Three thematically linked hardcover sourcebooks with all new material for the award-winning phenomenon of the Numenera tabletop RPG.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Numenera Standups Are Here and Fulfilling!
over 3 years ago
– Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 09:24:41 PM
It’s been a long journey—literally—but the Numenera Character and Creature Standups have finally reached our warehouses. As we mentioned in our last update, international freight (and even domestic freight in some cases) has been discombobulated by the pandemic, and the Standups were delayed in transit by more than a month. That’s finally over, and these beauties are ready to go out!
Check your email, and if the Numenera Character and Creature Standups are among your rewards, in print or PDF, you’ll have received a notification that it’s time to redeem your reward. Log into the MCG Shop and go to Coupons (under My Account), to claim your copy.
As a rule, we fulfill Kickstarter backers (and preorders) well ahead of street date. Because shipping delays meant we didn’t get the Standups until after the scheduled street date, the Numenera Character and Creature Standups will go on sale to the public today. Rest assured, though, that Kickstarter redemptions (and then preorders) will ship ahead of any standard orders placed through our store.
Getting the Standups in PDF? The file is optimized for printing and assembling your standups in table-tent form!
Diamond Throne Is Coming for the Cypher System!
Our friends at Here Be Dragons Games have licensed the Diamond Throne setting (from Monte’s Arcana Unearthed and Arcana Evolved lines of 3e products) from Monte, and are publishing it as a new RPG powered by the Cypher System!
Fans of our forthcoming Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire will recognize a lot of things, from game elements such as the leonine litorians and diminutive faen peoples, to cultural commonalities like the emphasis on ritual in daily life. The city of Ptolus is not set in the Diamond Throne world, but the two are highly compatible, and anyone playing a Ptolus campaign in the Cypher System will find tons of useful stuff in the Diamond Throne books—and vice versa!
Reach the Beach! Liminal Shore Is on the Way!
over 3 years ago
– Fri, Sep 04, 2020 at 11:05:11 PM
We have received the first-off copies of Liminal Shore from the printer. The main shipment is in transit to our warehouses now, which means fulfillment isn’t far off! More on that in a sec, but first:
Standups Are Still Coming . . .
The COVID pandemic has dramatically impacted the movement of international freight, as different countries have faced shutdowns at different times, throwing shipping schedules into disarray. It looked like we were going to be unaffected by these issues, but as our shipment of Numenera Character and Creature Standups reached North American shores we suffered a GM Intrusion.
We reported in our last update that the Standups were on their way, and at the time we expected to have them in all of our warehouses by mid-August. As of this writing, they’ve just reached our overseas locations, and have arrived at our Atlanta warehouse today. But the shipment for our Kansas warehouse, our primary hub for Kickstarter fulfillment, is held up in rail congestion somewhere between the Port of Los Angeles and Overland Park, Kansas.
TL;DR: We’re probably still a week away from having the Standups at all of our warehouses—maybe more. As soon as we have them, we’ll begin fulfillment!
Weird Tales Presents: Pandemonium Noir
Based on James Aquilone’s Dead Jack series, Pandemonium Noir is a fun fantasy-horror setting which began in the pulp pages of Weird Tales and has since spawned a series of popular novels. Now it’s becoming a tabletop RPG powered by the Cypher System, and kicks off a series of games inspired by the legendary stories and creations spanning nearly a century of Weird Tales magazine.
The game is set in the dimension of Pandemonium, a collection of diverse lands populated by monsters and other supernatural beings. Here in the seedy urban underbelly of Pandemonium, you’ll find hard-boiled detectives, strong dames and dunzies, big lugs, back-stabbing allies, organized crime bosses, shady paparazzi, broken spirits, tragic ends, and slivers of hope.
But they’re not your typical noir fare: They include zoot-suit-wearing skeletons, double-crossed demon bookies, pattycake-playing werewolves, ogre taxi-drivers, lounge-singing vampires, door-to-door sales-giants, Lindy-hopping goblins, dirty plant-thing cops, and fast-talking zombie private eyes. And now . . . you! You play the fabled creatures of myth and nightmare. You are the weird in these weird tales.
This is the first of a series of RPGs spun from the pages of Weird Tales, the magazine of offbeat speculative fiction that’s been in circulation for nearly a century. And they’re all powered by the Cypher System, the same game engine that drives Numenera.
The Liminal Shore is a land of secrets, beyond the farthest seas—or, perhaps, farther still. Everything on the Liminal Shore is alive. Not just the dense forests and lush grasslands, teeming with creatures fabulous and humble. Not just the very earth, rocks, seas, and air. But even the clothes, the weapons, the cyphers you find here. It all breathes, grows, consumes, heals, and, well, lives.
Liminal Shore describes an entirely new, previously unexplored region of the Ninth World, unlike anywhere you’ve ever been. This 160-page hardcover includes loads of new cyphers, artifacts, and creatures, along with adventures and even new playable species.
