Numenera 2 Character Generator

This is a character generation tool for Numenera 2 (aka Discovery and Destiny). It may still have some bugs and missing data, and the thing may or may not work in all browsers. (There's really just no telling what will happen, if anything, when you click that "click me" button.) Per the Numenera fan-use policy, this character builder does not explain what the abilities and powers actually do; it just generates the character to help you fill out your character sheet faster. (Read more about the philosophy behind the character creator in the first three comments below.)

INSTRUCTIONS: To use the generator, select character options (adjective, noun, and verb) that seem cool to you, click "click me", then distribute bonus Pool points (and Edge if you are a Jack) by clicking on the +'s. Then choose your two Esoteries or Fighting Moves or whatever by clicking them. That's it.

NOTES: Currently, the ability to make additional choices beyond Pool points and special abilities (e.g. "choose 2 knowledge skills", or selecting what your starting weapon is) is NOT implemented in the generator, although the generator will note what additional choices will need to be made when finishing your character sheet. Also note, an asterisk (*) in front of an Esotery, Fighting Move, or Trick of the Trade means that that ability does not appear in either of the new Numenera 2 core books-- asterisked moves are most likely from Character Options 1-- check with your GM to see if they'll allow them. Also, there's currently no way to subtract pool points or otherwise undo things; just start over if you misclick. Lastly, "See Disco pg xx" means you can find important additional info in the new Discovery core book at the referenced page number (and similarly, "See Dest pg xx" means Destiny).

Who are you? You are a(n)...
who

 
 

















DISCLAIMER: Numenera and its logo are trademarks of Monte Cook Games, LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries. All Monte Cook Games characters and character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are trademarks of Monte Cook Games, LLC. Content derived from Monte Cook Games publications is © 2013-2017 Monte Cook Games, LLC. Read more legal stuffs here...

DISCLAIMER #2: This website is not responsible for any issues that occur as a result of the Numenera character generator's use or misuse, including (but not limited to) rash, dropsy, blindness, cypher sickness, Insidious Choir infection, anal leakage, and/or death (in-character or IRL). Use at your own risk.

13 comments:

  1. Notes about the Numenera 2 Character Generator...

    SKILLS VS ABILITIES
    Probably the thing this generator does that is the most different from other Numenera generators is how it handles skills. Allow me to explain my thought process. At the end of the day, what I want from my character sheet is that it keep things as simple as possible. During play, if the GM says "make a persuasion roll", I want to be able to tell at a glance if my character is trained or specialized in persuasion (or something that covers persuasion, e.g. positive social interaction). It doesn't matter, at that moment, whether my training in that skill is from directly having trained that skill as a result of character advancement, or if I have an enabler special ability (e.g. "Poetic License") that "grants" me that training. What matters is, do I have the training or not, and I might forget if my trained skill is not listed in the trained skill column of my character sheet. So, for that reason, in this character generator, if all an enabler special ability does is grant you training in one or more skills-- and there are a LOT of enablers that do just that-- what the generator will do is put the relevant skills in the trained skill column instead of listing "Poetic License" (or whatever) as an enabler in the special ability column. It will make your life easier later, I guarantee. You're welcome.

    FOCI
    It was said by somebody official somewhere-- though I don't know where to find this quote now-- that obsolete options from Character Options and Character Options 2 ARE compatible with second edition, but that you "probably" would prefer to use new stuff instead of anything from CO1 and CO2. This makes some sense because one of the big changes is that all foci in the new books now have a choice of two specials to take at Tier Three and Tier Six, giving the updated core foci powerful new options. However, I think most of the "obsolete" foci like Reforges Completely or Fights Dirty or whatever are still perfectly playable. (And in any event, many of the foci from CO1 and CO2 were already not as "strong" as the foci from the core book, so this is not as big of a deal as it may appear at first glance. Powergamers were already running as a Graceful Glaive who Wields Two Weapons or Mystical Nano who Wields Power With Precision, and that is not likely to change in this edition.)

    For this reason, I am keeping all the foci from CO1 and CO2 in this character generator. (Obviously, if your GM decides not to allow obsolete foci, that is within their purview.) Any foci that appear in both the old and new books will be changed here to reflect the new books (although for the majority of these there is no change at Tier One.) For cases where the NAME of a focus has changed-- of which I have found only one instance, "Hunts With Great Skill" being changed to simply "Hunts"-- both names will appear in the generator, but selecting either will do the same thing (i.e., both foci are tied to the exact same code, much in the same way that I have the descriptors "Mystical" and "Mechanical" both tied to the same code).

    ReplyDelete


  2. DESCRIPTORS
    Of the three factors of character creation, descriptors have the least impact on a character in game mechanics terms, but nevertheless add a lot of fun from a roleplay standpoint, and having a big variety of descriptors to choose from is good, if you ask me (and who wouldn't want to ask me?). Therefore, all descriptors from first edition-- including CO1 and CO2-- are in the generator, and are changed only where there is a second edition descriptor with the same name but slightly different abilities (e.g. "Intimidating"), in which case the generator follows 2nd edition, obviously. Having looked over them all, I have not found any descriptors that I feel would be problematic to keep around.

