Go beyond the boundaries of the fantastic, award-winning Numenera setting.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Into the Deep Is Coming—How About Some Wallpapers?
about 10 years ago
– Tue, Mar 22, 2016 at 12:04:40 AM
Hello, Ninth World Kickstarter backers—
Into the Deep has headed to the printer! To celebrate, we’re ready to deliver your Into the Deep wallpapers.
You can download yours here! There are three awesome designs in a variety of common monitor sizes.
Now, the astute among you might notice that the three wallpapers we’re delivering today, plus the three we delivered for Into the Night, brings the total to six—which is what we promised during the Kickstarter campaign. Does that mean we’re done? NO! We’ll also do three for Into the Outside, so you’ll end up with more than we actually promised. There’s so much great imagery from these books that we just couldn’t help ourselves.
In Other Ninth World News…
Into the Deep isn’t the only thing we’ve been working on. The Artifact Deck is at the printers now, and will be ready to ship in a couple of weeks. The character portfolio is in proofing now, and goes to press in the near future. Shanna is closing in on completion of The Poison Eater—and did you see the exciting news about our book deal? And of course we’re marching forward on Character Options 2 and Into the Outside.
A mockup of the character portfolio's innards.
Other Worlds of the Cypher System
Do you like dinosaurs? Dinosaurs with frickin’ laser beams on their heads? In Predation, your PC is one of a small society of time travelers marooned in the Late Cretaceous Period. You have technology; you have weapons; your people have even bioengineered dinosaurs and other creatures to your needs—but you don’t have a way back to your own time. Or a solution for the asteroid that, your history books tell you, will soon wipe out nearly all life on Earth.
Predation is one of three really cool settings for the Cypher System we’re currently Kickstarting. In Unmasked you play a superhero whose powers derive from the mask you created—a mask that might be exacting a terrible price from you. Gods of the Fall is an epic fantasy setting in which you are called upon to fulfill divine prophesy and replace the very gods who died when heaven fell to Earth. Each is a hefty 192-page hardcover, chock full of the incredible creativity of the MCG team. The campaign is already racking up the stretch goals, and we’ve added tons of cool stuff. Get in on it before it’s over!
Thanks again for supporting Into the Ninth World.
Iadace! —Charles
Gods! Dinosaurs! Superheroes!
about 10 years ago
– Tue, Mar 01, 2016 at 05:48:38 PM
Hello, Ninth World Kickstarter backers—
We have some exciting news you might be interested in!
Last week we announced the launch of a new line of products supporting the Cypher System Rulebook. (If you're not familiar with it, the Cypher System Rulebook takes the game engine from Numenera and lets you use it to create any campaign you like in virtually any genre.) We are now funding this through the Worlds of the Cypher System Kickstarter campaign. The campaign began Monday morning and quickly blew through its funding target—we're now adding new features and content through stretch goals.
The first product in this line will be the Gods of the Fall campaign setting. It's a 192-page hardcover sourcebook for an epic-level high-fantasy campaign set in a world in which the old gods have fallen, but you can awaken your divine spark and, through challenges and labors, take their place. You won't have to wait too long to get this reward: Gods of the Fall releases in June. Kickstarter backers will enjoy extra exclusive features, such as the poster map (a stretch goal we’ve already unlocked), and unlocking future stretch goals will only expand these exclusive rewards!
In Predation, you're one of a small society of time travelers trapped in the Cretaceous Period. First you'll have to figure out how to survive using the tech you brought from the future—modern weapons, advanced science, and bioengineered dinosaurs. Then you can worry about the asteroid that history says wipes out most life on earth. Predation will also be a 192-page hardcover.
Unmasked is a dark superhero setting. They say you're dangerous. Insane. That you suffer from Dissociative Mask Disorder. Your parents and the doctors and the press and the military—they can’t believe what’s happening. They can’t believe what you can do. And they wouldn't believe the price you pay.
But these titles are just the beginning! The campaign is going gangbusters, and is already closing in on a stretch goal that adds Myth of the Maker, a novel for The Strange to be penned by Bruce Cordell and released in hardcover and popular ebook formats. We've hit several other stretch goals, and have plenty of great ideas for more titles and features!
The Worlds of the Cypher System Kickstarter campaign launched yesterday, and runs through April 1 (no foolin'). It features many Kickstarter-exclusive rewards, and the All the Print Books package, a feature of most backer levels, is an incredible deal that just keeps getting better. Whether you're an existing player or haven't yet tried the Cypher System, this is an opportunity you don't want to miss!
Iadace! —Charles
Two New Rewards!
about 10 years ago
– Fri, Feb 12, 2016 at 02:55:15 PM
Hello, Ninth World Kickstarter backers—
Charles here; I’m the one who generally writes these updates for you. Today, however, you’re mostly going to hear from Shanna. Why? Because she’s the one who’s done the heavy lifting on both of the rewards we’re delivering to you today!
Before I hand the baton to Shanna, though, here’s a quick update on other rewards in the works:
Do you like what you see? Fantastic artwork there by Christopher Burdett and Sam Cullum. Into the Deep has just passed from the layout phase and into proofing. It goes to press in just a few weeks, perfectly on schedule for its May street date. We’re really pleased with this book—it’s a beauty, and we think you’ll really like where it takes your Numenera campaign.
