Datura
Well-Known Member
I am running a role playing game called Numenera. Now, before anybody starts making characters or anything like that I like to give my players a good sense of the world they are inhabiting by doing an intro. The core book has a "Welcome to the Ninth World" section, but it is vary dense, and a bit rambling. The game also takes place in a pseudo medieval setting where ancient advanced technologies take the place of magic.
For this to really work I think that players need to shed their 21st century perspective and look at technology from a much more naive perspective. Unlike Monte Cook (the author of the game) I eschew some of his terms like "Data Sphere" and "Nano Spirits" for more "fantasy" sounding terms such as "Aether" and "Motes" respectively. I think the more NPCs treat tech like magic the better you can sell the whole concept.
The following is something I wrote to take people out of themselves so they can see the world from the perspective of somebody who actually lives in it. I wanted to sell the notion of what is normal in this world and contrast it with that which is not. At the same time I wanted to impart some vital information about the setting without overloading players with information.
Constructive criticism is appreciated.
For this to really work I think that players need to shed their 21st century perspective and look at technology from a much more naive perspective. Unlike Monte Cook (the author of the game) I eschew some of his terms like "Data Sphere" and "Nano Spirits" for more "fantasy" sounding terms such as "Aether" and "Motes" respectively. I think the more NPCs treat tech like magic the better you can sell the whole concept.
The following is something I wrote to take people out of themselves so they can see the world from the perspective of somebody who actually lives in it. I wanted to sell the notion of what is normal in this world and contrast it with that which is not. At the same time I wanted to impart some vital information about the setting without overloading players with information.
Constructive criticism is appreciated.
I want you to imagine you are a kid.
Just and ordinary kid in an ordinary little farming village in The Ninth World.
You don’t have a cell phone or the internet. You don’t know what a car or an airplane are, and you have certainly never heard of “radio” or “electricity.” You’re just an ordinary kid, after all, living with your family in a simple one room cottage. The floor is made of dirt, the roof of thatch, and the walls from land coral and mortar. You have a large fire place and a great big wooden dinner table. The floors are well swept and covered in colorful rugs. Best of all, there is always fresh straw for the beds. Just an ordinary house, and a cozy one at that.
If you ever need water there is a well just a few minutes away. If it gets too dark you can always light a candle or crack a glow globe (if you are lucky enough to have one). You also have the luxury of an outhouse which you share with a couple of your neighbors.
You spend most of your days helping your parents with their duties; tending the fields, feeding the livestock, and tidying up around the house. When you aren’t hard at work you run around with the other children, playing tag and make-believe. You like to explore the nearby coral forests with your friends and go fishing by the creek.
Sometimes, you sneak off to visit Old Nens. She isn’t like other grownups. She’s a reader. She has a big shelf filled with books and scrolls and weird little dolls that cast visions in the air. She delights in telling you tales of faraway times and places. She regales you of the exploits of past kings and emperors, daring heroes, and star crossed lovers. She speaks of arid deserts, deep and mysterious jungles, clouds made of crystal, and vast cities where ships sail on the air.
She says that there were eight worlds before this one, that the people who lived here before were very wise and understood things that we have long forgotten. For one reason or another each of these civilizations disappeared and took their worlds with them. Now we live among their ruins, the legacy of the old worlds written in the very dust.
She also taught you all about The Amber Pope who leads The Order of Truth. She says that the Order studies the past that we may live in a better future. They are also the force that unifies the civilized world. “Without The Pope”, she insists, “all the nations of The Steadfast would descend into war, and before you know it we would be no better than the savages of The Beyond!”
You would love to be a reader like Old Nens, but your father says that books are a waste of time. Whenever you bring it up he tells you, “It’s better to keep your mind in the here and now. And why work so hard just to fill your head with a bunch of fairy tales and useless facts?”
As for his views on the Order of Truth: “The Amber Papacy doesn’t give two licks for poor farmers like us. If you want to put your faith in something”, he advises you, “best place it in your own hard work, then pray to the winds for rain.”
Most of the grownups you know are like your dad. They don’t think about what life was like before they were born, and they don’t imagine things being any different than they are now. Most of them have never traveled more than a day beyond your village, and they never will. About the only time you hear any news from the outside world is when a stranger comes through town.
You think you know why they call them “strangers”. They always wear strange clothes, and speak in strange accents, and travel with strange animals. And some strangers are even stranger than others. You once saw a man with arms and legs completely made out of metal (and no, it wasn’t armor!), another time, a lady with pale lights dancing under her skin.
