Numenera: Scry Hawk Campaign

For quite a while now I've been wanting to run a second Numenera campaign that was more for either Twitch or podcasting. So below I present to you the details for the Scry Hawk Campaign. If you're interested in taking part let me know either via google+, twitter @proftesla or on skype professor_tesla.

Numenera Campaign: Scry Hawk

Project Name: Scry Hawks

Medium: Skype and Roll 20

Broadcasted: Via Twitch/Podcast

Times: Six Hour Window 9AM PST, 12PM EST, 5pm GMT - 3PM PST, 6PM EST, 11PM GMT. Sign sheet here

Session Length: Four Hours

Scheduling: Bi-Monthly (one case/cast per month)[I usually like two sessions to get max story and character development before changing]

Cast: Ensemble. No set cast required, first come first serve to availability. Anyone of any skill/experience level can join

System: Numenera

Additional Material: Character Options, Ninth World Assassins- Andreas Walters , Whisper Campaigns - Ryan Chaddock, City of Needles - Andrew Wilson

Setting: Needles Universe Thaemor

Story so far:

The Scry Hawks have always worked independently of their brothers and sisters in other Hawk orders. They are also the most elusive and dangerous order of the Hawk-Eyes. Within Thaemor at least, they have utter authority and their actions, although questionable, can never be challenged. They operate outside law, government, guilds and royalty and pride themselves on their anonymity. Their  primary function is to protect the Steadfast at any cost. This has lead them into other regions and their unchallenged behaviour in Thaemor is nearly always met with resistance at every turn. They are a law unto themselves and in that regard, an infractions or incursions beyond Thaemor's borders, is dealt with swiftly and harshly.  

The current situation in Thaemor is dire. Auspar, the capital city, has suffered a great catastrophe called The Great Descent. Most of the city has suffered some form some structural damage, as the ground beneath them sunk. During the chaos, or it is now believed just before, the Mad King, Holva the First was kidnapped. In his place, a power-hungry Chancellor Pheylor has become Chancellor Regent.  With no objects to his mental state, the citizens, including the city guard now follow him blindly. His new protectors, the Shadow Guard, have now, with increased money from taxation, begun to spread across the Steadfast like a plague and there is little information on why, in the first time in Auspar's history, the city guard have become a Steadfast wide army, with armaments and equipment to match.

There has been a sudden rise of a sect within the local religious group called the Purple Order. Throughout Thaemor they have spread the word of the Great Devourer looming to consume the world, but none of them can agree on how this will happen, or how they can be saved from it. Their varying theories stems from the abilities of the Order, being able to read individually specific materials, by feeling the contours, bumps and edges, they would interpret as a form of prophecy. The First Oraea of the Vessel has unified a large number of Order members under the same belief. A young girl who was changed into amethyst allowed the Orders members to read her entire body, regardless if they were not able to read amethyst in the first place. The words inscribed on her told the tale of the Herald and the Heretic. This was coupled with the voices of both entities contained within her, making her the Vessel, and unfortunately due to her crystalline nature, shattered when the Great Descent started.  With the ability for all to read the prophecy, they now believe in unison that the end of the world is already upon them. It is now understood that Great Devourer is from another plane of existence and his vanguard referenced in the amethyst of the girl has already been sighted within Thaemor's borders and perhaps have already been here for quite some time. They are women, believed to be clones, with incredible strength, speed and acuity. Their very existence calls into question the scepticism of the Purple Order's beliefs, and presents the credible possibility of invasion or an extinction level event.

The preservation of the Steadfast is the Scry Hawks upmost responsibility, and investigating the threats now posed to the citizens of Thaemor has taken precedent. There is no telling what is on the horizon, but the Scry Hawks will be the first ones there, armed with weapons and information, ready to hold back the tide.

Numenera: Kill Your Darlings

...Or in other words, no person, place or object is safe from death's scythe.

