Part 6: Ghost of Metal | Starter Kit - Numenera

Summary

Podcast Summary: Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry – "Part 6: Ghost of Metal | Starter Kit – Numenera"

Podcast: Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry
Host / Game Master: Monte Cook (creator of Numenera)
Episode: Part 6: Ghost of Metal | Starter Kit – Numenera
Date: January 19, 2026
Current Season Context: Ten Candles: Eclipse (tragic horror with a rotating cast, but this episode is a Numenera actual play adventure)

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Episode Overview

The episode concludes a Numenera adventure set in the Ninth World, where the party finds themselves at the mysterious Whispering Peak—site of unintelligible whispers, a massive metal door, and Maro’s elusive destiny. Danger and discovery intertwine as the party navigates high-stakes puzzles, faces off against massive robotic guardians, and helps Maro fulfill his quest toward an ambiguous but impactful fate.

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Key Discussion Points and Story Progression

1. Arrival at Whispering Peak and the Mysterious Metal Door (01:26–04:27)

• The party faces a huge, inscrutable metal door emitting faint whispers.
• Maro is eager to proceed, believing the ‘singsong’ (a mysterious guide) leads him inside.
• Notable Mechanics and Character Actions:
  • Player 1 uses specialized Numenera skills to activate a hidden panel, opening the door.
    Monte Cook: “You find there’s this panel that...if you touch certain portions of it, they begin to light up...the door just slides up into the ceiling” (03:48).

2. Investigating the Metallic Passage and Central Chamber (04:28–08:12)

• Inside, a glowing corridor leads to a vast chamber filled with vast machines; at its core, a towering device reminiscent of the singsong.
• Maro rushes forward, driven by obsession.
• The party splits up—some to investigate a floating platform, others following and protecting Maro.

3. Discovery and First Robotic Threat (08:12–13:17)

• Player 4 scouts and spots a huge, spider-like machine with a menacing red "eye."
  Player 4: “Guys, I don’t think we’re alone in here.” (08:59)

• Player 1 activates the floating platform, gaining a tactical aerial advantage.

• Player 4 (Deviloo) tries to blind the machine by tossing a large blanket over its eye, succeeding after a dramatic reroll.

  Monte Cook: “You have just blinded this thing by throwing your enormous...blanket over its...eye...it just has a blanket over the top part of it.” (17:34)

4. Combat: Tactics, Teamwork, and Sacrifice (17:55–40:07)

• Maro, consumed with his destiny, begins activating the central device, barely noticing the chaos.
• Player 3 attempts telepathic communication to learn more, discovering Maro is unreachable (“high tech gibberish”).
• Players on the platform coordinate attacks: Player 2 pins the blanket with an arrow; Player 1 blasts with electricity.
• The blinded robot lashes out but is outmaneuvered:
  • Player 4 is momentarily grabbed by its pincers but breaks free.
  • The team discusses using specialized ciphers (“metal death”) for maximum impact.
• More robots are detected; Player 3 achieves a critical success: Monte Cook: “You know that this thing has sent an alarm into the system, and it is summoning more of its kind.” (26:21)
• A key ethical decision: Player 3 realizes assisting Maro will risk their own life, but Maro’s fate could save their community. Player 3 (Ajnya): “If this goes forward, I die. But Morrow might be the savior for our entire community. It’s been a pleasure knowing you all.” (28:09)

5. Climax: Destiny Fulfilled and Narrow Escape (40:07–47:59)

• As waves of hostile machines advance, the party coordinates their escape:

  • Player 2 lays a frictionless gel trap at the entrance to slow the mechanical horde.
  • Player 2, beneath the first robot, delivers the finishing blow from below with a glaive.
  • The flying platform scoops up the party members for extraction.

• In a race against time, Ajnya is about to fade away completely after helping Maro complete his destiny. Player 2, in a dramatic feat, manages to use a “Rejuvenator pill” to bring Ajnya back at the last second.

  Monte Cook: "Just as he is fading away, you just force this thing...into his essence." (45:32)

• Maro, however, transcends—vanishing with a whisper, "my destiny" echoing through the chamber (46:49).

• The party escapes on the flying platform and returns to the village, forever changed.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• Monte Cook: “In the ninth world, discovery is inextricably interwoven with danger...our characters must accept the risks and be willing, if need be, to pay the ultimate price.” (01:26)
• Player 4: “Guys, I don’t think we’re alone in here.” (08:59)
• Player 4 (on blinding robot): “Please be useful. Ah, eight.” (fails, rerolls, then)
  Monte Cook: “You have just blinded this thing...” (17:34)
• Player 3 (Ajnya, on the stakes): “If this goes forward, I die. But Morrow might be the savior for our entire community. It’s been a pleasure knowing you all.” (28:09)
• Monte Cook (on climax): “You can see them both just fading away.” (40:12)
• Player 2 (heroic act): “I don’t want you to die, so I’m gonna run really, really, really fast.” (44:39)
• Monte Cook: “Ajnia...you know that Maro didn’t just fade away entirely, but he has actually somehow moved on to some other level of reality...” (46:04)
• Monte Cook (end): “When the sing song plays its chimes...you can hear Morrow’s whispering voice...the village prospers and grows into a much larger, more significant...and safe village, thanks to the fact that you helped Maro complete his quest.” (47:13–47:59)