This title is now in transit from our printer to all of our warehouses. (Because it’s coming from a North American vendor, it’s unlikely to be affected by the issues that have slowed the Numenera Character and Creature Standups.) If it’s among your rewards (in print or PDF), look for your redemption email in the next couple of weeks. And if not, well, Liminal Shore is now on preorder at the MCG Shop—order now, and your copy will ship right after Kickstarter fulfillment!
Characters and Creatures Are on the Way
almost 4 years ago
– Wed, Jul 29, 2020 at 09:19:59 PM
Have a look at these Numenera character and creature standups!
Production on Numenera Character and Creature Standups, the next reward from this Kickstarter campaign, is complete, and this incredible set of over 140 characters and creatures, printed double-sided on heavy game board, has begun its long journey that ends at your game table. The first step is an oceanic voyage from the factory to our warehouses. Lacking the Ninth World’s invisible corridors (that’s an Into the Deep reference. . .), we have to rely on international freight, which is a fraught business these days. Costs are about double pre-COVID rates, and wrangling a berth on the reduced number of ships plying the seas is difficult. But as of last week the Standups were aboard a ship, so the most difficult hurdles are behind them. We expect them to reach our warehouses in mid-August, and to begin fulfillment shortly after that.
Speaking of new products, here’s one that came out earlier this month:
The Cypher System is an incredible game engine, perfectly tuned to power Numenera. But there are thousands of gamers who are interested in—or absolutely love—the Ninth World, but don’t play Numenera. Why? Because they, or their gaming group, prefer to stick with 5e. Maybe that's you, or someone you know?
If so, we have great news: You can now venture Beneath the Monolith and explore the Ninth World, Numenera’s fantastic, award-winning setting, with 5e. This 160-page hardcover tome brings the Ninth World to our world’s most popular RPG system. It's available now at the MCG Shop!
You might also want to check out Arcana of the Ancients, which introduces weird science-fantasy elements to any 5e campaign. And watch out for Beasts of Flesh and Steel, a bestiary of creatures from the Numenera setting for use in 5e. It releases later this year.
(An aside: We’ll be unveiling some interesting Cypher System News this week at Gen Con Online. Join us—it’s free!—at An Evening with Monte Cook Games to be the first to hear it!)
Voices of the Datasphere Is Fulfilling!
almost 4 years ago
– Fri, May 29, 2020 at 12:52:16 PM
In our last update, we told you that Voices of the Datasphere, the first of the three primary books you funded in this campaign, was through the production process—but held up due to the closure of the print factory.
Great news: Our print vendor reopened and began spinning up operations earlier this month. They finished the bindery work and shipped the books to us.
Even greater news: Voices of the Datasphere reached our US warehouse last week and the fulfillment process began over the weekend!
Check your email and if Voices of the Datasphere is among your rewards, you’ll have received a notification that it’s time to redeem your reward. Log into the MCG Shop and go to Coupons (under My Account), to claim your copy.
Here's a piece of art from Voices of the Datasphere to tide you over!
These are unusual times, however, so we ask your patience as our fulfillment process is affected by several factors.
It’s not just product-making vendors that have been affected by the pandemic. We are also short on some critical shipping supplies at our US warehouse. They’re finally in transit and we expect to receive them soon, after over a month’s delay. If they’re further delayed, that will slow down the fulfillment process.
We are short-staffed in our US warehouse, and we’re carefully adhering to safety protocols that protect our staff and our customers. This means that things in our warehouse are moving a bit more slowly than usual, and this could stretch out the fulfillment process.
Air freight has been dramatically affected by the pandemic, as there are far fewer overseas flights these days. We don’t anticipate big delays in getting product to our UK and Australian warehouses, but delays are possible. If you’re an overseas backer, it may take longer before we begin shipping to you, as product makes its way to your region. We still anticipate that you’ll get your copy of Voices of the Datasphere ahead of street date, particularly since overseas retailers probably won’t have it for some time.
Of course, all of those caveats apply only to the print version of the book. The PDF is available for download immediately upon fulfillment—so you’ll be able to claim it as soon as you redeem it!
Looking Down the Road
2020 remains highly uncertain, but we have a plan penciled in. Here’s what it looks like:
Next up are the Character and Creature Standups. This title is at the printer, and should ship to us within a month or two. It’s being manufactured in China, so the shipment time is many weeks long. We anticipate getting it to you in early August.
The next book title is Liminal Shore. This book is written and moving through the processes of editing, layout, and proofing. Look for it in September.
Bruce is hard at work on Edge of the Sun. We tentatively expect to deliver it by the end of the year, but please be understanding if that changes.
Break the Horizon and Vertices remain roughly on schedule for delivery in early 2021.
Stuck at Home (Perhaps with Kids)?
Here’s a little something for gamers practicing social distancing, quarantined, or under a shelter-in-place restriction:
And for gamers getting into games online for the first time, the entire chapter on Playing Games Online, from Your Best Game Ever, is available for free. We’ve added it, in its entirety, to the downloadable free preview of that title.