So I've got some news for you, firstly City of Needles has just reached over 4000 views and Venicia 3000 so again I'd like to say a big thankyou to you reading this, everyone that's been involved with the campaign and the community at large. Remember to get in contact if you want to take a guest seat at my campaign for a session or two, just get in contact.

tHa prominent figure from my campaign who I had planned to help in the development on two of my characters, I killed. It wasn't on purpose, as their death served no purpose, but they were in the wrong place and the wrong time and well, it's my first NPC death of the game that I hadn't factored in the game play. In all honesty, it was awesome.

For those of you unfamiliar where the term comes from, reportedly it originated with Faulkner although an earlier example from has been found from notes on 1914 lecture: "On Style" by Arthur Quiller-Couch. As a GM assigning any sort of narrative importance to an NPC, it should be done lightly. An example from an earlier post was the factor of  the narrative importance in a quest chain. The value is only the weight of the preferred outcome, it is never a guaranteed outcome, nor should it ever be considered as one. It is the idea that these actions are more likely to happen in the circumstance knowing your party or own machinations. Assigning a similar value to an NPC however is difficult, as giving them any value at all will most likely result in plot armouring (the idea that a GM will negate circumstances or change them to keep an NPC alive due to subjective reasoning) rather than allowing the natural progression of interaction.

In that regard, referring back to the quest chain post, you need to keep your options open. Unless the last survivor from a lost planet, speaking a dead language, dies and is the only person in known existence and in any reality or dimension to know what this person knows; then someone else can give your PCs the interactions they need.  A quest given in a tavern might be overheard and most NPCs have families, guilds or groups that can continue their roles. A great character will be remembered for their deaths by you and your group, but they soon start to pile up and grow stale as they survive each and every encounter. Heroes of legend and myth are told of their great deeds and usually die a glorious death to suit their life, and so all NPCs, in my opinion should suffer the same fate.

If this all sounds a bit too much then perhaps I could walk you through it:

Q. Okay, I did what you said and I'm going to allow my NPC to die, what do I do now?
A. How are they going to die? Is it the right time? What's going to kill them? Who can see?


Q. Whoa, slow down, okay first things first. The party is under attack by bandits and have left the NPC unguarded, now what?
A. Can the NPC defend themselves, do they have any sort of protection and can they get to any reasonable cover?


Q. The NPC is a suspected criminal is currently tied up, he has been stripped of his armour but he can get to a rock that the PCs are using for cover. This doesn't sound like the right time for him to die, is it?
A. No, he's currently in the group so unless there is something that can attack the group as a whole from where they are, then it's not logical and you really don't want to force something like that especially in the middle of your players. How is the groups rapport with the criminal, does anyone in the group have any reason to trust his words?


Q. One of my players has been chatting to the NPC all day and seemed to have hit it off, the party also knows that the criminal may actually be a freedom fighter, although they are being paid by who the NPC opposes. Is that any use?
A. Definitely, have the NPC ask for the particularly chatty PC to free your NPC's hands so they can help with the fight. [If you really want this option here, try to play on what your PC's already know about your NPC to get them freed, usually something they say due to their restraints]


Q. They didn't buy it, none of them trust the NPC enough to give him a weapon. What now?
A. Well this is for you to decide, would your NPC flee, try to free themselves, or act as a distraction?


Q. I wanted them to realise he was a freedom fighter so they could join his cause later on after a big scene against the sheriff. But right now, he would probably try to free himself to get into the fight...He's picked up one of the swords from the ground, now what do I do?
A. Depending on your characters next actions will determine how they will be viewed by your party forever. If your freedom fighter is as heroic as I think he is, use them to try and take an attack for the chatty PC, or if someone else is more suitable you can choose them.


Q. Now what?
A. This is pretty much the easiest bit, use what you know of your NPC and the current situation to create the rolls needed for combat for the particular circumstance. Then tell me what happens.


Q. He survived, he actually survived but barely, and managed to save the PC in the process. They are mending him now and it would seem everyone's already adjusting their views on their quest giver and the 'criminal'. They're even now planning to go back to the NPC's camp to regroup and take down the sheriff.
A. You put your NPC into mortal danger and survived, and now your party has changed their views, has an awesome story to tell and your NPC became much more than just a way to get into a faction you want your players to get into.

