TEXT: BY MONTE COOK
  THE HIDEOUS GAME
  
  2
  THE 
  HIDEOUS GAME
  This low-combat, investigation-heavy 
  scenario is presented in the format first 
  showcased in Weird Discoveries. We call 
  this format the “instant adventure,” as it 
  is designed to be run with just four or five 
  minutes of prep time. The Hideous Game is 
  written for use at GenCon 2015, and GMs 
  running it at the convention should read the 
  whole thing rather than taking advantage of 
  the low-prep nature.
  One unique aspect 
  of instant adventures 
  is the keys. These 
  are not necessarily 
  literal keys—they 
  are elements of the 
  adventure that can 
  be placed in different 
  points in the scenario, depending on where 
  the player characters go and what they do. 
  For example, a key might be an object found 
  in a cabinet or in an NPC’s pocket. If the PCs 
  never look in the cabinet but do negotiate 
  a trade with the NPC, then the GM simply 
  decides that the object is with the NPC. This 
  allows the adventure to continue even if the 
  characters miss a clue or never visit a certain 
  location.
  BRIEF SUMMARY
  Weird inhuman creatures are playing a 
  mysterious game of torture and murder, and 
  the PCs must put a stop to the next round 
  before more people perish.
  DETAILS
  This scenario takes place entirely in Qi, the 
  largest city in the Steadfast of the Ninth World. 
  If desired, it could—easily enough—be placed 
  within any large city. Unlike many Numenera 
  scenarios, The Hideous Game does not involve 
  exploring ancient ruins to scavenge technology 
  or wandering in the wilderness to discover 
  impossible locations. It takes place within the 
  safe confines of the largest known city, the very 
  place where one can find the Order of Truth 
  and the Amber Pope himself.
  The slidikin are inhuman creatures that 
  appear to be playing a sort of game among 
  themselves. The details of the game are 
  unknown, but they 
  involve kidnapping, 
  theft, torture, and 
  murder.
  The motives of the 
  slidikin are impossible 
  to decipher. That 
  is not the point or 
  goal of this scenario. They are as inhuman 
  as any beings the PCs are ever likely to meet. 
  Do the slidikin see humans with nothing but 
  contempt? We don’t know. Perhaps humanity 
  is held in high regard, and that’s why they 
  are the stakes of the slidikin game. And what 
  about that game? Is it a competition? Is there a 
  winner? What’s the prize?
  The PCs will never learn the answers to 
  these questions, and though that might be 
  frustrating, mysterious, and terrifying, they’ll 
  just have to deal with it. Their only goals are 
  to stay alive and to prevent as much harm 
  as they can. In that way, the slidikin are like 
  a terrible storm. What makes the wind blow 
  and the lightning strike? The PCs probably 
  don’t know that, either, but they can still 
  struggle to survive and be useful during its 
  raging onslaught.
  Events begin one night as the PCs hear 
  muffled cries. Investigating, they find a 
  man named Calvan Desenis in an elaborate 
  Credits
  Writer/Designer 
  Monte Cook
  Creative Director 
  Shanna Germain
  Editor/Proofreader 
  Ray Vallese
  Graphic Designer 
  Bear Weiter
  Artists 
  Florian Devos, 
  Dreamstime.com, 
  Patrick McEvoy, 
  Ben Wootten
  Cartographer 
  Christopher West
  Monte Cook Games  
  Editorial Team 
  Scott C. Bourgeois, 
  David Wilson Brown, 
  Eric Coates, Gareth 
  Hodges, Mila Irek, 
  Jeremy Land, Laura 
  Wilkinson, Marina 
  Wold, George Ziets
  © 2015 Monte Cook 
  Games, LLC
  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.
  Slidikin enjoy leaving their puzzle traps 
  around to be found. It’s part of the 
  Hideous Game.
  
  3
  THE HIDEOUS GAME
  torture device. If they rescue him, they 
  learn that he was kidnapped by mysterious 
  figures and placed here. He spent the 
  day in captivity and can probably lead the 
  characters to the cellar where he was held.
  If the PCs investigate the cellar, they find 
  clues suggesting that someone was making 
  fancy invitations. Shortly thereafter, they hear 
  rumors of people being invited to an event 
  that will occur in a few days at a place called 
  Liach’s Square. They can investigate some of 
  the invitees (although little can be learned 
  from the people) or the square itself, where 
  workers hired by mysterious employers are 
  installing devices. A bit of technical probing 
  reveals that these devices will seal off the 
  exits to the square.
  On the day of the event, if the PCs do not 
  intervene, the slidikin will cruelly murder 
  thirteen innocents in the square, in full view 
  of anyone in the area.
  SALIENT POINTS
  • Calvan Desenis was kidnapped, held in a 
  cellar for much of the day, and then placed in 
  an elaborate torture device by the slidikin.
  • The cellar has clues as to what the 
  slidikin are about to do: send out 
  invitations to an event that will take place 
  in three days’ time.
  • Invitees are selected at random (or seem 
  to be, to human sensibilities).
  • The site of the event has only three exits, 
  and workers secretly hired by the slidikin 
  are unknowingly building force field 
  projectors to seal them off.
  • When the invitees arrive, the slidikin will 
  torture and kill them in broad daylight.
  STARTING POINT
  The PCs enjoy a night of recreation, food, 
  and drinks in a place called the Revelry. They 
  aren’t necessarily there as a group, but they 
  are at the very least acquainted with one 
  another, and maybe a few of them arrived 
  together. However, they all leave around the 
  same time—very late at night, many hours 
  after darkness has fallen.
  THE WRAP-UP
  When the event is over, so is the scenario. 
  Hopefully, the PCs have stopped the slidikin 
  somehow. 
  KEYS
  This scenario has two keys. One is an object, and the other is 
  an event.
   Slidikin puzzle trap. This small object shifts and changes, 
  but a character can also intentionally shift and change it 
  through concentration and experimentation. Someone 
  can “solve” the puzzle by comprehending what shape 
  and color the puzzle wants to be (the “goal” or solution 
  changes every fourteen hours). If a PC tries to solve 
  it and succeeds at a difficulty 6 Intellect-based roll, 
  the puzzle remains static until the current fourteen-
  hour period is over, at which point it begins shifting 
  again. If a PC solves the puzzle three times in a row, 
  she sees a brief holographic projection of a slidikin 
  and a diagram of its physiology. For that character, the 
  difficulty of attacks against a slidikin is reduced by one 
  step. If anyone ever attempts to solve the puzzle and 
  fails, he sees a brief holographic projection of such 
  disturbing content that he suffers 6 points of Intellect 
  damage (ignores Armor), and the difficulty of all tasks is 
  increased by one step until the points are restored.
   Slidikin tail. At this point, one PC notices that a cloaked 
  figure begins to follow them. The PC usually spots 
  the figure when he or she is alone. It never gets too 
  close and excels at disappearing into the crowd or 
  into shadow. This is meant to be menacing, but never 
  confrontational.
  Motivating the PCs: 
  Sometimes, simply 
  intriguing the players or 
  appealing to their good 
  natures isn’t enough to 
  motivate the characters to 
  action. If this is the case, 
  have a PC’s close friend 
  or relative receive one of 
  the mysterious invitations. 
  Or, if you need to be even 
  more drastic, have it 
  come to a PC.
  There is no pen in the 
  cellar because slidikin 
  write with their obscenely 
  long fingers.
  
  MAN IN PERIL
  One or more of the PCs hears a muffled sound, a bit like a cry for 
  help, but it’s difficult to discern clearly. Investigating means simply 
  peering down a nearby alley, where they see someone in a niche 
  along a building wall. A man—bloody, drenched in sweat, and 
  terrified—stands at a precarious angle. Thin metal wire is wrapped 
  around his body in places so tightly that it breaks the skin, and the 
  wires extend to various areas in the walls around him, almost like 
  he’s caught in a spider’s web. The wires all lead to some kind of 
  device suspended in their skein, positioned directly in front of the 
  man’s face. Something sharp protrudes from the device. It seems 
  clear that if the man moves much, he will activate the device. There 
  are also wires wrapped around his neck, suggesting that even a shout 
  from his throat might trigger it.
  He’s not up for much conversation, obviously, until he’s freed. 
  Freeing him without triggering the device is a difficulty 7 Speed-based 
  task. Disabling the device is a difficulty 6 Intellect-based task. It’s 
  also possible to brace something in the path of the projectile, but 
  whatever is used must be able to take a serious blow.
  If the device is triggered, it fires a metal shard, automatically hitting 
  whatever’s in front of it and inflicting 10 points of damage. If it hits 
  the man, who currently has 4 health, it kills him instantly.
  If the PCs dismantle the device, they can cobble together a level 4 
  detonation cypher that explodes in an immediate radius, inflicting 4 
  points of damage from a pressurized burst.
  The man is Calvan Desenis, an accountant who was kidnapped 
  on his way to work that morning by “people with chalky skin who 
  spoke with many different voices, sometimes all at once.” He was 
  blindfolded while being moved to a new location but smart enough—
  and familiar enough with the layout of Qi—that he thinks he knows 
  where he was taken: a cellar in the very bottom level of the city.
  The only other thing he can offer about his captors is that they spoke 
  of “invitations for the next round of the Hideous Game,” beginning 
  soon.
  THE CELLAR
  The building is abandoned. The cellar has its own 
  entrance, with a short set of steps leading down to 
  it. The door is locked with a level 3 lock. 
  The cellar of the disused building has obviously 
  seen recent use. Although it’s mainly full of old 
  crates and barrels (mostly empty), there is also a 
  wooden chair with some cast-off ropes around it 
  and a makeshift table of crates and planks. Atop 
  this table are twenty-three sheets of paper and a 
  half-empty ink bottle (but no pen). The ink and 
  paper are of very high quality.
  If the KEY is here, it is amid the paper and ink on 
  the desk.
  MUGGERS IN THE STREETS
  On the street outside the cellar entrance, a young 
  girl hides in a doorway and watches. This is Kala 
  (level 2, stealth as level 4, running as level 3). She 
  watches for potential victims to rob, and signals 
  her brother Urlan (level 3; Armor 1) and his friend 
  Grath (level 3) to move out to attack likely targets.
  Kala watches the PCs, but unless they look weak 
  in strength or numbers, she does not signal her 
  brother. However, PCs looking around might see 
  her hiding in the doorway. If she’s spotted, she 
  runs. If caught, she might be intimidated into 
  telling her story—what she’s doing in the alley and 
  why—although she won’t help anyone apprehend 
  or harm her brother. But more important, if asked, 
  she can relate that six figures in cloaks have been 
  coming and going from the cellar for the last two 
  days. She knows nothing about them, but they 
  were “creepy.”
  
  THE HIDEOUS GAME
  LIACH’S SQUARE
  Located in an affluent residential neighborhood, the small square 
  is enclosed on all sides by several apartment buildings. Three large 
  entryways between the buildings provide access to the square from 
  the city. 
  The only way in or out of the apartment buildings is through doors 
  that lead into the square.  
  During the days leading up to the event, workers install mysterious 
  numenera devices on both sides of each street exit. If questioned, 
  they are closed-mouthed. The workers have a perfectly legal permit 
  to build in the square. They don’t know what the machines do or 
  who their employers are (and they don’t care). They just know they’re 
  getting a nice payment.
  The devices are level 6 force field projectors. When installed on both 
  sides of an exit and activated, each device produces a transparent 
  force field that lasts for twenty minutes.
  If the object KEY is here, it is hidden next to one of the projectors.
  GM Intrusion: If the PCs do anything illegal while in Qi—like 
  sabotage the installed devices in Liach’s Square—or cause any kind of 
  major disturbance, it’s likely that they draw the attention of the Zhev 
  peacekeeping automatons. 
  If you have time, read “More Details” on the next page 
  for information and ideas to enhance this scenario.
  THE EVENT
  The day of the event, people are gathered in Liach’s Square to 
  see what will happen. As the appointed time approaches, anyone 
  without an invitation is shooed out by one of six well-dressed 
  human men (level 3; each carries a hidden buzzer; hired to keep 
  the uninvited out of the square, but they know nothing else). These 
  men then take up positions at each of the three street exits and let 
  the invitees in. When all thirteen guests have entered the square, the 
  force field projectors activate, sealing off the street exits.
  In the middle of the square is a table draped in white cloth, on top 
  of which are thirteen crystal sculptures, each about the size of two 
  fists. Anyone touching a sculpture suffers 6 points of damage from 
  an electrical discharge.
  Four slidikin are hidden around the square in cloaks. They won’t 
  reveal themselves unless the force fields have been activated or 
  there is a disturbance that significantly interferes with their plan. In 
  the former case, they begin killing the invitees while people watch. 
  In the latter case, they intervene to stop the disturbance (probably 
  the PCs) as quickly as possible.
  Reveal Show ‘Em B to the players.
  RUMORS OF INVITATIONS
  The PCs hear rumors that various people around 
  the city are receiving invitations to a mysterious 
  event that will take place in Liach’s Square in three 
  days’ time. No one seems to know who sent the 
  invitations or why the recipients were chosen, but 
  people are certainly intrigued.
  INVITED GUEST: 
  THELIAN MYASTRE
  Thelian is an actor currently performing a 
  moderately sized role in a play called A Bit 
  of Revenge at the Rivermore Theater. He is a 
  pompous, self-important effete whose ego 
  overshadows his talent. He doesn’t know anything 
  about the source of his invitation, but he’s sure 
  that it involves honoring up-and-coming people of 
  importance in Qi. If asked, he happily shows the 
  PCs his invitation, but he will not part with it under 
  any circumstance.
  Reveal Show ‘Em A to the players.
  INVITED GUEST: 
  YOULAN THE SEAMSTRESS
  Youlan is a middle-aged woman of simple means. 
  She has no idea what the invitation is about, but 
  she is thrilled at the possibilities. If asked, she 
  eagerly shows the PCs her invitation, and if they 
  convince her that it’s a trap or a trick, she can be 
  talked into giving it to them.
  Reveal Show ‘Em A to the players.
  
  6
  UPPER QI
  The upper levels of Qi are well lit and filled 
  with beautiful spires and lovely homes. 
  Towers for airship and balloon docks are 
  everywhere. The Zhev patrol the streets and 
  sweep vagrants and other undesirables to 
  the lower city. This all becomes more evident 
  the closer one comes to the Durkhal, the city 
  complex that includes the Amber Pope’s holy 
  palace.
  THE SLIDIKIN
  The GM should do all that she can to 
  make the slidikin as inhuman, strange, and 
  downright creepy as possible. Every move 
  and gesture is a threat of violence, like a 
  razor held disturbingly close to one’s throat. 
  Or eyeball.
  When slidikin move, it is with an odd, 
  disjointed rhythm, as if they’re not entirely 
  in sync with the flow of time everyone else 
  experiences. Their limbs don’t seem to obey 
  the laws of reality, suddenly turning around 
  “backward” to easily climb the wall of a 
  building behind them while the slidikin’s 
  body still faces forward.
  When the creatures speak, they do so with 
  more than one mouth at a time, saying more 
  MORE DETAILS
  Read this section if you have time. If 
  necessary, skim the section on Qi in the 
  Numenera corebook to refresh your memory 
  about the city.
  LOWER QI
  Qi is built on a number of different levels, with 
  the upper classes living on the higher levels, 
  and the lower classes living on the darker, 
  lower levels. The early part of this scenario is 
  likely to take the PCs into the lower regions of 
  the city. This is where the cellar is located, and 
  where they might encounter some muggers 
  (or at least their lookout). Many of these 
  places never see sunlight, and the air is choked 
  with dust and soot. The buildings are made 
  of grime-covered bricks. On the lowest level, 
  many of the buildings have cellars and dank 
  basements.
  Pipes wind their way through the lower 
  regions, carrying water to the upper levels 
  and taking away sewage and waste. Creatures 
  called slime lurkers by the locals dwell in and 
  around the pipes on the lower levels, preying 
  upon people and animals. The sudden 
  appearance of a slime lurker would be a good 
  GM intrusion in this part of town.
  Slime lurker: level 4, 
  Speed defense as level 3; 
  health 30
  Qi, page 148
  Zhev, page 268
  Durkhal, page 149
  
  7
  THE HIDEOUS GAME
  details or evidence. At best (a difficulty 4 
  persuasion task), the characters can get 
  assurances from a human representative of 
  the Zhev that there will be some kind of Zhev 
  presence at the event in Liach’s Square.
  USING THIS IN A CAMPAIGN
  The PCs might be recuperating in Qi 
  after an arduous expedition or visiting on 
  other business unrelated to any of these 
  proceedings. The events of The Hideous 
  Game are over quickly, and it’s possible 
  that the characters’ actions (investigation, 
  mostly) might coincide with the elements of 
  another adventure taking place in the city at 
  the same time.
  FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
  Players who have been paying attention 
  will realize that there were six slidikin at 
  the beginning of the scenario, but only four 
  make an appearance at the end. This means 
  that even if the PCs took care of the slidikin 
  in Liach’s Square, at least two more are still 
  out there. The Hideous Game will continue. 
  Where and when will the slidikin appear 
  again? There might not be any way to predict 
  what the creatures will do, but PCs who 
  choose to track them might uncover their 
  next sadistic, horrific, and likely elaborate 
  plot.
  than one thing, sometimes not always in the 
  same language. When they attack, they make 
  disturbing threats along the lines of, “I will 
  show you what your own brain looks like, a 
  piece at a time,” or “I will lick your eyeballs 
  when you’re dead.”
  RESEARCH AND INQUIRIES
  Unless the PCs have access to something 
  like the datasphere, they are unlikely to find 
  any knowledge of the slidikin or anything 
  called “the Hideous Game.” However, if 
  they go to the Durkhal, speak with the Aeon 
  Priests, and succeed at a difficulty 5 task 
  to convince the bureaucrats that they are 
  legitimate, after hours of talking to various 
  people they are finally introduced to Thuari 
  Dennilan, an Aeon Priest who knows the 
  basics of the slidikin and has at least heard 
  of the Hideous Game. She tries to find out 
  everything the PCs know about it and offers 
  to reward them if they learn more and bring 
  her the information. The reward grows even 
  bigger if they can stop whatever plans the 
  slidikin have in Qi, for the creatures certainly 
  mean the people of the city harm.
  THE PCs GO TO THE AUTHORITIES
  No one in the city has heard of the slidikin 
  other than the Aeon Priest Thuari Dennilan. 
  Anyone the PCs try to speak with will likely 
  brush them off unless they provide concrete 
  Thuari Dennilan: level 4, 
  all historical knowledge as 
  level 5, all combat actions 
  as level 2; has at least one 
  defensive cypher
  
  8
  SLIDIKIN 
   
  5 (15)
  Skulking from shadow to shadow, the slidikin dwell on the fringes of human society. They 
  are bizarre creatures, their origins a complete mystery. While one might pass as a human 
  from a distance, their chalk-white skin, lack of eyes or nose, and far-too-many mouths 
  ensure that a close examination would prove them otherwise. In people’s rare, brief, furtive, 
  and frankly disturbing interactions with slidikin, they have made passing references to “the 
  hideous game.” This seems to be an incongruous competition among slidikin (and only 
  slidikin) that involves dark deeds—theft, kidnapping, mutilation, and murder. (It likely 
  involves other things as well, but no one knows what they are, focusing only on those 
  activities that affect humanity.)
  Motive: The game
  Environment: Human villages and towns
  Health: 22
  Damage Inflicted: 5 points
  Movement: Long
  Modifications: Speed defense and stealth as level 6
  Combat: Slidikin are likely to use weapons in combat, although they never wear armor, 
  preferring to remain agile rather than encumbered. 
  Interaction: Talking with a slidikin can be infuriating. No 
  matter what the situation, the slidikin, with its 
  multiple, grating, whispered voices, speaks with 
  outlandish contempt for whomever it encounters, 
  as if it knows a great many things that everyone 
  else does not. It finds odd things (like physical 
  threats) humorous, and many normal concepts 
  (like justice or revenge) incomprehensible. It never 
  tells anyone the nature of the game or anything of 
  its own nature.
  Use: A man stumbles out of a dark alleyway toward the 
  PCs, blood running down his face. “The mouths,” 
  he whispers hoarsely. “The mouths.” If the characters 
  examine him, they see that his eyelids have been sliced 
  off. He says that men—at least, he thought they were 
  men at first—grabbed him the day before and held him in a 
  dank cellar overnight, bound and gagged. They giggled and 
  whispered among themselves the whole time. Then they 
  mutilated him with knives and left him in the alley. He 
  gives a frantic, fevered description of a slidikin.
  Loot: A slidikin very likely carries 1d100 shins and a 
  cypher as well as a variety of knives and some 
  poisons, knockout drugs, lockpicks, and 
  other tools.
  Slidikin hate memora 
  (Ninth World Bestiary 
  page 83) and vice versa, 
  but no one knows why. 
  Slidikin also appear to be 
  terrified of philethis.
  GM Intrusion: The 
  slidikin runs away and 
  around a corner. If the 
  character follows it, the 
  creature is gone. Is there 
  a secret door? Did it dis-
  appear into the shadows? 
  Did it climb up to the 
  roof? It’s nowhere to be 
  seen.
  Philethis, page 252
  
  9
  THE HIDEOUS GAME
  B
  A
  
  Crail
  Stealthy
  jack
  Crafts Illusions
  Connection
  Uraz is never fooled by your illusions 
  or affected by your trickery abilities. You 
  suspect it has something to do with the 
  mechanism fused to him. You’d like to 
  learn the limits, but you are hesitant to 
  reveal his immunity.
  During an attack by broken hounds, you 
  risked your life for Tanasia, which isn’t like 
  you. For some reason, she never seems 
  comfortable when that particular incident 
  comes up.
  Initial Link to Starting Adventure
  You were tailing Karner because of his 
  connections to someone of authority, 
  thinking that maybe you could learn 
  something useful. But he noticed you, 
  and you had to play it off as being 
  interested in the adventure instead. 
  Background
  Your best friend from childhood is now an 
  Aeon Priest. 
  TM and © 2015 Monte Cook Games, LLC.
  
  Practiced With Light and Medium Weapons
  Flex Skill
  Skill with Defense: Speed
  Practiced in Armor 
  Minor Illusion (1 Intellect point)
  Inability in movement-related tasks
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    Stealthy Tasks
  Interactions involving lies or trickery
  Esoteries or abilities involving
   
  illusions or trickery
   
  Intimidation
    
   
   
  Clothing
  Synth sleeveless tunic (light armor)
  Explorer’s pack
  Pack of light tools
  12 medium bolts
  Magnetic attack drill (level 5), page 289
  Monoblade (level 7), page 291
   10
   
   
   15
   
   
  1
   13
   
  1
   
  1
   
  2
   
  8
   1 
  1
  A metallic, halo-like disc that, once placed 
  above the head, floats there indefinitely.
  Clawed gauntlet (light) 
  -1 
  2
  Crossbow (medium) 
   
  4
  X
  X
  X
  X
  
  Etolas
  Strong-Willed
  nano
  Commands Mental Powers
  Connection
  Haro is particularly tuned into your 
  mental powers. While you’re within short 
  range of her, the two of you are always in 
  telepathic contact, and (if you were high 
  enough tier), you suspect she would not 
  be harmed by your Psychic Bursts.
  You think you saw Uraz sleepwalk 
  one time, though you wonder if it was 
  his mechanical skeleton rather than his 
  own mind that controlled him. The idea 
  worries you, because you suspect you 
  can’t affect the minds of mechanisms.
  Initial Link to Starting Adventure
  Crail told you that she had a lead on a 
  potentially lucrative information source. 
  Unfortunately, she’s since told you her 
  lead has grown cold.
  Background
  You trained for a time with a group of 
  Aeon Priests, and they still look upon you 
  with fondness. Most of them, anyhow.
  TM and © 2015 Monte Cook Games, LLC.
  
  Practiced With Light Weapons
  Onslaught (1 Intellect point)
  Ward (already figured in Armor)
  Telepathic (1+ Intellect points)
  Inability: figuring out puzzles or problems, 
  memorizing things, or using lore
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Resisting mental effects
   
  Tasks requiring incredible focus or
   
  concentration
   
  Understanding and identifying
   
  numenera
  Clothing
  A book of the numenera
  Purple head covering artifact adds 1 point 
  to your Intellect Pool (already added to 
  your Pool). If you’re ever without the 
  artifact, subtract 5 points from your 
  Intellect Pool; the points are restored if 
  you regain the item.
  Datasphere siphon (level 6), page 283
  Eagleseye (level 5), page 285
  Friction-reducing gel (level 5), page 286
   10
   
   
   10
   
   
   
   19
   
   
  1
   
  1
   
  1
   
  3
   
  6
   1 
  1
  Canister that produces an extremely foul 
  odor and a puff of dark red smoke when 
  opened 
  Dagger (light) 
  -1 
  2
  X
  X
  X
  
  Haro
  Clever
  nano
  Focuses Mind Over Matter
  Connection
  Etolas can cause your telekinetic powers 
  to act oddly. Every once in a while, if he 
  stands directly next to you, your powers 
  are cancelled, but at other times, they 
  seem to improve.
  Karner seems like he’s got something 
  to prove to you. You suspect you may 
  have accidentally insulted him and his 
  flowery ways once.
  Initial Link to Starting Adventure
  You suspect that the other PCs won’t 
  succeed without you. 
  Background
  You learned nano-sorcery in the temple 
  of an obscure god. Its priests and 
  worshippers, although small in number, 
  respect and admire your talents and 
  potential. 
  TM and © 2015 Monte Cook Games, LLC.
  
