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Celestial Wisdom
Publisher: Ryan Chaddock Games
by Sensible C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/12/2019 22:34:06

I've never played "Numenera", don't own the core book {I downloaded this for free last night}, and happened to notice a certain Ryan Chaddock wrote it, so I decided to read and review it as soon as possible. "Celestial Wisdom" is an easy read, and in fifty four pages, Ryan provides us with AI gods, tech devices, plot hooks, and even included fifty printable cypher cards {Which are neat and tidy compared to many pages of hand written notes}. I don't roll play anymore, but I like to write stories and sessions for other people online, and if you need wacky high tech topics to insert into ANY game system, this title has great ideas to unleash on your players.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Celestial Wisdom
Publisher: Ryan Chaddock Games
by Zach A. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/18/2015 10:54:26

Preface: This supplement is FREE (currently). There is literally no reason not to get it, as it's also very, very good.

This is a great third-party supplement on multiple levels:

  1. It fills a narrative space in the world of Numenera that is an exciting one only briefly touched on in MCG releases. MCG intentionally leaves design space open for GMs, which I like, but this GM is just going to pay for some Ryan Chaddock PDFs for the heavy lifting in some areas.

  2. The quality of the content, in this case "data gods" and many things surrounding them and the "datasphere" are very well fleshed out and give lots of great opportunity for exciting story hooks and player involvement.

  3. A wide variety of exciting character options. Who isn't excited about the focus "resurrects dead gods"? ANSWER: NO ONE. That and the other options in this book are well thought out and will certainly add to any campaign that wants to include god-like figures as movers and shakers in the Ninth World.

I will certainly be picking up more of RCG's supplements as time goes on. The quality and quantity are an absolute steal for under $10, and this free one has certainly motivated me to pick up more.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Celestial Wisdom
Publisher: Ryan Chaddock Games
by Henry d. V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/08/2014 14:19:00

Definitely worth the time to peruse! There's a surprising amount of good material in a short book--I was expecting a bit more filler, in fact, and was pleasantly surprised to be wrong.

I don't normally involve the gods (or equivalent) in my games, but if interacting with the irascible and ineffable is a cornerstone of your vision of the Ninth World, then this is a good set of things to add to your toolbox. The additional ciphers and character options are all entirely too useful, and should one of my players take to a focus like Resurrects Dead Gods I may have to reconsider my usual reluctance to bring the likes of Zeus to bear on my heroes.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Celestial Wisdom
Publisher: Ryan Chaddock Games
by Neal T. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/06/2014 12:31:53

Celestial Wisdom played a key part in shaping my current Numenera campaign. I read this right around the time I was setting up the campaign, and the dead data gods proved a perfect fit for my campaign. It served to provide a long running subplot for one of my players that is still playing out.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Celestial Wisdom
Publisher: Ryan Chaddock Games
by James J. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/17/2014 17:24:30

For the price, more than outstanding value. I plugged these artifacts, cyphers and oddities right into my game. The AIs are great the setting is great. I do not regret buying this at all. However, a significant number of items I think are a bit too much of the "Your character feels this way when wearing", "Your character thinks", "Your character now thinks in X mode." That's the 4 star rating, right there. Other than that, hell yes, I will use this book left and right. The tiers and such new descriptors & foci, the pro way they were laid out, seem really cool. Definitely a good source of ideas.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Celestial Wisdom
Publisher: Ryan Chaddock Games
by Bryon K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/21/2014 14:00:24

This is the first third party published product I've seen for the Cypher system and I was really intrigued by the concept. Celestial Wisdom really delves into the Datasphere and goes out of its way to make it both familiar to players not only based on our real-world understanding of the Internet and information sharing, but also familiar to people who've been doing more classic fantasy tabletop role-playing games for years.

The production values for the book are great. They use a lot of really striking colour and art assets which really set things apart from the style used by Monte Cooke Games products. While it doesn't look like the Numenera books, the product does have a very neat visual aesthetic and really feels well put together. The layout is clean and the material is easy to read and reference. The cyphers and artifacts are organized to make printing cards simple, but the bright colour scheme does get a little much with neon greens and purples. An index for the different cyphers and artifacts (as well as a one sentence blurb about what they do), would have helped me make more sense of these items and not need to dig in quite so much to find things.

Content-wise, Celestial Wisdom deals with ideas for new Machine Intelligences living within the Datasphere called Data Gods; new descriptors and foci specifically related to the Datasphere as well as general cybernetics and robotics; a handful of new cyphers and artifacts related to the datasphere; and finally, four locations to use as jumping off points for adventures into the Datasphere.

