Numenera: Jade Colossus - Session 3

With the completion of the heavy emotional task of recovering and handing over the corpse of a young woman found within the Jade Colossus prior-world ruin, Draven and his party are ready to delve deeper into the ruin. They have a singular goal: find the Eye of Transcendence.

Cover Sheet

Game: Numenera (Monte Cook Games)
- Designed by Monte Cook, Bruce R. Cordell, and Sean K. Reynolds
Additional Resources:
- Discovery and Destiny corebooks (Monte Cook Games)
- Jade Colossus: Ruins of the Prior Worlds campaign sourcebook (Monte Cook Games)
- Technology Compendium: Sir Arthour’s Guide to the Numenera supplement (Monte Cook Games)
- Mythic GM Emulator 2e (Word Mill Games, written by Tana Pigeon)
- “Wizard Dad: Solo Cypher System Hacks” (retrieved 2024-08-28)
Notes:
- Solo play relying on the Follower rules from Numenera Destiny p. 17, modified by the Wizard Dad hack
- Using the 2d10 Fate Check method from the Mythic GM Emulator

The main character is Draven (he/him), a Graceful Delve who Taps the Void. He has three followers:

Xanthia (she/her), a Rugged Glaive who Masters Defense (level 4, 12 health, 3 Armor, Sword-staff heavy weapon)
Thorn (it/its), a dritch (Jade Colossus p. 135) as a pet (level 4, 15 health, inflicts 4 damage)
Erish (she/her), an Aeon Priest who Controls Gravity (level 3, 9 health, 1 Armor, inflicts 2 damage)

I will use a d12 Usage Die (similar to what is used in The Black Hack and Ker Nethalas) to determine when they’ve reached the keyed location for the Eye of Transcendence from the Jade Colossus sourcebook.

Session Log

From the previous session, the Chaos Factor is at 4. With the previous night’s rest, everyone’s pools (Might, Speed, and Intellect) are fully refreshed.

Scene 1: Passing through the Vestibule

Expected Scene: Working their way up to the Egg Chamber
Testing the Scene: As expected

The three explorers (plus Thorn) make their way through the Vestibule as before.

Is anyone else here (unlikely)? Exceptional No.

Not even the laaks are present in the drit underneath the bridge as they make their way through the Vestibule.

As before, climbing up to Wranna’s Way from here will be a Difficult (level 4) Speed task, eased by one step due to Draven’s training in balance and careful movement. This is a target number of 9.
On a failure, I will use the Mythic GM Emulator to determine what happens next.
d20 = 18, success.

They make their way up to Wranna’s Way without incident, finding themselves once more in the Egg Chamber.

Are the eggs changed at all (unlikely)? 14, Yes.
Are they hatching (50/50)? 9, No.
What has changed about them? Descriptor: 12 Colorful

The eggs here have changed color. The greens are brighter and there are some slightly glowing golden lines that vaguely resemble filigree around them. Perhaps they are getting closer to hatching.

From their previous exploration, they know that there’s one other exit from here that leads to an intersection where they found the corpse and fought the huge insectoid varakith that likely killed her. They’ll be on edge as they proceed.

Chaos Factor decreases to 3.

Scene 2: Mapping the Ruins

Expected Scene: Mapping the intersection and finding the way forward
Testing the Scene: Interrupt Scene
Random Event: 94 Current Context
- I’ll interpret this as a change in the ruins here and reroll on the Main Feature table for the Numenera Ruin Mapping Engine.
Main Feature: 47 Chamber
- Size: 19 (60 feet across)
- Shape: 10 Rectangle (120 feet deep)
- Empty (15% chance)? 62 no
Chamber Feature: 1-82 Two large, hovering, spinning metallic spheres, but spheres stop spinning when questions are asked in the chamber, and don’t start again until some kind of answer is provided.
Exits: 4 (No additional exits)
Eye of Transcendence (Usage): d20 does not step down

The passage out doesn’t lead to an intersection like it did before. Somehow it has shifted again. They find themselves in a long, roughly rectangular chamber with two large metallic spheres hovering and spinning in the center.