OR 

Q. He died, I don't really know what to do. The group are a bit stunned that he died knowing this was the way they were getting the money they needed, but they needed him alive. Now there's pretty much no chance my group will ever join the freedom fighters. What have you done?
A. You put your NPC into mortal danger and he died, but that's great. Make it obvious there is something on his body that would lead your group back to the freedom fighters, perhaps even a letter that would emotionally spur on your group.

Q. I don't think even need to do that, one or two suggested that after what he had done for them, they should probably take his body back to his group. I can work with that for next session, I can' definitely work with that. It's the outcome I wanted, although it's a lot earlier than I was prepared for. Did I just have a conversation with a voice in my own head?

Okay so most of that might have sounded a little cliché and probably too much like a government sponsored video than anything else but I hope it at least demonstrates how life goes on. Putting your NPCs at risk of dying not only will force your players to assign priorities and change how they act but also changes your party's view of them. Did they die valiantly or survive a legendary fight? Were they poisoned as the group slept, or murdered in the street when someone failed a perception roll. Perhaps they die a suitably horrible death for their deeds while turning their back on your party. If you think back to the quest chain; there is always options, there are always other paths and so many more NPCs to kill!

If you take this on a grander scale of things, places and objects too have their frailties and can always be broken or replaced. Take it from me, I built Auspar and then pretty much destroyed it.

Remember if you like this don't forget to share, put me into some of your circle shaped things, restrict yourself to 140 words with @proftesla on twitter, or help me make more with my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cityofneedles.

Talk to you guys later.

/Drew - Tesla 

Numenera: Rosta Change and Lady Luck

The first of the Needle's guest sessions is over and a new one has began. As I mentioned a few weeks back I had come up with the idea for a Guldspar descriptor. A player from the community by the name of +Andrew Wieland  took up the mantle. You'll find out later on this week how he plays his Guldspar but his character was definitely something me and my players were not expecting. In fact the Guldspar has joined the group as a permanent member. However there is a flip side to this. Due to new commitments, Chance's character is now retired indefinitely. If you've been following from Season One you would know him better as Chloe. So I would just like to say thank-you to him for playing and I hope we play again soon.

However I still want you at my table! If you've been watching Real Rollplay on itmeJP's channel on You Tube, they've been running West Marches. It a DnD 5e living town, for multiple one shots, to help build a universe. I've used this as inspiration for Season 2. Your character and your actions will be added to the Needle's lore, placed in the character hall of fame on the Wikia and will hopefully not brutally murdered. If you like the idea of the possibility of the chance of not being brutally murdered by your GM, come join me on Saturdays at 2pm EST. Give me a shout ahead of time on either twitter @proftesla, on here or on Skype professor_tesla.

Now that's out of the way I can talk about what I really want to, Lady Luck. She's fickle, loves everyone but you and dresses up as RNJesus and sits on your shoulder as you play. By the time you've finished a game she probably owns your soul an immeasurable amount of times over and cursed your dice forever. In the Numenera universe, I personally don't see enough of her. If your characters keep back enough XP, she can be easily dismissed. Training and skills knock her down to size along with any relevant extras. If players essentially control the difficulty then how can fate intervene.

Now the Cypher System does have that in place with the GM Intrusion but this is human. A person decides when things are thrown into chaos. I've been trying with my games to keep myself as far removed from chance when it comes to skills. I use GM Intrusions to throw complications at the players that perform a functional role, such as changing combat situations, ambient assaults and for when things slow down a little. I've given Lady Luck the chance to mess things up for my players herself by increasing the amount of rolls they do.

For my game nothing is ever certain and nothing is ever guaranteed, unless the difficulty is zero. I've found all too often from other players that as soon as someone becomes skilled it becomes far too varied a skill and applicable in more than one situation. In life someone can become trained as a runner, but they will become specialised in long distance, sprint, cross country etc.  This is how I've been working my skill system. A player can be trained in the Numenera, but Skilled in a special subsection such as mechanical or biological. This has helped my characters not only get a better understanding of their characters, it also invites chaos as specialising will always have its inherent flaws giving rise to chaos and complication

.