    TYPES
    On the other hand, I decided to remove the obsolete types (i.e., Seeker and Glint) from the generator, because these are straightforwardly replaced by new, indisputably better types that fill the same or similar roleplay niche (namely Delve and Arkus, respectively). I may change my mind on this in the future and put Seeker and/or Glint back in, but for now, I think it would be too confusing to keep them. I want to keep the process of rolling up a new Numenera character as non-confusing as possible. Plus, I feel the old Seeker and Glint types were pretty under-powered compared to the base classes anyway, so I doubt anyone will miss them much. Also, Seeker and Glaive are lacking Community Abilities from Destiny (not having played a Destiny campaign yet, I do not know how big of a deal that is, but it is one more strike against them).

    TYPE ABILITIES
    I also decided, after some reflection, to remove all type abilities that were in the old core book that do not appear in Discovery or Destiny. This includes Bash, Thrust, Pierce, and a couple of other things. I believe that the intent is that the new Glaive ability Combat Prowess replaces Thrust/Pierce, and that the optional rule "Choosing a Combat Effect Ahead of Time" (which anyone can do, see Disco page 105) replaces abilities like Bash, and anything else that didn't make the cut was simply not intended to be carried forward into the second edition (i.e. nerfs galore). This affected Jacks the most, as their type abilities in Discovery are almost completely changed from what was in the old core book; they are being pushed in a more explicitly rogue-y direction than was evident in first edition. Nanos were not affected at all (at Tier One at least)-- all the T1 Esoteries from first edition made the cut into Discovery. Glaives are somewhere in-between, losing some abilities, but overall better off (in my opinion).

    Also, I am too lazy to expand the space for ability choices beyond fifteen slots, so a few had to be deleted solely for that reason haha. (Sorry, Jacks... Rope Use wasn't that great anyway. But if there is a great outcry for the few missing CO abilities, I may go back and change this.)

    For now though at least, most of the type abilities from Character Options are still in the generator. They are marked with asterisks in case you want to avoid them for a pure second-edition experience.

    FUTURE CHANGES
    One thing I want to add to the generator eventually would be page number references for all descriptors, types, and foci. (So, for example, if you were to roll a Mutant Delve who Fights Dirty, it would say at the bottom of the page, Mutant: see Disco pg 397; Delve: see Dest pg 29; Fights Dirty: see CO pg 59.) Most likely, that will be the next big feature I add to the character generator. It will be a crap-ton of information to type in, but I think it would be the most useful next thing to have. (Undo? Ha, please.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. BACKGROUND, CONNECTION, ETC
    I should probably mention about character Backgrounds, Link to Starting Adventure, and similar things. In my experience, almost no one uses those rules for their characters. Most players prefer to come up with their own backstory rather than roll on a table for it, and most published starting adventures already have a hook that seems to preclude the "Link to the Starting Adventure" from the character creation process. So I've left all that out. Similarly, I don't think anyone uses the Major and Minor Effect Suggestions, so that's left out too.

    NO PRE-FILLED CHARACTER SHEETS?
    No. I do not see the point in printing pre-filled character sheets when so much of your character is subject to change during play. Your gear, skills, specials, pools, name, even (technically) your description and focus can change as your character progresses. Nothing about your character is set in stone. Everything should be penciled in.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great work! I've already used this more than I want to admit, because I tend to over-use "full sheets" for important NPC's.

    A part of me is saddened that the 'internet' community of the Numenera is so split apart and blissfully fractured. Hopefully your Character Gen solution will find it's way into more tables regardless.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I noticed you dont have the Glint or Seeker classes. Do you plan on adding rhose or are you only working with the core stuff?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had them originally, but when I was updating the generator for Discovery & Destiny, I decided to take them out. My thinking was that for Numenera 2nd Edition, the intent seems to have been for the Arkus and Delve to replace the Glint and Seeker. Even though they aren't exactly the same, they fill similar niches (being a social-interaction oriented class and an exploration-oriented class, respectively). I didn't think most people would miss them anyway. If you want to read more, I expand a little more on this thought process in comment #2 above (which is a giant wall of text I know haha, sorry about that).

      One thing I am thinking about doing though is bringing back the Numenera 1st Edition character generator as a separate page; I think that would be less confusing than adding back Glint and Seeker to this page.

      Delete
    2. A separate 1st Edition creator would also let people roll up 1st Edition Jacks, which are a bit different from how they are in 2nd Edition.

      Delete
  6. This would be great if you could do higher tiers, any chance of such a feature being added?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I plan in the future to revisit this generator and add some features, possibly including that. I know some people run campaigns with characters starting at a higher tier, so it would be handy for that.

      Delete
  7. just wanted to drop a note and say thank you for all your work...as a new DM for this system/setting to experienced players who like options, it really helped me make sure i got all their info correct, and showed me things i missed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the kind words! It is very easy to miss important information due to the somewhat unintuitive way the Cypher System works. Another thing that should be required reading for new players and GMs, if you haven't seen it, is my "Two Powergaming Tips for Numenera" post here: https://troyjonesiii.blogspot.com/2018/09/three-powergaming-tips-for-numenera-and.html (This is not so much about powergaming as it is a couple of oft-overlooked rules.)

      Delete
  8. Hi there! Thank you so much for this character generator - it makes theory crafting a player or even an NPC a sinch!

    Can you please add the Glint and Seeker types? I still have players that play them and it would be really helpful (if possible). Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  9. The Torment: Tides of Numenera Explorer's Guide includes several new foci and descriptors. A couple are repeats like Speaks With A Silver Tongue and Cautious but the others are completely new like Castoff, Breathes Shadow, and the Ghibra racial descriptor.

    ReplyDelete