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Amber DRPG
Pkmoutl
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So
How many of us here have Pattern Imprint? How many of us know the joy and pain of Logrus Mastery? Have you ever referred to calling a friend on your cell phone as "Trumping" them?
How many of you have no idea what I'm talking about?
This is my thread on one of my favorite games, the Amber Diceless RPG, by my friend and yours, Erick Wujcik.
ADRPG is based on the Amber saga by pulp Science Fiction writer Roger Zelazny (or Zelazney, depending on where you find the name). The saga consists of ten books, five chronicling what is known as "Corwin's Saga" and five chronicling what is known as "Merlin's Saga." Personally, I reccommend the first seven, then stop. After that, you realize why a man should not write while on cancer medications.
The system is completely diceless. No dice. None. Nil.
So, am I the only freak who has played this wonder of wonders?
How many of us here have Pattern Imprint? How many of us know the joy and pain of Logrus Mastery? Have you ever referred to calling a friend on your cell phone as "Trumping" them?
How many of you have no idea what I'm talking about?
This is my thread on one of my favorite games, the Amber Diceless RPG, by my friend and yours, Erick Wujcik.
ADRPG is based on the Amber saga by pulp Science Fiction writer Roger Zelazny (or Zelazney, depending on where you find the name). The saga consists of ten books, five chronicling what is known as "Corwin's Saga" and five chronicling what is known as "Merlin's Saga." Personally, I reccommend the first seven, then stop. After that, you realize why a man should not write while on cancer medications.
The system is completely diceless. No dice. None. Nil.
So, am I the only freak who has played this wonder of wonders?
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I enjoy doing the one-shot Throne wars. It's fun and exciting and makes everyone paranoid. I haven't played in a long while but it is an interesting system.
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THEY MADE AN RPG OUT OF THE BEST BOOK SERIES EVER WRITTEN!!!!!!!111one.
I MUST PLAY THIS!
Uh yeah, like 14-15 years ago.
Sorry I discoverd this book series only a scant 6 years ago. If I had been alive when the books were published maybe I would have know about this.
Note I've only played Amber once, and it was with the worst player in my group GM'ing, but I always liked the concept.
Basically, when you create your character, you "auction" for your skills. Someone will always be the best in an area, and I think there's a bit of scheming involved.. But the idea is just that you have a set ranking for your skill.
Now... here's the thing. If you are ranked higher than someone else in a skill, you win. Hands down....
But if you are lower than someone else in a skill, you must figure out some way to get the relevant skill changed to a skill you are better than your opponent in. You do this through storytelling and describing actions to the GM. In other words, you try to outwit, out-maneuver, out-anything your opponent.
It always seemed like an intruiging concept, and one of about 2-3 diceless systems I've heard of.
Im so excited, And cant wait to get my hands on a full copy of the rule book and expansion books. Not to mention get to live out ever daydream Ive had about visiting Luke's Alice in Wonderland Bar, Seeking out the magical artifacts of other games and series in alterante universes, and just about anything else my sick lil mind can spin into a story.
After a while of playing, you can begin to form a picture: I was able to beat so-and-so in this skill, so I'm better than him; however, he was beaten by such-and-such, so I may or may not be better than him. This is the way in which the diceless system fosters the scheming, intrigue, and (heh) dicey nature of Amber.
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Sounds so good, I cant wait to play some of my friends we all trust eachother like brothers, that is to say not at all. So it should make for a fun game.
No need to be sorry. I just found your reaction a bit extreme for a game that's been around quite awhile.
I don't know if it's still in print or not. If you can find a copy and like the Amber series, then this game is worthy of shelf space. And of course it's fun to play too.
Well just checked. The books are out of print. So if you wanted them, you'd need to find them at a con, ebay or other such resource.
The game itself is available in PDF format, the only source for those I found was a place called Drive Through Games. They want 12 bucks each for the two books that were published (this is just the PDF files with the rules). I don't know if they are available for free anywhere (but I doubt it).