I also try to get characters to roll as much as possible. Sometimes a player will give a long rant about their actions and for some of them, a GM could allow without a roll. However nearly everything has a chance to go wrong so as they talk, I create them as a series of events. Conflicts between players involve a modified dice rolls from both parties and not just a one sided affair. Also psychologically, sometimes I will be mean and just ask for a dice roll even if nothing is involved. Sometimes a failed perception check is just that, or perhaps you just missed your doom. Never knowing what's real, where's safest to go, and what lies ahead are my key tools for woo-ing Lady Luck.  There is one huge caveat to all of this, it suits my campaign and my play style. I play completely ad-hoc with some notes and an general idea and the more rolls my characters do, the more the narrative develops for me and the game becomes more interesting and more deadly for them. I will keep saying this, your style is what makes you a GM, improving your skills is always good. If it doesn't feel right, don't force it because it's a good idea, or a lot of people suggested. You will always know what suits you.

GMs: How do you deal with a player who talks about multiple rounds of action? Do you allow it, break it down into rounds, get them to roll for part of it or something completely different.  Do you invite Lady Luck to your table often, could you throw something at your players that puts everything into chaos in just one dice roll?

Players:  When has Lady Luck cut you down in your prime, or given you a vast wealth. Was that down to pure luck or did something in the game help you with your aim. If so, try to find other assets that have been unused, ask your GM for anything to help you out.  Throwing chaos into your solution not only brings excitement and intensity, both you and your GM will become more engaged (and for me as a GM, really happy).

Talk you guys next week and hope you enjoy this weeks now permanent player. Remember to get in touch via the comments or on twitter @proftesla and please come join!

/Drew - Tesla

Numenera: Character Intergration & Guest Interview

First and foremost I want to say thank you for all your support for both the narrative blog and this tech one over the past four plus months. I've set up a Patreon account if you wish to support with what I'm doing. I want to do so much more, such as podcasts, new games, Twitch, You-Tube and more writing.

Hopefully you will know by now that I am inviting you to join in with the Needle's universe campaign. Not only am I looking to you guys for inspiration and suggestions, but I'm reserving a seat just for you, you only have to claim it. For those that have taken me up on the offer two have already taken part. Megan and Aser from The Redacted Files are my first guests in the universe and here a little post game interview:-

D: Could you tell everyone who you played ?  

M: Lavinia Marsh, a Mad Nano who Crafts Powerful Poisons 

A: Randall Whateley, a Clever Jack who Entertains

D: Did you know much about the universe before you played? 

M: I was pretty new to the world and had just read the Season 1 summary and the wiki entries for the living characters 

A: I knew the basic geographical and political details about the setting, garnered from the wiki page.

D: Since you've read the blog and some of the Wikia, what do you think  to the campaign story so far? 

M: I liked the take on the Beyond All Worlds adventure quite a bit. It was run with a different background than what I have used, which made it fun for me to read. I liked the use of the third party materials and it inspired me to go buy some of those for my own campaign. 

A: The political manoeuvring and overlapping conflicts, as well as the flawed characters, lent the world a sense of gritty realism I find lacking in the original Ninth World materials.

D: The regular cast loved having you with us, what did you think of them? 

M: I think the wide variation in personalities caused a lot of unexpected moments, that were fun to play through. 

A: The diversity of character outlooks and styles of play made for a surprisingly dynamic story that provides the cast with interesting challenges. They always seem to find entertaining ways to overcome them.

D: From the two sessions, what  was your most enjoyable moment? 

M: I liked using my “Self-Inflicting Poison” on Froge. 

A: The sudden onset of the Iron Wind. It was unexpected but alarmingly plausible and emphasized the alien nature of the Ninth Wor

D: From the two sessions, what was your most memorable moment? 

M: I think the scene with the dinner table, where Lavinia was trying to do whatever she had to, in order to get out of this house again. 

A: The room of mirrors. It defied expectations and truly created a feeling of powerlessness. 