The Artifact Deck has just entered the layout phase. Because it has a much shorter print turnaround, we expect to deliver this one ahead of Into the Deep—by the end of March.
We start writing on Into the Outside and Character Options 2 over the next couple of months!
Achievement Unlocked—Times Two
Today we’re delivering two of the rewards you unlocked through the campaign’s social media achievements. The first: Numenera gear! The actual item you unlocked was “a series of T-shirts available through a third-party vendor,” but we might have taken it a bit further. Here’s Shanna:
Back when we were running this Kickstarter, we thought that opening a t-shirt store would be one of the easiest rewards to fulfill: come up with some cool shirt designs, print cool shirts, and offer cool shirts to all of you! (Plus, selfishly, the MCG team really wanted Numenera t-shirts, so it was just a great excuse to do something that we were already pining for).
However, it didn't turn out to be quite so easy. Whenever we're making decisions behind the scenes, on ANY product, the first and most important question we ask is, "is this the level of quality that we'd be proud to put our name on?" If the answer is no (or even a "um...maybe?"), then we start over.
We did our research and scouted out what people recommended as the top places to get cool-looking t-shirts online. Then Bear made up some shirt designs, and we ordered some sample shirts… A LOT of sample shirts.
As they arrived, we looked at the make and feel of the shirt: soft? comfortable? true to size?
Then we looked at the print job: were the colors off? was the image stretched? were the details clear?
Then we washed and dried the shirts a whole bunch: did they shrink? did the printing wear off?
In the end, very few of the shirts we ordered made it through our quality control check unscathed. The most common failure was that the printing just wasn't as beautiful as we wanted it to be. Other shirts were uncomfortable, didn't fit right, or didn't last the through multiple washer/dryer trials.
But there was one clear winner in the end, and that was Red Bubble. The shirts were soft and high quality and the printing was crisp and clean. There was also a lot of variety--great unisex and women's sizes, as well as long and short sleeve options. So then we went a little bit crazy—we test-printed leggings, coffee cups, laptop sleeves, phone cases, and more. And the quality continued to make us very, very happy.
So with all of that, we are excited and proud to present the Numenera Gear Store. We hope you love these as much as we do. Please send us photos of you showing your Numenera love out in the world—or bring your goodies to Gen Con (or another convention we're at) and we'll be happy to sign them for you!
Who Wants a Little Fiction?
In addition to Numenera gear, Shanna has also been hard at work on The Poison Eater. (All that on top of her primary duties—writing MCG products and keeping the plates spinning on our production schedule.) Here’s what Shanna has to say about the first official Numenera novel:
Those of you who know me even a little bit, know that I have a lot of loves: games, dogs, good food, good people, great stories. But probably my biggest love is writing fiction. It’s the work that makes my heart sing, the work that makes me feel most alive. So writing a novel set in the world of Numenera is just the best-of-the-best for me.
As a reminder of what The Poison Eater is about, here’s the quick plot summary:
Poison never lies.
Talia was once one of the Twelve Martyrs of the Forgotten Compass. She barely escaped that life with her body and soul intact.
Now she has a new life as a poison eater in the city of Enthait. Here she is hailed as one of the city's protectors. No one knows her history. No one has asked about her past. She’s been here so long that Enthait is her home now, these are her people. She loves them and they her.
But in the Ninth World, the past is a living, breathing thing. And when it hunts you down, you can run. You can fight. Or you can die.
The Poison Eater is a story that is deeply immersed in the Ninth World. Along the way, you’ll encounter places, creatures, and numenera that you recognize, as well as a lot of weird stuff that will be entirely new. Talia, the main character, will be your guide through the dangers and delights of the Ninth World.
I say all of that as though the novel is complete, and of course it’s not yet. I’m an organic writer (a process I do not recommend, by the way); I don’t start a novel on page one and write it chapter by chapter. And so I’m always tweaking and changing things as I go, making them better, upping the stakes, breaking more hearts, kicking more ass.
This first chapter will likely change a bit by the time I finish writing the rest of the book (this is just a rough draft, after all), but I’m happy with how it’s coming along so far. I hope will be too.
The sample is now ready for you to read! You can download it here.
Finwa, Poison Eaters.
Hope to See You at Gen Con
This week Tammie uploaded our official MCG events to Gen Con. We’re really excited about the lineup—we’re running roughly 110 games (with a few cool seminars in there as well). Last year we ran about 75 games, so this is a 50% increase. Of course, last year our games sold out within hours of event registration opening, and Gen Con listed them among the most chronically oversold events—so demand is still likely to be high.
It’s not too late to join the team. We have a great community of volunteer GMs at Gen Con—they have a fantastic time, and we treat our volunteers very well. If you’d like to get on board, you can find out more here.
Thanks again for supporting Into the Ninth World.
