Science Fantasy Comes to 'Dungeons & Dragons' With New Numenera Supplement

Monte Cook Games is planning to adapt its popular Numenera fantasy setting for Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons play with a new publication that will be crowdfunded later this year.

One of the most popular Dungeons & Dragons adventures of all time is "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks," an adventure that started off as a standard quest to stop some strange monsters spawning from a cave but turned into an exploration of an alien spacecraft. Since then, plenty of fantasy RPGS have played with the idea of "science fantasy," a genre where standard fantasy adventurers discover technology from ruined spaceships or powerful ancient civilizations.

In 2013, Monte Cook crowdfunded Numenera, an RPG world set on an Earth set 1 billion years in the future. Although civilization has mostly crumbled to that of a medieval equivalent, there are bits of fantastic technology remaining from lost civilizations, which is treated similarly to magic. Some adventurers can even tap into tiny robotic nanites found everywhere in nature, granting them strange powers that make them seem like powerful wizards.

Now, Monte Cook Games is converting the concepts of Numenera for Dungeons & Dragons with its upcoming Arcana of the Ancients book. The new book will be filled with science-fantasy themed creatures, devices, character, abilities, and technologies all compatible with Fifth Edition play.

The core concept of Arcana of the Ancients is that there were ancient civilizations that pre-date even the elves and dragons, and that those civilizations left behind technology and artifacts that can be utilized in the present day. However, that technology also leads to the rise of strange new monsters that will need to be stopped before they can wipe out all of civilization.

Not only can Arcana of the Ancients be used to convert the world of Numenera for Fifth Edition play, it can also be integrated into an existing campaign or even build a whole new world.

Monte Cook Games plans to launch a Kickstarter campaign for Arcanan of the Ancients in March, with the book's planned release date in early 2020.