D: This is definitely a spoiler but can you tell us if you survived? 

M: Yes! 

A: Yes! 

D: Overall, what do you think of Needle's Universe? 

M: I really like the intrigue with the guilds and all the factions. It’s very different then the take I have of the Ninth World in my game and it’s a lot of fun to manoeuvre through. 

A: See above. 

D: The regular Needle's cast would love you to have you back, would you come and play in the Needles Universe again with us sometime? 

M: Of course! And we would love to have you come play with us as well. 

A: Absolutely

For players joining my table I try not to railroad them into specific characters that I'm looking for that fit with the campaign. The ideas behind a GM's narrative is just that, ideas. The world we inhabit is not by design nor should it be, and neither should your characters. Characters that are thrown into unexpected situations are far more interesting than a generic hero going on a quest.  I believe player agency to be one of the most important aspects of table-top gaming and so I don't get to choose. What I can do however, is mould characters. Lavinia and Randall started off as a mercenary duo. It only took a few quick edits, mainly of names and places, that contextualised the characters.

Having set up an established world, and having the Wikia on hand to explain the finer points, doing this grounds the player in a sense of realism within the universe. All characters in any game should feel like that. A player shouldn't feel placed on the world, neither should a character feel newly spawned. The more you know about the world you're in, the more you can bond people to it, creating for a more compelling and interesting narrative.

For one of my players however, the appearance of Lavinia and Randall brought unexpected news. Although going any further would count as a spoiler, I have tried to tie them both into one of the greater, and more character-centric plotlines. It did involve a bit of meta-gaming on my behalf but it worked for the players. There are at times where a GM wants to pass information privately to another character, and thanks to online play, this can be done via private message. However, I did not want to deliver the information myself, so I had my guests deliver it for me. Not only was it up to them when and where they said it, it would also come as a complete surprise to my player. It was in fact such a surprise that  we had to talk about its implications after the game for a quite a while.  

Being able to throw curve balls at my regular players, with using my guests to help facilitate it is great, not only does it shake things up but it gives every character a sense of purpose.

GMs: Think about how you disseminate information to your players. How much information do they know about the world from just being in it, and how much have you had to tell them? Can you provide more information via experience? Could you use another character to inform another on what you want them to know?

Players: Do you actively seek out information about your world around you, or do you let it pass by? Outside of what your character is doing now, how much do they know about the wider world? Do you know something another PC doesn't, or could never know? Is anyone in your party keeping secrets from you?

This weekend I have another guest player, playing, as I mentioned last week, a Guldspar. If you wish to join in don't hesitate to ask and follow me on twitter @proftesla, google+ or support me via Patreon.

Talk to you guys later on this week,

/Drew- Tesla

Numenera: The First Guests in the Needle Universe

Hello Ninth Worlders and beyond.

Last Saturday marked my first guests into the Needles Universe. +Megan Peterson  and Aser Tolentino from The Redacted Files. Not only were they part of the foundation of the podcast series but GM Numenera and The Strange, respectively. The Redacted Files' audio casts  cover everything from Call of Cthuhlu, to The Strange, along with a prolific blog. Speaking of the blog, now that I am properly geared up for taking on the community I really want to do more, such as audio casts, GM interviews and a lot more so next week I will be setting up a Patron Account, if you have any suggestions for monthly donator perks, let me know.

 From their choice of games and themes the Needles universe suited them down to the ground. I will be doing an with them next week after they finish their guest spot on the 31st.  If you fancy having a go with a one shot in the Needles Universe, or perhaps a short stay, give me a message either on google+ or on twitter @Proftesla.

