by walrusabove | Feb 2, 2015 | Foci
See Page 30 of Ryan Chaddok’s Translation Codex
by walrusabove | Feb 2, 2015 | Foci
See Page 39 of Ryan Chaddok’s Translation Codex
by walrusabove | Feb 2, 2015 | Foci
See page 65-66 of Numenera Corebook
by Aaron Brown | Feb 2, 2015 | Recursions
It started with a chance meeting place: a roof to get out of the rain, a warm meal after a cold day, a drink after a dusty road. Strangers could meet and become friends, sharing a drink under a peach tree. Pilgrims could gather before setting out together, and whet their whistles before telling each other stories. Although over the years it had many different signs on its door, and had been called many different things, it became known only as “The Tavern”. The first written record of The Tavern may have been in the Romance of Three Kingdoms. At least the proprietor will tell anyone who will listen that the stumps in the courtyard are the same peach gardens where the Shu Han was formed by three patrons. Later, Chaucer’s pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales meet in an inn (called the Tabard). After having a cameo appearance in the Lord of the Rings as the Prancing Pony, the idea of characters in adventure stories meeting at an inn or a tavern become ensconced and clichéd. But stories kept being told, and the recursion, known at the time as simply ‘The Tavern’, gained in power and population. Adventurers, wanderers, rogues, and borderline alcoholics, all eventually found themselves in The Tavern – and left to go on many adventures following old wizards, or mysterious maps. As The Tavern grew, the public room became bigger – but more and more rooms to the Hotel were also added; for those adventurers whose companions didn’t all arrive at the same time, or (in frighteningly increasing numbers) for cynical adrift old men, and for femme fetales who had been turned down by wanderlust adventurers. Always tied into recursions that follow Magical laws, The Tavern never had...
by James Stutz | Feb 1, 2015 | Foci
Not everyone stops when they die. Unfinished business, the need to issue a warning, or just plain old-fashioned hate can keep a person from the peaceful sleep of the grave, and while they see their reason for existing beyond death as necessary or urgent, the living seldom see things the same way. That’s where you come in. You specialize in guiding the spirits of the restless to their appointed afterlives, whether they want to go or not. The good days are when you can help a poor soul finish his purpose in life and find some measure of peace. The bad days involve a lot of holy water, sticky rice, and screaming. Nanos and spinners are the most likely candidates for fighting hungry ghosts, but vectors could do well in rituals that require a lot of fortitude and determination. Tier 1: Spirit Lore. You are trained in all tasks related to identifying different types of spirits, their weaknesses, etc. Note that this only applies to incorporeal undead. Enabler. Ghost Touch. You inflict 3 additional points of damage when fighting incorporeal undead. Enabler. Tier 2: Chill in the Air (2 Intellect points). For the next 10 minutes, you can sense all incorporeal undead within long range. You can determine how many spirits are in the area, and in what rough direction(s) they lie. Action. Tier 3: Learned. Long hours spent in libraries and tombs, researching everything from family histories to local folklore, has given you access to a wide array of knowledge. You gain 1 additional point to your Intellect Edge. Enabler. Hardened. You have seen the other side of...
by James Stutz | Feb 1, 2015 | Recursions
Fictional leakage, drawing on the imaginations of thousands of residents of Earth Prime, has created some truly breathtaking recursions, places like Ardeyn and Old Mars, where beautiful vistas, noble adventurers, and derring-do for the good of all are the order of the day. It’s also drawn on some of Humanity’s darkest fears, and most sane recursors know to avoid places like Cataclyst and Treachery if they know what’s good for them. So far, not many recursors know about the Midnight Building, but the word is slowly spreading. And the word isn’t good. Getting Past the Doorman Still a relatively young recursion, the Midnight Building takes the form of a single, massive apartment complex, similar to Chungking Mansions in Hong Kong or the Centro Financiero Confinanzas in Venezuela. Like those buildings, the decor ranges from threadbare to derelict, with hallways lit by dim, flickering fluorescent lighting, walls sporting cracking paint or peeling wallpaper, puddles of water formed under dripping vents, and the overall pallor of neglect and decay. All windows to the outside have been boarded up or bricked over, and characters will find these barriers impossible to break through. Whether translating to the Midnight Building or coming by way of a gate, travelers always first appear in a random empty apartment. Some have radios or televisions that are tuned to static, others sport half-eaten meals or cigarettes still burning in ashtrays. All of them are abandoned; in fact, the recursion seems to sport no inhabitants other than those who come here from outside of it. This perception is not entirely accurate, however, as those who insist on exploring the...
by David | Feb 1, 2015 | Recursions
The Lost World results from the accretion of myths and fiction throughout the ages that describe lost lands divergent from modern history. Whether they have been sheltered from or destroyed by the catastrophes that our world has experienced, these worlds contain long forgotten flora and fauna long since extinct on Earth, and species of hominids that have branched off of the human evolutionary tree millions of years ago. The Lost World is a 500 square mile tropical plateau bordered by sheer cliffs that fall into an endless sea of clouds. Pterodactlys circle overhead visible through the jungle canopy as primitive humans and ape-people fight bitter wars over territory and resources. Both have primitive technology that allows them to construct simple shelters, clothes and weapons. However, the leaders and shamans of the human tribes sometimes wield magic that allows them to harness the wild untamed power of the forest, and the spirits that occupy it. A brave few have also managed to tame the more intelligent of the terrible lizards, using them as mounts and pack animals. Victorian England-era explorers traverse the forests and observe the culture of the local inhabitants, sometimes using their superior technology to take sides in the brutal human-ape wars. Deeper still in the jungle lurk the mysterious Saurians. Human and ape alike both know to stay away from their regions of the jungle in which the shrieks and caws of the jungle seem preternaturally quiet. PCs entering The Lost World are explorers, primitive humans or ape-men. Explorers have garb and technology corresponding 1900’s – 1920’s, this includes safari hats, machetes, rifles, canteens, binoculars, TNT, etc…...