Draven approaches one of the spheres and asks Erish whether she has seen these before. Immediately they stop spinning, although they continue to hover in place. Erish shakes her head - and they resume spinning! This is interesting. What happens if Draven asks a question and nobody answers? The spinning pauses and the spheres don’t resume until Xanthia makes up a nonsensical answer. The spheres start spinning again, apparently not caring about the quality of the response.

They’ll take a few minutes and search for any cyphers they might be able to salvage here.

Salvaging numenera is usually a Intellect task at Difficulty 3. However, Draven is Trained in both Perception and Salvaging Numenera, easing the task by two steps, and has an asset from his followers, reducing this to Difficulty 0 and requiring no roll!
There are d6 = 2 cyphers here.
I’ll roll d100 twice on the Cypher table in the Numenera Discovery corebook to determine what they find.
- 33 Frigid wall projector
- 13 Detonation

After about a quarter hour, in some of the small alcoves and cubbies, they find a couple of devices. One is a complex device with some sort of a mesh or screen on it and a single adjustable control. The other is a small, palm-sized object with a depressable button that looks usable by a human hand but not designed for it. Erish looks them over for a few moments, then explains that the first is a device that can project a wall of cold energy that can freeze things in place, and the second is a small explosive device.

Xanthia will take the Detonation, while Draven carries the Frigid Wall Projector.

However, there aren’t any other exits from this chamber. They’ll have to find another way forward.

Exits: 17 (2 additional exits + 1 sealed exit)

As they spend a few minutes checking, they find several exits that weren’t present the last time they explored this room. One of them has an opaque force field in front of it, but the other two are open.

Main Feature: 92 Integrated Machine
- Location: 45 Chamber
- Size: 8 (30 feet across)
- Shape: 2 Circle
- Machine Specifics: 07 Produces an offensive cypher
- Exits: 15 (2 additional exits)
Eye of Transcendence: d20 does not step down

The next chamber they find is smaller and roundish, with a high glittering ceiling of that jade material. In the center is a plinth with some unrecognizable controls on it, pulsating slowly with light. Two exits lead out of this chamber on the other side, evenly spaced around the circle.

Draven and Erish approach the plinth and give it a close examination.

To learn something about the machine requires a level 6 Intellect task. Draven has an inability in understanding numenera, hindering it by one step, but this is Erish’s speciality, so that eases it by two steps, making it a net level 5 task. Draven will go ahead and spend a level of effort (3 Intellect points) to make this a level 4 task.
d20 = 1, GM Intrusion.

As they’re inspecting the plinth, Draven experiments with one of the controls. The machine extrudes a component which shoots out a beam of energy, striking him for 6 damage! His armor absorbs 1 of it, but he’s still knocked on his ass.

He grumbles to himself before turning to the others and discussing which exit to take. They pick the left-hand one and continue.

Main Feature: 72 Explorers
- Location: 09 Corridor
- Exits: 5 (1 additional exit)
- Explorers: d6+1 = 5
- Types: 10, 5, 1, 3, 9 (3 explorers, 1 Nano, 1 Aeon Priest)
- Explorer Situation: 22 Explorers are found mysteriously and messily dead, but not looted.

In this corridor, there are five corpses of other explorers. One of them is in the attire of an Aeon Priest, and they all still have their equipment on them. Perhaps some unintelligent creature killed them, or some lethal phenomenon. This is a sobering find, of course.

Are there indications that this group was associated with the Heritors of the Colossus (50/50)? 16 Yes
Did Draven know any of them (unlikely)? 14 Yes

Draven recognizes a few of the faces. He wasn’t close to any of them, but this is a reminder of the dangers this kind of exploration presents.

Loot:
- An Aeon Priest typically has 3d6 shins, 1d6 cyphers, an oddity, an artifact, and a wide variety of tools.
  - 14 shins, 5 cyphers, 1 oddity, 1 artifact, normal tools.
- Explorers have at least three weapons, medium armor, an explorer’s pack, 1d20 shins, 1d6 cyphers, 1d6 oddities, and possibly an artifact.
  - 12 cyphers, 25 shins, 8 oddities. I’ll give each of them 1 in 10 chance of having an artifact: no artifacts.
- A Nano typically has 1d6 shins, a weapon, 1d6 cyphers, an oddity, and other miscellaneous gear. One Nano in six might have an artifact.
  - 2 shins, 2 cyphers, 1 oddity, no artifact.
- Total: 14+25+2 = 41 shins, 5+12+2 = 19 cyphers, 1+8+1 = 10 oddities, 1 artifact.
- I will assume that any regular weapons the party might want can be found here. If there are special weapons, those will require an oracle roll.
- Given that they are members of the Heritors of the Colossus, they each have a midnight stone as well, which Draven will take (five of them).

