Torment Numenera goes 5E... Would this improve T:TON? (poll)

[Ulfhednar]

This showed up in my inbox today:

What if you could take all the cool stuff from Numenera, and easily mix it into your 5E campaign?

What if you could run a campaign in the Ninth World, but use the 5E rules to do it?

What if you could choose from over 100 fascinating Numenera creatures to drop right into your 5E game?

Arcana of the Ancients brings the wonder and mystery of science-fantasy, the mainstay of Numenera, to 5E. It's now on Kickstarter, and already unlocking amazing stretch goals.

So I wondered what the Codex would make of a 5E T:ToN (or any 5E cRPG, honestly)...

 

[Sentinel]

I like 5E but Numenera is unsalvageable.

 

[Roguey]

People hated it because of the writing, not the systems.

 

[Ulfhednar]

People hated it because of the writing, not the systems.

Response added

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

People hated it because of the writing, not the systems.

When you say people hated it who are you talking about exactly? Because the game got great reviews.

 

[Roguey]

When you say people hated it who are you talking about exactly? Because the game got great reviews.

The only place that matters, the 'dex.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

The only place that matters, the 'dex.

It's really the only place that doesn't actually matter. 'Dex doesn't even get a review score toward the aggregate on metacritic.

 

[oldmanpaco]

People hated it because they made the butt pirate an actual pirate.

Personally I thought that was a bold move.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Blaine]

Numenera is completely unsalvageable.

People hated it because of the writing, not the systems.

It's unsalvageable because of the writing and design, but the mechanical systems were also bad.

 

[Saerain]

All I know is my biggest problem with the tabletop is the very core of the system, being cyphers. I can't do enough handwaving to suspend disbelief on absolutely all technology from the last gkjnesritillion years being single-use for some reason.

A shame, because the premise of the setting is attractive.

 

[Blaine]

All I know is my biggest problem with the tabletop is the very core of the system, being cyphers. I can't do enough handwaving to suspend disbelief on absolutely all technology from the last gkjnesritillion years being single-use for some reason.

A shame, because the premise of the setting is attractive.

I read the core rulebook (which I received as a backer reward) pretty much back to front.

Every aspect of the setting and mechanics is uninspired, mediocre, and/or derivative. Infinitron asked me to write a review, but I opted out because it was just too mediocre and depressing to be worth devoting any time to.

 

[Saerain]

I can understand that. It doesn't inspire me as a player but attracts me as a GM to try to make it my own. Taken at face value it's kitchen-sink nothingness that doesn't seem to understand people whatosever.

 

[Tavernking]

What is 5E D&D?

 

[ArchAngel]

All I know is my biggest problem with the tabletop is the very core of the system, being cyphers. I can't do enough handwaving to suspend disbelief on absolutely all technology from the last gkjnesritillion years being single-use for some reason.

A shame, because the premise of the setting is attractive.

Cypers are only a part of it. Part of it are artifacts and part are players themselves that a good Numenera GM will ask to interact with the world around to level up. You are not supposed to kill 5 goblins and then level up in the middle of the dungeon like in DnD.

 

[Theldaran]

It's not even boring. It's downright a chore.

 

[Luckmann]

People hated it because of the writing, not the systems.

Both were horrible.

 

[vortex]

T:ToN would be better with improved PoE/Pathfinder style.

 

[Tenebris]

I wish that was the only issue with the game. They can change the system all they want but shit writing is still shit writing.

 

[V_K]

The core Numenera system - spending resources on skillchecks instead of them being binary pass/fail affairs - is largely the only thing that could provide a CYOA-style game with something resembling gameplay. So it definitely would be even worse off as a DnD game. Mechanically, the problem with Numenera - and TToN - as it is is that its other systems don't really support this core principle. The Council has a similar system, but because it builds all of its systems around resource management, that works a lot better.

 

[Darkzone]

People hated it because of the writing, not the systems.

Yes, but a the core stands the system and that was also a major problem. The encounters and checks would be handled differently if it had used a different system. It still would have been a pretentious TB RPG, but perhaps with a much better combat and with not instant "checks pass mechanics".
I could swallow bad writing if the combat mechanics is good or good writing with a bad combat mechanics, but not bad writing with bad combat mechanics.

 

[Prime Junta]

The system had a few clever ideas but it was built on a basis that was just simply bad. There’s elegant simple and then there’s dull simplistic simple, and Numenera mechanics went with dull simplistic simple every fucking time.

And the less said about the soul-crushing dullness of the setting, the better.

 

[deuxhero]

All I know is my biggest problem with the tabletop is the very core of the system, being cyphers. I can't do enough handwaving to suspend disbelief on absolutely all technology from the last gkjnesritillion years being single-use for some reason.

A shame, because the premise of the setting is attractive.

Even Pathfinder's randomly placed technological wonderland scavenged from a fallen starship, coincidentally (?) named Numeria, pulled this off better: Only a handful of tech items are single use, most are instead limited by power and there's few reliable recharge methods inside of Numeria not controlled by hostile powers, let alone outside of it. Recharging them via magic is possible, but costly (you can theoretically do it for free once every 10 days if you wear a Robe of Components the whole time) and risky if you don't know exactly how many charges are missing from the item.

 

[luj1]

People hated it because of the writing, not the systems.

Both were horrible.

If the systems weren't so anti-RPG and retarded, I could have stomached the lore dumps. Numenera and PoE are two of the worst travesties of the new RPG era.

 

[DeepOcean]

People hated it because of the writing, not the systems.

Dont count me on that, I hated it because of the writing AND the systems.