Every
once in a while there’s a product that’s a game changer, and I don’t mean that
in the sense that it’s something that just makes a new game, I mean it
challenges how we look at things.
I
reviewed Numenera once before as a part of its entry into the Expo awards for
2014, but I only included the basics of what I thought at that time. As overall head of the awards, I have to
maintain a level of neutrality when it came to what I said, just in case it put
any sway towards people’s thoughts on the day.
Today, it’s
just me...
So the system
is broken (unrepentantly so), it’s weighted towards the “Magic” users at the higher levels and it’s got so many pages,
they have to plant a new giant redwood every time they print a copy...
What
about the product as a whole?
Visually
stunning, there’s no question about that, the best authors that money can buy,
excellent layout people, careful thought to attention and the understanding
that comes from years publishing what people want. There are many who believe that Ptolus was
Monte Cook’s Magnum Opus, those
people have not seen Numenera.
It’s
important to understand how the character creation is handled, every character
is expressed in the following way.
Name is a (Descriptor), (Character Class), who
(Focus)
This
takes a little explaining.
The
Descriptor is the basic nature of the character, whether they are Tough,
Charming, Mystical or something else.
This gives the character certain boosts to their skills and attributes
as well as giving them a particular set of skills they’re best at and how they
link to the other characters in the party.
While not necessary for more experienced players, it makes things a lot
easier for beginners to get into the game and forge links that those of us who’ve
been doing this for twenty years do on reflex.
The Type
is effectively the character class, chosen from one of three, the Nano (Magic
User), Glaive (Fighter), and Jack (of all trades). This will also give the fledgling character a
connection to the world, randomly generated or chosen from a list.
The Focus
is perhaps the most interesting part of the character creation, wherein the
character chooses the thing that makes them unique. There aren’t that many different things that
the character can choose to be, but it’s recommended that no two characters
choose the same thing. The focus is
expressed in the form of a verb, so you could have a character that Rides the Lightning or one that Fights with Panache, to one that Bears a Halo of Fire. In any other system (Other than Rifts), the
powers that are granted for beginning characters would cause overbalances that
would break most other systems.
As an
example, At first level, a character that Rides
the Lightning has the ability to shock things. When the character gets to second level, they
can then travel along a bolt of lightning to another place instantly, you must
be able to see the location, but no other constraints.
The
system makes no apology for the level of power that it places with the
characters, and there’s the understanding that the rules, like so many other
things, are there only for the times which they are required, not for every
single little thing that the characters seek to undertake.
For this
reason, I have a particular degree of empathy with the game and with the people
who made it, system ceased to have a lot of meaning for me some time ago,
particularly when you’re running lots of convention scenarios and your entire
job is to make sure that those players you’re running for are having an
excellent time.
I like to
use the systems presented where I possibly can, but I also know that there’s no
system in the world that will encompass everything in the face of the
magnificent lunacy of some players...
On then
to the world, the map included in every book is massive, A1 sized by my
reckoning, with dozens of locations marked out on the map and detailed in the
book. There isn’t a single location
missed out, and there’s just enough information in the book to get the interest
of those wanting to know about it without making it so detailed that you can’t
make up something else about it and have it fit in. A few of the larger and more important
locations have more details on them, sometimes a map of a city, sometimes a
panoramic shot of the area itself.
Again, from an experienced GM point of view, I could pick it up, see a
few spots in it that got my attention (the Great Slab for example), and
immediately go in with an idea for an adventure.
In turn,
that brings us to the four adventures in the back of the book.
Only one
of these adventures is designed for beginners, but it comes with an instruction
guide for beginning GM’s, including how adventures flow, how all points lead
towards the conclusion and how to put things back on track. It won’t replace twenty years of herding
cats, but it’s well written and simple to understand.
The
Bestiary is not massive, but it presents a good range of creatures from the
lower levels to the things that adventurers should live in fear of. The artwork throughout is spectacular, and
while I have a different outlook on how creatures should be presented, I can see that the sheer amount
of shiny in this book will certainly prove popular with many.
Overall?
It’s
massive, and while there are other books coming out in the future, all you’ll
ever need to play the game for ever is in this first book. In the days where everything has a players
guide, a GM’s guide, and a monster manual separately, that alone is a good
thing. It’s colourful, it’s well
written, and the book itself is of a quality I haven’t seen in recent times.
I was one
of the playtesters for this, and our group did have issues with the power
level, but those issues were looked at, evaluated, and revised. It’s significantly easier to get into the
game with the number of visual references that are now available, but as a
player of games that don’t allow this level of freedom (or power), it took a
while to get used to the idea of playing a game that starts at this level, and
I’m still getting used to that idea.
But I had
a blast running it...
