Overview

Wrights are builders and crafters. When something special is required, a Wright can make it. When strange instructions are found in the ruins of the prior worlds, Wrights can decipher them and, using special components called iotum, craft their own cyphers, artifacts, or installations. In a way, Wrights are especially good at understanding and stealing the fire of creation that burned so brightly in the civilizations that rose to unimaginable heights before the Ninth World. Wrights are the rarest of the already rare numenera scholars; they aren’t afraid of weird or incomprehensible tech—they try to take it apart and learn how to make more. Wrights are especially skilled in the many tasks related to crafting. They need to be at least a little skilled at a lot of things. They want Intellect to help them decipher and develop numenera plans, identify components, and craft amazing items. Wrights are not afraid to explore, especially because the iotum they need to make their wondrous items can usually be found only by salvaging it from places where physical danger is certain. They’re happy to don heavy armor to protect themselves from danger, even though it slows them down a little. Though such armor can be restrictive, Wrights can usually rely on allies or followers to help them search out a particularly difficult-to-reach or tight spot.

Wrights in Society

People are usually very accepting of Wrights since the things they craft are often useful or even necessary, whether that means a wagon, a wall, or an installation that can light up a small community. When Wrights begin to dabble in more exotic installations, automatons, or vehicles, public concern can creep in. A Wright with an automaton servant might be seen by some as a sorcerer who has infused a demonic spirit into crude matter, giving it life like the automatons that litter the landscape and that most people have enough sense to avoid.
But a Wright can be a vital part of any community, especially one that has special needs that can’t be met any other way. With enough time and resources, a Wright can provide clean water, nutrition, defense, and of course, comfortable homes for people to live in. Wrights get along well with Glaives and Delves. They rely on the former to protect them while they focus on creative tasks, and they trust that Delves will find and return fresh plan seeds and iotum that Wrights need to conduct their basic craft. Nanos can be friendly, but Wrights sometimes find themselves in competition with Nanos who want the same iotum, possibly for their own inscrutable tasks or even as an ingredient for their own crafting. Arkai often come to Wrights asking for the creation of particular structures or installations. As long as they’re asking and not ordering, the alliance remains on good terms. Wrights are friendly with some Jacks and sour on others; it depends on the Jack in question.

Wrights in the Group

While an Arkus might naturally assume some authority in a newly founded settlement or allied community, Wrights can also fulfill that role because they tend to remain in such locations for extended periods of time. On the other hand, a Wright is usually happy to let others make the hard decisions so they can focus on making interesting things. In a straight-up fight, Wrights rely on their creations to aid both themselves and their allies; an established Wright might even have created defensive or offensive installations in the group’s base or newly founded settlement.

Wrights and the Numenera

Wrights wouldn’t exist without the numenera. To craft anything other than mundane objects and structures, Wrights depend on iotum salvage from scrap found in ruins and other locations, as well as fragments of information encoded in knowledge caches for millions of years or longer. So like Delves and Nanos, Wrights value any and all devices and discoveries related to the numenera and crave more. Wrights usually craft items that help a larger community, but they can also craft objects to aid themselves, if they can find the plans to do so. Artifacts and cyphers that provide protection, store knowledge, and extend their crafting capabilities further are the kinds of numenera items Wrights are most excited to find or fashion.

Advanced Wrights

As Wrights gain experience and become more skilled and powerful, they develop more plans for building numenera objects and structures, they can drastically reduce the amount of time required to craft complex objects or structures, and they can take direct control of objects and structures they’ve built to create amazing effects.

