Now that both books are out... 13th Age vs Numenera

[dm4hire]

Ok, both books are out now and people have had a chance to read through enough to get a good feel for the systems. Which do you see yourself running now?

I really like both games and am torn between which to run though leaning more toward Numenera, mainly because it is definitely a new twist on d20. I get the vibe that Monte truly took the best of everything on this one and made it into its own thing. It definitely doesn't feel like D&D but really captures that new game essence when reading it. I want to learn and play it.

13th Age on the other hand definitely feels like D&D, but done in a way that feels new and better than 4e. 4e to me seemed very cookie cutter, slap new paint on it, and change the name and it's a new class, leaving me bored after the first two levels because everything is the same. 13th definitely doesn't do that. It also is a lot lighter. I want to play it because it feels like D&D the way I wanted 4e to feel. And it still has that 3e tone in the background. This will most likely be the game I stay with over the long haul only because everyone I play with will feel more comfortable with it.

All that being said what are your opinions as to which you will most likely stay with?

 

[Dice4Hire]

I did not buy either, but I am interested in how the poll comes out.

 

[dm4hire]

Here's an interesting observation I just made. They posted on the Numenera Facebook page that they sent out nearly 17,000 pdfs for the core book (they did the players guide the next day). The Kickstarter only had 4,658 backers. I'm pretty sure the retailers only got one copy of the PDF, but even if they did get more that would be only 83 more copies. There may have been some who also bought extra copies, but I doubt there were that many. That still leaves probably close to 12,000 preorders of the book and PDF. I think it will be interesting to see how popular Numenera ends up being.

 

[Lord_Blacksteel]

The question I am really interested in will be how they're both doing a year to two years down the road, mainly after D&D (insert edition name here) officially releases. Based on Monte's track record (AU/AE mainly) I think it's safe to say Numenera will have support for a few years at least.

Among those who do go with either one I can't help but think there will be a fair amount of "OK that was fun but back to D&D" once that new edition comes out.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Both are moderately interesting to me (13th Age moreso simply because it's closer to D&D and likely to be more useful). Both may be sources for ideas. I am not likely to play or spend money on either.

 

[dm4hire]

The question I am really interested in will be how they're both doing a year to two years down the road, mainly after D&D (insert edition name here) officially releases. Based on Monte's track record (AU/AE mainly) I think it's safe to say Numenera will have support for a few years at least.

Among those who do go with either one I can't help but think there will be a fair amount of "OK that was fun but back to D&D" once that new edition comes out.

I will agree for the most part, however I know quite a few that feel burned by how WotC(Hasbro) has handled D&D recently that they don't plan on going back. Monte's books tend to fill a niche that is for certain and while AU/AE are not popular as D&D I think that is because they fall into the same flaw that 13th Age will fall into, which is they are still D&D clones. Pathfinder has been the exception to this I think only because they have been able to take advantage of WotC(Hasbro)'s inept handling of D&D recently. By that I mean Paizo took the ball and ran with it after 4e fumbled in terms of 3PP support and then by not meeting everyone's satisfaction. That could change once 5e returns, but there are a lot of bridges that will need to be rebuilt in order for the game to reach its former glory, if it even can. Pathfinder on the other hand is starting to face a similar fate I believe in that the game is getting so bloated that it is on the verge of imploding as they continue to expand the rules and eventually will face the need for a second edition.

Numenera may break away from the D&D clone fate because while it has a very fantasy feel to it you can't help but remember it is a sci-fi game as well. Definitely it sits in its own niche at the moment and I would love to see it remain there. Sci-fi or even sci-fantasy has never had a game that equals to D&D as far as staying power or dominance.* Given the figures which can be found at the Kickstarter website and from Monte's admission to the PDF preorder the game is definitely popular, but as you say time will be the biggest factor in whether it remains that way. I would love to see sci-fantasy become its own market niche with Numenera filling the roll of flagship, but can’t help that like sci-fi it will be an area that sees fits and starts a lot.

*I am making this claim because while there are popular sci-fi games, such as Alternity, Star Frontiers, Star Wars, and Traveler to name a few, none have taken a dominant role as D&D has within that genre/niche market. One could possibly argue Star Wars, though I wouldn’t classify its popularity as being strictly gaming related since it falls into its own dimension of fandom as does all things Star Wars when taken as a whole.
D&D may be the granddaddy of them all, but you have to admit that something about it definitely set it apart as the preferred game by the majority of the fantasy fans in terms of game play over the years, at least until 4e and even then it still commands a large portion of the gaming community in terms of fantasy gaming.

 

[TrippyHippy]

Sci-fi or even sci-fantasy has never had a game that equals to D&D as far as staying power or dominance.*

Warhammer 40K (as in the tabletop wargame) outsells any RPG, including any version of D&D, by a considerable degree. And the RPGs don't do that badly either.

 

[dm4hire]

I would agree that in terms of wargames, but it hasn't been a mainstay RPG which is my point. If you ask which game is the pick of the crowd you'll either come out with Star Wars on top by a somewhat decent margin or it will be pretty close for a few games that are popular.

 

[TrippyHippy]

I think the 40KRP games have been a pretty consistent mainstay for the last few years since they've been released at least - the games have been top 5 sellers (top 3 sellers mainly) consistently since it came out. It's obviously difficult to make comparisons before then.

 

[Evenglare]

Numenera is my game of choice for the foreseeable future. I'm tired of the edition treadmill, im happy with the new system, it's easy enough to run and create new things for etc etc.