Absolutely inspired by @scampir posting stuff they're reading from various GM sections of books, I popped open Numenera Discovery (the core book) again. The GM section is a solid 51 pages. Posting some things I like below.
Rather than dealing with a lot of die rolls, modifiers, and rules minutiae, you
can focus mainly on the flow of the story. This is not to say that you are the sole storyteller. The group is the storyteller. But it’s the GM’s job to pull together the actions, reactions, and desires of all the people sitting around the table, mesh them with the setting and background created before the session began, and turn it all into a cohesive story—on the fly. Sometimes this means using a heavy hand. Sometimes it means stepping back. Sometimes it means being open-minded. It always means giving the other players as much of the spotlight as you have as the GM, and attempting to give it to each of them in turn so that no one person dominates the narrative or the gameplay—not even you.I will say this now, up front, and I will say it often: the rules are your tools to tell a story, to
portray a character, and to simulate the sciencefantasy world. The rules are not the final word—you are. You are not subservient to the rules. But you do have a master. That master is fun gameplay mixed with exciting story.
OK, so yes "you're not beholden to the rules" is in basically every GM guide or section of a book, but the way it's phrased feels way stronger to me.
Because mystery is so important to weird, the Ninth World is never about strict definitions
or concrete quantifications. “Describe, don’t define” might be the number one rule. It not
only leaves room for further development later, but it also keeps things mysterious and weird, and that’s the most important characteristic of the setting.Actually, perhaps the rule should be, “Describe rather than define, and if you must
define, never quantify.” In other words, when talking about abhumans, I might describe
them as “misshapen, brutish humanoids that live outside human society.” However,
you might have to distinguish (define) them from mutants at some point during a game,
because in the Ninth World “mutant” means something different (some abhumans might
be mutants, but not all mutants are abhumans . . . but I digress).I would never say, “There are six types of abhumans, and they are . . . ” That kind of
quantification is the death of mystery.
This is SUCH a helpful piece of advice for people who can get bogged down in the details. Leave, not just the players, but yourself blank spaces. Never close off doors.
If a PC finds an injector device that heals wounds, the next time they find a similar
device, it’s a pill. The next time, it’s an elixir they must drink. And so on. Changes keep
things unknowable and keep the players from feeling safe.Of course, you can also turn the tables on them later. Have the characters visit a region
where healing always comes in identical pills, and the pills are somewhat common. Where
are they all coming from?
Delightful. Love it. This is proooobably one of the few bits of overhead you might have as a GM (if you track what kinds of Cyphers you've given the players before), but still. Then if you really want to lean into the weirdness, because boy does Numenera love it's biotech, another form factor the healing item can take is like... a leech that burrows into their bloodstream to travel through the body and patch things up.
