Editing Numenera (section)

=Setting=
Numenera is set in the "Ninth World", a bizarre science fiction setting depicting the far, far, far future.

Ostensibly, the game world is the planet Earth but has moved on to the point that it is completely unrecognizable. The timeline places it about a billion years into the future, which means that the tectonic plates have shifted continents about, the sun has entered a different phase and the moon likely orbits differently. Not only that but the landscape has been twisted by extradimensional forces and strange technologies; rendering the planet completely alien when compared to us in the 21st century. 

Eight different eras or epochs have risen and fallen before the start date of the campaign setting. For comparison; the [[Age of Strife]] in the Warhammer 40,000 universe ''might'' constitute the transition between one age and another where so much history has been forgotten about by the time the next era comes along. Still, even that can't really describe the amount of knowledge forgotten about between the ages. ''Seriously'' when put into context, if an extinction event happened 65,000,000 years ago and mankind evolved afterward, even if this happened eight more times you'd still ''only'' be over halfway to the Numenera setting, so attempting to accurately establish what relation the setting has to "now" is essentially meaningless. 

The technological mastery of previous ages is barely understood and is seen as something akin to magic. But remnants of earlier civilizations are lying around all over the place, making up the "Numenera" that characterizes the setting. These objects take a vast variety of forms: 
:'''Artefacts''', are powerful devices that perform miraculous functions: be it small items like energy swords and medical implants, all the way up to extradimensional teleportation devices and flying cities. Artefacts are generally the most sought-after or reliable devices.
:'''Cyphers''' are typically small devices that perform a specific, albeit poorly understood function and tend to be used as healing items or weapons. They function in such a way that they generally do not survive the first use, often because they end up being used as grenades or because their power supplies get used up. They also have a tendency to react badly with each other, so it is ill-advised to hang on to too many at one time, due to unpredictable effects. Though Cyphers literally can be found anywhere.
:'''Oddities''' are curious devices which have little to no useful function to an adventuring party, representing the everyday technology of former ages; like self-knitting clothes, levitating stones, or music boxes that only the owner can hear. Clever gamers might find a use for certain items, but generally speaking, they exist for narrative effect more than mechanical function. And selling for money.