Numenera Discovery Destiny Slipcase

PHYSICAL QUALITY----------------------------------------------- - gorgeous artwork and design - nice thick pages - great layouts - glossy accents on cover - slipcase is rough around the edges but looks beautifulSETTING-----------------------------------------------------------The strongest appeal of Numenera for most people is the setting, and on that front these books deliver! If you like the idea of a setting that blurs the lines between fantasy and science fiction, conveys the spirit of discovery, and which is jam packed with truly weird interesting stuff that will spark your imagination, Numenera offers all of that in spades.SYSTEM------------------------------------------------------------The Cypher System is perfectly suited for Numenera, but it also sits in a strange place between 'traditional' combat-focused RPG's like D&D, and more modern narrative-focused games. What does that mean?On one hand, the game appears to have quite an eye towards fighting:- the core classes are basically warriors, wizards, and rogues- many of the abilities and 'cyphers' are about fighting- many pages of the rules section are dedicated to combatHowever...The game really only supports narrative, theater of the mind style action. Many of the abilities have some degree of narrative ambiguity (rather than having every parameter defined exactly) to enable more roleplay around their use. There is a system for making sudden narratively motivated changes to the story (introducing unexpected complications). The same system allows players to have some direct sway on the story as well.The Cypher System is much more of a narrative rules system than the surface appearance of Numenera may suggest. Don't think of this like D&D in a different setting.For the same reasons, Numenera excels at enabling fast paced, cinematic, creative gameplay.I would describe the Cypher System as a hybrid experience between combat-focused fantasy adventure RPG's, and more fluid modern narrative-focused RPG's.My highest praise for the Cypher System is how easy it is to teach. I can teach someone from knowing nothing to playing the game in less than 20 minutes. There really is a sleek elegance to it in this regard.CONS-----------------------------------------------------------------Many will find the 'Intrusions' system to be awkward and too 'meta'. In my experience, it's a matter of bad presentation. If you repackage the 'intrusions', get rid of that adversarial label, and introduce their use during gameplay with some style (rather than by 'breaking character'), it winds up resembling the very fun and flavorful narrative mechanics of systems like Powered by the Apocalypse and Gumshoe.The other major con (to some people) is that the Cypher System is not for lazy GM's. It has a reputation for being easy to run, which is true - the game is extremely smooth and satisfying to run. BUT, there are various ways that it also demands you to make major judgement calls about how you're going to run the system. It enables improvisation really well, but it also kind of demands that you're comfortable improvising.For me personally, these things are great, but I know for some they may be detractors.

First of all, if you're buying this, you probably know enough about Numenera and the Cypher system that you know you like the content itself.But let me give you a few reasons why this set, as a physical product, is so fantastic.First of all, these books are beautifully bound. The quality is at least on par with WOTC's D&D books. They fit into the slipcover - which has a really neat cutout with a metal pane in the back - like a friggin' glove. There's a hair's breadth of extra space in there, so they'll fit snugly.The art on each of the books is stunning, as is all the evocative art in the books themselves. The slipcover is just the same.Each book comes with a large map (One of these will be a repeat map of the 9th world if you bought the Numenera 1 corebook), but the other is entirely different.Each book in the set comes with a bookmark. Big deal, right? EACH BOOKMARK IS FOR A SPECIFIC BOOK, AND THEY HAVE THE TABLE OF CONTENTS ON THEM! This is one of those things where I have never seen that done with an RPG book before, and I cannot understand why it's not done with all of them. This extra costs MCG virtually nothing, and it adds a ton of value to the product as a whole, both in terms of utility and just plain recognition of the needs of the consumer.But when you get into the books, they are build so well with navigation in mind. Every page is packed full of margin notes that tell you the heading and page number of relevant topics within the book. What's more, is that Destiny actually has notations for entries that are in Discovery! The book tells you where to find stuff it references that's in THE OTHER BOOK! Again, how is that not standard practice for RPG manuals?!?And each section of the book is color-coded around the page. This makes navigating to particular sections of the book easy, and you can even see the coloration on the edge of the pages when the book is closed.Finally, the set comes with a character creation guide for even more accessibility.Honestly I haven't even run my session 1 of Numenera yet, but even if I never do, these books are worth it.In terms of content, the system has the polish and accessibility you'd expect from a company with the industry experience that MCG has. While the system isn't as strategic and rollicking as 5E is, it's also not worth even comparing it to. The system is incredibly accessible, and is full of tantalizing character options, each of which entirely delivers on its premise, and the cavalcade of Cyphers and Artifacts won't disappoint anybody.Buy this thing. At very least go do some research on the system.

The books were in good condition outside of a couple very minor scuffs. But the slip case is super flimsy and the back top of it is busted and ripped. The rear at the top can be pushed inwards pretty easily. I really wanted this box set to be on display but now I can't because the rip looks pretty bad.The packaging, it was shrink wrapped and inside another box with a couple other books and they were all fine. The Amazon box had no noticeable dings out of the ordinary. This appears to have been done prior to shipping. Would love to get a new slip but who knows if that would happen.Hopefully we have the right crafting materials so that I can make it look presentable on a shelf

This dual-hardcover slipcase contains both Numenera: Discovery, which is the new "core rulebook" containing 3 classes (Jack, Nano, and Glaive) and multiple descriptors (which are how you build your class), along will all rules for playing. Numenera: Destiny, however, adds 3 more classes (Wright, Arkus, Delve) a bunch of new descriptors, tons of new numenera (odd technological objects), and rules for Settlement Building. All together, you get ~600 pages of content to work with which should be more than enough for any group to have multiple varied adventures. If you're into this type of system, I recommend it. It uses a more unique method of rolling and character creation than other RPG's out there, and a very interesting and fleshed out universe. The slipcase is a bit flimsy and was damaged while shipping, and just doesn't seem to be made of the most solid cardboard, which is my only complaint. The production quality of the books is great.

It arrived in good time and perfect condition.

Comecei com Numenera na versão anterior e adorei. Esse ano finalmente tive coragem de comprar essa nova versão e adorei tudo que recebi. Os livros são extremamente bonitos e recheados de informação. O sistema é muito interessante, bem focado na exploração do mundo. Os mapas que vem junto, o pingente, a slipcase, tudo muito bonito. Vale muito a pena.

Excelente material, el único pero es que la caja llegó algo maltratada pero el contenido impecable. La calidad de impresión muy buena.

wish there was more info on what is included in this set, but I bought it anyways, and now I know.Nice book set, looks like they will hold up well. Comes with 2 book markers, a set of quick character instructions, and a card with some GM reference rules on it. The box has a removable medallion.

Two solid tomes of content using a different set of game rules from the popular D&D system.