The Strange:  New Game from Cordell and Cook.

Well, thanks to backing this I got my PDF.

The Strange uses the Numenera system, with a few slight changes.  Terms like artifacts and cyphers stay in there but aren't exactly weird unknowable items, just one use technologies.  

The Strange assumes that our earth is connected to an old network of Dark Energy that has recursions in it--recursions are other smaller planes of existence mostly created from imaginations of those that have the spark.  They are populated by their own beings--many of whom don't have the spark.  (Think of it as a sort of "soul").

The game assumes the users are special and can tap into these unseen forces.  Vectors, Paradoxes, and Spinners are akin to the Glave, Nano, Jack system (aka Fighter, Mage, Thief).  The Noun, Adjective, Verb system still exists, though with a slight twist--the Verbs Foci may be setting specific--not all Foci work on all of the recursions, so you may have to swap them for something else.

The other settings include Aerdyn, which came from an unpublished MMO on earth and is a sort of fantasy realm taking inspiration from Sumerian Myth (so it's not D&D like), and Ruk, a biomechanical place that was actually formed from the imagination of aliens and crashed in Earth's "Shoals".  The strange itself is sort of an astral sea containing other recursions.  These three other settings get the most attention, but minor settings are hinted at--one a place of psionic superpowers, one a world of classic gothic horror, and a few other settings.  There's also a few taken from public domain worlds, so Oz, Wonderland, "Old Mars" (Barsoom), Innsmouth, and Sherlock Holmes exist as recurssions--stats in the book exists for Green Martians, Winged Monkeys, Shoggoths, Jabberwocks, and Moriaty is stated as an NPC, for instance.  Settings have Foci and don't allow things outside those foci.

On Earth, there are secret societies that the players might belong to.  The biggest is the Estate, but there are others allied to the other two main places, and some more sinster ones.  There's a black ops one for the United States named the "OSR" (Office of Strategic Recursion), though I hope nobody thinks its any sort of meta commentary on the gaming movement (it's not, but I suspect somebody will say something).

Moving between recursions can either be down as a translation method (where you slowly move between the worlds and change to fit the setting), or you can physically travel--but the limit to the latter is if certain abilities or equipment can't exist in the new world they will slowly fade.  There's even some rules for creating your own pocket universes, but those take time.

All in all, seems interesting enough.

Love the PDF--I just with Monte Cook Games would embrace the new reality and also create eBook formats along with the PDF.  Responsive design!

I've been mostly under a rock for the last few months (big dev project at work), so I just heard about this book a few days ago. I'm a big fan of Cordell's past work, and I like what I've read of Numenera, so I'll definitely be picking this up.

Yeah, I know what you mean about eBook formats. I read a ton of stuff in the Nook app on my tablet, and I much prefer that to PDF.

Glad to know that the space succubus hadn't scared you off Dana.  Joking aside I pretty much do like the setting and system so I hoping this game will just be as good.

Heh. The space succubus was nothing compared to things I've seen in other published products or even come up with for my own stories and campaigns.  I edited (and even have one of my writing pseudonyms on) a gaming product with potentially more offensive stuff than space succubi. ::shrug:: If it had truly been marginalizing or something I felt would, like, mess people up if they read it, then yeah, I would've called it out or at least said take my name off the credits.

Something's gotta be pretty far out there and fucked-up before I'm going to be all like, "Stop the presses! This must not be!"

Space succubi didn't even come close.

My god I am so glad to hear that and I am agnostic.  I don't even know there is a god, or not.

Seriously it is not even a woman.  It is bio machine that is gateway summoning portal that happens to look like a woman.  A deadly one as well as it lures unsuspecting men to their doom.  The demonic babies are not even babies.  They are just alien beings that will shortly revert back to their true forms which they will kill the "father".  That is scary and tells a lot about how its creators feel about the human race.  It is a very interesting monster/machine/trap.

Though my favorite monster was the titanic golems that don't have heads.  Instead a portal to a pocket dimension sites on their shoulders.  Who knows what is inside, but good luck getting to the portal.

I just like monsters that are just walking portals.

Oh God, it's Monte Cook's mash-up of GURPS Infinite Worlds and Torg.

IT MUST BE MINE.

I've been reading The Strange on and off for the last couple of days, and I'm liking what I see.

The system is the same as Numenera, which looks good on paper but I haven't had chance to try it yet (for our current campaign we had a choice between Numenera and Eldritch Skies, and Eldritch Skies got the vote because my group are all Lovecraft fans).

My biggest complaint with the layout of the book is that there's no real "overview" of the setting and how everything fits together. You have to kind of piece that together as you go through the book reading the detail of individual aspects of the setting.

I'm looking forward to playing it though.

What element of this game will Sickly Purple declare to be a crime against humanity?

Because Cook is on their enemies list now and they will find something, no matter how hard they have to hunt for it or how far they have to exaggerate (or just lie).

There's nothing akin to the Nimvobians I could see here.

But can we please have a thread where we discuss a game without going into a tangent against RPG net or SJW or whatever.  

Jeez, it's like half the people here just want to talk about what other people on the Internet are saying...

I'm looking forward to reading this, and hopefully playing. Been too busy to do anything but work, sleep, unpack, repeat.

The books are on the way to my house, so at least "throne" reading will be in order. :-)

Quote from: JRT;777134There's nothing akin to the Nimvobians I could see here.

But can we please have a thread where we discuss a game without going into a tangent against RPG net or SJW or whatever.  

Jeez, it's like half the people here just want to talk about what other people on the Internet are saying...

+1000

I backed this game and for a year I've been patiently waiting for it (I was lucky enough to join a playtest group, so I knew what to expect). After a quick read, I think this game will go high on my Top Games list, there are just so many possibilities/worlds into one book, I love it.

Quote from: Just Another Snake Cult;777118What element of this game will Sickly Purple declare to be a crime against humanity?

Because Cook is on their enemies list now and they will find something, no matter how hard they have to hunt for it or how far they have to exaggerate (or just lie).

Not sure if it was Monte who was the problem or Shanna Germain, who is a woman who not only likes cock, but likes writing Erotica among other things, and her worst crime, actually being good at it.

Well if it's as good as Numenera...

Quote from: CRKrueger;777326Not sure if it was Monte who was the problem or Shanna Germain, who is a woman who not only likes cock, but likes writing Erotica among other things, and her worst crime, actually being good at it.

Huh. You know, somehow all this time it escaped my recollection that Germain was a writer of erotica.  

That really explains everything.

Shit, these assholes are positively Victorian, aren't they?