Numenera Caster Interview - The INVICTUS Stream

Q: Let’s kick things off by you guys telling everyone who you are, what you do and where people can find you?

A: The INVICTUS Stream consists of Chris Visseau, Harlan Guthrie, Justin James & Mycl Barber, longtime friends and gaming buddies. We enjoy all things nerdy and decided to focus on Role Playing for a few reasons; the main being that we always tended to Role Play a little differently than other groups. We always focused more on the Character side; who they were, what they enjoyed, their fears, hopes, dreams etc. We wanted to establish a group that put Characters first. Our second reason that we focused on Role Playing is that we wanted to develop a sense of Community within the Role Playing community.

Role Playing is an amazing pastime, but can be intimidating for new player to join; with the INVICTUS Stream we wanted to encourage those who are interested in this world (and those who may not even know about it) to experiment and find a way to break into the scene by creating a safe and ego-free community. No one here is a Master of the craft of storytelling, each of us thrives in some areas and falters in others, but that’s what makes us unique. We’re average guys who enjoy telling stories and we want to share those stories with as many people as possible.

You can find us on:

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheINVICTUSStream/
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/c/INVICTUSStream
TWITCH: http://www.twitch.tv/theinvictusstream
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/INVICTUSStream

Q: How did the INVICTUS group  form?

A: Being friends first helped to easily dive into the “named group” format, but more so we wanted a sense of responsibility to the GM and the other players. By picking a day of the week and sticking to it we forced ourselves to set aside the time to play, this was the first step. After a bit of debate we decided that we wanted to offer the content we provided to anyone who would like to watch and thus created the YouTube Channel. In truth, the Group was formed out of necessity; the need to create a responsibility in each of us to commit weekly to each other, but it grew from there into a much more open and exciting beast altogether.   

Q: What was the first game you played together offline?

A: Mycl was the first of us to fall into the RPG world and he pulled Chris into his world a while after that, who isn’t drawn to a world of Fantasy and Fighting? The first game we ever played together as a group had to of been Dungeons and Dragons. I just can’t remember if it was 3.5 ed. or 4Th. More than likely, it was 3.5. The first truly memorable game would have been “The Rake.” Justin began playing in University and was also introduced by Chris. Finally like Dominos Harlan was drawn into RPG’s by all the above, however took a while to fully see the potential of what Role Playing could offer.

The first “official” game of The INVICTUS Stream was “Dragon Age: Game 1 – Part 1” however years before that they gathered in Harlan’s basement for a homebrew game that he created. Again, Harlan was never fully convinced of the RPG format (being a video gamers and not a huge fan of this world previously) he decided to develop a one-shot adventure called “The Rake of Addison Town.” The story followed the players who woke up in a wrecked car and slowly regained their memories as they played through the story.   

The game was a success and ultimately led to the birth of The INVICTUS Stream.

Q: What made you decide to transition online?

A: Originally it was out of necessity, with the distance between each player increasing with age, the need for a new mode of gaming took the form of YouTube, however it took a bit of convincing. After a short while it became about the Community we would be establishing.

But the start was definitely distance. We played a few games (Pathfinder, Dragon Age, Call of Cthulhu) with some of us around the table and Justin joining us via skype but the google hangouts format allows us to get together when we normally couldn’t.

However, nothing beats having the opportunity to actually spend time with each other around an actual table.

Q: Why did you guys choose the live streaming format?

A: We wanted to provide an opportunity for the Community to interact with us in real time so that they could alter the way the game is being played. Again, community involvement is what separates us from other Channels – we cater the game to the viewers and constantly look to them for advice.

Q: Why did you guys choose to do it over Youtube?

A: Harlan had used YouTube to stream games in the past with other players and decided that it would be the best format for our games – however we’re not set to it. There may be a switch to Twitch if it proves to be a better venue for us.

Q: How did you find starting up, were there any difficulties?

A: The nature of the beast being online definitely led to some internal discussions about what was truly important: US having fun, or it being fun for the VIEWERS. While we still are constantly trying to find a balance between the two we have found that when we’re having fun the community is having fun. In regards to content it’s always a fine line between keeping it light and innocent and bothering the players or viewers, we of course all have very droll humor and that sometimes can get us in trouble, but ultimately it’s our trouble to cause.

I think we will forever search for the balance of making an entertaining show and doing what we love!

Mycl: I’m going to say it. I was the biggest naysayer-even almost dropping out after a few of the Dragon Age sessions. Not because I wasn’t enjoying them, but because I’m really more of private person. I really just wanted to focus on playing. It was Chris’ observation of the “community” that is building, Harlan’s description of creating an atmosphere “like one of water rides you go down where other people get to shoot you with water cannons”, the great feedback and interaction we are getting from everyone joining, the fact that I don’t really need to wear pants, and Justin’s dreamy eyes, that convinced me to stay on.