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Major Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening/Last Time Recap & Door Puzzle: 01:16–04:27
• Passage Exploration & Chamber Reveal: 04:28–08:12
• First Robotic Encounter: 08:12–13:17
• Blanket Blinding & Combat Escalation: 13:17–17:55
• Floating Platform Strategy & Group Split: 17:55–26:08
• Alarm Raised, Critical Choices: 26:08–40:07
• Climax: Destiny and Rescue: 40:07–47:59
• Epilogue (Village’s Fate): 47:13–47:59

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Conclusion and Episode Tone

This session delivered classic Numenera weirdness—high-tech mysteries, ancient machines, and tough, meaningful choices. The party’s resolve is tested as allies risk their lives for the greater good and finally witness Maro transcend, his whisper echoing through time and space. The tone is tense but ultimately hopeful, with camaraderie, quick thinking, and sacrifice foregrounded.

Monte Cook closes the adventure:
"You have successfully helped your friend Maro achieve whatever mysterious destiny he was set out to achieve...the village prospers and grows...thanks to the fact that you helped Maro complete his quest." (47:13–47:59)

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For New Listeners

This episode is a satisfying conclusion to an emotional, action-packed Numenera starter arc, showcasing intricate teamwork, creative use of the Numenera system, and the weight of player choice and sacrifice. The improvisational style, snappy dialogue, and vivid worldbuilding make it an excellent showcase of what makes "Geek & Sundry" and Monte Cook storytelling unique.

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[End of Summary]

Transcript

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[Player 1]

Last time on starter Kit.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

The bridge is going to collapse.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Oh no.

[Player 2]

Oh no.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Grab the rope.

[Player 3]

That was a great shot.

[Player 4]

Let's not talk about it.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You see a huge metal door that's just set right into the rock. You can hear barely unintelligible whispers. Welcome back to your starter kit. I'm Monte Cook, the creator of Numenera. In the ninth world, discovery is inextricably interwoven with danger. In order to succeed in unlocking the mysteries of the Numenera, our characters must accept the risks and be willing, if need be, to pay the ultimate price. So you stand at the base of what you believe to be the whispering peak. And in fact, you can hear these whispers. These. They don't. Maybe they're not speaking always in a language that you understand, or maybe it's just too soft for you to make out. But just every moment it's something, something whispering in your ears all the time. You make your way to the base, you see that there is this huge metal door set right into the rock. There is no obvious way to open it. Maro has brightened. He's standing on his own two feet and he says, inside. We have to get inside. That's where the singsong has been leading me.

[Player 4]

All right, I know we're all looking at me because I have the metal death, but what if we come across some robot ghosts?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Your Other option would be if you've got knowledge, if you've got skill in the Numenera, you can see if there's a way to open the door, too.

[Player 1]

I do. I am skilled in the Numenera.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

All right?

[Player 1]

So I'm going to see what I can discover.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

If I remember correctly, you're actually specialized. Right. Okay.

[Player 3]

So is there anything I can do to help him? Because my intel's like 16. I can sense magic.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Because he's already specialized, even if you're trained, you can't help him further. Right? He already kind of.

[Player 3]

He's got it.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Yeah. Is as good as he can get. So the difficulty for this task is five, but you're gonna lower it by two, and that makes it a three. You want to spend two. Intellect. You can make it two.

[Player 1]

We gotta get in there.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. All right.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Seven.

[Player 1]

Glad I spent that.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay, so, you know, you're looking at this door. You're kind of examining it. You find there's this panel that, you know, someone who's not knowledgeable in these things probably would have just ignored. But you seem to remember having read something about a panel like this. And, you know, if you touch certain portions of it, they begin to light up. And after just a little bit of experimentation. Whoosh. The door just slides up into the ceiling, revealing a corridor of metal. And it's lit inside by a strange light blue radiance. This is not like anything you've seen before.

[Player 2]

Can I also, once again, sense danger?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Sure.

[Player 2]

Before we continue ahead.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay, so the difficulty here is also 5. Your train makes it 4. And if you want to use effort, that would be three out of your intellect pool. So you'll reduce it down to three. So you need a nine.

[Player 2]

I got a three.

[Player 4]

You could reroll.

[Player 2]

Oh, yes, yes, yes. Okay, I'll reroll.

[Player 3]

Nine.

[Player 2]

Oh, it's a nine. It's a nine.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. Nine. Exactly. You think that this particular entrance is. Is safe? You don't think that anything terrible is going to happen to you if you walk through there?

[Player 2]

Okay, so then I scamper ahead, and you are right.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Nothing seems to happen. Except farther down the corridor. A few more lights. Come on. Where's everyone else? Kind of in the scheme of things here.

[Player 4]

I'll follow.

[Player 2]

Am I still flying?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

No, I'm afraid that that has. By the time you get down to the base of the mountain, it's been more than an hour.