Iadace! —Charles
Announcing the Cypher Card Creator!
about 10 years ago
– Tue, Feb 02, 2016 at 08:40:43 PM
Hello, Ninth World Kickstarter backers—
One of the items you unlocked as an achievement is the Numenera Cypher Card Creator. I’m pleased to announce that as of today, the Cypher Card Creator is live! You can find it here.
The Numenera Cypher Card Creator lets you design your own cypher effect cards, just like those in the Cypher Deck and Cypher Deck 2. Create as many as you like—designing them is free. You can then order print versions of your cards (they cost just $0.25 each) and have them mailed to you. The cards you make are physically indistinguishable from the official MCG cards, so when you add them to your Cypher Deck they’ll be a perfect fit.
There’s even a marketplace, where you can browse cards designed by other fans, or offer yours for sale to others.
Cyphers are, of course, at the heart of the Cypher System, and this is a really neat way to add an infinite variety of cyphers to your game!
The beta is very much just that—a beta: It contains about 20% of the game content, and the UI and some other aspects are unpolished. But reviewers are loving the content and gameplay. You can try it out at Steam Early Access!
Hope to See You at Gen Con
Will we see you at Gen Con? If you’re heading to Indy this summer for the best four days in gaming, consider running an official MCG game event or two. It’s a lot of fun, we have a great community of GMs, and we treat our volunteers very well. You can find more details here.
Iadace! —Charles
A Busy January—Loads of Good Stuff on the Way!
about 10 years ago
– Thu, Jan 14, 2016 at 05:57:25 PM
Hello, Ninth World Kickstarter backers—
We’ve had a pretty busy couple of weeks as we’ve started out our 2016. While the big projects continue on pace—Into the Deep, slated for release in May, is through the editing stage and has started layout; writing on Character Options 2 is coming along nicely; and Shanna is well into The Poison Eater—we’re also progressing on the many smaller rewards you added to the Into the Ninth World campaign through achievements and stretch goals. Here’s the latest:
The Poison Eater sample chapter: We expect to share the opening chapter of The Poison Eater within a week or so. It’s complete (in the sense that a single chapter of the first draft of a not-yet-finished novel can be called “complete”) and is currently in the proofing stage, so if all goes to plan we’ll lay it out and release the file next week!
Other fiction news: In related news, we hope to have some very exciting stuff to share with you regarding Numenera fiction in the not-too-distant future. Stay tuned!
T-shirts: We’ve been working with several potential vendors on Numenera T-shirts. Quality is super-important to us, so we’ve had samples produced by a couple of different vendors. So far we’re not 100% satisfied (although our personal collections of slightly-less-than-perfect Numenera T-shirts have grown handsomely!). We’ve opened the search a bit wider. The perfect vendor is out there—we’ll find them!
Artifact Deck: Contributors to the Artifact Deck have submitted their concepts, and the bulk of the design work on the deck as been completed. The text now heads into editing while Bear, our Art Director, wrangles illustrations for the cards. The deck will go into layout in about a month!
Character Portfolio: Monte has completed the design work on this, and it moves into layout soon.
Video continuation: Likewise, Monte has finished his part—scripting the continuation of the story begun in the Kickstarter video. That goes next to Bear for the motion graphics.
Cypher card generator: As we’ve mentioned in the last couple of updates, work has progressed nicely on the Numenera Cypher Card generator. We’ve completed all testing and made some final graphics tweaks. We’re now just waiting on DriveThru to give us the thumbs up, and it’ll be live!
Character sheets: The Into the Ninth World character sheet is now done and available! And, as promised, we’ve made both it and the original Numenera character sheet form-fillable. We’ve wrapped both versions up in a single, handy PDF, which you can now download!
The Numenera Board Game
It’s not too late: You can still get in on the Kickstarter for The Ninth World: A Skillbuilding Game for Numenera. As of this writing, the campaign has a little over 24 hours to go. From Lone Shark Games and rockstar boardgame designers Paul Peterson, Mike Selinker, and Boyan Radakovich, in The Ninth World players explore the nine kingdoms of The Steadfast, building their characters’ strengths as they discover strange relics, confront weird creatures, and generally explore the strangeness of the Ninth World. Kickstarter backers have helped shape the game, leading to a cooperative mode and other cool features. And backers get more content than the standard, retail edition of the game. The Ninth World is getting rave reviews from those who’ve tried it. Don’t miss out—head over to the Kickstarter campaign now!
Torment: Tides of Numenera
The Torment: Tides of Numenera CRPG is almost here! The beta launches to Torment backers next week, and hits Steam Early Access on Tuesday, January 26. It’s a pretty hefty beta, with loads of content. We were in a meeting with the inXile folk just yesterday (we meet with them regularly), and I can personally convey the excitement and passion those guys have for this title. The full release of the game is later this year, but if you want a taste of their take on the Ninth World, check out the beta!
Planning for Gen Con
It’s only January, but believe it or not we’re already knee-deep in planning and prep for Gen Con. Demand for official Numenera game sessions at Gen Con has always been extremely high, so once again we’re looking at further increasing the number of events we run. If you’re thinking about attending Gen Con and might enjoy running Numenera, we’re always on the lookout for good GMs to help us out. Keep an eye on the Monte Cook Games web site for more Gen Con news in the weeks to come!