Wright Tiers

FIRST-TIER WRIGHTS

First-tier Wrights have the following abilities. Add them to the appropriate place on your character sheet, under Effort, Edge (in the appropriate stat Pool), equipment, and potentially skills and special abilities:
Effort: Your Effort is 1.
Inventor: You have an Intellect Edge of 1, a Might Edge of 0, and a Speed Edge of 0.
Cypher Use: You can bear three cyphers at a time.
Weapons: You can use light weapons without penalty. You have an inability with medium and heavy weapons; your attacks with medium and heavy weapons are hindered.
Skills: You are trained in crafting numenera. In addition, you are trained in a crafting skill in which you are not already trained. Choose one of the following: salvaging numenera, understanding numenera, engineering, woodcrafting, armoring, weaponsmithing, or another crafting skill of your choice. You have an inability in salvaging numenera and understanding numenera. Enabler.
Community Builder: While you are present within the community, and actively and personally working on behalf of that community, +3 is added to the community’s infrastructure. Enabler.
Always Tinkering: If you have any tools and materials at all, and you are carrying fewer cyphers than your limit, you can create a cypher if you have an hour of time to spend. The new cypher is random and always 2 levels lower than normal (minimum 1). It’s also temperamental and fragile. These are called temperamental cyphers. If you give it to anyone else to use, it falls apart immediately, useless. Action to initiate, one hour to complete.
Numenera Plans: You start with two numenera plans of your choice. Enabler.
Starting Equipment: You start with clothing, one weapon, an explorer’s pack, a book about crafting, three cyphers (chosen by the GM), one oddity (chosen by the GM), a box of crafting tools, and 5 shins (coins). If you start with a ranged weapon that requires ammunition (arrows, for example), you start with 12 of that type of ammunition. Before selecting your weapons, armor, and other gear, you might want to wait until after you’ve chosen your abilities, descriptor, and focus.
Starting Iotum: In addition to your starting equipment, you start with 4 units of io and 4 units of responsive synth. You also have 6 units of parts.
Default Starting Cyphers and Oddity: Your GM may provide you with starting cyphers and an oddity. Otherwise, you begin with the following.

• Cyphers: crafter’s eyes, instant item, gravity changer
• Oddity: Piece of extremely strong and thin cable 8 feet (2.5 m) long

Inspired Techniques: You have a special talent for crafting and can create objects and structures that others can barely imagine. These talents are called inspired techniques. Some inspired techniques are constant, ongoing effects, and others are specific actions that usually cost points from one of your stat Pools. You gain some of your inspired techniques using special numenera tools. For instance, when you use Scan for Iotum, it’s probably from a device that you’ve either made, found, or been given. Choose two of the inspired techniques described below. You can’t choose the same inspired technique more than once unless its description says otherwise. You can keep track of these in the Special Abilities section of your character sheet.

• Additional Numenera Plans: You gain two additional numenera plans. You can take this ability multiple times. Enabler.
• Deconstruct (3 Intellect points): You take the time to closely study a bit of scrap, machine, cypher, artifact, or other numenera object or structure before attempting to salvage iotum from it. If the salvage source possesses iotum that can be salvaged (as determined by the GM), the salvage task gains an asset. In addition, you gain one additional iotum from the salvage attempt, which means one additional roll on the Iotum Result Table. Action to initiate, ten minutes to complete.
• Extra Use (3 Intellect points): You attempt to gain an extra use from an installation or artifact without triggering a depletion roll. The difficulty of the task is equal to the level of the installation or artifact. If you crafted the installation or artifact, you gain an asset to the task. On a failure, the depletion roll occurs normally. You could also try to use a cypher without burning it out, but the task is hindered. A failed attempt to gain an additional use from a cypher destroys it before it can produce the desired effect. Action.
• Natural Crafter: All commonplace objects or structures you craft are effectively 1 level higher than an average example of that object or structure. For instance, if you craft a defensive wall that would normally be level 4, its effective level is 5. Enabler.
• Right Tool for the Job (1 Intellect point + iotum): If you have at least 1 unit of iotum, you can fashion a temporary device that provides an asset to one physical, noncombat task, identified ahead of time. For example, if you need to climb a wall, you could create some sort of climbing assistance device; if you need to break out of a cell, you can tune iotum in your possession to serve as a lockpick; if you need to create a small distraction, you could trigger an iotum to make a loud bang and flash; and so on. Once fashioned, the adapted iotum lasts for about a minute or until used for the intended purpose. This use destroys the iotum. Action to prepare the iotum; action to initiate.
• Scan for Iotum (2 Intellect points): Using a device or some kind of unique sense, you scan an area equal in size to a 10-foot (3 m) cube, including all objects or structures. The area must be within immediate range. The difficulty of the task is equal to the level of the object or structure being scanned. Scanning in this fashion grants an asset to initial salvage tasks in the area to determine if anything is worth salvaging. This ability doesn’t improve your ability to find a specific kind of iotum, only to discover whether there is iotum within the salvage source in the first place. That said, many materials and energy fields prevent or resist scanning. Action.
• Scramble Machine (2 Intellect points): You render one machine within short range unable to function for one round. Alternatively, you can hinder any action by the machine (or by someone attempting to use the machine) for one minute. Action.
• Trained in Armor: You can wear armor for long periods of time without tiring and can compensate for slowed reactions from wearing armor. You can wear any kind of armor. You reduce the Speed Effort cost for wearing armor by 1. If you choose this as one of your starting inspired techniques, you start the game with armor of your choice. Enabler.
• Trigger Iotum Ray (1 Intellect point or iotum): If you have at least 1 unit of iotum, you can trigger it to release a shortrange ray of force that inflicts 3 points of damage. This does not destroy the iotum. Alternatively, you can choose to have this destroy the iotum, in which case there is no Intellect cost. Action.

