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"Rough Buskin is a Meddlesome Delve who Explores Dark Places."

Background - Mentor

Timeline


  • -9 months: started with the company
  • 405 after Truth

  • Home

    Rough Buskin's story begins in the world of Numenera, born in the tranquil city of Serene. As a young child, he enjoyed the comforting embrace of his family, basking in the warmth of his parents' love. His father Jorek was a skilled tool and vehicle repairman, while his mother Malina worked diligently at a local grocery store. Their lives were content until circumstances beyond their control forced them to uproot and relocate to a new city, Finlai.

    The move was not a welcomed change for Rough. He felt a deep attachment to Serene, and the disruption left a mark on his spirit. Despite the challenging transition, he adapted, moving back into low-quality accommodation with minimal space and finding work as a delve for a company specialising in organising "rich people experience tours" to explore the ruins of the red woods within the Frontier Forest. His determination to provide for his ageing parents became the driving force behind his dedication to this unconventional occupation.

    Work

    Rough's companions on these ventures became his extended family. He formed bonds with fellow tour guides like Roan, Penster, Frankel, and Bubo, each bringing their own unique quirks to the group. Delvers like Jared, Prom, and Sliver share the perils of exploration alongside him, while Petterson, his superior, observes his efforts with a watchful eye. A chance absence due to visiting his ailing parents placed him on Petterson's radar.

    Mala, the witty and congenial accountant responsible for payouts, provides a respite from the challenges of Rough's work. Beyond the camp, he knows Stout, who manages one of the camps on the outskirts of the Frontier Forest and who understands the financial pressures that weighed heavily on Rough's shoulders. Yet it is Bengal, Rough's mentor, who holds a special place in his heart. Bengal's mysterious disappearance during a delve left Rough with questions and a lingering sense of loss.

    In the shadows of his life as a delve, Rough maintains connections with a different side of his past. Harol, a well-travelled acquaintance, offers him opportunities to deliver his earned money to his parents. And then there is Porky, a fence with an appetite for numenera artefacts, creating a secret source of income for Rough through discreet sales.

    Friends

    Rough's history is intertwined with the lives of Tessa and Jono, his childhood friends from Serene. Tessa, now employed in an "office job", remains a steadfast confidante. Jono, on the other hand, puts his culinary skills to the service of the rich visitors to Serene. Together, they form an unbreakable trio, with loyalty and camaraderie forged in the fires of their shared past.

    Rivals

    However, not all connections are friendly. Kling, a rival from his past, continues to cross Rough's path, engaging in rivalries that spark with old flames but never escalate beyond taunts and teasing.

    Earnings


    Growing things in his cabin for a little bit of side money.

