102
votes
Accepted
Consistency between "yes and" with "no, because I'm the DM"
You are creating your own problem
As mentioned in Thomas' answer, rules are the way the game provides consistency and sets the expectation of the outcomes of the players' actions. If you arbitrarily ...
- 37.3k
38
votes
Consistency between "yes and" with "no, because I'm the DM"
The rules are the primary tool a player has for aligning their expectations with realistic outcomes.
As you state in your introduction, you "discard rules left and right in favor of what feels ...
- 154k
23
votes
What are the differences between Numenera and Numenera 2?
Numenera 2 has two corebooks. Discovery, and Destiny.
Numenera 2 works now in the Cypher System. The main change it brings to Numenera is related to armour. The costs in might and speed associated ...
- 541
18
votes
Accepted
How can I make theater-of-the-mind dungeon-crawling/location exploration fun and engaging?
Exploring is fun!
For me, dungeon crawling is not about choices, it is about thriller, mystery, and discovering new stuff.
It is not about choosing between Door A or Door B for a goat or a car, it is ...
- 37.3k
17
votes
Consistency between "yes and" with "no, because I'm the DM"
Sometimes, when you win, you really lose
This is a common theme throughout literature and cinema, and it often produces some of the best content. To quote Robert Burns, "The best laid schemes o' ...
- 2,775
13
votes
Accepted
Can I negate a "free" GM intrusion?
"Free intrusion" is not a game term and no other rules reference it. Thus beside the rules written on p.88 there are no other restrictions. The general rules for negating intrusions, from p.18:
the ...
- 61.9k
13
votes
Consistency between "yes and" with "no, because I'm the DM"
A success need not be the success they intended
The character successfully slips on the invisibility cloak without being noticed by their mark (but...)
They sneak up on their mark, and go to slice ...
- 389
12
votes
Accepted
Is this Multiple Enemies rule a house rule?
I contacted the author of that cheat sheet through e-mail and they directed me to page 349 of the Numenera core book:
As a general
rule, for every four creatures working together, treat
them as ...
- 19.6k
9
votes
Accepted
Can PCs create a Mob?
No, they cannot.
Combats in Numenera move quickly enough that a GM should not hesitate to use large groups of creatures as challenges for PCs, particularly powerful PCs. A screaming, squirming horde ...
- 61.6k
9
votes
Accepted
Character Advancement in Numenera Starter
According to the core Numenera rules, XP can be spent in four different quantities. As far as I can see only the 3XP choice is definitely inappropriate for a short game.
1 XP can be spent to re-roll ...
- 15.3k
9
votes
Accepted
Where are huraths described?
I posted this same question on the Monte Cook Games Asset Team Chat page on Facebook. That page is used by MCG to communicate with volunteers who demo their products in stores.
Sean K. Reynelds ...
- 19.6k
9
votes
How can I make theater-of-the-mind dungeon-crawling/location exploration fun and engaging?
Choices are interesting when you have some idea of possible outcomes of those choices. If there is no way to deduce consequences from a choice, it's essentially just picking a random outcome, which is ...
- 266
9
votes
Consistency between "yes and" with "no, because I'm the DM"
Other answers are all good, but missing one key pragmatic element:
Don't be afraid to call a temporary recess.
Basically, be perfectly open with the players by looking surprised and saying "… I ...
- 201
8
votes
Accepted
If I already have the Numenera Core rulebook, will the other MCG core books add anything to my experience?
While the game mechanics are the same - it's the Cypher System -, the game worlds and settings could not be more different from another. So it effectively depends on what kind of adventures you want ...
- 466
8
votes
Accepted
Pacing GM Intrusions
According to page 108 of the Numenera core rules:
As a general rule, the GM should intrude at least once each session, but no more than once or twice each session per character.
So, at least once,...
- 22.8k
8
votes
How would a Jack gain esoteries?
As of Discovery, Jacks can gain Nano esoteries starting at Tier 2.
Tricks of the Trade: (From tier 2 onward) Choose one of the following tricks (or a trick from a lower tier) to add to your ...
- 81
7
votes
Accepted
Is this item unbalanced?
The item is not unbalanced. The problem is that neither yourself nor your GM understands intrusions. Intrusions are not there to kill a character or for the GM to impose their will on the player. This ...
7
votes
Accepted
Player cheating to keep their character alive
If you're worried that people are cheating on their dice rolls, you need to have a norm that people roll their dice in public, in full view of the table. Most tables have this rule already: you roll ...
- 90.6k
7
votes
Accepted
Can I still "Stun" a target if I don't inflict damage?
If the attack roll hit, you should have dazed the enemy. You're using this power not to kill, but to control the battlefield.
Your situation is the following: let's say you attacked with a light ...
- 10.9k
7
votes
Accepted
Is allowing someone who selects the Mutant racial descriptor to pick their mutations unbalanced?
To begin it's important to state the rules for the original orange Numenera corebook and the newer Numenera Discovery are verbatim on this subject. Although the page in question differs. I provide ...
- 689
7
votes
Accepted
Numenera - Higher than expected Health on NPCs
This post from MCG details a possible way of thinking about creature design and gives a brief overview of MCG's design philosophy:
One of the main reasons I love GMing the Cypher System is the low ...
- 271
7
votes
Accepted
Does help from other players stack?
From a practical point of view, up to two characters can help
From the definition of assets, on numenera discovery, pag. 103
An asset usually eases a task by one step. Assets can never ease a
...
- 6,438
7
votes
How can I make theater-of-the-mind dungeon-crawling/location exploration fun and engaging?
Exploration is about theme, mood, and discovery
I, too, struggle with exploration phases of the game sometimes. For me, it's just too easy to forget the separation the role of DM demands:
For me, by ...
- 21.9k
7
votes
Consistency between "yes and" with "no, because I'm the DM"
If for whatever reason you cannot allow a player to succeed at an action, do not let them roll.
In the best case, avoid that they can even do that action, but if that failed, the very least you owe ...
- 2,945
7
votes
Accepted
Where is the source material that reads there is no limit to the number of artifacts a character may have?
There is no rule establishing a maximum number of artifacts.
There doesn't need to be a rule which says that something isn't true. You can find the rules for artifacts on pgs.298-299 of the Numenera ...
- 19.6k
6
votes
Accepted
Do you disclose difficulty to the player before they decide to accept a GM-intrusion?
By the rules, the GM doesn't have to specify the target number or difficulty of a task. (numenera page 84)
If the action still isn’t routine, the GM uses its difficulty to determine the target ...
- 61.6k
6
votes
Accepted
What are the rules for flying in Numenera or Cypher System?
The simple answer is "whatever the GM says". It sounds like what you want to create is a powerful artifact, the rules for which are described on page 106 of the Numenera corebook.
Based on what a ...
- 738
6
votes
Pacing GM Intrusions
It depends on your players and the types of challenges you want them to face.
If your players are XP hoarders that only ever use it for character advancement, then you may want to artificially limit ...
- 738
6
votes
Accepted
How would a Jack gain esoteries?
Part of the confusion lies in the fact the Jack changed significantly between the original book (2013) and "Numenera 2" (Destiny and Discovery), while a lot of text was reused.
In the original book, ...
- 84
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