Their first session turned out to be full of much darker things. Here's the set up for the guest game:

A man by name Froge, who is now wheelchair bound and in his late eighties , received a surprising letter. He used to investigate tales of strange and wondrous stories to write down and sell with his co-author Zeigev.  One of these tales was of a living house that could move at will. It's beating heart an object made from the wood  used in the Acardaeum.  After many years of searching the pair had found their quarry and entered after a particularly violent Iron Wind. What happened inside remains locked up and repressed by Froge, who only remembers fragments of the horror. There were stories inside gruesome tales in a very distinct penmanship, a script burned into his mind. His lasting memory was closing the door behind him alone, soaked in blood. When he turned around in fear of something chasing him, the house had gone.  Fifty or so years have passed since and the letter he received was penned by the same hand as the books from the house. It invited him to a private dinner on the edge of the Morianna Nature Reserve, close to the trade route to Jyrek. Now that he cannot follow up the invitation he seeks someone else to survive the house, and bring back a tale to finish his novel.

For the guests they took a very surprising approach to the characters. Not only did they play as a pair, their characters came as one two. Again I can't really discuss this, this week but their actions were certainly entertaining. I can however talk about how I linked their characters into the game and the overall mythos.  As mercenaries on one level or another it allowed me to follow up on an unexplored connection with one of the players, as well as to the house. Thanks to Megan a more recent visit to the house left a trapped group one less member on their way out, as well as fuller stomachs.

Next week I will be hosting Andrew Wieland from the community.  And for the first time I get to use my creative juices and add something to the Numenera universe in the form of a new descriptor. Guldspar. Now if you know your Needles mythos the Guldspar a gold veined empath who can also share sensations. They haven't really been featured before as a main character within the game, although Shroud did take the Guldspar drug, the player soon vacated his seat at the table and therefore died. So a W.I.P for their descriptor.

Guldspar

As a Guldspar Monk you were either forced into service by being injected as part of determining your guilt for a crime, or you were devoted to the idea of existing linked with a hive of other, like minded individuals.

Guldspar

A Guldspar Monk is injected with a liquid called Judgement, it is a vial of golden shimmering liquid full of nanites that establish long distance networks with any other individual injected with Judgement. Depending on the dosage and experience with the nanites, a user can have no control over what they experience or project to being able to manipulate others and to network with hosts who try to hide their broadcasts. Some have been able to use their nanites to establish a network with those that have not taken Judgment, extending as far as allegedly allowing direct communication.

 The liquid, after injected, forms flowing golden veins underneath the skin. Depending on the dosage the nanites can infect the bloodstream, allowing them to convert it to allow the nanites to survive. This results in the host's blood turning gold and certain physical characteristics taking on a golden hue.

Some of the ideas behind the abilities of the Guldspar are taken as religious tenants. Some venerate the Guldspar Monks by joining them but not injected by Judgement. They show their devotion with a tattoo or marking on their skin of golden veins. The Guldspar Monks are in certain regions very common, making this religion and their appearance therefore unremarkable and mundane. The Guldspar are seen as a neutral party to that of the local law enforcement and generally seen as upstanding members of society, which has increased their reach to broader social circles and geographical locations.

The Guldspar have also invented a drug called the Gate to the Forking Path which allows them to force a disconnection with others around and reconnect to the Data-Sphere, allowing them to experience alternate lives in their mind's eye. However this can cause an addiction to the alternative lives and the data sphere, resulting in withdrawal from reality.

Smart: + 2 to Intellect

Mental Esoteries: Any ability that requires the manipulation of the mind or the connection between minds, you are trained in.
Skill : Body Language
Skill: Perception

Inability: When in the presence of other Guldspar or sources of psychic energy/strong emotion, you cannot help but feel the state of mind  and/or  senses. You have an inability in defending against psychic based attacks from that source.

Inability: When in the presence of other Guldspar or sources of psychic energy/strong emotion, you cannot help but feel the same state of mind/ or senses. You can, at times, be completely taken over by your sensations and lose your next action.

Equipment: 12 vials of Gate to the Forking Paths

Initial Link to the Starting Adventure:

1. You witnessed another PC committing a crime which the Guldspar may now sense. You are undecided if you should tell them this and are trying to ascertain more evidence.

2. You have lived your life taking far too much of Gate to the Forking Paths, your own identity is lost on you are searching for people whose traits you would like emulate.

3. You have been tasked by the local law enforcement to inject another party member with an untraceable amount of Judgement as they are under suspicion on a crime and their guilt needs to be decided.