Q: Do you have any advice for those wanting to start their own live-plays?

A: Don’t worry so much about what’s going on behind the camera, have fun and genuinely enjoy what you’re doing & don’t be afraid to make mistakes, it’s how we grow.

Q: I know you guys are big on the social aspect of your games and include the community you have built. What started that and could you explain a little more about it?

A: Years ago, on a Saturday night, Harlan was really craving some Role Playing and he stumbled across another Live Stream. However as he watched the players were continually forgetting plot points, clues & story notes to progress the story. It was from this frustration that birthed the idea of utilizing the community as a whole rather than just tell them to sit and watch the show. Community is so important to us, which is why we always want to rewards those who watch – the very reason we came up with the XP rewards system – a way to allow those watching to get something out of it that they can then spend in game while they watch.

Q: It seems that this all really derived from Numenera. What initially drew you to it?

A: In truth is started with Dragon Age, however Numenera has been particularly popular thanks to a few key elements. The first being an engaging and interested story & characters put together by Chris our GM, secondly the Communities involvement and communication with us while we play and finally and perhaps most importantly a fantastic game which goes along side with the support Monte Cook Games has given us retweeting, following, like, sharing and subscribing to our content. There is no greater feeling then having the creators give us their blessing when we run a game.

Q: Did you run a play test before hand or DID YOU guys just throw yourselves in?

A: We threw ourselves in! Half the fun it figuring it out as we go along.

Q: How did you find the character creation?

A: Mycl: I feel like, even if I were new to RPGs, the Numenera character creation process was well thought out and simple to follow. Although, I do find that the skills selection may be a little too open-ended for people just starting out, the “Character Descriptor” and “Character Focus” aspects are outstanding ways to define your character. Unknowingly, Justin and I both created Glaives that fuse flesh and steel.

  Thanks to the “Character Descriptor” we were able to create characters with enough differences that drove the character’s back-stories into very different directions. We also had very different visions of how the “Character Focus” affected Pivot and Tharik.

  In a more standard RPG we could have both easily ended up making “tanks” that may have had different personalities but were mechanically identical. I feel like that “Character Descriptor” changed enough that, not only were they played differently due to personalities and backgrounds, there were enough game mechanic differences that changed the way they looked to resolve challenges.

Chris: I really like the Cypher system with the one sentence description that encapsulates the characters.

Q: [For Chris] How did you find the rules and set up?

A: Chris: I really loved the simplicity of Numenera. The rules really supported the storytelling aspect of Role Playing, in that the “rules” were not going to get in the way. Especially the element where the GM makes no rolls. It was no longer me against the players but an ally watching them face obstacles.  I don’t have the highest intellect pool but after reading it over twice I felt comfortable enough with the rules and the set up to dive in.

Q: [For Chris] How did you find running the game in general?

A: Chris: I found running this game to be easier than other RPGs I have GMed. I am lucky to have some experienced PCs that really supported my own creative process. I felt few boundaries running this game because of the PCs, and the nature of Numenera being a mixed genre game both Sci-Fi and fantasy. When things did not go as planned the freedom that the Cypher system gives to creating on the spot really came in handy.  

Q: [For Players] How easy was it to grasp the concepts of the game? Such as setting,

rules and ability systems?

A: Harlan: It took me sometime (not sure I even still get it all) but generally it’s pretty accessible.

Justin: I had read some of Monte Cook and Shanna Germain's short stories before our first game so I was at least somewhat familiar with the world. The cypher system was a totally new concept for me though and I was very pleasantly surprised by how much creativity it encouraged.

Mycl: Game 1, Part 9- I feel like I’m getting the hang of it. For Numenera, I’ve only ever skimmed the rules when I need them. For us its always more about the story than the rules anyway. Numenera is a great system for people new to RPGs as the systems mechanics are simple conceptually. When we screw up a rule the community lets us know, and I think that’s fantastic, we try to fix it for next time.

Q: [For Chris] How did you come up with the setting and the plot? What inspired you

and if something from the Numenera books, what specifically?

A: Chris: The plot was the very first thing I wanted to think about. I came up with an end epic “thing” that the Characters had to face and then chunked backwards into three main sections. From there I added details, figuring out different side stories and pieces that would allow them to find success. I made the big details inevitable but how they get there and how they react completely open. I think this method helped drive the plot but also stayed open enough as to not railroad the PCs. 

The setting was my own interpretation of the Ninth world from reading the Amber Monolith and the Core rulebook to looking at illustrations and other fans stories about the Ninth world. I set the story in the Ninth World but I changed it to suit my needs, creating cities towns and landscapes to give substance.

I took inspiration form the things I was reading or watching at the time. During the planning of this campaign I watch a lot of Star Trek the Next Generation and read Patrick Rothfuss’ novel The Name of the Wind. The Numenera Core rulebook as well as the Technology Compendium also really inspired me. The books are inspiring to read and look at but to pick one thing that wrapped my head around the potential that this game the most was the short story The Amber Monolith.

