Numenera is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in the far distant future, written by Monte Cook, published in 2013.^[1][2][3]

Numenera was launched via a Kickstarter campaign and set a record for "most money raised for a tabletop role-playing game" at $517,255 by 4,658 backers,^{[better source needed]} surpassing the previous record set by the Kickstarter for Traveller 5th edition.^{[better source needed]} Originally intended just to fund the initial core rulebook, the campaign more than doubled its funding goal within the first 24 hours.^{[better source needed]} "Stretch goals" that were announced as the level of funding grew increased the output of products, ending up producing an entire game line.^[9]

This two volume replacement for the original rulebook was crowdfunded in 2017. It increased emphasis on exploration, discovery, and building. It also incorporated a few revisions from the Cypher rule system that had been released subsequent to the original Numenera release.^[10] Calling itself Numenera 2, it also used a Kickstarter campaign for initial funding, obtaining $845,258 from 4,185 backers.

Numenera: Discovery is a revision of the original core rulebook. The Jack character type was substantially revised to be more distinctive compared to Nanos and Glaives. Also added are player intrusions, a mechanism allowing players to alter the environment by spending an experience point.^[10]

Legacy material from the original Numenera book, not included in the new edition, were made available for free as a PDF.^[11]

Numenera: Destiny is mostly new material offering three new character types: Arkus, Delve, and Wright, new descriptors and new foci. The book also emphasizes crafting along with community protection and development with these character types taking lead positions in such an endeavor. A major section on crafting mechanisms and a major section on communities are provided. The manner of running a community game can be described as treating the community as an NPC in the game with stats that the player characters enhance. New monsters, NPCs, and settings are also offered in the Destiny core rulebook.

The core rulebook of Numenera has been translated into Italian,^[12] German,^[13] Spanish, French and Portuguese.^[14]

In a review of Numenera in Black Gate, John ONeill said "The book is splendidly designed and a pleasure to read. It's also packed with gorgeous artwork. This is exactly the kind of gamebook that makes you ache to pick up your dice and start playing."^[18]