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Numenera
Numenera Destiny
~Destiny~
Droves of abhumans, murderous and vile, roam the vast wilds. The Iron Wind blows where it will, hideously reshaping everything it touches. Ancient poisons, locked aeons within the earth, might rise to blight crops or sour wells, while creatures and machines, millennia old, pursue long-forgotten goals without regard to the destruction they rain upon the hapless.
And among all these horrors, it is often we ourselves who bring the greatest grief to our neighbors.
Is there hope for the scattered and struggling people of this world? Are we doomed to cast but envious eyes on the achievements of the prior worlds, and only dream of the greatness they once knew? Or are the remnants of their civilizations—the numenera—the very key to our own destiny?
The truly valorous delve for the secrets of the prior worlds not for the riches they bring, but because the mysteries and wonders of the numenera are a pathway toward a better future. Who will lead us into this new world? Who will tap the wonders of the ancients to defend the weak, bolster the sick and starving, and illuminate the ignorant? Who will build a new and better community, and bring vision to a world in darkness? Will it be you?
The Numenera roleplaying game’s setting, the Ninth World, is locked in an age of struggle. The people of this world live in a medieval-like state—but one illuminated by the “magic” of the prior worlds. Those who seek out and master the numenera may find wealth and power. But more importantly, they can build a community, carve a pocket of light from the darkness, and set the Ninth World on a path to regain—or even surpass—the splendors of the prior worlds. You might help reshape the very world and find for yourself, and the Ninth World, a greater destiny.
Droves of abhumans, murderous and vile, roam the vast wilds. The Iron Wind blows where it will, hideously reshaping everything it touches. Ancient poisons, locked aeons within the earth, might rise to blight crops or sour wells, while creatures and machines, millennia old, pursue long-forgotten goals without regard to the destruction they rain upon the hapless.
And among all these horrors, it is often we ourselves who bring the greatest grief to our neighbors.
Is there hope for the scattered and struggling people of this world? Are we doomed to cast but envious eyes on the achievements of the prior worlds, and only dream of the greatness they once knew? Or are the remnants of their civilizations—the numenera—the very key to our own destiny?
The truly valorous delve for the secrets of the prior worlds not for the riches they bring, but because the mysteries and wonders of the numenera are a pathway toward a better future. Who will lead us into this new world? Who will tap the wonders of the ancients to defend the weak, bolster the sick and starving, and illuminate the ignorant? Who will build a new and better community, and bring vision to a world in darkness? Will it be you?
The Numenera roleplaying game’s setting, the Ninth World, is locked in an age of struggle. The people of this world live in a medieval-like state—but one illuminated by the “magic” of the prior worlds. Those who seek out and master the numenera may find wealth and power. But more importantly, they can build a community, carve a pocket of light from the darkness, and set the Ninth World on a path to regain—or even surpass—the splendors of the prior worlds. You might help reshape the very world and find for yourself, and the Ninth World, a greater destiny.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2018
5 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Monte Cook
211 books125 followers
The game designer
Monte Cook started working professionally in the game industry in 1988. In the employ of Iron Crown Enterprises, he worked with the Rolemaster and Champions games as an editor, developer, and designer. In 1994, Monte came to TSR, Inc., as a game designer and wrote for the Planescape and core D&D lines. When that company was purchased by Wizards of the Coast, he moved to the Seattle area and eventually became a senior game designer. At Wizards, he wrote the 3rd Edition Dungeon Master's Guide and served as codesigner of the new edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game. In 2001, he left Wizards to start his own design studio, Malhavoc Press, with his wife Sue. Although in his career he has worked on over 100 game titles, some of his other credits include Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, The Book of Eldritch Might series, the d20 Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, The Book of Vile Darkness, Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved, Ptolus, Monte Cook's World of Darkness, and Dungeonaday.com. He was a longtime author of the Dungeoncraft column in Dungeon Magazine. In recent years, Monte has been recognized many times by game fans in the ENnies Awards, the Pen & Paper fan awards, the Nigel D. Findley Memorial Award, the Origins Awards, and more.
The author
A graduate of the 1999 Clarion West writer's workshop, Monte has published two novels, The Glass Prison and Of Aged Angels. Also, he has published the short stories "Born in Secrets" (in the magazine Amazing Stories), "The Rose Window" (in the anthology Realms of Mystery), and "A Narrowed Gaze" (in the anthology Realms of the Arcane). His stories have appeared in the Malhavoc Press anthologies Children of the Rune and The Dragons' Return, and his comic book writing can be found in the Ptolus: City by the Spire series from DBPro/Marvel. His fantasy fiction series, "Saga of the Blade," appeared in Game Trade Magazine from 2005–2006.
The geek
In his spare time, Monte runs games, plays with his dog, watches DVDs, builds vast dioramas out of LEGO building bricks, paints miniatures, and reads a lot of comics.