[Player 4]

My force field.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

But it was a good use of that cipher. Morrow is actually so charged by what he feels like he's really Close. That he's trying to move quickly as well. It might very well just be pure adrenaline. Right. Of being so close to the object of his quest, you're probably as in touch with his health as anyone. And you think that he's probably still afflicted with whatever he is. He's just. He might be kind of. He might be giving this his last gasp.

[Player 2]

I mean, I still have a dose of the SAP left.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. Do you want to stop him and use it now? He doesn't look like he wants to stop.

[Player 2]

Well, I'm not gonna stop him if he wants to keep going.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

All right.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Charge on. You reach the end of this very, very long corridor. You feel like you've moved far enough that you must be at the very heart of this mountain. And inside is just a colossal chamber. And it's filled as far up as you can see with what looks like huge machines. It's almost as though the mountain itself is some kind of giant machine. The most interesting thing, though, is at the center of this chamber is sort of a towering device that stretches up into the air, and it looks very much like a very large version of the Sing Song. And Marrow doesn't even say anything. He's just rushing forward. He was right.

[Player 4]

Marrow, what are you doing?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

That's it. That's where the coordinates were leading us.

[Player 4]

What do you think it's gonna do?

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

I don't know.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Let's find out.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Okay.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

I can't argue with that.

[Player 1]

Would my Numenera knowledge specialty. Does anything look familiar to me? Like, is there anything warning me saying, don't touch that, or, you know, something of that nature?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Actually, kind of the opposite. Something catches your eye, Morrow runs right past it. There is this platform. It's maybe about 8ft long, maybe about 6ft wide, kind of rectangular platform. Jutting up from the middle of it is what sort of looks like a control panel. Your knowledge of such things, you think that this is some kind of flying or floating device?

[Player 1]

I'm definitely gonna check that out.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay, so you're running over there. What are you doing?

[Player 2]

I'm following Maro. Okay.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

He's going to this thing in the middle.

[Player 2]

Yeah. I'm also following Maro.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 3]

Yeah. I feel this sudden urge to really, really protect him. So I'm with him.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You're right in pace with him. Okay.

[Player 3]

I mean, I've actually pulled out my heat weapon at this point.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Oh, okay.

[Player 4]

You know, and I'm.

[Player 2]

I don't know.

[Player 4]

I'm just gonna secure the perimeter, so just look around, walk around see what everything's about.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

What I need you to do to secure the perimeter is to make a roll for me. And this roll is a perception based roll. And perception is obviously a skill, but it's also intellect based.

[Player 4]

If you want to use effort, I will use intellect. I don't imagine me ever using it again.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. And since this is one of those unseen things, I like to keep these design difficulties kind of secret. Okay.

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[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

All right. From a different part of this enormous chamber, you see one of the machines, a part of it kind of rotates and moves, and there's this red round eye like thing that has moved to kind of look at you and your friends. What do you do?

[Player 4]

Guys, I don't think we're alone in here.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

What do the rest of you do when you hear that?

[Player 2]

I'm gonna pull out my glaive.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 3]

I stop.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Maru's not stopping.

[Player 3]

Can I get him to stop?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

At this point? That would require, like an actual physical grab.

[Player 3]

Okay, well, I want to grab him and stop.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Okay.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Yeah. All right. That would be basically an attack roll. I mean, I know you're not trying to hurt him.

[Player 3]

Yeah. Eight.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

I was going to say the difficulty was three. So unfortunately, you just miss him and he keeps running forward.

[Player 4]

I say stay with him.

[Player 3]

Yeah, I'll stay with him.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 2]

And I'm keeping pace. I'm just staying with him.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. So you're a little bit behind Maro. You're right with Maro, and you're kind of ready for action.

[Player 1]

I'm checking out this supposed flying machine to see if it's maybe something that I can use against whatever might be coming our way.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

What I'm going to need you to do is make a roll. For figuring out the Numenera, you're specialized in it. This is a difficulty five, but that's already gonna make it three.

[Player 1]

I'm gonna spend intellect for sure.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay, that'll make it two.

[Player 3]

Okay.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Eleven. And you succeed. You take one look at this thing and you've read a lot about Numenera and you maybe even saw a schematic of something like this. Once you know exactly how to go and turn this thing on and float up into the air and move around on it.

[Player 1]

I'm turning it on.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

All right, cool.

[Player 1]

If I have enough time, I turn it on and I sort of float over to where the rest of my friends are and where Goro are just.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Kind of above them.

[Player 1]

Yeah. To be sort of like their sentinel, so to speak.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. And did you want to maybe go with him? Did you want to kind of stay where you were?

[Player 2]

If I see him floating, I'm going to join him if I can. On the floaty thing, you kind of.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

See it starting to lift off and you can just sort of run over there and jump on. Absolutely.

[Player 1]

What does it look like?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

It's a rectangle. It's about 8ft long, about 6ft wide. And there's really sort of in the middle, there's a control panel and kind of like handlebars.

[Player 1]

Nice. Yeah. Get on the back.

[Player 2]

At that moment, I switch out to my bow.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

So this thing that has started to look at you comes to life. It looks very much like this.