We’ll keep this sale open for as long as conditions warrant (subject, of course, to product availability).
Did You Miss Ptolus?
If you love detailed, immersive, imaginative fantasy campaign settings, but didn’t get in on the Ptolus Kickstarter, don’t fret: BackerKit is now open, and you can make a late pledge to get in on awesome exclusive deals—including loads of unlocked stretch goals.
Pledge at RESIDENT or higher to get the massive, 672-page Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire with its hundreds of pages of extras, along with all eight stretch goal products and a 2,700-page library of existing Ptolus-related titles (a $250+ value) in PDF.
Pledge at HERO or higher to get Ptolus in print, plus the NPC Deck, GM Screen, Player’s Guides, Character Portfolios, and Ptolus: City of Adventure—and all the PDFs! It’s an amazing, Kickstarter-only deal.
Coronavirus Impacts on Your Rewards—and Other News
about 4 years ago
– Tue, Apr 14, 2020 at 11:06:08 PM
These are difficult times for everyone, and many businesses are struggling to remain functional. While nobody can predict the long-term effects of this pandemic, we here at Monte Cook Games are fortunate. We are all healthy and safe, Monte Cook Games is operational, and we believe we’re in a position of relative security for the foreseeable future. Because we all work from our homes (except for our shipping warehouses), our internal operations have been largely unaffected by the pandemic.
Unfortunately, although our internal operations have been humming along, we’re seeing delays both upstream and downstream of our product releases. This means there will be . . .
Changes to the MCG Release Schedule
Our manufacturing vendors have slowed or stopped operations, and the hobby game distribution system has all but shut down as well. For these reasons, we expect to push some of our mid-year release dates back by at least a few weeks—and quite possibly more, if, as seems likely, factories and distributors don’t reopen within the next month or so.
What does that mean for your rewards?
Voices of the Datasphere has been printed and bound and is about ready to be fulfilled to you—but it’s trapped at our printer, which has been completely shut down for the past two weeks. The current plan is that they will reopen, and ship Voices of the Datasphere, in the first week of May. We would expect to have it in our domestic warehouse within a week, and be able to fulfill it soon thereafter—at least to U.S. backers. Will there be delays getting the book to our UK and Australian fulfillment houses? And will our printer actually be open again in early May? We don’t know. We’ll play it by ear, and keep you informed, and ask that you be flexible. (Regardless of what happens with the physical book, we expect to fulfill the PDF in early May.)
What about future products? Numenera Character and Creature Standups are moving into production in China in the next few weeks. Liminal Shore was scheduled for late summer, with Edge of the Sun planned for autumn. All of these titles will likely see delays of a month or so—but right now it’s just too early to be more specific than that.
We will, of course, keep you up to date as things progress. Be sure to read our Kickstarter updates and emails, and make certain they aren’t going into your spam folder. These are our only channels for getting critical information about your rewards to you.
We’re Taking a Couple of Weeks Off
We’re going to take advantage of this unplanned slowdown to take a little time off. MCG has given our entire staff a couple of weeks of extra paid vacation in April. The entire company is taking a break this week and next. For two weeks we won’t be responding to Kickstarter messages or comments, email, or other communications. We’re all going to focus on relaxing, keeping ourselves and our families safe and healthy, and generally unwinding in this very uncertain and anxious time. And then we’ll be back, at the end of the month, hitting the ground running!
Our warehouse will remain open, shipping store orders (and Kickstarter rewards) during this period.
Speaking of store orders. . .
Stuck at Home (Perhaps with Kids)?
Here’s a little something for gamers practicing social distancing, quarantined, or under a shelter-in-place restriction:
And for gamers getting into games online for the first time, the entire chapter on Playing Games Online, from Your Best Game Ever, is available for free. We’ve added it, in its entirety, to the downloadable free preview of that title.
We’ll keep this sale open for as long as conditions warrant (subject, of course, to product availability).
Did You Miss Ptolus?
The Kickstarter for Monte’s legendary campaign setting, Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire, came to an incredible end last month. But with all the uncertainty and anxiety of the growing pandemic, it’s no surprise that many gamers missed it. If you love detailed, immersive, imaginative fantasy campaign settings, but didn’t get in on the Kickstarter, don’t fret: BackerKit is now open, and you can make a late pledge to get in on awesome exclusive deals—including loads of unlocked stretch goals.
Pledge at RESIDENT or higher to get the massive, 672-page Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire with its hundreds of pages of extras, along with all eight stretch goal products and a 2700-page library of existing Ptolus-related titles (a $250+ value) in PDF.
Pledge at HERO or higher to get Ptolus in print, plus the NPC Deck, GM Screen, Player’s Guides, Character Portfolios, and Ptolus: City of Adventure—and all the PDFs! It’s an amazing, Kickstarter-only deal.