For me the real highlight of the book was the collection of Data Gods. Presented in a style similar to organizations from the Numenera Corebook, these vast Machine Intelligences each have their own unique agendas, working for or against one another (or sometimes simply doing their own things) and tying into the wider world of Numenera as well. Each offers a character some unique benefit for their worship in place of a Skill (as per the Organization rules). These Data Gods really remind me of the presentation of deities from older fantasy role-playing games, and it would be very easy to create a "Cleric" using this supplement.

Celestial Wisdom is an intriguing mix of new and familiar ideas and is definitely worth picking up if you've enjoyed playing a cleric-like character in other games or are just curious to see another author's take on the Ninth World.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Celestial Wisdom
Publisher: Ryan Chaddock Games
by Daniel P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/04/2014 15:37:58

It is a beautiful book! Daring to describe the Datasphere, opening doors to many narrative possibilities - one of the first supplements I recommend to GMs.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Celestial Wisdom
Publisher: Ryan Chaddock Games
by Ross B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/13/2014 11:52:31

This is a great book. The primary focus is taking a lightly touched upon section in the Ninth World setting, namely AIs and the datasphere, and significantly expanding it. The book provides an overview of AIs within the Ninth World and provides numerous examples with a good variety to them. There are numerous character options, including the obvious new descriptors and foci, but also options for alternative powers for Types which I thought was unique and a good idea. Also plenty of new cyphers, artifacts, and oddities. Finally there are a number of adventure hooks and ideas.

For me the most useful aspect was fine tuning some of my own ideas into something that would functionally work within my game. I had my own concept of an AI I wanted to use, but this gave me a lot more ideas on how to develop who it was, what it's motivations were, and what it's powers were, and how it would interact directly with the story. So for me the best value in this book comes from the framework it provides in order to help you realize your own ideas within this category of the setting.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Celestial Wisdom
Publisher: Ryan Chaddock Games
by Sean M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/03/2014 07:29:06

The writers of this book understand Numenera. And the idea of data gods put into Numenera is awesome, and it is done really well. Also it is chock full of cyphery goodness!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Celestial Wisdom
Publisher: Ryan Chaddock Games
by Jim C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/25/2013 00:31:59

This author gets the setting of Numenera, sees clearly what would be incongruous with the Ninth World and what adds to its weirdness and grandeur and gives us more of the latter. A really promising third-party contribution to a relatively new game. I'd hope for more like this.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Celestial Wisdom
Publisher: Ryan Chaddock Games
by Thorbjørn K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/21/2013 22:31:54

The only bad thing I can think of is that this pdf does not have bookmarks, which could easily have been added. In its defense a lot of the content does not need to be referenced, which leads me to its good points: while Celestial Wisdom does add a good chunk of concrete stuff you can put into your game the place where it shines is how it simply inspires you. I leafed through the whole thing in a few hours and was left with the feeling that this was not simply an addition to the Ninth World of Numenera, but a necessity. After reading it I can no longer envision the setting not having these digital beings of insanity, power, and forgotten or temporally misplaced purpose.

On the layout side Celestial Wisdom is minimalistic in a good way. It does not explode in your face with its design, but it does enough to make it feel like you are reading a source book and not a draft manuscript. It does all it needs to do and leaves you with the content, which is excellent.

I would recommend this as a necessary addition to your setting materials, and thus give it a solid 5/5.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Celestial Wisdom
Publisher: Ryan Chaddock Games
by Benjamin M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/22/2013 23:50:29

I picked this up as an interesting add on to the Numenera Game, and found that it had more to offer for the game then the basic idea's for the data sphere and the types of "creatures" that live within it. I find the reminder that the "data gods" are not rational and do not think like a human very pointed, and also very accurate, no matter how "human" they where supposed to be originally, the time that they have operated without "supervision or control". Overall I feel that it is a very well designed book, and nicely written. it is well laid out.
The way it is laid out is nice and logical, so that each of the four chapters covering a clear section of material. The first chapter is of the data gods as well as some notes of their followers and the powers they might show. The second chapter shows changes in the characters foci, descriptors and such to allow for more of a connection to the data sphere. The third chapter shows a nice selection of new "toys" that relate to the data sphere. All divided up as they are in the main book of the game. The last chapter is just two pages of ideas for adventures, just the bare bones sort of speak, but enough with the ease of the Numenera system to easily flesh out even on the fly.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Celestial Wisdom
Publisher: Ryan Chaddock Games
by Rémi T. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/06/2013 10:35:43

Useful sourcebook, 50 pages of techno-gods and many new powers and cyphers -- and some good adventure seeds. I like the "AI has techno-fantasy gods" thing. Good work for a few bucks. I want more, now !

Sparse artwork and basic layout, but made with good taste.

And I hope there will be a POD version.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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