4. You have felt a strong emotional or psychic presence and require a group to investigate. You feel as if this emotion could overwhelm you.

Intrusion: If an entity that the PC is linked with takes damage, she takes one point of intellect damage for every successful injury on the entity. If the creature dies the PC receives the same killing blow and intellect damage.

Intrusion: After taking a considerable about of Gate to the Forking Paths, the PC becomes socially withdrawn and suffers an inability to social interactions for 28 hours.

Let me know what you guys think in the comments.

Like I said right at the top, if you want to take a seat at the Needles table and join in with the mythos and feature in the story blog and on here, let me know. If there is anything Numenera that's going on in your life right now, or you want to promote something you're already doing in the Cypher Universe I'll be happy to give you a shout out on here.

Dont forget to subscribe, add me to your circles & follow me on twitter @proftesla. Hope you guys are having an awesome week (apart from all the storms) and I'll talk to you guys later on in the week. 

/Drew - Tesla

(PS. Sorry about the  delay)

Numenera: Outside the Lines

I have to say last session would have to be the best session I have played in a long time. I would say it was just a generally better session than last week but there were a few things I noticed that helped.

True to form, as I said last week, I ditched the pre-generated and I was set free. After spending two sessions looking over it, I was pretty much in a position where I felt comfortable messing the whole thing up without worrying out things going wrong. I skipped parts, described some incorrectly, I got the layout wrong and missed a few encounters but that was the joy of it. I wasn't spending most of the session trying to fill in the story between the lines. I was actively rubbing the lines out and spilling the story all over the place. Okay that already got a little out of hand but it was that sense of freedom that truly got me going.

It was a much more fluid game, allowing me to switch between the predestined narrative and bring in the characters backgrounds and allowing for increased player agency. Now a little spoiler as to how this came about: The Acardaeum (Ack-Car-Day-Um). This narrative device is how I've brought in the players personal stories. The Acardaeum is different to each individual, this also includes the translation and definition of the word. Although not noticeable to Ninth Worlders, the word itself has a perception filter of sorts, customizing the word to the individual. I brought these into the personal backgrounds of the new characters as a way to link them to the narrative without confining their expression. I fitted the character and play style to the narrative, not forcing them to work within my narrative.

This device is also going  be key for the subplot to the game. The underlying narrative of the Acardaeum not only brings the individual characters into conflict within the group but also creates simultaneous action as the majority are looking for the Acardaeum individually and so will act altruistically to further their own goals. The subplot, like the main plot functions in a very similar manner.

The map of Thaemor  for the group has been marked with purple landmarks at certain locations. If they players choose to take it upon themselves to go to these locations, they are specifically to advance the main plot. Much like the primary quest chain found in many RPGs. The personal story is also voluntary, it is up ot the individual to follow their own narrative, but as all are linked nobody will be left out of the action. This is all well and good but planning narrative sections requires at least bit of planning. This has resulted in a survey of sorts, polling the interests of my players.  After every quest chain the players are offered a choice of sets of quests. Darkperch, Thaemor/Hawk-Eye Bounties, Auspar and personal. These quests for myself are considered a one-shot but that depends on the players themselves. Once the group[ has decided on a list of quests to take, they then select two out of that list and then I offer them both the week after. This not only allows me to guage the mood and the current objectives of the group but also allows me to plan a little better, reducing the spectrum of quests and focusing on quality rather than breadth of option.

This, in a roundabout way, brings me back to my original topic, how awesome my last session was. Not only did I find running ad-hoc was not only more engaging with the players but also more exciting and interesting as sometimes, even I don't think too far ahead so even I am riding by the seat of my pants. The unknown is great feeling for me a blank canvas where my words and ideas take shape regardless of their form. As I was more engaged, so too were my players. If there was even a slip of concentration the world would start to crash around my players, forcing them into urgent action, keeping their interest and concentration on the game.

