It gets better for me with The Ninth World Guidebook (2015). It’s a lot more cohesive and approachable, I think, even if this is an expansion of the setting material in the main book, not a restatement. It reminds me a lot of the Glorantha Guide in the way the presentation is giving me slices of history, culture and social systems all at the same time in relatively digestible chunks.

The art is starting to really come together for me here. A lot of folks loooove the Numenera art. I don’t dislike it at all, but it doesn’t bowl me over or make my brain crackle the way other game art can. Here, though, some stuff does get me! Love that red knight. Some of the landscapes really work here. Some still don’t though, like the weird floating mask things. Stuff like that seems too random and takes me out. But then the weird folk who hunt humans are pretty rad, and well designed—they look unsettlingly alien.

I’m starting to find the fusion of science and fantasy more appealing here too. This one I am almost certain is symptom of just increasingly familiarity. Initially, I thought the tech seemed too…I dunno, New Agey? I have a hard time nailing this down. It still feels…violet. But I am OK with it. I’ve really come to like the robot designs.

But I dunno, am I sold on this? I’m not sure. I doooooo kind of want to read the proper Cypher System rules. I’m not going to rush out or anything—I still have Invisible Sun to attempt to comprehend—but if we cross paths, I might pick it up…