Q: [For Players] What did you think to the campaign, the setting, and those you met and defeated along the way?

A: Harlan: 10/10

Justin: Chris did a good job keeping everyone engaged in the main plot line of the campaign. I really liked how he incorporated some of our character backstories into the plot (The Jackdaw imposter)

Mycl: Not just trying to pump his ego, but I think Chris has done an incredible job. Every time I get to sit down and play with these guys I am truly grateful. Harlan, Chris, Justin and Alex, are not only creative GMs and players, they’re good people to have in your life.

 
The situations that have been presented to us have been creative, challenging, and unique. Specifically for the Numenera campaign, Chris has done a great job of giving the NPC’s individual personalities. I still feel bad about Tharik ripping of the face of one of worm-faced people. Chris explained to us after the game that they were innocent farmers that we startled.

Q: [For Chris] What in your opinion, makes a good campaign?

A: Chris: Variety. Everyone wants something different. Some want more dialogue some want more fighting some want more puzzles. A campaign can’t please all players all the time but it should please everyone once in a while.  Also, what the Characters do or don’t do should matter.

Q: [For Players] What do you guys think makes a good group dynamic

A: Harlan: Making decisions that your character would make without being so cut and dry that you have no choice.

Justin: Being able to bring other characters/players into the spotlight and being mindful of how much time you are spending in it yourself.

Mycl: Playing with people you enjoy hanging out with and being friends with beyond the gaming group
.

 To add on to Harlan’s answer, often you will find that your character makes decisions that you yourself would not. Those decisions may not make sense based on concepts such as “power gaming” or “min/maxing”, they may be offensive to other characters, etc.,...remember that you're playing a game.

Don’t take it personally. Even if Pivot were to stab Tharik in the back, I’m not going to mad at Justin. If Pivot did it, there was probably an in-game motivation for Pivot to do it-even if I as a player was not privy to that knowledge. If Dennis Collins killed Brayden (Running Dead), I wouldn’t be mad at Harlan (Brayden was an immature ass anyway).

  We’ve discussed it on one of our Facebook post thanks to one of community members, but being a good player, like being a good GM, takes practice. It is just as much your responsibility as a player to insure you are having a good time as it is the GM’s.

Q: Who was the most memorable NPC?

A: Harlan: The lady with the black tooth in the first game.

Justin: Geome Kitrick. As the main quest giver and a giant machine cyborg thing, he definitely comes to mind first when I think of the campaign.

Mycl: The freaky frog creature with the people’s heads on it and ignorant farmers.

Chris: Tusk although he was not around much, that twitchy sun of a bitch stuck in my mind.

Q: What was the most memorable setting?

A: Harlan: The giant hand out of the ground in the second game

Justin: The room in the mines where we awoke in separate minecarts that were one by one being rolled into a portal.

Mycl: The river. Tharik is trained in swimming and so I thought the swim would be an easy one. Chris, in combination with poor dice rolls, decided that his internal metal structure made it not so.

Chris: The bog where the PCs met some interesting Ninth world creatures.

Q: What was your best memory of the campaign?

A: Harlan: Saving the young girl from the supposed Jackdaws

Justin: Injecting an enemy's neck with a cypher called 'The Bushwacker' that immediately made his neck swell too large for his body and respiratory system to handle.

Mycl: The community involvement. Be it through their real-time Facebook comments (which were not only funny and scary fast but often helped us stay on track and remember important details), their insanely creative Cyphers contest submissions, their use of XP to help us, or give Chris GM Intrusion ideas and NPC names.

Come to think of it, I’m also remembering Sharpie Jackdaws tattoos and T-shirt ideas.

Chris: Shazz accidentally syringing Geome Kitrick.  

Q: Now that the campaign is coming to a close, what are you guys moving onto next?

A: Next we have Running Dead, then we’re doing another The End of the World, after that another one shot adventure and FINALLY we begin CALL OF CTHLHU. Call of Cthulhu is a Dark Fantasy Role Playing game by Chaosium, set in the 1920’s where the Characters are investigators looking being the curtain of reality into the darkened unknown abyss.

It’s atmospheric & filled with terror, not for the faint of heart – especially with Harlan as GM.

Q: Will you ever be returning to the Ninth World?

A: You’ll just have to wait and see ;)

Q: Is there anything else you would like to say?

A: Yes! Please come visit us on our Facebook page & join the Facebook group. We welcome all range of players from newbies to total pros and we’re always up for a discussion. We’re constantly looking for ways to involve the players more in the game and if you feel like making a difference in the game, with The INVICTUS Stream – you make the calls. 

Don't forget to tune into the last game on Wednesday 15th at https://youtu.be/YEAqm4x70x8

Also visit out YouTube page and if you like what you see let us know why liking the videos and subscribing! Or visit any of the other various sites we exist on! We’d love to say hi and hang out!

