main creator of Numenera is Monte Cook. Other contributors include Lead Editor Shanna Germain and Lead Artist Kieran Yanner.[1]
Setting
Numenera is set a billion years in the future. Eight great civilizations have risen and fallen on Earth. Even though the current inhabitants live at about a medieval level of technology, the leftover remnants of these ancient advanced societies lie all around them. Some of these are extremely helpful: advanced tools, valuable means of communication and learning, transportation, defenses, and weapons. Others are dangerous: genetically altered monstrosities, flesh-warping radiation, creatures transplanted from distant stars, and clouds of out-of-control nanobots, just to name a few. This setting, called the Ninth World, provides all manner of opportunities and challenges to those that call it home.
Player characters explore this world of mystery and danger to find these leftover artifacts of the past, not to dwell upon the old ways, but to help forge their new destinies, utilizing the so-called "magic" of the past to create a promising future.[2]
Products
The following books, PDFs and game aids are part of the Monte Cook Games' Numenera line, in the release order.
Core Books:
- Numenera Corebook
- Player's Guide
- The Ninth World Bestiary
- Numenera Character Options
- Technology Compendium: Sir Arthour's Guide to the Numenera
- The Ninth World Guidebook
Adventures:
- The Nightmare Switch - 32-page Kickstarter-exclusive adventure
- The Devil's Spine - Three 32-page adventures
- Vortex - 13-page PDF-only adventure from GenCon 2013
- Beyond All Worlds - 22-page PDF-only adventure
- Into the Violet Vale - 13-page PDF-only adventure from GenCon 2014
- Weird Discoveries: Ten Instant Adventures for Numenera
PDF Supplements:
- In Strange Aeons: Lovecraftian Numenera
- Cypher Collection
- Artifacts & Oddities Collection
- Love and Sex in the Ninth World
- Injecting the Weird
- Taking the Narrative by the Tail: GM Intrusions & Special Effects
- When Worlds Collide: Converting Numenera and The Strange
- Strange Creatures of the Ninth World
- Maps of the Ninth World
- Maps of the Ninth World 2
Stories:
- The Amber Monolith - 18-page short story
- Tales from the Ninth World - 83-page anthology of 3 short stories
Aids:
- Numenera GM Screen
- Numenera XP Deck
- Numenera Cypher Deck
- Numenera Creature Deck
- Numenera Dice Set
- Numenera Character Sheets
- Numenera Cypher Chest
- Numenera Cypher Deck 2
Derivated Products
- Thunderstone Advance: Numenera, a card game by Alderac Entertainment Group
- Numenera Character Creator, an application for iOS, Android & PC by 3lb Games
- Torment: Tides of Numenera, a video game by inXile Entertainment - Currently in production
- Numenera: Strand, a short film by Valdes/Eriksdotter - Currently in production