SECOND-TIER WRIGHTS

Second-tier Wrights have the following abilities:
Numenera Plans: You gain two additional numenera plans of your choice. Enabler.
Inspired Techniques: Choose one of the following inspired techniques (or an inspired technique from the first tier) to add to your repertoire. In addition, you can replace one of your first-tier inspired techniques with a different inspired technique from the first tier.

• Additional Training: You are trained in two additional crafting skills of your choice. Enabler.
• Boost Cypher (2 Intellect points): The cypher you activate with your next action functions as if it were 2 levels higher. Action.
• Disable Machine (3+ Intellect points): With a few deft touches, you infuse a powered device of level 3 or lower with conflicting instructions. If affected, the device is destroyed or disabled for at least one minute, depending on its size and complexity. The GM may rule that the disabling effect lasts until the device is repaired. In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can also choose to use Effort to increase the maximum level of the target by 1 for each level applied. Thus, to overload a level 5 device (two levels above the normal limit), you must apply two levels of Effort. Action.
• Impressive Device (3 Intellect points or iotum): If you have at least 1 unit of iotum, you can fashion a temporary device that causes some kind of impressive visual or audio display, such as colored lights that form a tracery over your entire body and change according to your mood and desire. The effect lasts for one minute. During this period, all your interaction tasks gain an asset. Once fashioned, the adapted iotum lasts for about a minute or until used for the intended purpose. This does not destroy the iotum. Alternatively, you can choose to have this destroy the iotum, in which case there is no Intellect cost. Action to prepare the iotum; action to initiate.
• Interaction Skills: You are trained in two skills in which you are not already trained. Choose two of the following: deceiving, persuading, public speaking, seeing through deception, or intimidating. You can select this ability multiple times. Each time you select it, you must choose two different skills. Enabler.
• Knowledge Skills: You are trained in two skills in which you are not already trained. Choose two areas of knowledge such as history, geography, archeology, and so on. You can select this ability multiple times. Each time you select it, you must choose two different skills. Enabler.
• Make Do With Available Iotum (3+ Intellect points): Given an hour or so, you can figure out a way to substitute one kind of iotum called for in a plan with another kind of iotum, as long as the iotum you use is at least 1 level higher than the iotum originally called for. Alternatively, you can make do with 1 unit less than the number of units called for by the plan (to a minimum of 1 unit). For each additional level of Effort you apply, you can reduce the number by an additional unit, to a minimum of 1 unit. You can never substitute more than one kind of iotum per individual crafting task, though you could simultaneously substitute an iotum and decrease the number of units required by applying additional Effort. Action to initiate, one hour to complete.

THIRD-TIER WRIGHT

Third-tier Wrights have the following abilities:
Improved Community Builder: A community continues to gain +3 to infrastructure due to your influence. However, you do not need to be constantly present in and actively working on behalf of the community for it to gain this benefit; it gains it merely because of your past crafting work in the community. Enabler.
Expert Cypher Use: You can bear four cyphers at a time.
Numenera Plans: You gain two additional numenera plans of your choice. Enabler.
Inspired Techniques: Choose one of the following inspired techniques (or an inspired technique from a lower tier) to add to your repertoire. In addition, you can replace one of your lower-tier inspired techniques with a different inspired technique from the same lower tier.

