Numenera Bestiary and the Spurn

I've been working on the Numenera Bestiary for a couple weeks. I haven't had this much fun writing monsters since I co-wrote Libris Mortis. Which, now that I think of it, was the last time I had the opportunity to create an entire new set of monsters without any real restrictions other than theme.

(Numenera? If you don't know, go read this, then come back. I'll wait.)

So, yeah, the Numenera Bestiary. It turns out I get to write about half the creatures that'll be appearing in the product. The very first creature I created has the working name "spurn." (The spurn are, so far, the only monster in my concept collection that have an irregular plural form: 1 spurn and 20 spurn are both correct usage. Later editorial oversight could nix that.)

From afar, a gang of spurn seem nothing more than humanoids in oily rags. But up close, they're revealed as creatures formed of smashed machines, shattered synth, matted hair, drippy sludge, and garbage. Spurn are self-organizing collections of refuse that evolved among the landfills and dumps of previous civilizations over deep time.

I'm biased, but I love the concept. In the Ninth World, even "simple" dirt isn't actually simple. In fact, it's not even called dirt; it's drit, a fine, artificial soil made from microscopic pieces of ancient, unknown technologies and structures. Which makes drit fertile soil for creatures like spurn to spring up, so to speak.

I'm hoping to write about what I'm working on in the Numenera Bestiary in future posts, and give you an insight into some of the ways I'm approaching design. Until then, iadece!

Parking In Seattle

I found out last night about a 'no parking w/in 5' of a driveway' law courtesy of a crazy Seattle homeowner. A necessary law or an excuse for extortion? I guess it depends on the circumstances.

I know how I come down on this particular case. It's not fun to come out of a friend's house to discover your car is mysteriously missing, and you must figure out your next steps with no clue other than the mere fact that the car is gone.

At the end of the day, I'm glad my car wasn't stolen, but instead towed, and that I had the necessary resources (friends to drive me to its new location, cash in my bank account, wits to figure out how to track it down in the first place) to get it back.

Bruce R Cordell is joining Monte Cook Games

Did you hear the big news announced last night at Gen Con? I'm joining Monte Cook Games as a Senior Game Designer! (Click here for official press release.)

Words can hardly express how excited I am to join my friends Monte, Shanna, Charles, and Tammie on Numenera.

Which is fabulous, because how could I not love a game set a BILLION years in the future? Where genetically altered monstrosities, flesh-warping radiation, creatures transplanted from distant stars, and clouds of out-of-control nanobots wander? Where ruins can be found, ruins surviving out of deep time from eight previous civilizations that rose and fell on Earth, some of which weren't even human? Yeah.

Numenera is right up my alley. Sign me up. (Wait, I've been signed up. -FIST PUMP!-) I'll have more to say later. It's going to be a wild ride, and I'm ecstatic to be on board.

I'm Going To Gen Con!

Recent developments mean that I'll be at Gen Con this year!

Of course, I just arrived home from Space City Con, where I got to tour NASA, cosplay as Dr. Horrible and Malcolm Reynolds, make friends and hang out with one of my favorite scifi authors Elizabeth Bear, run three days of D&D, and do all of this while enjoying the incomparable company of my sweetie Batgirl (and my pals Hobo Lord and Lady Gumdrop). You might imagine that Gen Con's got its work cut out for it, if it wants to follow that act.

You might imagine that, but the truth is, Gen Con 2013 is shaping up to be pretty fracking awesome in its own right. See you there?