See you around the table!

Thats it from the INVICTUS guys. The next Numenera Caster Interview will be with the Redacted Files. Both of these groups will be joining me for a round table discussion on casting from a production standpoint as well as a from a GM and player viewpoints. 

On Sunday 19th of July Traitors Gate will go live with my first live-stream of the TG campaign over at twitch.tv/traitors_gate. When you watch you will earn shins to gamble with to help decide the fates of my players by adding in complications, creating intrusions as well blackmailing them so make sure you're subscribed. Keep up to date with the Traitors Gate campaign over on Twitter : @traitor_gate or on facebook .

Keep your secrets safe and trust no one. Anyone could be a traitor!

Traitors Gate - The Real Cast?

Traitors Gate is just around the corner for the live-shows. You can watch them at twitch.tv/traitors_gate so make sure you have that followed. If you also want to keep up with all of the socials @traitors_gate for Twitter and our Facebook group facebook.com/groups/traitorsgatehouse

Here's a first look at our first four unfortunate blackmailed souls. Always remember, trust no-one, question everything and keep your secrets close to your chest. Not everyone will tell the truth, perhaps not even here.

Remy Quinn

I was raised by beggars in the Foundations district of Auspar. When I saw an opportunity I grabbed it with both hands and now I'm working my way up in the "import / export" business. I'm still carving a name out for myself in the city but you'll always find me wearing my best suit, for the time when success is around the corner.

Riley Carrington

I grew up in a small village  near the bastion city of Jyrek called Jutte. It's well known for its crops and dry goods that are transported throughout the Steadfast. I was no farmers daughter however, music made my heart sing. I helped out where I could and when I had enough shins to by myself my theremin, Beatrice, we travelled to the capital to find our fortune.

Samuel Watkins

I was born in Qi but at an early age my parents sent me to study under the Aeon priests as I developed a natural talent for the Numenera. When my parents died, I left the priests and moved into my parents old home. The family funds which I had come to rely on slowly diminished and so I set up my own Numenera repair shop where I work happily to this day.

Kieren Kynd

I was orphaned as a child and raised by a small religious order in the name of one of the Gods of the Datasphere. I have no other blood relatives left  and so the world has now become my my family and my loved ones. I travel the Steadfast now, using my teachings I had learned as a child to give guidance to those who seek it.

I do not own the rights to any of the images used here..

All images are used as referential depictions

City of Needles - Traitors Gate Announcement

For all of you that have been keeping up to date with the Silent War blog, it's been slowing down a little on content. This hasn't been my intention, but it is a side effect of an upcoming project I'm doing with a few members of Geekly-Inc.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be creating a new live cast of an actual play. It may be in the form of a stream and uploaded to Youtube, or put up as a podcast. Whichever one has the best ratio of time to production value but I would like to officially announce Traitors Gate.

City of Needles: Traitors Gate Actual Play LiveCast

• Name: Traitors Gate
• System: Numenera
• Session Days: Sunday
• Reoccurrence: Fortnightly
• Players: Up to 6
• Streamed: Possibly - Twitch
• Recorded: Yes - Audacity
• Audience Participation: Yes - Strawpoll
• Audience Forum: Yes - TBD
• Audience Rewards: Yes - TBD

Scenario Briefing

For quite some time, you have harboured a dark secret, a secret you have kept hidden from everyone you know. It has eaten away at you for as long as you can remember and would consume you and your world if it was ever known by anyone else. One fateful day you found a letter left for you where you worked, a letter sealed with wax and an insignia of a beetle stamped into it. Inside of it was the weight of your guilt written in ink. In the following days you panicked, your behaviour became erratic and those around you took note and tried to find out why. You felt your world spiralling until another letter arrived. Inside was instructions on how to keep this secret safe, a shared burden for a price. In a fit of defiance, you found your life hacked away but it was not you that suffered. A warning and a far greater toll than what was asked. The price of your secret you have now paid over and over again. You have betrayed yourself, your friends and family, the people that you know and those you have not. Another letter arrived last week, a letter demanding your attention and presence at a certain place and time. You cannot be sure what this means but you will do anything to protect your secret from destroying you.

As you can see there is a little audience participation in there which I'm still working on but if you want to get in on the ground floor here all  the current social links!

Twitter: @traitors_gate, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/traitorsgatehouse/

I will be announcing the cast and some of my homebrew blackmail rules, along with a social grapple as well as a new way to invest XP into guilds next week. So stay tuned.

/Tesla

Numenera: The Scry Hawk Chronicles - Halfway Summary

For those of you that joined in with me on Twitch, thank you very much. I'm still getting used to all this live stream nonsense and trying to put on a good production while also GM'ing is a little on the difficult side but I'll get there eventually.

For those of you that haven't caught the streams, here's a little update.