With so many cyphers, I will use the combined tables from the Technology Compendium.

Cloudskimmer
- Level: 6
- Form: A lightweight box large enough to hold 4 human-sized creatures
- Effect: More or less a helium balloon that reaches an altitude of 1000 feet for seven hours
Deadly mist
- Level: 4
- Form: Wrist-mounted sprayer
- Effect: Does 4 points of damage to everything desired within immediate range, then half that again on the next round
Drastic propulsion
- Level: 2
- Form: Small black box with a hook that attaches to a piece of clothing
- Effect: Doubles the user’s speed for one minute
Fireproofing spray
- Level: 8
- Form: Spray canister
- Effect: Provides 8 Armor against fire damage for one day
Gas bomb
- Level: 3
- Form: Handheld projector (long range)
- Effect: Releases a cloud of choking gas that lasts d6 rounds
Goss
- Level: 6
- Form: A small, moist tongue
- Effect: Repeats what the user says to anybody who comes near for one day
Invulnerable mesh
- Level: 10
- Form: Spray canister
- Effect: Grants +10 Armor for an hour
Mental coupling
- Level: 7
- Form: Glove
- Effect: High-bandwidth telepathic communication for one minute
Momentum dampener
- Level: 5
- Form: Small mechanical device
- Effect: Creates a field that stops all momentum within it for one minute
Ostracized vapor
- Level: 1
- Form: Electronic smoking implement
- Effect: Changes the user’s body chemistry for 10 minutes to make the user smell exactly like the closest nonhuman creature
Rejuvenator
- Level: 7
- Form: Adhesive patch that activates when slapped
- Effect: Restores 7 points to Might pool
Repulsion field
- Level: 5
- Form: Amulet
- Effect: Repels damage to everybody around, then moves the user, lasts a minute
Solid light retribution
- Level: 2
- Form: Ring
- Effect: Projects a shield around the user for an hour, easing Speed defense tasks and inflicting 4 Intellect damage to attackers if it deflects an attack
Spatial distorter
- Level: 2
- Form: Necklace
- Effect: Field that makes the user appear far away, easing Speed defense rolls for one minute
Teleport seal
- Level: 6
- Form: Handheld device
- Effect: Prevents teleportation within a mile for a day
Teleport trap
- Level: 6
- Form: Paper-thin flexible synth disk the size of a plate
- Effect: Teleports whoever touches it to an open place a long distance away
Tracer
- Level: 2
- Form: Wristband
- Effect: Fire at a target in short range, track it for the next day
Transference beam
- Level: 8
- Form: Large handheld device
- Effect: Star Trek-style transporter for up to 7 people, restoring their Might and Speed pools
Way back
- Level: 2
- Form: Belt bag
- Effect: Releases droplets every 50 feet, which then become a path back to the starting point after one day

There’s also an item that stands out for not being a single-use type:

Artifact: 17 Cohesion stabilizer
- Quirk: 59 Gets annoyingly warm
- Level: 6
- Form: Wristband-mounted device with a few simple controls
- Depletion: 1 in 1d10

Again, with so many oddities, I will use the combined tables from the Technology Compendium.

A crystal that creates a tiny flame when rubbed
A long-handled spoon that brings everything in it to the perfect eating or drinking temperature
A length of chain that glows blue if touched by sweat or salt water
A coin stamped with the profile of a man that changes each month
Short metal rod that is insubstantial to all matter except the special synth glove that goes with it
A tube of lip gloss that temporarily makes the user’s lips invisible
A small grey bottle with a screw-off lid that looks like a piece of rock
A small colored-glass sculpture of a bird that flaps its wings in the sunlight
A metal box with a glass panel in the center that displays different undecipherable symbols each sunrise
A jar full of glitter that always goes back to the jar in the morning, no matter what you used it on