• Adept Builder: When you attempt a crafting task, you lower the assessed difficulty for creating a complex object or structure by one step. For example, if the assessed difficulty for creating a level 3 installation would normally be 6, for you the assessed difficulty is 5 (this also reduces the crafting time). If you’re trained or specialized in a relevant crafting skill (which you likely are), that could reduce the assessed crafting difficulty to 4 or 3, also reducing the time to build even more. Enabler.
• Community Awareness (4 Intellect points): While you are within a community that currently benefits from your Community Builder or Improved Community Builder ability, you can ask the GM a very simple, general question about that general area, such as “Are there enemies trying to sneak over the wall?” or “Is someone watching the flower shop?” or “Is there a Nano sensor active by my home?” If the answer you seek is not in the area, you receive no information. Action.
• Device Insight (3+ Intellect points): When examining any numenera device, you can ask the GM one question about the device to gain an idea of its capabilities or functions, how it can be activated or deactivated, what its weakness is, how it can be repaired, or any other similar query. This ability is for difficult or strange things beyond those readily identified by understanding numenera. The GM may require a roll whose difficulty is equal to the device’s level; however, you gain two assets to any such task, and training in the understanding numenera skill also applies. Each time you use this ability on the same device after the first use, you must apply one additional level of Effort. Action.
• Follower: You gain a level 2 follower. One of their modifications must be for crafting, such as crafting numenera. You can take this ability multiple times, each time gaining another level 2 follower. Enabler.
• Modify Cyphers: You can take any two cyphers and quickly jury-rig a new cypher of the same level as the lowest-level cypher. You determine the function of the new cypher, but it must be that of a cypher you have used before (but not necessarily one for which you have plans). The new cypher is a temperamental cypher, like those created with your Always Tinkering ability. The original two cyphers are consumed in this process. This ability does not function if one or more of the original cyphers are temperamental. Action.
• Quick Armoring (4 Intellect points + io): You can siphon the residual energy in io (the eponymous iotum) to integrate and reinforce a layer of tightly wrapped clothing or encompassing cloaks that you wear. This requires at least one io, although it is not consumed in the process. For the next hour, you gain +2 to Armor. Action to initiate, one minute to complete.
• Skill with Attacks: Choose one type of attack in which you are not already trained: light bashing, light bladed, light ranged, medium bashing, medium bladed, medium ranged, heavy bashing, heavy bladed, or heavy ranged. You are trained in attacks using that type of weapon. You can select this ability multiple times. Each time you select it, you must choose a different type of attack. Enabler.

FOURTH-TIER WRIGHT

Fourth-tier Wrights have the following abilities:
Numenera Plans: You gain two additional numenera plans of your choice. Enabler.
Inspired Techniques: Choose one of the following inspired techniques (or an inspired technique from a lower tier) to add to your repertoire. In addition, you can replace one of your lower-tier inspired techniques with a different inspired technique from the same lower tier.

• Boost Artifact (2 Intellect points): An artifact you activate with your next action functions as if it were two levels higher. Action.
• Confounding Jargon (4 Intellect points): You begin to discuss the intricacies of crafting numenera, which goes completely over the heads of most creatures but is sufficient to distract a target within immediate range until your next turn. You and each of your allies gain an asset on one interaction, attack, or defense task associated with the target before your next turn. This ability doesn’t work on creatures you can’t talk with. Action.
• Energy Redirection (5+ Intellect points): You take the time to closely study a bit of scrap, machine, cypher, artifact, or other numenera object or structure. When you’ve finished, you can drain the energy from it and redirect it elsewhere. Iotum are burned out. Cyphers are rendered useless. Artifacts, installations, vehicles, and automatons must make a depletion roll. You can redirect the energy from the target object to restore 1 Might point per level of the target object. Alternatively, you can redirect the energy into a depleted cypher, artifact, installation, vehicle, or automaton that has a level equal to or less than the drained object. If the device isn’t broken, it gains one additional use and then becomes depleted and broken. Each additional level of Effort you apply increases the maximum level of the object you can recharge. Action to initiate, ten minutes to complete.
• Expert Crafter: Instead of rolling, you can choose to automatically succeed on a crafting task you’re trained in. The task must be difficulty 4 or lower. If you are able to reduce the assessed difficulty of a crafting task to 4 or lower, this ability also applies to each subtask, assuming something doesn’t interrupt you during the ensuing time to build. Enabler.
• Knowing the Weak Points: You gain +3 damage when attempting to damage a device, automaton, or other machine. Enabler.
• Machine Bond: From very long range, you can activate and control a device (including an installation, automaton, or vehicle) that you have bonded with. For example, you can detonate a cypher even when it is held by someone else, or cause an installation turret to fire where you direct. Bonding is a process that requires 28 hours of meditation in the presence of the machine. Action.