Falco: The Village of Stone - Next Broadcast Friday 24th 18:00 UTC

After launching an asteroid in the general direction of the village they eventually found their way to Ebon Along the way they found plant life that had turned to stone and a group of Griffalo defending a Griffalo statue. After a tough fight they found that the statue used to be a living Griffallo who only a few inches left of its internal structure still flesh while the outer part of the creature had turned to stone.

The village of Ebon was deserted, although a lot worse from surviving the shockwave from the asteroid impact near the area. Statues of two guards were found in a rickety lookout tower but found nothing more so they pressed on. The empty village only held one person, a young girl found crying in the Elder's hut. She told them that the Elder had told them to find shelter, her mother had gone to go find her father who was a village guard and she had been left alone.  Around the village they found cracks in the ground and more statues. One of the group took a tumble and as he tried to steady himself during a quake and a gas cloud from one of these cracks turned his hand to stone.

They tried to climb the guard tower, only for it to collapse but found the statues inside had vanished. This phenomena was found across the village, statues which once were there had moved or disappeared and others they had found were smashed. The young girl gave no more clues apart from a beast living under the ground which the Elder was afraid of. They returned back to the hut to put the girl somewhere safe and found the  statue of the Elder trying to scribe something. It was a note to save him and his village, they needed flesh to be whole again and warned them about the beast; the girl. She vanished with an artefact that the group had beneath a locked domed bunker hatch inside one of the huts, leaving the group to deal with the hungering statues.

Lanius: The Shadow Excavation - Next Broadcast Saturday 25th 16:00 UTC

The squadron made their way across blighted ground towards the mountain range known as the Black Raige. They found broken hounds half dead and decided to investigate. The hounds leapt at the group which they bravely fought back. They found that the hound's eyes poured fourth dark black smoke which could not be explained. With one of the group injured they found what seemed to be the guards of the excavation and tried to plead for help only to end up knocking out the guards. However they discovered that like the hounds before, the guards and three out of the four of the group now showed the signs of the pouring smoke, however none of them could see it on themselves.

They entered the excavation site with one of them taking the face and uniform of one of the guards outside. He along with the two that had the smoky eyes were accepted as support for the excavation. However the last member was seen as a fraud and immediately taken by number assigned guards to a holding cell. He was accompanied by the imposter guard to make sure he had back up. The other two were taken to task by the head of the archaeological dig, given excavation tools, chained up to weary slaves and sent down to dig. The prisoner tried to escape with the help of his undercover teammate which was interrupted by the chain gang.

They were soon all freed with the guards now dead or unconscious, one of whom seemed to have died from the shadows in his eyes dispelling from his body. There were shouts down below for help as another digger had somehow been suspended in the air by a shadowy force. The group managed to pull him up to the top of a pillar during which another member was suspended by this same force. They found a consol and deactivated whatever  was in play but activated a crystal disk in the centre of the pillared chamber. One member went to investigate and found themselves stuck on the crystal, with the rescued excavator now lumbering forward towards them. The excavator fell onto the crystal and shadows dissipated from his eyes, which were sucked underneath the crystal and  he died. With frantic efforts they managed to turn off the device and free their comrade. They investigated another room, turned on the crystal plate, only to find more shadows bubbling up through the crystal which started to fill the room, latching onto any form of intelligence. They ran back to the previous chamber and with all their effort closed the doors to stop the invasion of the shadows but as the door closed, the space in between fused with crystal.

Vultur: The Grand Orators Tome - Next Broadcast Sunday 26 17:00 UTC

Just over fifty miles along the Black Raige northwards, the squadron came face to face with the raw mountains. They had combed the area for an easy route to where they believed the Oraea monks had gone to but found no trace of a trail. They instead opted to use what looked like a vast storm drain channel cared into the mountain side, which lead up beyond the clouds. They were however presented with multiple problems. The first being that the access to the route was a sheer vertical cliff face, the second once they had gotten up, was a storm emanating from the top of the mountain range itself.

As they reached a third of the way up they found a place to pause, a large ledge that held a sinister artefact. Upon investigating a copper looking stain, they found that a recent land slide had covered up a perfectly severed arm. There was no sign of struggle or the body attached  but the material was the same as the Order's robes. Within moments they were surrounded by Pallones, disk like creatures with razer sharp edges that floated in the air almost invisible like jellyfish. They seemed to never end as after some were slain and more were revealed in the lightning of the storm overhead but all we slain by an explosive which warped the face of one of the group. Rain now started to fall and along with it, shards of metal, some shins, but most jagged fragments of larger metal objects. The channel they were climbing had filled with water and was gushing down the mountain impeding their travels. The darkness however highlighted a pale flickering light in a cavern above.