These travelers often carry magical objects which can do all kinds of wonderful and terrible things. Old Nens calls them “numenera” and says they aren’t really magic at all. Rather, she claims, they were made by the Old Worlders and were no more magic to them than wheels or fire are to us. As far as you are concerned, that is the most magical thing you have ever heard.
Now, I want you to imagine that you aren’t that child. Don’t get me wrong, perhaps you were that child. Or maybe you grew up in one of the places from Old Nens’ books. Either way, you are a different person now, and far from ordinary. Perhaps you are an athletic Glave, an esotery wielding Nano, or a Jack who survives by their wits alone. You are an explorer, traveling the world in search of ancient and powerful artifacts. What wonders will you uncover, and what fantastic adventures will you have along the way?
Welcome to the Ninth World.
Just and ordinary kid in an ordinary little farming village in The Ninth World.
You don’t have a cell phone or the internet. You don’t know what a car or an airplane are, and you have certainly never heard of “radio” or “electricity.” You’re just an ordinary kid, after all, living with your family in a simple one room cottage. The floor is made of dirt, the roof of thatch, and the walls from land coral and mortar. You have a large fire place and a great big wooden dinner table. The floors are well swept and covered in colorful rugs. Best of all, there is always fresh straw for the beds. Just an ordinary house, and a cozy one at that.
If you ever need water there is a well just a few minutes away. If it gets too dark you can always light a candle or crack a glow globe (if you are lucky enough to have one). You also have the luxury of an outhouse which you share with a couple of your neighbors.
You spend most of your days helping your parents with their duties; tending the fields, feeding the livestock, and tidying up around the house. When you aren’t hard at work you run around with the other children, playing tag and make-believe. You like to explore the nearby coral forests with your friends and go fishing by the creek.
Sometimes, you sneak off to visit Old Nens. She isn’t like other grownups. She’s a reader. She has a big shelf filled with books and scrolls and weird little dolls that cast visions in the air. She delights in telling you tales of faraway times and places. She regales you of the exploits of past kings and emperors, daring heroes, and star crossed lovers. She speaks of arid deserts, deep and mysterious jungles, clouds made of crystal, and vast cities where ships sail on the air.
She says that there were eight worlds before this one, that the people who lived here before were very wise and understood things that we have long forgotten. For one reason or another each of these civilizations disappeared and took their worlds with them. Now we live among their ruins, the legacy of the old worlds written in the very dust.
She also taught you all about The Amber Pope who leads The Order of Truth. She says that the Order studies the past that we may live in a better future. They are also the force that unifies the civilized world. “Without The Pope”, she insists, “all the nations of The Steadfast would descend into war, and before you know it we would be no better than the savages of The Beyond!”
You would love to be a reader like Old Nens, but your father says that books are a waste of time. Whenever you bring it up he tells you, “It’s better to keep your mind in the here and now. And why work so hard just to fill your head with a bunch of fairy tales and useless facts?”
As for his views on the Order of Truth: “The Amber Papacy doesn’t give two licks for poor farmers like us. If you want to put your faith in something”, he advises you, “best place it in your own hard work, then pray to the winds for rain.”
Most of the grownups you know are like your dad. They don’t think about what life was like before they were born, and they don’t imagine things being any different than they are now. Most of them have never traveled more than a day beyond your village, and they never will. About the only time you hear any news from the outside world is when a stranger comes through town.
You think you know why they call them “strangers”. They always wear strange clothes, and speak in strange accents, and travel with strange animals. And some strangers are even stranger than others. You once saw a man with arms and legs completely made out of metal (and no, it wasn’t armor!), another time, a lady with pale lights dancing under her skin.
These travelers often carry magical objects which can do all kinds of wonderful and terrible things. Old Nens calls them “numenera” and says they aren’t really magic at all. Rather, she claims, they were made by the Old Worlders and were no more magic to them than wheels or fire are to us. As far as you are concerned, that is the most magical thing you have ever heard.
Now, I want you to imagine that you aren’t that child. Don’t get me wrong, perhaps you were that child. Or maybe you grew up in one of the places from Old Nens’ books. Either way, you are a different person now, and far from ordinary. Perhaps you are an athletic Glave, an esotery wielding Nano, or a Jack who survives by their wits alone. You are an explorer, traveling the world in search of ancient and powerful artifacts. What wonders will you uncover, and what fantastic adventures will you have along the way?
Welcome to the Ninth World.
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