FIFTH-TIER WRIGHT

Fifth-tier Wrights have the following abilities:
Numenera Plans: You gain two additional numenera plans of your choice. Enabler.
Master Cypher Use: You can bear five cyphers at a time.
Inspired Techniques: Choose one of the following inspired techniques (or an inspired technique from a lower tier) to add to your repertoire. In addition, you can replace one of your lower-tier inspired techniques with a different inspired technique from the same lower tier.

• Boost Cypher Function (4 Intellect points): Add 3 to the functioning level of a cypher that you activate with your next action, or change one aspect of its parameters (range, duration, area, etc.) by up to double or down to one tenth. Action.
• Faster Builder: When you attempt a crafting task, you lower the assessed difficulty for creating a complex object or structure by two steps. (This replaces Adept Builder, if you took that; you can exchange that ability for another tier 3 inspired technique.) Enabler.
• Improved Follower: You gain a level 3 follower. They are not restricted on their modifications. You can take this ability multiple times, each time gaining another level 3 follower. Alternatively, you could choose to advance a level 2 follower you already have to level 3 and then gain a new level 2 follower. Enabler.
• Modify Artifact Function (5 Intellect points): You can take an artifact and any two cyphers and quickly jury-rig a new artifact of the level of the lowest-level cypher. You determine the function of the new artifact, but it must be that of an artifact or cypher you have used before (but not necessarily one for which you have plans). The GM sets the depletion of the new artifact, if applicable (it will usually be a bit worse than the original artifact). The two cyphers and the original artifact are consumed in this process. The original cyphers cannot be temperamental cyphers. Action.
• Modify Artifact Power (6 Intellect points): You permanently add +1 to the level of an artifact of up to level 5. The difficulty of this task is equal to the modified higher level of the artifact. If the task is failed, the artifact makes a depletion roll and is not advanced in level. Once modified, the artifact can’t be similarly boosted again. Action.
• Quick Mind Boost: You can siphon the residual energy in a single iotum to enhance your Intellect Edge by +1 for one minute. The iotum is destroyed. This ability does not allow you to enhance your Edge by more than +1. Action.
• Town Pride: While you’re in a community that currently benefits from your Community Builder or Improved Community Builder special ability, your Might Edge, Speed Edge, and Intellect Edge all increase by 1. When you make a recovery roll in this community, you recover twice as many points. You can gain the benefit of this inspired technique even if you’re not in the community, as long as you have visited within the last three days. Enabler.

SIXTH-TIER WRIGHT

Sixth-tier Wrights have the following abilities:
Numenera Plans: You gain two additional numenera plans of your choice. Enabler.
Recruit Deputy: You gain a level 4 follower. They are not restricted on their modifications. Enabler.
Inspired Techniques: Choose one of the following inspired techniques (or an inspired technique from a lower tier) to add to your repertoire. In addition, you can replace one of your lower-tier inspired techniques with a different inspired technique from the same lower tier.