Monte Cook started working professionally in the game industry in 1988. In the employ of Iron Crown Enterprises, he worked with the Rolemaster and Champions games as an editor, developer, and designer. In 1994, Monte came to TSR, Inc., as a game designer and wrote for the Planescape and core D&D lines. When that company was purchased by Wizards of the Coast, he moved to the Seattle area and eventually became a senior game designer. At Wizards, he wrote the 3rd Edition Dungeon Master's Guide and served as codesigner of the new edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game. In 2001, he left Wizards to start his own design studio, Malhavoc Press, with his wife Sue. Although in his career he has worked on over 100 game titles, some of his other credits include Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, The Book of Eldritch Might series, the d20 Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, The Book of Vile Darkness, Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved, Ptolus, Monte Cook's World of Darkness, and Dungeonaday.com. He was a longtime author of the Dungeoncraft column in Dungeon Magazine. In recent years, Monte has been recognized many times by game fans in the ENnies Awards, the Pen & Paper fan awards, the Nigel D. Findley Memorial Award, the Origins Awards, and more.
The author
A graduate of the 1999 Clarion West writer's workshop, Monte has published two novels, The Glass Prison and Of Aged Angels. Also, he has published the short stories "Born in Secrets" (in the magazine Amazing Stories), "The Rose Window" (in the anthology Realms of Mystery), and "A Narrowed Gaze" (in the anthology Realms of the Arcane). His stories have appeared in the Malhavoc Press anthologies Children of the Rune and The Dragons' Return, and his comic book writing can be found in the Ptolus: City by the Spire series from DBPro/Marvel. His fantasy fiction series, "Saga of the Blade," appeared in Game Trade Magazine from 2005–2006.
The geek
In his spare time, Monte runs games, plays with his dog, watches DVDs, builds vast dioramas out of LEGO building bricks, paints miniatures, and reads a lot of comics.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 29, 2023
Se già il primo manuale stupiva per portata di idee e sistema di regole snello e immediato, questo secondo manuale ripete il successo, approfondendo ulteriormente l'ambientazione, le classi di gioco e la gestione dei cypher e mille altre idee.
Ciò che caratterizza maggiormente questo secondo volume è però la gestione della comunità, la sua creazione e il suo sviluppo all'interno del mondo di gioco, (in pieno stile old school scatola Companion) e la creazione dei cypher con un sistema di ricerca e progettazione.
Una fonte questi infinita di consigli e spunti di gioco confermano Numenera un vero gioiello.
Ciò che caratterizza maggiormente questo secondo volume è però la gestione della comunità, la sua creazione e il suo sviluppo all'interno del mondo di gioco, (in pieno stile old school scatola Companion) e la creazione dei cypher con un sistema di ricerca e progettazione.
Una fonte questi infinita di consigli e spunti di gioco confermano Numenera un vero gioiello.
January 31, 2020
This book expands upon Numenera Discovery and has a focus on founding communities and community based play. It is not in any way a required book, even though it bills itself as a core book. That may be a marketing mistake, because people might think that you must have this as well as Discovery. It covers very similar ground to Destiny, so we could get three new core character types and numerous descriptors and focuses. There is a lot of new numenera, monsters, four new adventures and so on. All of this tends to have a community spin, although this is not always the case. There are also useful rules on how to run a community campaign and lots of good advice. Even if you were not planning on running a community based campaign and were just planning on wondering around this is a worthwhile purchase. I found it weirdly difficult to read even though it is well written and I am not sure why that it is.
Anyway, a useful and logical second purchase for a Numenera campaign, but not a necessary one unless you want to really focus on community building.
Anyway, a useful and logical second purchase for a Numenera campaign, but not a necessary one unless you want to really focus on community building.
February 4, 2019
An excellent addition to the Numenera catalogue, adding in what is essentially a structured end-game that was somewhat missing from the original Core Book. It's true that a lot of campaigns won't have the need for a lot of the material here, but it's nice to have the option for having your characters take on a more active role in the shaping of the Ninth World - especially when the vastness and mystery of the World allows a group to come up with just about any world-building idea and justify it in the setting. There's still plenty of use here for a GM to casually slip into a campaign, making this a worthwhile purchase even if your Players won't be pursuing their own settlement development anytime soon.
December 26, 2020
Excellent addition to the re-worked core rules of Numenera. I am not 100% sure about the community-style RPG, I would have liked to see more aid what such a campaign could look like. Feels a bit sandbox-y, more like a strategy video game. The long-term roleplay reminded me a lot of downtime actions in Blades in the Dark. As my current Numenera campaign is nearing its end, I am trying to see if Destiny style would be for us, but right now, I am still not 100% sure. As always, gorgeous art, fantastic layout, very cool ideas.
December 31, 2021
4 stars. great follow up to discovery; rtc.
March 31, 2025
Good setting info as usual, plus pretty well developed and streamlined community management mechanics. Not sure if I see myself using many of the rules in here though
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews