TEXT: BY MONTE COOK
  THE NIGHTCRAFT
  
  2
  Aeon Priests speculate that at some time in 
  the distant past, the Earth was the hub of an 
  empire that spanned the vastness of space. 
  At such a time in the dim recesses of the 
  prior worlds, numenera craft of all varieties 
  crossed the gulfs and came here, only to 
  later turn around and fly back into the night. 
  Some of these craft remain in the Ninth 
  World deep inside ancient ruins, buried in 
  the ground, submerged in the sea, lying out 
  in the desert, or in similar locations.
  The Nightcraft, as it is called, is one such 
  vehicle. Although its existence is not well 
  known, a few numenera experts have long 
  speculated that the ship can be used to 
  travel into the void beyond the edges of the 
  world. And they are right. 
  THE VESSEL
  The outside of the craft is smooth and sleek 
  black metal, shaped like a giant manta ray 
  (albeit backward). It has no visible windows 
  or obvious numenera, although large runic 
  inscriptions in some unknown language are 
  cut into the hull in sweeping, precise strokes. 
  While landed, it flattens so that the rear of 
  the ship, the control area, and the sensors 
  are all resting on the ground. When the ship 
  is in the air, the power panels spread out in 
  a halo around the engine, channeling energy 
  throughout the craft.
  Overall, the Nightcraft is a level 6 vessel. 
  It cleans itself and has self-repairing systems 
  throughout, so damaged elements (even 
  seat cushions) are renewed to their original 
  state within hours, though repairing major 
  damage takes up to ten times longer. It is 
  theorized that even if the ship were entirely 
  destroyed, it would still repair itself, although 
  restoration in this case would take months 
  and likely would not help any living creatures 
  that were inside the Nightcraft when it was 
  destroyed. All of the cleaning and repair is 
  done by invisible nano-spirits.
  One enters the Nightcraft from below—an 
  irising door provides access to the interior. 
  The hold also has a large, bottom-oriented 
  entrance.
  The hull is comprised of mostly unknown 
  materials. It is unclear how, but there are 
  suggestions that the ship’s speed is greatly 
  amplified by one or more of the materials in 
  its hull, as though they have a strange effect 
  not only on the craft’s mass but also on its 
  relative position in time and space. In other 
  words, something about the hull means that 
  the faster the ship goes, the farther away its 
  position is instantly transposed. Given time 
  to build up relativistic speeds, the Nightcraft 
  can suddenly appear across the galaxy. This 
  of course makes no sense, in the same way 
  that so much prior-world technology seems 
  to make no sense.
  THE NIGHTCRAFT
  Throughout this book, you’ll see page 
  references to items accompanied by 
  this symbol. These are page references 
  to the Numenera corebook, where you 
  can find additional details about that 
  item, place, creature, or concept. It isn’t 
  necessary to look up the referenced 
  items in the corebook, but doing so will 
  provide useful information for character 
  creation and gameplay.
  Credits
  Writer/Designer 
  Monte Cook
  Creative Director 
  Shanna Germain
  Editor/Proofreader 
  Ray Vallese
  Cover Artist 
  Lee Smith
  Graphic Designer 
  Bear Weiter
  Artists 
  Jacob Atienza, chrom, 
  Dreamstime.com
  Cartographer 
  Lee Smith
  Monte Cook Games  
  Editorial Board 
  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.
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  3
  THE NIGHTCRAFT
  The Nightcraft is intelligent and 
  independent. It speaks, and its voice can be 
  heard throughout the ship. Unfortunately, it 
  does not use a language known to anyone 
  in the Ninth World. If someone figures out 
  how to speak this language, she can speak to 
  the ship from anywhere inside, or outside if 
  she is within a short distance. The Nightcraft 
  cannot be communicated with telepathically.
  In personality, the craft is curious and 
  friendly, although it worries and expresses its 
  concern anytime someone inside is hurt or 
  at (perceived) risk. Of course, if those inside 
  the ship can’t understand the language, all 
  its words of interest or concern just seem 
  like strange noises it makes from time to 
  time.
  The Nightcraft has no memories and 
  doesn’t keep track of things. Unless 
  somehow modified, the ship takes 
  commands from anyone who issues them 
  within its hearing, as long as the speaker 
  uses its language. 
  THE INTERIOR CHAMBERS
  The interior of the vessel is comfortable, with 
  few sharp edges or right angles. Furnishings 
  are comfortable for humans but were clearly 
  designed for larger, broader beings.
  Entrance. The level 6 door irises open if 
  someone can get the controls to work. The 
  door is on the underside of the craft, but 
  gravity-nullifying suspensors bring anyone 
  wishing to enter up and into the vehicle. A 
  minor force field keeps the inner atmosphere 
  from escaping, even when the door is open. 
  However, solid creatures and objects can 
  pass through the field normally. The door 
  can be opened from either side or from the 
  control bridge.
  Within the entry chamber, hidden behind 
  concealed level 5 wall panels, are five 
  shipskin canisters. 
  Control Bridge. This chamber has a few 
  comfortable seats but is mostly filled with 
  synth orbs floating in the air. These orbs (all 
  level 7 devices) are the controls. They must be 
  manipulated in specific ways to activate the 
  functions here. If a character can communicate 
  verbally with the ship, all functions here can be 
  controlled purely through voice commands.
  For additional details 
  about the interior of the 
  craft, see the map on 
  page 7.
  The Player Handouts 
  on pages 8 and 9 are 
  designed to be given to 
  players. As they explore 
  the craft, they can fill 
  in the name of the area 
  and add additional notes 
  about their discoveries.  
  Shipskin, page 4
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  4
  and it can be used up to ten times in a 28-
  hour period. There is also a level 3 device 
  here that will clean a person using sonic 
  vibrations, along with 1d6 entertaining 
  oddities.
  Hold. This area has its own large hatch 
  to the outside. It is empty when the ship is 
  found.
  FINDING THE CRAFT
  The GM should place the Nightcraft 
  anywhere that seems fitting. Gaining access 
  to the craft probably won’t be easy for the 
  PCs. Here are four possible locations:
  1. Within the Ruins. The PCs explore a 
  strange ruined structure from the prior 
  worlds and come upon an irising door in the 
  ceiling that doesn’t easily open. The ceiling 
  is made of an odd reflective black material. 
  The door is actually the entrance into the 
  Nightcraft, which is currently “docked” with 
  the structure. 
  2. Buried. The Nightcraft stood still in 
  time while Earth changed around it. Literal 
  mountains have formed over the ship, and 
  now it lies at the very roots of a peak in the 
  Black Riage. The PCs learn of its location 
  somehow (perhaps the endpoint of an 
  electronic map discovered elsewhere) and 
  must find a way to reach it. This might 
  involve gathering numenera tunneling 
  equipment, major explosives, or phasing 
  technology.
  3. Submerged. The Nightcraft lies at the 
  bottom of the sea off the coast of Ghan. 
  Again, the PCs learn of it via some means—
  perhaps by treating with an intelligent 
  aquatic creature like an octopus, who trades 
  the location of the craft for information or a 
  device it needs. The characters will also need 
  a means of surviving the trip down into the 
  deep, but the return trip is a bit easier, as the 
  vessel can travel up and out of the water.
  4. Just Waiting. This is the easiest way of 
  getting to the Nightcraft, but perhaps the 
  most enigmatic. The ship is just sitting, 
  almost waiting, out in plain sight. As the PCs 
  approach, the door opens, beckoning. Local 
  witnesses might relate that it landed there 
  very recently.
  From this room, the characters can 
  control the ship’s immediate movements 
  and long-term navigation as well as monitor 
  what’s going on in and around the vessel. 
  The bridge is also where the craft’s internal 
  environment (air, gravity, and temperature) 
  is adjusted.
  Weapon. Complex tubes and wires are 
  strung all over this room. In the middle, a 
  red synth pyramid hangs from the ceiling. 
  Using the pyramid device, one can control 
  the Nightcraft’s weapon, viewing potential 
  targets within range on screens in the 
  pyramid. The weapon is a level 6 device. It 
  projects orbs of destructive energy up to 20 
  miles (32 km), inflicting 12 points of damage 
  in an immediate radius.
  Communication. Here, one will find a 
  level 5 console with a flat piece of synth. 
  When touched, this device allows telepathic 
  communication with one other person within 
  100 miles (161 km).
  Engine. This chamber contains a series 
  of transparent pillars filled with roiling gas, 
  which together serve as a level 7 device. 
  Occasionally one can see flashes and arcs of 
  energy within the gas. 
  A series of synth knobs on each pillar 
  manipulates the gas and thus adjusts the 
  engine. Figuring out how to do so correctly 
  requires an Intellect-based roll. However, this 
  should never be necessary unless someone 
  is repairing damage or attempting to modify 
  or upgrade the engines.
  Quarters. This long chamber holds beds, 
  chairs, and other comforts. The room 
  contains a level 4 device that will produce 
  food that is nourishing to a specific creature, 
  Black Riage,
  page 177
  Ghan, page 145
  ARTIFACT: SHIPSKIN
  Level: 4
  Form: Cylinder
  Effect: Sprays organic tissue over a 
  single creature the size of a human 
  or smaller. The tissue forms a 
  thick, tough skin that provides the 
  creature with 28 hours of oxygen and 
  protection from the dangers of the 
  void. It also provides +2 to Armor.
  Depletion: 1 in 1d6
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  5
  THE NIGHTCRAFT
  SOARING INTO THE NIGHT
  Once someone with knowledge of the 
  numenera figures out how to control the 
  Nightcraft, it is ready for travel. Fuel does not 
  seem to be a concern. The craft is awkward 
  in an atmosphere and makes for a poor 
  means of traveling from place to place on 
  Earth (destinations are frequently overshot, 
  and landing is difficult). But it excels at very 
  long-distance journeys, including to the 
  stars.
  The nature of the craft belies the dangers 
  of space. Ships designed for the void are 
  exceedingly sturdy and filled with intricate 
  mechanisms to control speed and position, 
  as well as navigation, inner atmosphere, 
  gravity, food, and other necessities for the 
  crew. Special engines (if that’s even the 
  right word) propel the craft at unimaginable 
  speeds to cross even more unimaginable 
  distances in relatively short periods of time. 
  The Nightcraft can travel to anywhere in the 
  sun’s system in less than three days, and 
  anywhere in Earth’s galaxy within two weeks. 
  Beyond that, a trip takes months, not weeks.
  NIGHTCRAFT ADVENTURES
  The Stowaway: The PCs leave behind a 
  strange alien world only to discover a 
  creature on board the Nightcraft that they 
  THE WEIRD OF THE NIGHTCRAFT
  What’s That Sound? Beginning about 
  three days after the PCs start using the 
  Nightcraft, whenever someone is alone 
  in the quarters, they hear a strange 
  scratching sound coming from within one 
  of the walls. It happens only if someone is 
  alone, and no manner of straightforward 
  investigation turns up a cause.
  Lingering Effects: After spending ten 
  minutes or more in the engine room, 
  a character’s flesh takes on a random, 
  nonhuman color like purple or green. 
  Sometimes the color change is splotchy, 
  and sometimes it is total. Sometimes it 
  fades after a few minutes, and sometimes 
  it lingers for hours. After this happens 
  a few times, it no longer occurs, but 
  something else does: an itchy sensation, 
  a change in voice pitch, or an inability to 
  abide the touch of a particular substance. 
  All of these effects are temporary and 
  eventually shift to something else.
  Surprise Trip: Without warning or 
  explanation, the Nightcraft veers off 
  onto its own course and travels to a 
  destination that appears random.
  For more ideas for 
  starfaring encounters, see 
  page 10 of Into the Night.
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  6
  find and decode the information, a task that 
  is made all the more difficult by a defense 
  automaton inside the vessel that attacks all 