They decided not to enter before resting and all ended up in a dream state. A happy village with pure skies, laughing children. The town itself stood still while the villagers seemed to move at lightning speed, leaving a pale trail of their movements. They entered the tavern and saw shades that were inhuman, with arms and claws that reached to the ground which slashed into the villagers splashing red across the floor. The group tried to call out but heard a sound to hush them before everything fell into silence and they awoke. Inside the cave was a Oraea monk, barely holding on to life. He was stemming the blood loss and infection from a severed arm. He told them they avoided the village that held a religious right over the bridge they were heading to. The villagers were violent towards  those who wanted access to the bridge and recent merchants had brought back tales of the Night Shusher, a nightmare creature whole stole children from the village but no cries could be heard from the screaming children. They were said to have been taken to the bridge. The monk told them he had been left by his fellow monks who had possibly gone up to the bridge without him but they had left him before he had awoken. As the storm raged outside the squadron could see a group of pale figures with abnormally long arms watching them from far up in the distance, on the way up the mountains.

Elanus: The Dodona's Twin - Next Broadcast Tuesday 28th 16:00 UTC

On the Old Road Amphos the squadron literally stumbled into an invisible man. The crash caused his cloaking belt to break and soon an argument broke out between him and the squad. He seemed in a hurry to leave and it became apparent he was carrying a satchel and documents from the Aeon Priests. He said that the leader of the priests in the swamp had told him to send for reinforcements and was headed to the city but when he was asked to come with them he outright refused saying that Master Wrenn did not care for his life. This was suspicious and was only compounded when they wrestled the papers off of him, one of which that had names crossed off along with other vital and no doubt secret documents. The man fled for safety leaving what he had with them.

The group pressed on and encountered a warrior whose suit of armor, sword and shield were all made of the same grey material with glowing blue lines etched into them. She was a formidable foe who demanded that they handed over the documents but they managed to eventually wear her down and knock her out. When she came to, they demanded answers, finding out that she might have been protecting the man they had just encountered rather than trying to hunt him down. She refused to follow them into the swamp, causing a Cypher to explode creating a nanosecond of intense gravity that forced them to the floor, knocking one of them out. They decided she was too much trouble and although they did not unbind her from her restraints, they showed her a piece of paper which she interpreted as  the group were new recruits for her organisation and left them in peace. She threatened her return or sending others after them if she could not get the restrains off easily. 

They arrived at the swamp and the fog from the swamp had started to thicken. They found a dimly lit encampment with an old man near the central fire looking over documents and another digging a large hole. One of the group went to investigate but the fog obscured him just a little and although he panicked the digger, he was dismissed by Master Wrenn as a figment that were plaguing the researchers. The artificial intelligence went in and pretended to be someone sent from the Aeon Priests from Auspar and was condemned to being a  faulty AI as they did not know current events. Another entered, who pretended to be one of the researchers, which fooled Master Wrenn and convinced the digger he had taken a Cypher to change his appearance. However, he questioned why they out there and was deemed mentally unstable and was told to wait for medical assistance. He escaped and returned to Master Wrenn who told him who he was and although the digger questioned Master Wrenn's acceptance of who he was in light of what he himself had been told.

Strix: Kaledon's Reprise - Next Broadcast Sunday 3rd May 16:00 UTC

The squadron found themselves mid morning in the Grey Market of Auspar. Although they weren't local to the area or the floor of the city, the citizens didn't notice. Partially due to the rebuilding of the market itself but also of the discovery of a dead body. It had been left in a dumpster behind a restaurant. It turned out to be a man called Braxx, the leader of the Guldspar in Auspar. He had not been seen in quite some time and the fact he seemed to have been murdered by multiple blunt force injuries deemed it a murder. The group tried to gather information but the crowd, baying for someone to blame, turned on one of the group. The Guldspar of the squadron turned the tables on the woman accuser and soon the crowd turned on her for her lack of even circumstantial evidence.  The body was secured, the investigating Guldspar departed and the woman was escorted away by another guard with a metal eye, who shouted at her for disobeying the kings orders, his orders. In hushed tones however he told her to never breathe a word of what he had said to the priests who were coming for her.

The group eventually found their way to Ample's boutique and their contact Elvira. She forced them to hand over their Silver Coins in exchange for more fitting clothes of the current fashion to blend in and told them they needed to head to the Papal Spire. People were getting sick, perhaps a contagion, only affecting people who had mechanical implants. She had called in the Scry Hawks as she had illegally augmented one of her own guards which was also against the tenants of the Silver Palm. The man in question, Hotch, burst into the room from guarding outside and slew his fellow guard for insulting royalty before turning on the group. They eventually subdued him but not before the Guldspar came into contact with Hotch's mechanical arm and his golden veins turned purple with a voice telling him to kneel. They were interrupted before the killing blow by Elvira, her other guards and two Aeon priests, they were there to take Hotch away to the Papal Spire and to Holva's Ward.

