Curse you, Monte Cook! In need of Numenera help
In reply to Varsovian (msg # 18):
Numenera, and any of the Cypher games, are the easiest games in the world for a GM to run. This is one game system, I can sit down at a table with no ideas in my head, and just spin off of what the PCs want to do. So easy. BUT, it took me about a month of readinga nd re-reading the rules to get it.
As Lucaswolfox stated, a character's stat pools are so much more than just hit points. If a character wants to use a cool power, they have to spend some of their stat pools. If they want to try harder to succeed on a test, they have to spend some of their stat pools. If a GM really wants to hit a character hard and make them feel it, they will go straight for the Damage Track and knock a PC down to Impaired.
Yes, the system is different, but it actually is quite easy once you figure out it's not d20.
When I first started running, I wasn't sure what a group of 4 Tier 1 characters could handle. I threw 3 Level 2 thugs at them. It was actually harder than I thought it was going to be. Next encounter was 1 L5. Due to a lot of nat 20s, it was easier than I thought. Next, 1 Level 4 almost wiped the floor with them due to, I kid you not, 14 nat 1's over the course of the combat.
Also, remember, Numenera, and any of the Cypher games, are more aimed toward exploration, investigation, and story telling, than killing things and taking their stuff.