There is something about this I also want to mention. As I was discussing with one of my players, the existence of webcams and their use within the online TTRPG community. On many occasions  that I have either listened to or watched via Twitch or You Tube, the players are all on webcam. The focus is on the individual, allowing for greater dynamics of interaction, brought about the physicality broadcasting to the group can bring. The individual is under scrutiny, bringing back the interactions missed from a physical game. This, in my opinion, is the best way to ensure player participation, as well as increasing concentration and involvement across the board. Let me know your opinions!

GMs: Physicality of speech effects more than just the interpretation from the webcam. Gestures, facial expressions even standing up and pacing around will all affect how you say something. Take the phrase. "The house is on fire." Using the physicality of speech, try different ways of expressing the same phrase with differing intents and perspectives. Does the way you express it change its interpretation, or does the underlying meaning behind it influence how you say it?

PCs: Imagine yourself in a situation with a burning house. Create different scenarios about how it occurred and then express them with as much physicality as you can. Try and use your tone and movements to infer one of the other players committed the deed without saying it.    

Have you never played Numenera, can't find a game or just can't get enough? I invite you to take a seat at my table for a one-shot: Saturday's 14:00 EST/19:00 GMT for around four hours.

Don't forget to follow and share & keep up to date with Twitter @proftesla

Have a great week and I will talk you guys later on,
/Drew - Tesla

Numenera: Within the Lines

Hello everyone,

I firstly want to say thank you for the hugely positive response to my last blog, it is seriously appreciated.

Also a big thankyou to Jeff Brown for the awesome new art of Auspar:

So as most of you will know season two started two weeks game time, and a last week blog time. I thought it might be best with the two new plays I now have ,to start the game off without dumping them into my complex crazy kind of DM style. To that end I am running one of the pre-generated adventures re-skinning them to work for my own campaign.

In my opinion to make a successful re-skin you need a couple of things, patience, creativity, logic and interest. A re-skin can be just reassigning the quest giving NPC or perhaps a relevant assistant NPC or re-tooling it down to the fabric on the furniture. However I will give this one disclaimer before I continue. In practice I was pretty bad at all of this.

The couple of hours I spent going through the various adventure options and trying to break it down so that I could weave in my own storyline was difficult. Many of the times I ended up over complicated the matter or not fully understanding the implications in the planning stage. Creativity and logic are a given, you won't be able to re-skin an adventure to suit your own narrative without some form of these skills.

For me however, interest has got the be the biggest influence. Although the adventure, like most of MTG works, was inspiring, however as I was running the it, my inspiration was waning. The problem I personally found was that it broke my flow of conversation with the players. I was wanting to keep referring down to what was written, trying to make sure I remembered what was going on and making allowances for player agency. In all honest I got bored and being bored as a GM kills the game.

A happy GM usually results in a satisfied player, but a bored GM can ruin the experience for them. The game itself was not that successful, most of the time the players were not concentrating on the game itself. Now this could be down to the 'on rails' adventure I was running or my feelings towards it were subconsciously drifting into my play style. As they became more and more disinterested I was more frustrated and at the end I decided to jack the whole thing in.

Running or re-skinning an adventure for me is difficult. I run on my own imagination and this has served me pretty well. The pre-written adventure jarred with my play style. But this is just me, I take my hat off to the Asset Team for MCG and anyone out there reading this that run adventures. They feel to me, completely different skills.  Let me know in the comments if you usually run one-shot adventures or more of a free-style campaign, or your own variant. Adventures are a good place to get inspiration and more than likely you will be more passionate about your own ideas. 

As Season Two starts I want to also make a quick announcement. I will be running one-shot style sessions with my group as they take on more adventures. Not only am I asking you guys for inspiration, but I'm also offering you a seat at my table. I'd love to have a new perspective on my game and the offer is for anyone and everyone. We normally play Saturdays 19:00 GMT for around four hours.  If you're interested let me know.

GMs: Think about your own play style and how you have developed as a GM. What adventures got you excited or invested in? What type of game play turns you off and why?

Players: Do you prefer choice or to follow more as a reaction to the GM. What would you do if you're given a room as a starting point? Explore yourself, ask the GM questions or wait until something happens?

Hope you all enjoy Season 2 and I'll catch you all next week.

/Drew-Tesla