Quote from: Brad;1053667Numenera is supposed to be a sci-fi setting a billion years in the future, but comes off as sort of generic fantasy in actual play.

So it doesn't really compare well to the "really far in the future fantasy" genre of books?

Quote from: RPGPundit;1054342So it doesn't really compare well to the "really far in the future fantasy" genre of books?

That's always been a debate, however even loving the game as I do, I agree that "generic fantasy" is a feel that could happen, depending on the presentation. That's not necessarily even a bad thing, to be honest. It's always been presented ae sci-fan, not sci-fi. Where the game needed more meat was the aspects I detailed above; salvaging, crafting and community. It was great to explore but having rules for what to do with the things encountered is fantastic. Others may not like the game, before or after the new material, but it's hard to deny that MCG didn't give a lot more options to enjoy.

Quote from: Brad;1053667Numenera is supposed to be a sci-fi setting a billion years in the future, but comes off as sort of generic fantasy in actual play.

I agree that's possible.  Numenera has a slightly higher than normal level of buy-in for the setting. A GM could easily default to making it Just Another Fantasy Setting.  Hell, the starting point in the 1st edition core book, the Steadfast, had that feel to it.

However, once you do look past that it becomes clear there is much more possible and that generic fantasy feel fades pretty fast.  While not necessary, the added setting material in the Ninth World Guidebook and the 3 Into The "X" books really help break it out of that mold.

Tell us more about the crafting rules. I'm interested in hearing how much the players use them in actual play. And how is the "bigger, better gun" balanced?

My biggest problem with all the Numenera setting material was that it felt like a whole bunch of cool ideas that never went anywhere and weren't developed.

- To a degree it was inspiring - but also frustrating, because once I've grokked the basic setting I can come up with lots of cool fragmentary ideas on my own - if I'm going to buy a book I want to see some of those ideas developed.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;1053278More coffee table art.

Nothing wrong with that.

Is it still only players roll?

Quote from: Spinachcat;1054871Tell us more about the crafting rules. I'm interested in hearing how much the players use them in actual play. And how is the "bigger, better gun" balanced?

We haven't played that stuff yet, but I am excited to see that myself. So you know, weapons are very streamlined. Light weapons do 2 damage, Medium do 4 and Heavy do 6. Effort can raise this by 3, and rolling 17-20 can as well, by 1,2,3 and 4, respectively. Where the crafting rules will meet this, I haven't seen in play. However, I will do some digging regardless.

Quote from: TJS;1054879My biggest problem with all the Numenera setting material was that it felt like a whole bunch of cool ideas that never went anywhere and weren't developed.

- To a degree it was inspiring - but also frustrating, because once I've grokked the basic setting I can come up with lots of cool fragmentary ideas on my own - if I'm going to buy a book I want to see some of those ideas developed.

I believe much of that was by design both to not hard-bake the given setting as well leaving things open for tables to do thier own things. Much of it should be seen as a toolbox to craft your ideas with. Is that what you meant? I’m interested in exploring your point of view more, if wanted.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;1054885Nothing wrong with that.

Is it still only players roll?

Yes, with the exception of using certain tables the players roll.

Quote from: Alderaan Crumbs;1054896I believe much of that was by design both to not hard-bake the given setting as well leaving things open for tables to do thier own things. Much of it should be seen as a toolbox to craft your ideas with. Is that what you meant? I'm interested in exploring your point of view more, if wanted.

I don't mind the toolkit.  But I just felt that I was mostly given the wrong tools.  For example, the core book has a huge amount of detail of countries and the like with hints at different things that are interesting, but left me with all the work necessary to make it gameable.  

I would have preferred, for example, a lot less geography and broad strokes, and a bit of a deep dive into some of the institutions such as the Church of Truth.  An awful lot of the setting detail is things I could come up with very quickly - in fact it's actually easier to come up with my own kingdoms, because if they're mine from conception then developing them is easier than trying to build upon someone else's vague outline.  

I find the setting book for the computer game probably the most useful - because the locations were more considerably developed - probably because the development work was done for the computer game.

What's the relationship between the RPG and the computer game? AKA, how much do the play experiences mirror each other?

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;1053278More coffee table art.

Yeah, that's mostly what this ended up being for me. The art is very nice, the game world is fascinating, sometimes (there's so much here that it'd be quite an achievement to have nothing useful or interesting). Ultimately the rules just don't do it for me, though that could easily be just me.