• Juggernaut (9 Intellect points): You call upon your connection to one installation you’ve built or repaired to become a singleuse weapon of immense destruction, though this also destroys the installation. While you are within a community that currently benefits from your Community Builder or Improved Community Builder ability, you can select an installation of level 5 or higher within very long range. The installation launches itself like a massive missile at a target you specify within very long range of the installation and then detonates, inflicting 20 points of damage on all targets within short range. This destroys the installation. Targets who successfully defend still suffer 8 points of damage. Action.
• Master Machine (8 Intellect points): You can control the functions of a machine you have bonded with, including installations, intelligent or otherwise. In addition, if you use an action to concentrate on a machine, you are aware of what is going on around it (you see and hear as if you were standing next to it, no matter how far away you are). You must touch the machine to create the bond, but afterward, there is no range limitation. This bond lasts for one week. You can bond with only one machine at a time. Action to initiate.
• Rapid Builder: When you attempt a crafting task, you lower the assessed difficulty for creating a complex object or structure by three steps. (This replaces Adept Builder and Faster Builder, if you took either of those; you can exchange those abilities for another tier 3 and tier 5 inspired technique.) Enabler.
• Summon Sferic (8+ Intellect points): A sferic appears within a few days after you construct a simple beacon designed as a lure. If you apply an additional level of Effort as part of the call, the sferic is amenable to your instructions toward building an object or structure; otherwise, it acts according to its nature (which means it might still build something for you, but you risk having your mind plucked from your head when you make your request). The sferic remains until it finishes creating the structure you asked of it or it is attacked (in which case it defends itself and then leaves). Action to initiate, three days to construct beacon and summon sferic.
• Usurp Cypher: Choose one cypher that you carry. The cypher must have an effect that is not instantaneous. You destroy the cypher and gain its power, which functions for you continuously. You can choose a cypher when you gain this ability, or you can wait and make the choice later. However, once you usurp a cypher’s power, you cannot later switch to a different cypher—the ability works only once. Action to initiate.

WRIGHT BACKGROUND

Not everyone that crafts numenera items is a Wright—Wrights are simply those who’ve trained (or otherwise gained) unique abilities related to building wondrous things. Something in your background has put you in this position and is at least partially responsible for your talents. Choose one of the three options described below as the source of your skills, knowledge, and intuitions for craft, or create your own. It will provide the foundation of your background and give you an idea of how you can improve. The GM can use this information to develop adventures and quests that are specific to your character and play a role in your advancement.

WRIGHT CONNECTION

Roll a d20 or choose from the list below to determine a specific fact about your background that provides a connection to the rest of the world. You can also create your own fact.

WRIGHT PLAYER INTRUSIONS

As a Wright, you can spend 1 XP to use one of the following player intrusions, provided the situation is appropriate and the GM agrees.
Device Perfection: A device or installation works even better than you expected it would, at least in this instance. Maybe the range is twice as long, the duration is 100% longer, or the effect itself is 50% stronger.
Crafting Insight: You are inspired, and you finish crafting the object or structure earlier than was expected (maybe even halving the total time).
Tinkering Vision: When using your Always Tinkering special ability, you discover that the materials you’re using are of unexpectedly high quality, giving you specific options to choose from. So instead of gaining a random cypher, you gain the cypher of your choice (though it’s still a temperamental cypher, so it’s 2 levels lower than normal and you can’t give it to someone else without destroying it).

WRIGHT EXAMPLE

Andrew wants to create a Wright character who can build fantastic artifacts. He puts 5 of his additional points into his Intellect Pool and 1 into his Might Pool; his stat Pools are now Might 10, Speed 7, Intellect 17. As a first-tier character, his Effort is 1, his Intellect Edge is 1, and his Might and Speed Edge are 0—a character built for puzzling out hard-to-craft numenera. He chooses to use a dagger (a light weapon, so its attacks are eased and it inflicts 2 points of damage), figuring that he’ll make something more impressive as his crafting knowledge improves. Andrew decides that the first two numenera plans he learns are for a stim dispenser that eases knowledge and creative tasks, and a basic turret that, though fixed in place, can fire on foes within long range. Andrew is trained in crafting numenera. He chooses woodcrafting for his additional crafting skill. For his first inspired technique, he chooses to learn two more plans for installations. For his second inspired technique, he chooses Deconstruct so he has a better chance of gaining the iotum he needs to craft exotic structures. As a Community Builder, he can add +3 to a community’s infrastructure while directly and personally seeing to the community’s needs. The GM decides that Andrew’s three cyphers are a pill that renders the imbiber invisible for an hour, an injector that restores 4 Might, and a tool that eases one crafting task when used. Andrew still needs to pick a descriptor and a focus. He chooses the Tough descriptor, which doesn’t affect his Pools but grants +1 to Armor and provides +1 to his recovery rolls. The descriptor also grants him training in Might defense and an extra light weapon. He’s a somewhat sturdy fellow, able to endure late nights in the workshop (to say the least). For his focus, Andrew chooses Talks to Machines. Now in addition to everything else, he might be able to convince the GM that for some crafting tasks involving electrical machines, an asset should be applied. He can also activate or deactivate machines within short range.