They followed the Priests inside the Papal Spire and used the Guldspar's new condition to try to get them into restricted medical areas. They found that the ward housing the patients suffering from the new infliction were heavily guarded. Luckily, after taking a vial of Gate to the Forking Paths, the Guldspar was wheel-chaired to a nearby secure ward which already housed a patient; Zevran Narrkonis, Lord Narrkonis' third born son. While outside, one of the group was crashed into by a cart carrying medical vials and was accidentally injected with a substance which created a crystalline cast over his wounds. He tried to seek help from a nurse, who after signing him in and away from the group and the general staff and public, violently interrogated him for information on the King and the Scry Hawk's involvement, before knocking him unconscious. The Guldspar, while unconscious, had dreams of being a cobbler in a small shop. It then turned into a room filled with banners, high backed seats and a very unique staff. As he awoke he saw the staff on one of the screens on Zevran's skin and soon found out via the Datasphere Zevran was next to the Kaldon's tomb when the seal was broken. The Guldspar wanted out but the doctors and guards wouldn't let him in case he infected other Guldspar and moments later, Zevran asked him for help.

Do you like what you've read so far, or perhaps caught a glimpse of the live-players over on Twitch? You can support me, my writing, live-streaming and soon podcasting via Patreon.

The Scry Hawk Chronicles Stream Dates, Details and Times

This Friday marks the first session of The Scry Hawk Chronicles over on my Twitch channel. 

Below are the stream  times and a mission statements for each session.

Falco: Friday 10th/24th April, 19:00 UTC+1 - The Village of Stone

Unnatural tremors have been reported heading towards an unprotected village with the rumour of the intention to destroy   it.

Lanius: Saturday 11th/25th April, 17:00 UTC+1  - The Shadow Excavation

Regent Chancellor Pheylor has funded an archaeological dig with taxpayers money, which has started to blight the land around it.

Vultur: Sunday 12th/26th April, 18:00 UTC+1  - The Grand Orators Tome

An expedition team from the First Oraea of the Vessel have gone missing in the Black Raige searching for a potentially cataclysmic prophesy.

Elanus: Tuesday 14th/28th  April, 17:00 UTC+1 - The Dodona's Twin

Aeon Priests from the Papal Spire in Auspar are searching for a cure to the Untethering and have discovered a swamp of sentient flora.

Strix: Sunday 19th April/3rd May, 17:00 UTC+1  - Kaledon's Reprise

The seal on the long dead king Kaldon's tomb has been defiled  and a request of help has been sent by the criminal organisation, the Silver Palm

http://patreon.com/cityofneedles

Numenera: Interview with Andreas Walters - Author of Ninth World Assassins

D: Can you tell us a little about your background in Table Top RPGs?

A: Started playing in middle school with D&D third edition, played that and 3.5 until about high school until our GM became "too cool to be geek." From there I took over GMing, I remained playing predominately playing D&D (Occasionally playing Star Wars Saga and Mutants & Masterminds) until until Monte Cook kickstarted Numenera, which was where the real change happened.

D: What has been your favourite to play?

A: Although I have relatively limited gaming diversity experience, I would say I have had a lot of fun with D&D 3.5 and Star Wars Saga, despite its broken mechanics (which I personally fixed).

D: Do you have a moment that you will always remember from a game?

A: two session mega-battle against Asmodeus, where the players Mephistopheles asked for the players help to free Levistus and help him take down the Lord of Hell. Mephistopheles took the crown as Lord of Hell and the players got the 7th layer (Levistus got the 8th).

D: What have been your inspirations?

A: Computer: Warcraft 2 & 3, Heroes III of Might & Magic, Elderscrolls Series (Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim)

Videography: Firefly Series, Ghost In the Shell, all Miazaki Movies, Stargate, and Star Wars  

RPG: 3.0 Forgotten Realms Handbook

Books: Redwall series, Michael Criton books, Dragon Lance series.

D: Can you tell us a little about Metal Weave Games?

A: We're small company making big things. Originally we were Knowlege of the Ninth, as some of you may remember from the Ninth World Hub days. I started out by learning how to PDF peoples content in a professional manner. And from there when the Numenera Limited License was announced, I made Ninth World Assassins, and continued creating.

D: What attracted you to the Cypher System?

A: Well, I was just getting into twitter, and this whole thing about Numenera was blowing up my feed thought it was spammy like the rest of the kickstarters I saw, but it seemed to get quite a bit more attention, so I checked it out and liked the concept. 

D: What was the concept behind Ninth World Assassins  and how did it come about?

A: Initially it was just going to be a short supplement of poisons (since the book had listed poison as both cypher and equipment). In addition, if I was to make a poison, there wasn't really any guidance on such matters. I thought doing some foci would be good too, and I just kept adding to it until it felt like a real supplement.

D: Can you give a brief overview on the creation process?