    <div class="row user-row"><div class="col-md-6">
    <b>MENTOR</b>
    You grew up in service to another Delve from whom you learned to train your stamina, patience, and love for the weird. You were taught not to fear things that would make most people weak, sick, or outright dead. Instead, you cherish them as part of a life steeped in discovery. Your mentor taught you to love the wilderness, the unknown, and places of ancient power, in particular — exactly the opposite of how most are raised in the Ninth World. After a time, you and your mentor parted ways—perhaps due to a philosophical disagreement, a scarcity of resources, a rare opportunity requiring travel, or some kind of tragedy. Sometimes you wonder, as you gaze at some new amazing, impossible edifice: what would your mentor think of this?
    <span class="line-spacer d-block"> </span>
    <b>Advancement:</b> To advance, you explore. Without your mentor to guide you, it’s just you and the world. That said, a part of you will never stop yearning to reunite with the one who taught you so much. If you do, maybe they will unlock an entirely new chapter in your advancement. And who knows? Maybe the things you’ve learned since you parted will have a similarly important effect on them.
    </div><div class="col-md-6">
    <b>DELVE PLAYER INTRUSIONS</b>
    When playing a Delve, you can spend 1 XP to use one of the following player intrusions, provided the situation is appropriate and the GM agrees.
    <b>Fortuitous Malfunction:</b> A trap or a dangerous device malfunctions before it can affect you.
    <b>Serendipitous Landmark:</b> Just when it seems like the path is lost, or you are, a trail marker, landmark, or simply the way the terrain or corridor bends, rises, or falls away suggests to you the best path forward, at least from this point.
    <b>Weak Strain:</b> The poison or disease turns out not to be as debilitating or deadly as it first
    seemed, and inflicts only half the damage that it would have otherwise.
    </div></div>
    Tier
    1
    Effort
    1
    EXP
    1
    Might
    11
    Pool
    8
    Edge
    0
    Speed
    10
    Pool
    10
    Edge
    1
    Intellect
    15
    Pool
    12
    Edge
    1
    Skills
    • Balance/T
    • Climb/T
    • Creature Knowledge/T
    • Jumping/T
    • Listen/T
    • Navigation/T
    • Perception & detect falsehood/T
    • Remember details/T
    • Salvaging Numenera/T
    • Searching/T
    • Sense Danger/T
    • Stealth/T
    • Crafting numenera/I
    • Heavy weapons/I
    • Understanding numenera/I
    Attacks
    Medium Weapon: Polearm (4 damage)
    Artifacts
    N/A
    Damage Tracking
    Armour
    1
    Speed Cost
    0
    State
    Hale
    Damage =
    weapon damage + bonus from roll - armour
    Equipment
    3 Coins
    Leather Jacket (1 armor points)
    Your explorer's pack is upgraded
    50 feet (15 m) of rope, rations for three days, three spikes, hammer, warm clothes, sturdy boots, three torches, and two minor glowglobes.
    Cyphers (max: 2)
     CypherLvl
    Mental Scrambler 4
     Usable: Complex metal and glass device
    Effect: Two rounds after being activated, the device creates an invisible field that fills an area within short range and lasts for one minute. The field scrambles the mental processes of all thinking creatures. The effect lasts as long as they remain in the field and for 1d6 rounds after, although an Intellect defense roll is allowed each round to act normally (both in the field and after leaving it). Each mental scrambler is keyed to a specific effect.
    Roll for effect:
    01–30 Victims cannot act.
    31–40 Victims cannot speak.
    41–50 Victims move slowly (immediate range) and clumsily.
    51–60 Victims cannot see or hear.
    61–70 Victims lose all sense of direction, depth, and proportion.
    71–80 Victims do not recognize anyone they know.
    81–88 Victims suffer partial amnesia.
    89–94 Victims suffer total amnesia.
    95–98 Victims lose all inhibitions, revealing secrets and performing surprising actions.
    99–00 Victims’ ethics are inverted.
    Detonation (Pressure) 3
     Wearable: Wristband projector (long range)
    Usable: Explosive device (thrown, short range) or handheld projector (long range)
    Effect: Explodes in an immediate radius, inflicting impact damage equal to the cypher level. Also moves unattended objects out of the area if they weigh less than 20 pounds (9 kg) per cypher level.
    Special Abilities
    AbilityTypeCostPool
    Right Tool for the Job Action1
    (1 Intellect point + iotum): If you have at least 1 unit of iotum, you can fashion a temporary device that provides an asset to a 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.
    Light Weapons Enabler0
    Medium Weapons Enabler0
    Trained in Armor Enabler0
    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.
    Additional Training Enabler0
    You are trained in two additional skills in which you are not already trained.
    Advancement
    • Increase Capabilities
    • Moving Towards Perfection
    • Extra Effort
    • Skill Training
    • Other Advancement
    Recovery: 1d6 + 1 + 0
    Rest Duration Already Taken
    First rest 1 Action
    Second rest 1 Minute
    Third rest 1 Hour
    Fourth rest 10 Hours
    Notes
    20 shins
    13 parts
    2 iotum

    Use all your options to reduce the difficulty, if it is still above zero, roll against its target number.
    Difficulty012345678910
    TN - 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
    result 0 = failure, 1 = success


    Created by

    Tillerz.

    System

    Numenera

    Statblock Type

    Numenera Character Sheet

    Link/Embed