[Player 3]

What is that?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

It's all metal, all mechanical. These things kind of move like spider like legs, except there's only three of them as it moves forward.

[Player 4]

So, I mean, in case there's more than one, I want to save this. I'm going to try something first.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 4]

Using my trusty, faithful, always reliable big old blanket, I'd like to try to drape it over that thing and see if it can blind it at all.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. So just so you know, this thing is about 12ft tall and about 12ft wide. I know your blanket's big.

[Player 2]

Yeah.

[Player 4]

Probably not, I'll admit, it's not that big. But over the red thing that I think to be its eye, kind of.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Throw around its eye.

[Player 4]

Yeah.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. So you'll have to kind of cross some of the distance so that you're getting close enough to it. Throw in that thing. That sounds like a perfectly reasonable action. It would be speed based if you're going to use effort.

[Player 4]

Okay, what am I working with?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay, so this thing is tough. So you're looking at a base difficulty of 6.

[Player 4]

Wow.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

So what would I have to roll unmodified? That would be an 18.

[Player 4]

Okay.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

If you want to use speed, you can reduce that by one.

[Player 2]

Can any of us help her?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

At this point, she's kind of run off. Maybe next action you can get into position to help her. But she's kind of on her own at the moment.

[Player 4]

All right, so I'll spend some speed.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay, so you're looking for a 15.

[Player 4]

That's rough. But if it worked, how great would it be?

[Player 3]

Pretty amazing.

[Player 4]

Okay, so I take the blanket and I say thank you for everything that you've done for us and this whole journey. Please be useful. Ah, eight.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

I'm gonna re roll.

[Player 3]

Okay, there you go.

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[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Amazing. All right, so you have just blinded this thing by throwing your enormous blank blanket over its sort of almost turret like eye cause its little legs are too short to grab it all up. Here it just has a blanket over sort of the top part of it.

[Player 4]

Here it just has to whip the blanket off with his thigh.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

All right. Meanwhile, Morrow has reached this thing in the middle and he's immediately studying controls and looking at dials and he doesn't even seem to notice that this thing he doesn't even seem to notice that you guys are on a flying platform. He's singularly focused. What are you guys doing? You're right with him.

[Player 2]

I'm next to him, but I'm also just sort of keeping a lookout.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. So if something comes to attack him, you can aid him in his defense. Kind of like you have been doing if you want to.

[Player 2]

Yeah, exactly.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Great.

[Player 3]

I'd like to communicate with him.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 3]

Telepathically.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 3]

What the hell is that thing?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

His response to doesn't make any sense to you because he's just, he's now thinking about. Okay, so this gauge measures the flow and intake of this. And he's so engrossed that he's just like, in his mind, it's just to you, you know, high tech gibberish.

[Player 3]

Okay, Moro. Morrow. Morrow. And then maybe he's just not paying attention and I really want to just like grab him and be like, dude, look at me, talk to me.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

All right, so if you take your action to do that and just force him out of it, he looks at you and his eyes focus. This is it. I, I, I have to figure out how to activate this.

[Player 3]

Can I help him achieve this? Is whatever this.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

He says, if you're willing to help, yes. And then he starts saying, okay, go over there and move that dial over to the far right. And he starts like, he's just sort of conveying. You guys are like almost moving as one.

[Player 3]

Yeah.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

So I can't remember, do you have knowledge of the Numenera?

[Player 3]

I do.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Right. Mystical mechanical descriptor. You don't think that there's, you know, this isn't gonna, this isn't a giant bomb or something really dangerous. You're not sure what it is. It's beyond you. It might actually even be beyond Morrow. But the things he's having you do don't seem overly dangerous right now. Okay, I'm gonna continue working with him.

[Player 3]

I'll continue working with him.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

And you're defending him. You guys are on a flying platform.

[Player 1]

We're flying over to the crazy metal and we're gonna start firing away at it while it's blind.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay, who wants to attack it first?

[Player 2]

I want to shoot at the blanket to try and peg it into the robot. But I think I can only do that one shot at a time.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Right, right, right. But a good solid shot would definitely hold it in place.

[Player 2]

And so what can I do to make that easier?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

By attacking from above, you're gonna already lower the difficulty by one. And the good News is, now that this thing is blinded, its defenses are lowered because it can't see them coming. So it's already lowered by another one. So before it was a six, and now it's gonna be a four.

[Player 2]

Okay.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

And you can use effort and spend points out of your speed pool and lower it one more.

[Player 2]

Okay, I'm gonna do that.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 2]

So that would bring it down to a three.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Yeah, it would. Let's do a 9 12. Nice. Okay, so I think your bow does four points of damage.

[Player 2]

It does.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. Now, you can tell by the sound that it makes when you shoot your arrow, you penetrate it enough so that you think you're now holding that blanket right in place.

[Player 2]

Yes.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

So even if it was trying to shake it off now, it would be almost impossible.

[Player 1]

I'm definitely gonna try to fry this thing.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 1]

I mean, he's awesome. Onslaught. I think that's the best thing I can do. I've got a few ciphers, but against this particular guy, I think there's nothing better I could do than just.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Than blast it with more electricity. Great. So for you, again, because of the blanket and because you've got the height advantage as well, it's down to a four. And intellect effort would make it three. If that's what you'd like to do.