I'll admit that asking 12 bucks for a PDF file seems like kind of a rip off to me. I don't expect a free lunch, but yeesh we're talking about something that costs pennies to maintain and distribute.
I'm okay with them charging near the same as a print book for something brand new or in-print.. but an out of print book gets dicey. =/
:roll:
Ill probly end up paying it anyway...
It sounds like this PDF isn't all that, but I just wanted to make sure you knew that.
Or more to the point ill probly buy the PDF and be missing something improtant, screw that!
Ill just ebay the orginals for a few hundred dollars.
I did the same thing for my Brikwars Rule books
It didn't interest me a whole lot though.
Supposedly, he's going to eventually release book #3, Rebma at some point. He's had sections of it available at AmberCons in the past, and from what people on AList were saying, the stuff is spectacular.
If it makes any of you feel better, I made myself a bunch of quick reference pages (aka Cheat Sheets) for when I was running the game. And yes, it does bring the best out in every Roleplayer. It's really the first game I've ever seen where people get this much into their characters. I would start running Amber at around 7pm, and there were times when I had to force the PC's to stop because it was after 4 in the morning, and we were out on the back deck shouting at each other.
If you want my honest opinion, half of the stuff in Shadow Knights is pretty useless for the most part. Especially the Demon Creation section. It's too complicated to mess around with, especially since most Amber games I run usually aren't at any semblance of a table. Especially since we do things like fully enacted combat sometimes. We get out the bokkens and the fencing foils and do everything at about 1/3 speed.
I try to run Amber about once every year or so, just because everyone in our group seems to really love it, and it really helps everyone grow as a roleplayer in general.
Ive been doing competition Fencing since I was 5. (one of the reasons I loved the books so much, I was able to visualive the sword fights)
The busting out the fencing gear and going at it in slow mo is a fucking brilliant
I must have more Ideas! :!:
I think it would be kind of boring to play with the polotics of the Throne Wars since I think Roger did a great job on the books, even the last 3 imo. Im thinking maybe 20 years after book number 10. I think the manuvering of trying and keep everything balanced without either "god" (logrus or pattern) gaining an upper hand, while still trying and get the most out of the situation for your chracter.
Personally Im looking forward to being a Son of an Elder Amberite.
The majority of my gaming group were all members of the martial arts school I went to, including my Sensai. It was actually his idea to bring in the weapons. He's also a Fencing Marshall with the SCA, so he provided a majority of the fencing equipment and knowledge (I took one semester of fencing and dislocated my knee in my second bout). It was kind of fun having the neighbors look at us strangely through their back windows as we're staging these epic bouts in slow motion. The cops showed up a few times, and we promised them that no one was getting hurt, drunk or had a live firearm. Ah, the Suburbs!
Yeah I've heard Wujcik has purposely kept Rebma out of puplishers hands, instead he apparently has just been teasing everyone with glimpses of it. I know some huge Amber fans and they like to curse his name with vehemence. If you still talk to him you should ask him what the hell is taking so bloody long.
But man I would love to play this game.
Lol, I cant really relate with the Suburbs part, I live 8miles into the country from the nearest small town. But I plan on moving into town so i suppose that i wil have to deal with this at one point or another.
Rumor had it on AmberList that he was still revising (which he would often support, saying that he would have had it done sooner if he didn't have to work for a living), although he would allow people to catch glimpses of it at AmberCon, and he was known to use material from it in the games he would run at A-Cons. Some privelaged few are said to have photocopies of some of the supposedly finished pages. Or at least that's what they claimed on A-List.
Once I read the books, things made a lot more sense.
If you're already a good roleplayer, it makes for a great game. If you suck balls, it will make that painfully obvious, forcing you to improve. It's also the best system I've ever seen for intrigue. Since you can't rely on mechanics to give you the edge you want for whatever it is you want it for, you plot, plan, scheme, conspire, and generally do sneaky dishonest naughty things.
I have the pdfs (from drive through RPG) since it was already out of print and worth more than I make in a week by the time I heard of it. I can confirm that they're complete, and they're also at a fairly high resolution and sufficiently organized.