  Trained in all tasks involving, identifying or 
  assessing danger, lies, quality, importance, 
  function or power.
  Mental esoteries
  Practiced With Light Weapons
  Onslaught (1 Intellect point)
  Scan (2 Intellect points)
  Deflect Attacks (1 Intellect point)
  Inability at any task involving lore and 
  knowledge not related to the numenera
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  All Interactions involving lies or trickery
   
  Defense against mental effects
   
  Understanding and identifying
   
           numenera
    
   
   
  Clothing
  A book of the numenera
  A pack of light tools
  Sheen (level 6), page 294
  Stim (level 5), page 295
  Catseye (level 4), page 282
   
  8
   
   
   11
   
   
   
   17
   
   
  1
   
  1
   
  1
   
  3
   14
   1 
  1
  Programmable tattoos; you can alter the 
  tattoos on your body if you spend an hour 
  concentrating on how you’d like them to 
  appear.
  Dagger (light) 
  -1 
  2
  X
  X
  X
  
  Karner
  Swift
  glaive
  Fights With Panache
  Connection
  You are always trying to impress Haro 
  with your skill, wit, appearance, or 
  bravado. Up to this point, anyway, she 
  seems oblivious.
  You like to imbibe, sometimes a little 
  too much. You overdid it once, but 
  someone brought you home safely. You’re 
  not 100% sure who it was, but it might 
  have been Uraz. So far, you’ve been too 
  embarrassed to ask.
  Initial Link to Starting Adventure
  Haro made an off-hand comment about 
  some people being more flash than 
  substance, and you joined the group to 
  show her that some people can be both.
  Crail kind of creeps you out, but you 
  haven’t told her that.
  Background
  You have a relative who holds a fairly high 
  position of authority. You ran away from 
  all that because governing and ruling 
  seemed more trouble than fun.
  TM and © 2015 Monte Cook Games, LLC.
  
  Practiced in Armor
  Practiced With All Weapons
  Pierce (1 Speed point)
  Thrust (1 Might point)
  Attack Flourish
  (Inability at balancing offset by training in 
  balancing)
    
  Initiative
   
   Running
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
  Clothing (extremely stylish)
  Explorer’s pack
  Extra throwing daggers x3
  Chainmail hauberk (medium armor); 
  reduce Speed Pool by 1 while worn
  Detonation, sonic (level 8), page 285
  Instant servant (level 5), page 288
   16
   
   
  1
   14
   
   
  1 
   
  8
   
   
   
   
  1
   
  2
   
  2
   
  2
   1 
  1
  A throwing-verred (twin-bladed short 
  sword) that deals only 1 point of damage, 
  but always reappears in your hand within 
  a few hours if you haven’t already 
  retrieved it.
  Sword-staff (heavy) 
   
  6
  Dagger (light) 
  -1 
  2
  Broadsword, jeweled (med)  
  4
  X
  X
  
  Tanasia
  Graceful
  glaive
  Masters Weaponry
  Connection
  You risked your life to save Crail’s during 
  an attack by broken hounds. You were 
  wounded, and though you were healed, 
  the wound still sometimes pains you. 
  Whether Crail knows this is up to you.
  You know a secret word that makes 
  Uraz lose control of the mechanical 
  skeleton he’s fused to, apparently 
  awakening a different consciousness 
  within the skeleton. You’re not sure the 
  consciousness has the best interests of 
  Uraz in mind, but boy, can it fight! 
  Initial Link to Starting Adventure
  There is a reward involved, and you need 
  the money.
  Background
  You trained in an isolated monastery far 
  away. The monks think of you as a sibling, 
  but you’re a stranger to all others. 
  TM and © 2015 Monte Cook Games, LLC.
  