This is more cyphers than the group can carry safely, to be honest. But they’re a bit greedy and will take almost all of them. Xanthia will take the Invulnerable Mesh, Momentum Dampener, Rejuvenator, and Repulsion Field. Draven picks up the Cohesion Stabilizer as well as the Deadly Mist, Drastic Propulsion, Momentum Dampener, Transference Beam, and Way Back. Erish takes the Gas Bomb, Goss, Mental Coupling, Ostracized Vapor, and Solid Light Retribution. They’ll leave behind the Cloudskimmer, Fireproofing Spray, Spatial Distorter, Teleport Seal, Teleport Trap, and Tracer. Carrying that much would push the danger level beyond what they’re comfortable with.

Xanthia is a Glaive, so she can carry two cyphers. She already has one, but picks up four more, so she’s over her limit by three. That means I roll d100+3*10 for the Cypher Danger table: 34, nothing happens.
Erish is an Aeon Priest, which I will treat as a Nano for this purpose, allowing her to carry three cyphers. She will end up with five, so I roll d100+2*10: 21, nothing happens.
Draven is a first-tier Delve, giving him a limit of two cyphers. He already has two, plus the five he picks up, so I need to roll d100+5*10: 63, there’s an ominous result.

As they gather together the technology from previous civilizations, some of the items start to interact in unpredictable ways. Draven gets a tingling sensation, although nothing seems to happen immediately. He activates the belt bag (Way Back), which begins to release “droplets of radioluminescent light every 50 feet. The droplets will stay dark for one day, then crack with light and become visible for five days.” (Technology Compendium, p. 96).

From here, they’ll continue on down the corridor, secure that they will not get lost when returning to this point.

Main Feature: 79 Interstitial Cavity
- Nature of Cavity: 74 Waves of energy flow back and forth across this room like heat mirages over a hard surface on a hot day. The energy ruffles hair and clothing but doesn’t seem directly harmful. However, creatures in the area risk having their minds randomly switched. This can be especially disconcerting for characters whose minds get switched with a creature that follows them into the area.
- Exits: 12 (1 additional exit) + 1d10=8 (9 total exits)
- Creature: 59 Shivern. “A shivern appears as the jagged outline of a human lurking at the bottom of a well of fading light—if a human had inky talons as long as its forearm.”
Eye of Transcendence: d20 does not step down

They enter a huge space, hundreds of feet across, where the air shimmers with energy. The waves ruffle their hair and clothing, but it doesn’t hurt them. However, it’s somewhat disorienting.

For the mind-switching effect, each of them will need to make a level 5 Intellect defense task, the default for these intersitial spaces. That’s a target of 15 for each of them, though exceptions will be noted when they occur.
- Xanthia: Trained in all defense tasks and thus this is a level 4 task for her (target 12). d20=17, success.
- Thorn: No modifications apply, so it needs a target of 15. d20=7, failure.
- Erish: Trained in Intellect defense tasks, easing the task by one step to level 4 (target 12). d20=16, success.
- Draven: He doesn’t have any relevant skills, but he will apply a level of effort (costing 2 Intellect points) to make this a level 4 task (target 12). d20=10, failure.
- Shivern: This creature will be automatically affected by the mind-switching effect.
Since three of them are affected, I roll for a random pair: Draven-Thorn, Draven-Shivern, or Thorn-Shivern. d3=2, Draven-Shivern.

As one of the waves of energy passes through the room, Draven suddenly finds himself in a shadowy form, much like his Midnight Armor, but with talons. He also isn’t standing where he was. For a moment, he thinks he might have been teleported somehow, but ahead in this liminal space, among the stained synth and corroded metal, he can see his group - including himself.

He sees “himself” suddenly activate the Midnight Armor, turning into a lightless silhouette. Draven - the real one - shouts at his group to watch out, and they turn. But his replacement immediately attacks, slashing randomly at Thorn with the forked sword he carries.

Thorn needs to make a defense roll, but at what level? The Shivern is a level 2 creature, but I’ll assume Thorn is hindered by two steps due to being totally blind-sided. That makes it a level 4 task (target 12). d20=19, success.