I've thought about trying to run it, but I'm not sure that I have the skills, or that my group would get it.
I'm curious--why is it a problem for out-of-print books? If anything, they're the ones I'm happy to pay to have in .pdf; I'd rather have them as a file than have to pay exorbitant sums for a used copy on eBay.
The first time I ran Amber, I actually put the group through Corwin's saga. Not that I put them in Corwin's place, but I had them present during the Patternfall War. I basically sat down with the books and put everything down in a timeline so that I knew what happened when and who did what. It took some work, especially since a lot of the information is out of order. You don't learn about how Corwin actually ended up in the hospital until much, much later. There's also stuff in the sixth or seventh book that goes back to that whole story, too.
I also made sure that certain people were children of key figures in the story, like Caine, Eric and Fiona. Everyone ended up reading the books after the campaign ended, and despite the fact that they were able to change a few things, the game really didn't spoil the overall story. They didn't see every little detail, and they didn't follow the main characters around like puppies, either. I found ways to link minor adventures to major events in the story. Kind of like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. You see the main points of Hamlet here and there, but they're still doing their own thing.
That may be a good way to get your group interested.
Also, remember to start each and every campaign with "Dinner With The Family," as I call it. Characters are introduced not only to each other, but to the entire family, so that no one is left going, "Who's Gerard?" halfway through the game.
Or you can do like I did later on, and I just completely wiped out Zelazny's storyline and rebuilt the whole universe over again. What if Finndo and Osric never actually died but went to Chaos and one of them became King? What if Deirdre became the Mistress of the Pattern instead of Coral? What if Random's sister Mailee hadn't disappeared into Shadow and accidentally married a long-lost Benedict?
Plus, most of the PC's were from Shadow, so they really had no idea what was really going on.
Start each Session with a "Family Dinner"
The Main Goal of my Campaign is to see how players can try and keep the 2 patterns and the Logrus in Balance. It will be difficult to gauge which side has the advatage from a cosmic view but I will work something out.
Most of the PC's are Children of Surviving Main Characters in book 10. I do not allow anyone to be the child of Corwin, Merlin, Martin, or Random. (as far as my story is conserned no-child has yet been concieved by any of the Kings, Direct Hiers, or Fathers of the Kings other than what was already in Roger's Works)
It will be interesting (imo) to see players work on their own social, political, and finacial advancement while trying to comply to the main royal objectives of keeping the Universe in Balance.
All PC's in my campaign are from a Blood line Capable of walking the Pattern in Amber and the Logrus. I plan on allowing Constructs but require the PC's to do Sketches of them and try and make up Voices for the Construct (if it has one). I also require ALOT of Roleplayed work, effort, time.
1) Is there a way to gauge how far a shadow is out of time sync with Amber/ Courts or do I make this up on my own?
2) Should I set a Strict Time Sync differential from the Courts and Amber?
3) How often should I have a Shadowstorm?
4) How do I deal with Powers and Abilities/ Items Gained in Shadow? (ie learning the magic of another shadow, or Chi manipulation, etc)
Other than that my first Major event I have planned on is Sand coming back to the Royal Family to help keep things in balance. Sand will also be bringing a newborn son to amber (his other parent is unkown to the players at this point) Sand's newborn son will be played by me. (Ya, I gotta get in on the fun to with a GM character) He has recently taken the pattern just before the homecoming feast (family dinner number 2 of the campaign) for him and Sand. Sand shortly after the dinner is found dead (havent decided how some kind of foul play) and the Son has fled into shadow. Fingers and Blame are thrown as suspision and intrique go wild, was it the son? was it an old fued renewed?
This probly wont come in tell session number 2, giving me a session to learn the basics of GMing an Amber Campaign and give the players a bit to develop some plans and set them in motion, that way a major event will give them something to deal with.
As far as the logistics of Shadows go, you can pretty much just do as you want. The basic rule of thumb is that the more like Amber and the more ordered it is, the closer it is to Amber. The more bizarre and distorted and fractal a Shadow is, the closer to Chaos. Everything else is up to you, like time sync and all that crap. If it's a player's Personal Shadow, then let them come up with it.