  Practiced in Armor
  Practiced With All Weapons
  Thrust (1 Might point)
  Pierce (1 Speed point)
  Weapon Master: +1 damage with broadsword 
  (already figured in attacks)
    
  Balance and careful movement
   
   Physical performing arts
   
   Speed defense
   
   Jumping
   
   
   
    
   
   
  Clothing
  Explorer’s pack
  Shield 
  Synth bodywrap (medium armor); reduce 
  Speed Pool by 1 while worn
  12 medium bolts
  Detonation, gravity (level 6), page 284
  Gravity-nullifying spray (level 8), page 287
   16
   
   
  1
   12
   
   
  1 
   
  8
   
   
   
   
  1
   
  3
   
  2
   
  5
   1 
  1
  Pair of holsters containing metallic 
  objects with handles and triggers that 
  instantly etch tattoos when they are 
  pressed against flesh and the trigger is 
  pulled; one etches a black scorpion, the 
  other a red eye
  Broadsword (medium) 
   
  5
  Crossbow (medium) 
   
  4
  X
  X
  X
  X
  
  Uraz
  Mechanical
  jack
  Fuses Flesh and Steel
  Connection
  Tanasia knows a secret command word 
  that renders you unconscious for up 
  to one minute, during which time a 
  “battle AI” comes online in your fused 
  exoskeleton and acts according to its 
  own mysterious agenda (which the GM 
  determines). Once used, the phrase won’t 
  work on you again until several days have 
  passed.
  You once found Karner so drunk (or 
  otherwise altered by a drug) that he 
  couldn’t say his own name. You brought 
  him home and saw him safely to bed. 
  You’re not sure he remembers.
  Initial Link to Starting Adventure
  The parts you need to repair and maintain 
  yourself are running low, and you want to 
  salvage new ones from locations rich in 
  the numenera.
  Background
  You worked alongside your father, who 
  was skilled in many things, and in fact 
  fused you to the mechanical exoskeleton 
  when you would have otherwise died 
  from a terrible fall. Then one day he 
  disappeared with no explanation.
  TM and © 2015 Monte Cook Games, LLC.
  
  Sense “magic”/numenera
  Esotery: Hedge Magic (1 Intellect point)
  Practiced With Light and Medium Weapons
  Flex Skill
  Trained Without Armor (already figured under Skills)
  Skill with Defense: Intellect (already figured under 
  Skills)
  Special Healing, page 64
  Enhanced Body (already figured under Pools and Armor)
  Inability in tasks involving charm, persuasion, 
  or deception
   
   
   Speed defense
   
   
     Understanding and identifying  
   
           numenera
         Intellect defense
   
   
  Clothing
  Explorer’s pack
  Light tools
  Parts to repair yourself (see Special 
  Healing)
  5-disk buzzer magazine
  Density nodule (level 6), p 283
  Force shield projector (level 7), page 286
   14
   
   
   14
   
   
   
   16
   
   
  1
   
  1
   
  1
   
  2
   
  8
   1 
  1
  “Waldo” attached to your mechanical 
  frame that allows you to manipulate or 
  hold objects without directly touching 
  them
  Amber crystal that glows as bright as a 
  candle when held 
  Dagger, punching (light) 
  -1 
  2
  Buzzer (light) 
  -1 
  2
  X
  X
  X
  
  Taking the Narrative by 
  the Tail: GM Intrusions & 
  Special Effects
  NUMENERA GLIMMERS
  Numenera Glimmers are inexpensive PDF-only products that allow us to respond to fans’ 
  desires for new material on the fly and let us delve deeper into the Ninth World, covering 
  unusual and specialized topics that might not find a home in a larger publication. 
  Whether you’re looking for new adventures and character options, Ninth World lore and 
  culture, a cache of numenera devices, or just something a little weird, the datasphere has 
  got you covered. 
  Artifacts & Oddities 
  Collection 1
  Injecting the Weird
  Love and Sex in the 
  Ninth World
  DriveThruRPG. 
  All Numenera Glimmers are also available on
  Beyond All Worlds
  In Strange Aeons: 
  Lovecraftian Numenera
  Into the Violet Vale
  Vortex
  Maps of 
  the Ninth World 2
  Maps of 
  the Ninth World
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Cypher System/Setting - Numenera/Adventures/The Hideous Game.pdf