[Player 1]

I'm gonna spend some intellect for sure.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 1]

Okay. So nine or better.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Nine or better.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Five.

[Player 1]

I'm gonna reroll.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 1]

This feels like it's worth a reroll.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

All right.

[Player 1]

Nine.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Nine. Okay. So you blast it with electricity. And the good news is that you don't think that its armor is nearly as effective against your bolts of electricity as it would be against contrast conventional weapons. How's it looking? It's still got. It's still moving around. And in fact, it takes its action as far as, you know, it can't see. It seems like the thing is blinded. So what it does is kind of moves in its weird tripod sort of way right underneath the two of you because you're floating up in the air and moves over to where you are. And in fact, it's going to reach you first. It sort of extends out these two. Two large, almost pincer like arms. They're both going to attack you. Now, it's blind, so that makes it easier, but it's still. Even with that, the difficulty is gonna be four.

[Player 4]

What about speed defense?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

That'll lower it. Another one. That'll make it three.

[Player 4]

I'm running low on speed, so I'm not gonna be spending any.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. So that's Two nines you need. Cool.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Nope.

[Player 4]

Seven. So. Oh, it was one.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Oh, okay. Tell me what your other roll is.

[Player 4]

Two.

[Player 1]

It's better than one.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. The good news is you've got lots of armor and you've got lots of might because that's what this is gonna be doing. It's gonna be doing six points of damage. With each of these blows, your armor acts against each other, each one of them individually. So each one will do four points.

[Player 2]

Okay.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

So you take a total of eight points of damage off of your might.

[Player 4]

Cool.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

The bad news is, is that one.

[Player 4]

Oh, that first part was the good news.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Yes, because it gets worse.

[Player 4]

Okay.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Remember how I said that these are kind of pincer like arms? It actually manages not only to bash you with these things, but it grabs you with them and you are held fast.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Great.

Cool.

[Player 4]

I can't take any action.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You can surprise me. But I'm guessing that your action would be to try to break free.

[Player 4]

But say I had a handheld device that could melt metal.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You could try to bring that out. Now normally that would be the kind of thing you wouldn't even need to roll for.

[Player 4]

Yeah.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

In this situation, you're gonna need to make a roll.

[Player 4]

What am I working against again?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You've reduced its difficulties down its level down to four. Effectively, it's gonna be probably might based.

[Player 4]

Yeah, I'll spend some might.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 4]

Oh, wait a second. If I was simply trying to break free, what would I be working against?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

The same.

[Player 4]

Okay. What if I'm skilled in breaking?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Oh, you'd be better. So you could use that skill. So it'd be easier for you to try to just break free than it would be to try to maneuver this device into position.

[Player 4]

I'm gonna do that still having spent might. So that way I get six or higher.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

That is correct. You've reduced the difficulty to a total of two.

[Player 4]

Okay. 17.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Yes. So you break free from its pincer like grip. You are now free to act on your next action. It's not holding you anymore.

[Player 4]

Great. Well then I will use the metal death.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

So on your next action.

[Player 4]

Oh, on my next action.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Right, right. You guys are both over. Are you continuing to help him? He's still just totally ignoring whatever this robot thing is.

[Player 3]

I guess I'm at the point now where I'm like, we need to solve it.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. What I would like you to do is to as you're doing that, make another roll again with your Numenera skill to kind of just sort of keep up. And so you kind of have some Idea of what you're doing. Mm. Or to see if you have some idea what you're doing.

[Player 3]

Six.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. So even with your skill at this point, Marrow has sort of surpassed you, and it's just sort of you pressing buttons, and you're not even sure what it's going to do anymore.

[Player 3]

I'm re rolling.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 3]

I gotta figure this out.

[Player 1]

Okay.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You need a 9 or higher. Yeah. 8.

[Player 2]

You really need to figure it out. I'll give you my one.

[Player 3]

Yes.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 3]

Thank you. Come on. 20. 20.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Very, very cool. Okay. You get a special effect. Major special effect. I'm gonna kind of feed you what that is, because it's information coming in that you didn't even really know about.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Okay.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You're not only sort of understanding more and more what's going on here. You have spied out of the corner of your eye that, weirdly, Marrow is starting to look a little bit like Shanza, in that he's starting to look a little transparent. You also think that if you were to continue working on this, whatever's happening tomorrow might also happen to you. And there's one more bit of information. You know that this thing has sent an alarm into the system, and it is summoning more of its kind.

[Player 1]

Oh, how many people can fit on that flying machine?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You could cram all of you onto it. It would be a little difficult to control. But you think you could get everybody on it?

[Player 1]

Of course, I don't know this yet, but.

[Player 3]

So at this point, I'm starting to question if this big machine isn't just going to wipe us all out.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You think that whatever it's doing, if you know that, you're certain that Maro knows that, and Maro is continuing to do what he's doing. And you don't think that this particular machine is any danger to anyone else other than Morrow and Virginia if you keep working with it?