I rarely if ever use Shadowstorms, unless they are a plot point.
Learning abilities in Shadow sometimes doesn't have any effect whatsoever on the character. Chi Manipulation is pretty much crap compared to something like Conjuration or Pattern. That's one of the things you kind of have to keep in mind is that Sorcery and Conjuration are Minor Powers, which means something like Chi Manipulation is a moth fart in comparison. And yes, I'm rather familiar with Chi Manipulation, I've done Tai Chi and several other martial arts over the years. It's nothing compared to being able to create a '57 Chevy out of thin air.
If a character finds an item in Shadow, you have to determine if it is anything more than just a Shadow item. Basically, I have the rule that if they want an Artifact, they have to either use Conjuration or be wiling to spend the points on it in order to be able to find it with Logrus or Pattern. If they want it now and they don't have the points, well, I have no problem giving my players globs and globs of Bad Stuff.
I wouldn't mind running a forum-based Amber game at some point. But not right now
events before:
Sand returns with a Son (Ive named him Arthur)
Sand is Murdered and the Son is missing (keep in mind he also recently took the pattern)
The Royal Dinning Room is unusually quiet. Small whispered conversations drew the attention of the whole gathering, mostly about the decor, the food, or the weather. Random unable to stand the brooding silence ordered in the Musicans, after which the uncomfortable silence was broken, but the unease stayed. (PC's im guessing would take this time to observer others, try and lip read, and engage in some quick political fencing.) After Supper Random calls the family together, the usual topics for the unfortunatly familiar setting of a murdered family member were brought up.
"Perhaps, an old feud or disagreement?"
"Few of us here are old enough to have a feud of such long standing, there must have been something political or personal in the motivation."
"Sand has been gone so long surely nothing could be gained politicaly(sorry if i get this wrong its been along time since I read the part purtaining to Sand I can rember if it was a he or she so Im going with my gut and saying a she) by her death, she had no standing other than a part of the Royal family."
"Then it must have been Personal, either agianst her or agianst us."
"Agenets of Chaos then?"
"My son would have never sent anyone to kill a family member, hes fond of us, and Sand posed no threat to Chaos or Amber" - Corwin
"Perhaps the Son then? It would not be the first time in our history a son and parent tried to kill each other."
"You must remeber that he just took the pattern he could have wander off, eager to test his new power. We all know the wanderlust well enough."
"We wont get anywhere without anymore Information, I want Fiona and Bleys gathering information on our current enemies. (player names) I want you to track down Sands Shadow of origin. Corwin I want you to Investigate any clues that might surface from her Aut-topsy (spelled wrong for sure, sound it out) and Benidect I want this place safe from further assinastion attempts. I want reports from everyone, espically from you (number of players), Is that clear?" - Random
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This is my basic set up looking for some ideas on clues to have left on Sands body (alougth I want some hints that Arthurs father/ mother is of a blood line capable of walking the pattern, basically Im playing into Sand took either a brother or a sisters blood line and inbreed it to get Arthur)
I also need to create a shadow world that Sand ruled over/ or lived in. Suggestions appreciated, looking for inspiration.
My current gut feeling is that an yet unkown player in the blood lines is going to emerge as the other parent, possibly someone stated as dead but maybe is instead hiding in shadow, and had a shadowself killed in thier place.
Id be glad to hear any critisms and other peoples campaign ideas or teasers.
Murder mysteries are always good for Amber.
I remember one of my first Amber games I played in, the GM had Random's wife killed at dinner. Random's wife Vialle, the blind girl from Rebma. So after she's dead, we're all standing in the dining room, looking for clues and what-not.
I turn to Elliot's character and say, "Well, I guess she didn't see it coming, eh?"
The GM gave me 10 points of Bad Stuff for that joke. It was one of many, I have to admit.
Thats hilarious. Ya more shit is gunna go down on my campaign school suddenly got busy I'll try and post the 3rd Dinner planned story.