It didn't take long for Monte Cook to find something to do after his much-discussed departure from the D&D Next design team. He's launched a Kickstarter to fund Numenera, a rules-light, far future role-playing game
Here's how he describes it:
I'm really excited to announce that I'm working on a new game. It's called Numenera, and it's a far future, science fantasy, post-apocalyptic game with streamlined rules that prioritize the story, the action, and the wild ideas. If you're a fan of outside-of-the-box gameplay such as that found in Planescape, Dark Space, or Chaositech, the far-future stories of Gene Wolfe, Michael Moorcock, or Jack Vance, or mind-blowing visuals like those found in the work of French artist Moebius, you're going to love Numenera.
Damn. That sounds really, really cool. And not only that ... it's actually going to happen! Cook's original goal was $20,000, which covered creating an printing the core rule book. He's far outstripped that goal however; as of today the number stands at $182,850, contributed by 2,048 backers. This means he's achieved his first 10 stretch goals with 19 days to go.
These stretch goals include:
- a special pdf of Numenera 3-D paper fold-up terrain for those who gave $50 or more
- Expanding the core rule book from 300 to 400 pages
- Three 32-page adventures for Numenera
- 300 copies of the corebook to be given to libraries and educators
- A 96-page, full-color Ninth World Bestiary
- a Numenera short story
- A character creator app for iOS, Android, and Windows
- Wallpaper art for Kickstarter patrons
There are a bunch of future stretch goals as well, including a technology/magic book called "Sir Arthur's Compendium", free books for military basis, a GM screen, custom dice, and more.
I'm a big fan of Monte's work on Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition, and I loved the work he did re-imagining those rules and using them to build out a world Arcana Unearthed. The sort of world he describes -- one that exists a billion years into the future, after numerous civilizations have risen and fallen -- appeals to me, as does the idea of a lightweight, straightforward rules system.
I'm planning on backing the project at the $60 "Real Deal" level, which includes PDFs of the core rule books, the character creation app, a print copy of the book, and a bunch of nifty extras. I don't know if I'll ever run the game, but it seems worth having a copy of it on my bookshelf ... just in case.