  intruders.
  The trick is creating an explosion near the 
  anomaly. The easiest way to do so is to use 
  the Nightcraft’s weapon to target the power 
  supply of the other vessel, destroying it. The 
  crew of the other vessel came up with this 
  solution and drew up plans, but they had 
  no way of creating the explosion without 
  destroying their own craft.
  were not expecting. The stowaway is a tall, 
  hairy humanoid with four spindly arms. It 
  can’t speak the same language as the PCs, 
  but it can make itself understood through 
  complex gestures. This is Ggryxal, a creature 
  adept with the numenera (a skill that made 
  it easy to get into the ship). Ggryxal is on the 
  run from the dangerous and aggressive sorg 
  because it stole something of importance 
  from them—a crystal information storage 
  device that holds plans and positions of 
  sorg operations. Ggryxal tries to get the 
  PCs to take the device far from their current 
  location, but the sorg appear in pursuit 
  of the creature and the stolen crystal. The 
  stowaway has a bag of cyphers and oddities 
  that it can trade for the characters’ help.
  The Door: A PC goes into the engine room 
  and sees a door in the floor of the chamber 
  that simply wasn’t there before. It leads 
  to a low-ceilinged compartment with 
  four level 7 devices—long cylinders 
  that serve as stasis pods. Three 
  of them currently hold humans 
  in stasis. They are all clones of 
  a human woman named Uerv, 
  and they all hate each other and 
  will stop at nothing to see the 
  others killed. The clones have 
  no idea how they got in the stasis 
  pods. Despite this, diplomatic PCs 
  might learn that the real Uerv 
  is lost somewhere on the 
  Gloaming, and—unlike 
  the clones—she might 
  know more about the 
  Nightcraft than the 
  characters do.
  The Unexpected Stop: A weird anomaly in 
  the void brings the Nightcraft to a dead 
  stop. No amount of fiddling with the 
  vessel can get it moving again. However, 
  another vessel (level 4) is also trapped 
  by the anomaly and has been for a very 
  long time. The crew of the ancient craft is 
  long dead, but the ship holds information 
  that is likely to help the PCs figure out a 
  way to escape the anomaly. Unfortunately, 
  the other ship is more than 10 miles (16 
  km) away, across the open void. Even if the 
  PCs can reach it, they must get inside and 
  Ggryxal: level 4, 
  numenera as level 9, 
  communication and 
  interaction as level 6; 
  1d6 oddities and 1d6 + 2 
  cyphers
  Sorg are ruthless, 
  antagonistic creatures 
  protected by a 
  pressurized-bivalve shell 
  crusted with tech. Level 
  5; for details, see Into the 
  Night, page 152
  Uerv clone: level 4, 
  attacks on other clones as 
  level 6
  The Gloaming is an 
  artificial structure well 
  beyond the reaches of 
  Earth’s galaxy. For details, 
  see Into the Night, 
  page 118
  Defense automaton: 
  level 5, defense as level 
  6; health 20; Armor 
  3; long-range energy 
  weapon inflicts 6 points 
  of damage on target and 
  (on a failed Might defense 
  roll) renders one random 
  limb useless until the lost 
  points are restored
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  7
  THE NIGHTCRAFT
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  PLAYER HANDOUT: THE NIGHTCRAFT
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  The door is on the underside of the craft.
   
  This chamber has a few comfortable seats but is mostly 
  filled with synth orbs floating in the air.
   
  Complex tubes and wires are strung all over this room. In 
  the middle, a red synth pyramid hangs from the ceiling.
   
  This chamber has a console with a flat piece of synth. 
   
  This chamber contains a series of transparent pillars filled 
  with roiling gas. Occasionally one can see flashes and arcs 
  of energy within the gas. 
   
  This long chamber holds beds, chairs, and other comforts. 
   
  This area has its own large hatch to the outside. It is empty.
  PLAYER HANDOUT: NOTES 
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  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
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Cypher System/Campaign Settings/Numenera/Supplements/The Nightcraft.pdf