[Player 3]

I mean, if it's going to, you know, take him out and then take me out, wouldn't I just want to just take it out?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

It's up to you, Vix. You hear Maro. Even as he's, you know, manipulating controls and stuff, he's saying under his breath, my destiny.

[Player 2]

Bix, can't let you stop Maro, because Maro's destiny is very important. I step in front of Maro, and I put my hands up to let you know that you can't stop Morrow.

[Player 3]

Telepathically, I start to communicate with them. If this goes forward, I die. But Morrow might be the savior for our entire community. It's been a pleasure knowing you all.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

So the question that I have is, does Bix reply telepathically?

[Player 4]

Bix speaks.

[Player 2]

So Bix, because it's telepathically and it's easier to speak, Byx, telepathically, responds and says, I don't want anything bad to happen to you, but I also have to make sure Maro gets to the destiny that Marrow needs to get to.

[Player 3]

Okay. I understand. That's what we set out on this journey for. I'd be selfish to let allow myself to survive and Morrow die for nothing and not even complete the journey that we all went through all that hell for just so I can live. Let's do it.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

So keep going.

[Player 3]

So I. Keep going.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

All right. Meanwhile, there's still action going on on the other side. You guys are still above this thing, floating. It's kind of almost directly below you now, in combat with Davilu, but you guys still have that height advantage.

[Player 2]

Can I change. Can I phase out and go inside of the robot?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You're not sure if there's a hollow space inside of it for you to become solid again or not.

[Player 2]

I'm gonna go through it and get to the little under part if I can.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Now, do you want to go all the way through it so you're sort of totally underneath it there?

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. All right. So you can just sort of fall, I guess, off of here.

[Player 2]

I'm just gonna swan dive.

[Player 4]

Okay.

[Player 2]

Change my state.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

All right.

[Player 3]

Yeah.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

So you see, Shanza just swan dive into this thing and then pass through it. Now you're gonna pass through it kind of slowly, but that's gonna arrest your fall, too, so you don't have to worry about that. Maybe by the end of the round, you will get into position.

[Player 2]

Okay, cool.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. And what are you gonna do if.

[Player 1]

I attack it right now, Will that hurt her?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

That sounds like maybe a Numenera knowledge chat.

[Player 1]

Okay. Will that be my only action, though? Or could I then attack after I figure it out?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

I'll let you do both. Okay.

[Player 1]

Kind of running low on intellect, so I think I'm just gonna have to risk the roll.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay, well, it's. You know, none of the things that have been affecting it affect this. It's still a level. Level six thing, so that's an 18 or higher.

[Player 4]

I do have a.

[Player 2]

Do I not take any damage when I'm out of.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

When I'm, like, basically, you out of phase, or is this when you're out of phase, you can't take damage, but you can't affect Anything either. Right.

[Player 1]

She's out of phase at the moment.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Player 1]

And would I know that?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You know, it seems possible that you should be fine. But you know, this is a weird situation. I mean, because she's literally in inside a target that you're going to be firing thousands of volts of electricity.

[Player 4]

You were on a rock before.

[Player 2]

Rocks didn't pass through me.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Yeah, that's true.

[Player 4]

So you could glean.

[Player 1]

And with my Numenera training specialty and my edge of one, how much would that reduce it?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Your skill reduces it to four. If you use effort, it'll make it three. And you need a nine or higher to figure out whether you think this will be safe or not.

[Player 1]

And I wouldn't have to spend any.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

That's with spending.

[Player 1]

With spending without it.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

A 12 or higher. That's right.

[Player 1]

I'm gonna risk that.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 1]

So that I can.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Looking for a 12.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

14. All right.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

So you think actually you can probably blast it. That she just can't be harmed physically.

[Player 1]

Okay. Then I'm just gonna fry it.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 1]

And I'm gonna spend intellect as well.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. So you guys had it down to four. That'll make it four. Three. You need a nine. Eight. So you blast the electricity, but it moves kind of erratically and surprisingly to one side. And you blast the ground and leave scorch marks everywhere, but not on it. But it looked cool. It looked amazing. All right. So this thing now what it does is it takes one of those. You've kind of damaged its pincer arms actually by breaking out of it. So it just kind of thrusts them up just to try to kind of hit the bottom of the platform of whatever it is that you know. It's not exactly sure what's going on, but something bad is above the top. What you're need to do is make a might based roll to stay on it or you're gonna fall off.

[Player 1]

Okay.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Because it's just rocking.

[Player 1]

I'm definitely gonna spend might to do that.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

And so the difficulty here is gonna be 4. You've just made it 3. You need a 9.

[Player 1]

16.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Nice. Okay. So somehow you manage to keep on it and keep it upright. It doesn't totally upset this thing. And I think that brings us back to Deviloo.

[Player 2]

All right.

[Player 4]

I guess I'm gonna use my cipher.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

What cipher is that?

[Player 4]

That's the metal death.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. We were waiting for the big gun to come out.

[Player 4]

Yeah. So I would like to use that.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 4]

Does my skills in jumping help.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

It's almost impossible to fail this.

[Player 2]

Right.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You're just Sort of spraying foam out. So this is going to do just a catastrophic amount of damage. How much? What level is your cipher?