A: So a lot of it comes down to recording all your ideas somewhere and then developing them. I have a lot of ideas, lots of them, its just a matter of making 

For example, Organization Membership, the corebook lists quite a few organizations and I saw that their membership perks were really weak. Yeah you could probably do more with roleplay, but the problem is that if the player dosen't know what options are available to him, he may never use them to the potential he could have. So I created a guild system that would allow the guild to take a more active role in campaigns without making the guild everything that's going on.

D: Is there anything you are particularly proud of in Ninth World Assassins ?

A: I'm actually quite proud of this book, poisons are the poster child, however I do want to give a shout-out to the foci and guild system

D: Is there anything of your own you would recommend if they like Ninth World Assassins ?

A: I like to create diverse works, so the content of everything that I have produced so far have been quite different from each other. Naval Encounters was done in a similar manner to ninth world assassins but put a greater focus on the weird vessels of the ninth world. 

D: What else have you developed for the Cypher System?

A: I published the Mechanical Bards Ninth World Tales, Naval Encounters and Naval Perils; Cloak and Dagger (The Strange) and Southern Sorrows (Numenera Module) will release soon too.

D: Is there anything you are working on at the minute?

A: Lots of things, currently the Baby Bestiary, Scavengers, Non-Player Cards, and our cypher licenses, Cloak and Dagger and Southern Sorrows.

D: Are you writing for other systems? If so what?

A: Creating new systems is some of the things we do, for instance Scavengers which just got funded on kickstarter. We're also looking into doing some writing for Savage Worlds.

D: Any plans for the future?

A: We have lots of plans, unfortunately we cannot discuss any of our cypher-system plans until they come under license. All I can say is to keep an eye on us, we're very busy working on new games, game supplements and systemless game aids. 

D: I just want to say thank-you for being an inspiration and being core to my Numenera Universe. (Any further comments?)

A: You were pretty thorough, thanks for the interview.

http://patreon.com/cityofneedles

Numenera: 100th Blog Post, GeeklyInc, Scry Hawk Chronicles Project and Patreon

Iadace internet,

First and foremost I just want to say thank-you for all the support I have had over the past 8 months. Every single one of you have been instrumental in how the core campaign has shaped up and has inspired me to go a lot further than just the blog. I  also want to celebrate that that as of the 1/04/2015 (yes the date is a little suspect) I have reached my 100th blog post on my core City of Needles novel. It's currently  totalling one novel and couple of chapters in to the second. I have never written so much in my life and I have enjoyed every second of it, which has to be a testament to Numenera itself as a story-teller's dream.

Halfway through March, I applied to to be a writer for GeeklyInc and luckily landed myself a position for their Table Top section. As most of you know I've never played another system, in fact I've only managed to play half a game of Numenera as a player. With the Numenera system and setting, along with my Master of Arts Degree in Literature and Creative Writing I've managed to create systems and spreadsheets to help me through the baby steps of GM'ing with narrative design at the forefront. I'll be taking everything I've learned and will be writing up a new series on there, exclusively talking about Numenera. This will include how I fell in love with game as a writer and how its systems, settings and rules help create a game where narrative driven content can be an inspiring and freeing experience for both the GM and the players.

On the back of my 100th post for the core campaign novel; next week I will be launching The Scry Hawk Chronicles over on Twitch. Starting from the week of the 6th of April, I will be running 5, two part adventures, set in the Needles Universe. The adventures all stem from from the organisation known as the Scry Hawks, a black-ops style order of the Hawk-Eye. You can find more information on the campaign itself and my 22 community players over at Scry Hawk Wikia.

The first game and adventure titles are:

Falco: Firday 10th/24th April, 19:00 BST - The Village of Stone

Lanius: Saturday 11th/25th April, 17:00 BST - The Shadow Excavation

Vultur: Sunday 12th/26th April, 18:00 BST - The Grand Orators Tome

Elanus: Tuesday 14th/28th  April, 17:00 BST - The Dodona's Twin

Strix: Sunday 19th April/3rd May, 17:00 BST - Kaledon's Reprise

If you've been reading my core campaign and the stuff on here, there has been quite a lot of work put into it so far. By my best estimate I have over 120k  words for the novel and a diverse range of topics on here. I've decided to set up a Patreon to help further both the blogs and the livestreams. The money will be going towards production costs, time needed to write the blogs and hopefully in the future more productions such as podcasting with your support. The Numenera community has been the foundation for a passion that has been nurtured and grown by you. I don't think I would be in the position today where I could say I've written a novel and a half, GM'd and played my first ever TT-RPG, and now confident, inspired, and perhaps a little insane enough to GM 5 more games.   If you like what you've read so far and want to support me further I would greatly appreciate it.

To close, I just want to say a thank-you to +Monte Cook, +Shanna Germain, the Numenera Community, the G+ Table Top Roleplayers, my core campaign players, my 22 Scry Hawks and everyone else in between. You've changed my life.

/Drew - Tesla