Thorn leaps to the side, whining for a moment at the fake Draven. Xanthia shouts in anger at what she thinks is her companion, and Erish looks confused. The real Draven comes running out of the shadows, screaming “that’s not me!” That clearly only increases the confusion.

The Shivern in Draven’s body attacks Thorn again, giggling with pleasure at the chaos it’s causing.

Thorn’s defense roll isn’t hindered this time, so it’s a level 2 Speed Defense task, needing a 6 to succeed. d20=15, success.

Draven in this shadowy, taloned form lowers his head and tries to tackle his real body.

That will be a Speed attack, again at level 2. On a success, he’ll knock this Shivern replacement down. d20=1, failure and GM intrusion.

As he charges, Xanthia sees this shadow running at them, and her training automatically kicks in, swinging her weapon at the shadow (Draven in the Shivern’s body).

He must make a Speed defense task, but at Xanthia’s level of 4. He’s hindered by one step due to the confusion, which cancels out his skill in Speed defense, keeping him at a target of 12. d20=14, success.

Draven dodges out of the way, but that’s enough to keep him from tackling the impostor.

Erish will make an Intellect roll to see if she understands what’s happening. That would be a level 2 task (the Shivern’s level), but I’ll say the confusion from the energy waves and mind-switching hinders that one step. That said, with her training and knowledge, that will provide an asset, keeping this at level 2 and thus a target to beat of 6. d20=19, success.

The Aeon Priest yells at Xanthia, “That’s not Draven! That’s Draven!”, pointing at the taloned shadow. Of course, that just increases the confusion. Thorn, however, realizes that something is wrong, and bites at the Draven form that tried to slash him.

Thorn spits up a glob of void matter, then targets the creature in Draven’s body. That would be an Intellect defense task under normal circumstances, but these are anything but normal: an NPC follower attacking an NPC creature in the PC’s body. So I will have Thorn roll a level 2 attack instead, for a target of 6: d20=19, success. That stuns the Shivern in Draven’s body. It also grants Thorn the chance to cause a harmful if temporary mutation on the monster, and the roll of d20=7 succeeds: 73 Useless ear.

Thorn hawks up a glob of blackish-green void matter at “Draven”, which is enough to stun it and prevent it from taking actions for a moment.

I think that should give Draven an opportunity to make an Intellect roll to regain control of his body, at level 5 (because of the interstitial cavity’s level). He’ll apply two levels of effort (a house rule based on this being a solo game, as suggested in Wizard Dad’s blog post) for a total cost of 4 Intellect points, bringing this to a level 3 for a target of 9. d20=17, success.

Back in his own body, Draven shouts, “Stop! Stop! It’s me again!” The Shivern, back in its own body, is still stunned by the void matter and the forceful return to its own body. Xanthia is entirely lost, but Erish follows.

Erish makes an Intellect attack that appears as a gravity wave. The Shivern, as established, is level 2, so she needs a 6 to hit. d20=18, success plus an additional 2 points of damage on top of the 2 she would have done, for a total of 4 damage. The Shivern is down to 2 health.

The Aeon Priest activates a small device on her wrist, and a wave of force slams into the monstrous shadow.

Thorn gets an attack now, attempting a bite, requiring it to succeed on a level 2 task. d20=18, success plus 2 damage, inflicting 6 damage total. The Shivern is defeated.

Thorn lunges forward and bites into the shadowy form, which finally stops moving. Draven pants and leans forward, trying to catch his breath. Thorn nuzzles him and Erish nods.

Eventually, they get Xanthia to understand what happened, and they continue on their way.

Recovery roll (1 action) regains 1d6+1=6 points to Draven’s pool. He’ll split those between Intellect (now at 8/13) and Might (now at 11/13).
Chaos Factor increases to 4.
No updates to Characters or Threads.

Wrap-Up

I’ll grant Draven 1 XP for the cache of numenera found on the dead explorers. He’s at 3 XP now. The attack by Thorn cost him a midnight stone

Appendix

The lists below reflect the state of the game at the end of the session:

Character List

Gavaran, Keeper of the Midnight Gate
Kuran Bluelake, Innkeeper at the Ballarad Inn
Heritors of the Colossus (faction)
Chelan, Young Aeon Priest

Thread List

Accompany Erish to find the Eye of Transcendence

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