[Player 4]

1. D6 plus 2.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay, so roll a D6. Naturally.

[Player 3]

2.

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[Player 4]

1.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

So there wasn't quite as much foam as you were thinking there was going to be, but there's still a significant amount that just sprays over a portion of this thing. And even as this atomic automaton moves, it's breaking pieces of itself off and doing itself a great deal of harm. This thing is now looking very unsteady. It's shooting sparks out of various places, but that doesn't really concern you guys. You sort of have your own situation going on. Now is sort of the do or die, no suggestion intended moment for Ajnya. Now is the point you're starting to see yourself become a little translucent. Do you keep going or are you gonna let Morrow finish this on his own? And remember, you know that there's an alarm going on, and there are more of these things on the way. Really quickly.

[Player 3]

Can I ask Maro if, you know, the sooner we complete this, will that kill off all the ones that are coming towards them?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

I don't know what you're talking about. It's as though he's just ignoring that part of what's going on. You could break away and let him finish on his own, and you think you'd be fine.

[Player 3]

But I'm still going translucent.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You think you might be okay. Right. This is the decision point. You could get Maro to finish faster, but you. Whatever's happening to him would happen to you. Or you could let him go and worry about the other stuff going on in this chamber.

[Player 3]

I'd like to finish faster.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 3]

And I'd like to give Bix my heat weapon.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 3]

And ask them to give the Rejuvenator pill to whoever needs it most.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 3]

And I'm going to help Marrow finish his destiny.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Keep going with the machine. All right. You're still manipulating their controls. You can see them both just fading away.

[Player 2]

But I'm trying to sort of keep defense for them because I don't know exactly what's going on. I can see that other things are happening because I'm not strong enough to go help. I'm just going to sort of defend them.

[Player 4]

You have a sword. You also have that slippery stuff.

[Player 2]

Yeah, but I'm not close, because isn't this just 10ft? It's only an area up to 10, kind of create.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Yeah, a small area of super, like, frictionless.

[Player 2]

Wouldn't I have to be close to the machine to do it?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Yeah, but you could. You could get there if you wanted to.

[Player 2]

Well, if I could do that, I would happily run over and see about throwing out the friction reducing gel if that would sort of mess up the.

[Player 4]

Could I say that maybe we find out where the other robots are coming from and then do it wherever.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

That's a good idea.

[Player 2]

But we don't know that there's other robots coming. Don't. Only isn't that only information that you.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Have, unless you want to share it.

[Player 3]

Now, I can communicate with her.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Well, you're telepathic. Yeah.

[Player 3]

How about can I communicate it telepathically with everybody?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Well, it'd be like one person around. I mean, eventually you could sort of add everyone to your sort of little network, but it would have to be one per round. But right now, you're communicating with both Maro and Bix.

[Player 3]

Yes. There's more of these things coming. You guys need to get out of here. They're coming from this direction.

[Player 2]

Great. Now that I know which direction they're coming from, I'm going to run in that direction and I'm going to use the friction reducing gel to sort of create the slippery area so that as they start to come in, they're not stable.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay. Ajnia tells you an area and it is right by what looks like a big door and you can just spray that gel over that whole area. So that's very cool. And in fact, it is right at that moment that that door opens up and another one of these things comes through, takes a few steps forward and then just immediately opens. But you can see, and you can all see this now. There are more behind it. And just the one was. Was really tough. You are now underneath the first one, though. You phased all the way through it. You're on the ground, you're beneath it. What do you want to do?

[Player 2]

I'm just going to start thrusting my glaive up into it.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You don't think there's any armor here. You think you've got yourself into a great position and it's even easier to hit from down here. So the difficulty at this point is only three. And if you wanted to use might, you could make it two or you could just go with the three.

[Player 2]

Three would be nine or above.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

That's correct.

[Player 2]

Right. Okay, I'll just do that.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

And then you're gonna spend for the.

[Player 2]

For the thrust. Yeah, for the extra damage.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

10. Okay. Oh, nine or above.

[Player 2]

I thought it was 12 for some reason.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay, well great.

[Player 2]

And now. So it's gonna take five points of damage.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Five points of damage. As you smash into that thing. You think this one individual machine has now been incapacitated. It's just kind of flopping around and its arms are sort of moving jerkily, but it doesn't really seem to be taking any actions. You're still on the flying platform. You see there's more coming.

[Player 1]

Can I see that?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

She. She's just. Yeah, she's underneath. Get back up.

[Player 1]

Can I tell her to jump back on?

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

If you lowered it, you could almost for sure get her on there. Sure, absolutely. Okay.

[Player 1]

Lower back down to her. And then if I can I start flying towards or actually you're right there too, right?

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Player 4]

I should be really close by.

[Player 1]

Yeah.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Wait for her to jump on her as well.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Wait.

[Player 1]

And then I want to fly towards Biggs.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay, so you're going to get on. Yeah. Okay. So you've Got the three of you on there. So the fact that one of these things has been upended is slowing down the other ones a little bit. You think you've got a little bit of time, and that is just. As Marrow completely disappears, and right after that, so does Ajnya. Completely fades away. Oh.

