Silicon Shadows- Adventuring in the Datasphere (Numenera/the Strange)

Silicon Shadows

Beyond the defined borders of the established systems is the vast "unformatted" space. This "fractal network" called the Strange changes not at all from the way it is presented in the Strange core book. (Ch14 p 212). Key points of interest are the ability to travel between recursions directly through the Strange (p214) and relics of the Strange (p218). Conversely, the threats of the Strange are at least as great as those of the formatted Recursions into which most access pods and juncture points will deliver travelers. Alienation (p216) threatens those exposed to this unformatted space and various creatures call it home (p217).

Silicon Shadows- Places in the Datasphere (Numenera/the Strange)

Silicon Shadows

For most intents and purposes, adventuring through the datasphere is identical to a game of the Strange. For example, if the characters do find their way from one zone to another their interface goes through a process of recontextualization; their descriptor, their focus, and their equipment change to be appropriate for the new zone. It is worth remembering that, as a character can only translate to locations they have previously visited, new visitors to the datasphere are going to be heavily reliant on gates and other methods of finding their way into locations other than the zone they arrive in.
Within the datasphere recursions are datasphere zones, terms which may be used interchangeably, and the varying physical laws of these different zones reflect the differing nature and interpretations of the systems visited.

Silicon Shadows- Becoming Part of the Datasphere (Numenera/the Strange)

Silicon Shadows

When a character enters the datasphere, whether their body is converted or they leave it behind, an Avatar is created for them. This digital persona reflects who they are in the real world, as part of any insertion process is to convert the things they encounter into a sensory experience their minds and bodies can process, understand, and react to. The first time a character enters a datasphere zone there is a basic imprinting done on their personality. The character's type is converted to its equivalent from the Strange (glaive to vector, nano to paradox, jack to spinner). Their stats, tier, experience, and advancement choices remain unchanged, however. Further advancement is simply layered on to this template (and converts back to the real world). Equipment from the physical world, including cyphers and artifacts, only translate into the datasphere if they were brought through a matter conversion portal or other similar accommodations were made.

Narcissist Foundations (Narcissist: Crash Free)

One of the greatest secrets of the Continuum is that Narcissists are, at least in part, right. Reality is mutable, and the proper application of Frag can free them from the walls of our reality. The rules that create Continuum space are simply one interpretation of the physics of time travel, and not an inherent feature. Certain segments of the Quicker Fraternity have to embrace at least the edges of this truth earlier, but almost willful self-denial often keeps them from fully accepting the ramifications. Spanners who achieve span 6 are fully educated in an experience much like receiving their memories of the In Between. Having lived a lie for dozens, if not hundreds, of human lifetimes and often hunted and killed those who they discover were proclaiming the truth the moment of revelation rocks many spanners to their core.
However, the Continuum insists, the lie is necessary. The wall of sentient will produces a potent defense, not against the Narcissists which lesser spanners believe to be the great plague of their reality, but against much darker and more alien civilizations with their own, incompatible histories that lay beyond that wall. The cost, the sacrifice of the potential realities Narcissists dream of, is one the Continuum is more than willing to accept to protect the time of the Societies and Inheritors. In fact, the building of that great wall required the scouring and scorching of entire realities too different from our own to be absorbed but close enough to allow access. It was, in fact, this act that created the great deserts of our own history.
From this defensive position the Inheritors launch ships Down, beyond the Antedesertium Capracornian era, to the Continuum's true battles for survival. Here, Continuum fleets launch incursions against these hostile civilizations and defend against attacks from those eternal enemies. The battles against the Narcissist kingdoms are merely a sideshow compared to these great clashes; fending off a society trapped as an unwilling rearguard against invaders which make the Inheritors seem all too human.

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Translating The Strange to Numenera Pt 2 In Translation (Cypher System)

Much like the core rules for the Strange the character options book, In Translation, has a number of  Foci that are also easily adaptable to Numenera.
The most directly translatable remain those generated by Weird Science, with some like Controls Nanomachines or Is a Cyborg fitting very clearly with the flavor and feel of existing Numenera Foci. Many Standard Physics and Magic Foci remain easily adaptable. While some Standard Physics Foci are obviously transferable, such as a character who Collects Bounties, and a character who Is Idolized by Millions might be translated into a wealthy aristocrat or noble while even the broken civilizations of the Ninth World still have those among them that Interprets the Law. From the Magic settings, only Manipulates Strange Energy is clearly inappropriate, with its deep ties to The Strange's setting.
When translating a Focus, if it comes with small to moderate a debt value (such as Wears an Iron Suit) reduce your starting Shins appropriately. If the debit is more Shins than you have to start with, very likely the case with Pilots a Starship, work with your GM to determine how to best represent the debit before taking the Focus. In that particular case; perhaps the Focus will provide a key ingredient to the game and thus can be accepted as a shared and necessary resource or maybe the Focus is unsuitable to play because it will disrupt the game. It is possible the GM may simply deny the ship which imposes the debt until one is obtained through play- though, GMs taking this last route should understand the implications of doing this as a substantial portion of one of the characters is rendered unplayable by taking this option. In these cases, it is often better for the player to take a different initial focus which they can later shift to their desired focus if and when the game develops to the point it's available.

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