Some NPC Options
In the questions, you'll see that we ask for your first and second choice for what "type" of NPC you'd like to write a description for. You should write your description with your first choice in mind, though your description will ideally be general enough to apply to a wide variety of NPC types. Should we be unable to accommodate your first choice, and have difficulty adapting your description for another NPC, then we will contact you about it and seek another description.
Below is a brief explanation of the NPC types from which you can select so that you have more context for your choice.
- Any: You have no particular preference and would like us to simply find the best fit for your NPC.
- Explorer: Explorers are the "adventurers" of Numenera and are likely glaives, nanos, or jacks. Whether a novice or veteran, any explorer would have an interesting tale to tell.
- Tradesman: Tradesmen are minor merchants (i.e., no store, but they would be able to talk about their trade and may trade in a specific item) who provide some sort of good or service.
- Traveler: Travelers or tourists from throughout the Ninth World are fairly common in the regions explored in Torment. They could have knowledge of far away places as well as an interesting perspective on their surroundings.
- Citizen: Villagers make up the backbone of their society and are likely sources of information about their local culture and recent events.
- Military: These NPCs might be militia, guards, mercenaries, or soldiers, trained and employed as military muscle. They may have taken part in the Endless Battle or one of many other struggles throughout the region.
- Cultist: Cultists might belong to any of the three primary cults in the region (the Children of the Endless Gate, the Order of Flagellants and Austerities, and the Dendra O'Hur).
- Acolyte: Though far from the Steadfast, the Aeon Priesthood is active in the lands of Torment as well, and its acolytes are among those most knowledgeable in the numenera.
Locations
We also ask which region within the game you'd prefer your NPC to appear (the options listed are a subset of the locations in the game). As with NPC type, you should write your description assuming your first choice. Pick "any" if you have no particular preference and would simply like us to place your NPC wherever we feel is best. Here are some generalities about the denizens of each of the regions listed:
- Sagus Cliffs: This trading hub is a morass of competing influences: economic, political, social, religious, and intellectual. The blatant corruption of the system makes cynics of all its residents. They trust few people, have mercenary hearts, and are quick to take advantage of others. Even the altruists of the city must approach their dealings with cynicism, lest they be taken advantage of by less scrupulous partners. They consider themselves cosmopolitan, able to deal well with people from all walks of life… but they fear to venture far from the city’s walls, and they are quick to judge those who venture within.
- Bloom: The Bloom is an enormous predator, its black and tarry tendrils reaching out to anchor itself against the gorge walls as it creeps toward Sagus Cliffs and the sea. Its interior chambers and great folds provide any number of places for someone to live and hide, and its hidden pathways, sometimes one-way passages to new worlds, can lead daring merchants to great secrets—or to their dooms. The denizens of the Bloom are the desperate, the fugitives, and the mad.
- Oasis of M'ra Jolios: The Oasis of M’ra Jolios is a resort, an underwater paradise in the desert sands that is inhabited by water-breathers known as the Ghibra. Outside the Oasis is Jerboa, an air-breather town that has grown up around the water dome. The two societies have coexisted for centuries, with the Ghibra supplying life to the air-breathers—without their water and protection, the Jerboans would surely die. Many refugees have come to Jerboa, rapidly increasing its population and attracting a strong tourist trade, while M'ra Jolios has resisted change, tightly controlling who can enter their environment. Most Jerboans view their relationship with the Oasis as a symbiotic one and while many in M'ra Jolios would agree, there is a growing minority of Ghibra who have come to see the Jerboans as parasites rather than symbiotes.
- In a Mere: When the player enters a Mere, he or she temporarily inhabits the body of another castoff, displacing their consciousness. Meres occur in a wide variety of geographical locations or dimensions and could occur at a different point in time than the present. NPCs within Meres vary greatly.
Naming Your NPC
Please suggest a name for your NPC that is suitable for the Ninth World. Most 21st century names don't have the right flavor, but you could consider taking your name (or a friend's) and modifying it slightly to better fit the setting. One- or two-word names tend to work best (most Torment characters thus far have a single name).
Here are some example Ninth World names from the Numenera books or Torment:
Female
Cali
Funae
Hesterin Hthumos
Iyene Who Knows
Maggie Yets
Ni-chodoss
Sheen
Skaydi
Tarlin
Male
Ashe
Diario Mardain
Grisseler
Lestel
Malegran
Naraniel Horges
Omis
Parsim Flint
Sajeen Dar
Writing a Good NPC Description
Your description will be used in the opening part of the conversation with the NPC. By convention for Torment, text can be used to describe actions or features that might not be depicted graphically, so within reason you can use your imagination. The text you submit will be reviewed and edited, and we may also change some details to better fit other aspects of the narrative. Your description should be 400 characters or less. Reading about the
Numenera setting and the lore sections of Torment's updates (such as
29 and
31) may help you get a better sense of what types of characters might fit best in the game world.
Examples
Here are some example NPC descriptions for characters that may appear in Torment for you to use as a guide in terms of writing style and content:
The fat little man turns toward you, a wide smile already on his face. Indeed, his smile is unnaturally wide, reaching almost to his ears. You notice that his mouth contains *two* rows of white, well-manicured teeth.
***
You look upon a heavyset, pale woman. Her eyes have trouble focusing on you, and when they do, she drops them quickly. Her hands nervously adjust the scarf around her neck, then she wipes them on her once-fine clothing. She seems to steel herself and raises her gaze again... almost defiantly.
***
The skin of this broad-shouldered man looks blotchy, even patchwork. It slumps from his frame as if he had lost a great deal of weight. He bobs his bald head in greeting as you approach, and his neck moves like it's broken. Yet he seems to be in no pain, and his movements are quick and assured. His voice is sonorous yet fluting, with a strange buzz that grates on your nerves.
***
When she turns, you realize that the thing you had mistaken for a bundle of sticks and twine is a woman. An impossibly thin woman, her face all angles and lines. her arms thin as summer twigs. Her clothes drape across her like sailcloth, and though her face is young, her eyes are old, old, old. Her voice is flat, though an undercurrent sings at a register you cannot hear.