[Player 2]

Because I was gonna see if I could use the Rejuvenator pill on Ajnya, but I thought I had to wait till the next turn, but I guess I was too late.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You know, you could always try. It'd probably be very difficult to get back over to where he is, but you're fast.

[Player 2]

I'm fast. I'm really fast.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Okay.

[Player 2]

And I know you said to use it on someone in the party, but I didn't want you to die. So I'm gonna run really, really, really fast.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

So remember, you have a lot of speed, but a lot of that is dexterity. And actually, big, big, sort of dramatic moves are hard for you. So you'd want to probably spend two points out of your speed pool.

[Player 2]

Absolutely.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

And, you know, this is. It's really going to be hard to get over there. It's probably, like, a difficulty of six, and you're going to make it a five. That's a 15 or higher.

[Player 2]

Okay.

[Player 1]

Stranger things have happened, right?

[Player 2]

We're in a magic cave.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Oh, a one.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Nope.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

But you're getting an XP for a reroll. 15. Amazing.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Thank you.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You get. Just as he is fading away, you just force this thing kind of just into. At this point, you don't even. Because he's. Because he's. He's fading away. Yeah, exactly. You don't even need to get it in his mouth. Right. You're just kind of getting it into his essence.

[Player 2]

Yes.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Do you want to stay? Because you can now if you want to. The process is complete. Marrow has done whatever Maro's going to do, but if you want to go with him, you still can.

[Player 3]

I want to remain with the group.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

All right. Ajnia returns to solid form. Ajnia, you know that Maro didn't just fade away entirely, but he has actually somehow moved on to some other level of reality or something. Right? Something sort of beyond your comprehension. And I'm assuming that you're gonna come and pick up everyone. So as you guys are coming in hot, flying out of your brand new flying machine, out of this cave, you all hear one new whisper that is coming from the whispering peak. And it's just my destiny.

[Player 3]

Awesome.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

And it's Morrow's voice. And you get out safely and can.

[Player 1]

We fly all the way back to Aldervale.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Sure.

[Player 1]

We've got a flying rectangle.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

It won't take you more than actually probably about a half a day on this thing.

[Player 2]

We drop you off so you can hang out.

[Player 4]

Go hang out with that priest, lady priest.

[Player 1]

I'll fly back there anytime. We drop you guys off.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

We're heroes.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

All right, so you have successfully helped your friend Maro achieve whatever mysterious destiny he was set out to achieve. In fact, when you get back to Aldervale and you spend some time there, it becomes clear that when the sing song plays its chimes occasionally, from time to time, you can hear Morrow's whispering voice. And because of the advice that he provides through the sing song, the village prospers and grows into a much larger, more significant, successful and safe village. Thanks to the fact that you helped Maro complete his quest.

[Player 4]

Got more. Y' all meet, guys.

[Player 3]

Yeah, y' all meet for day.

[Player 2]

Y' all meet.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

That is the end of Maro's quest, the end of our story. Thank you guys so much for joining with me. I had a really good time. I hope you did too.

[Player 4]

Yeah, that was so great.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

And we hope you had a great time watching and we'll maybe give Numenera a try yourself after learning how it works. I'm Monte Cook and this has been your starter kit. The war is over and both sides lost. Kingdoms were reduced to cinders and armies scattered like bones in the dust. Now the survivors claw to what's left of a broken wall, praying the darkness chooses someone else tonight. But in the shadow dark, the darkness always wins. This is old school adventuring at its most cruel. Your torch ticks down in real time, and when that flame dies, something else rises to finish the job. This is a brutal rules light nightmare with a story that emerges organically based on the decisions that the characters make. This is what it felt like to play play RPGs in the 80s and man, it is so good to be back. Join the Glass Cannon podcast as we plunge into the Shadow Dark every Thursday night at 8pm Eastern on YouTube.com theglasscannon with the podcast version dropping the next day. See what everybody's talking about and join us in the dark.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Oh, the Regency era. You might know it as the time when Bridgerton takes place or the time when Jane Austen wrote her books. But the Regency era was also an explosive time of social change, sex scandals, and maybe the worst king in British history. And on the Vulgar History podcast, we're going to be looking at the balls, the gowns and all the scandal of the Regency era Vulgar History is a women's history podcast and our Regency Era series will be focusing on the most rebellious women of this time. That includes Jane Austen herself, who is maybe more radical than you might have thought. We'll also be talking about queer icons like Anne Lister, scientists like Mary Anning and Ada Lovelace, as well as other scandalous actresses, royal mistresses, rebellious princesses and other lesser known figures who made history happen in England in the Regency era. Listen to Vulgar History wherever you get Podcasts.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

If you love those, wait what moments you'll love.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Something you should know I'm Mike Carruthers and on my podcast we explore the fascinating ideas hiding in plain sight, like how elevators change the entire world, how.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Gravity affects your health more than you.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Think, or how to instantly become a better conversationalist. Each episode is fast, fun and full.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

Of insight you'll want to share, so.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Give it a try. Search for something you should know wherever.

[Monte Cook (Game Master)]

You get your podcasts.