David Given Schwarm

Married, Father, United

Tag: Numenera

  • CypherCaster Magazine – Issue 001 (May 2015)

    DriveThruRPG is offering the first issue of Cypher Caster Magazine for $4. This is a no brainer for anyone playing and/or interested in Numenera–a good quick read on all the things currently going on with the Monte Cook Games Cypher system–it often reads like an extended press release–but includes a lot of very creative ideas from the community.



    The table of contents includes blurb reads:

    The first issue of the CypherCaster Magazine includes:

    • MCG Spring/Summer product preview
    • Shotguns & Sorcery interview with Matt Forbeck & Robert Schwalb by Andrew Cady
    • Exploring Cypher Space by James Walls
    • “Shapes in the Salt”, Numenera short fiction by Jim Ryan
    • “Hunting for Krofwarten”, a Numenera adventure by Chris Fitzgerald
    • “Estate Files” covering a Norse Mythology recursion cluster for The Strange by Marc Plourde
    • “Holstenwall — A Recursion of Gothic Fear” by Scott Robinson
    • MCG Fan Relations News

    The stunning cover art by Jeff Brown conveys the vast wonder of the Ninth World of Numenera (or perhaps a recursion in the Strange). A copy of the artwork without the masthead and trade dress will be included for use in your games.

    Second issue coming, July 2015


    The cover are really is amazing:


    And the other art in this issue is fun, playful, and inventive–for example, here is a map:


    All of the content is OK, but not all is  fantastic–I am mostly interested in Numenera and not that interested in the Strange or some of the other things that MCG has going on. The short fiction was an easy fun read. I hope that they stay focused on that kind of community creativity part of the Numenera community and not to much in the crunch.

    I think that this is a great start to a magazine & expect that the next issue will be a lot better.


  • Numenera Cypher Chest Review

  • Numenera Cypher Chest

    I am gearing up to run some Numenera, so I bought the  Cypher Chest with my Bing Amazon gift cards.



    Cody was very interested in this & he and his Turkey wanted to do an unboxing video!

    He spends a lot of time watching Pokemon video’s including a lot of unboxings and had a lot of ideas on how to make the perfect unboxing video




    Of course, most of his ideas were around Joltek, his new favorite Pokemon


    and his amazing hand made Turkey


    so he did not really cover what was in the box.


    And what was in the box was Amazing! 


    the Creature cards are beautiful–kind of creepy for a six year old, but will be fantastic with my 13 year old sons table


    The Cypher Deck is awesome–really looking to using this–should really speed up game play.


    Here is a look at our video set up.


    And another shot of Cody’s amazing Turkey!









  • Signal 23: Threshold [Numenera: The Signal Podcast]


    Without a doubt the best Numenera Podcast. 

    Signal is creative and wonderful every single time & this installment is one of the best–the fact that it only got the Silver is a crime!


    The description of this is:

    I’m Vaux, an Informed Jack who Tells Tales. This is my Signal. If you can hear this broadcast, it is for Threshold, a border city that is gateway to the Amorphous Fields. The Crafters are able to create art, tools, even clothing from the organic soup of the Fields – for a price. And many wonderous treasures can be found if you’re brave enough to risk the biological chaos of the Amorphous Fields. Listen to it. Remember it. Pass it along.

    Which is simply beautiful. The episode is a strong example of why of love this so much–creative, mysterious, a spring board for adventure.

    Signal is just good.

  • Numenera Actual Play 1 [Walking Eye Podcast]


    I have just started listening to this podcast. The players have a very healthy, playful attitude & I cannot wait to listen to more of it.

  • Episode 15 – State of the Ninth World [Transmissions from the Ninth World Podcast]


    This fantastic episode describes itself as:

    Welcome to the latest episode of Transmissions from the Ninth World, the Numenera podcast. This episode, host David Brown, Jim Ryan, and guest host Andrew Cady interview Monte Cook about all the latest going on in the Numenera product line. 

    The success that these guys have been having at the Ennies is very well diserved–this episode is an extended interview with Monte covering just about every awesome event currently going on.



    Strongly recommend that everyone interested in Numenera listen to this one. 

  • GM Intrusions: E31 – Navel Gazing in the Ninth World



    This is a very fun interview of Lex, the host of the podcast, conducted by his significant other. They are very awesome & playful–they sound very happy together. The interview is lively and upbeat.

    There is some good insight into what makes Lex tick, some clever comments into Numenera and the shape of the game. Lex has a really good understanding of what it is that makes Numenera revolutionary and awesome–from Character Creation to the particulars of the setting–Lex gets it & this interview sheds some light on just how much!

    A great listen & good introduction on why running Numenera is a very good idea.

  • Ender’s Game Game


    We are going to play Numenera in Line to see Ender’s Game at the Irvine Spectrum IMAX at 8:00 PM on Friday 11/01/13.



    Team Lower Table, one of my favorite Gamer Groups, has a tradition of playing D&D in front of movie theaters that goes back to the Harry Potter films–recently we have had huge games at Avengers, Hobbit, and even Clash of the Titans!

    This one will be amazing, not just because Numenera is an amazing system basically designed for public play, but also because we are going to raise money for CHOC as part of Extra Life. 


    As many of you know my son Jack has been receiving infusions for the last two years and this is a great chance to give back to an organization that has given our family so much.

    I will be posting updates here.