"I'm going to raise up a perfect world, one with more direct access to and from Shadow. I am going to merge Amber with the Courts of Chaos. I am going to extend this realm directly through all of Shadow..."The military had won in battle, but seemed about to lose the war. The storm front that some said heralded the destruction of Amber and all of Shadow was about to overtake everyone. Oberon seemed to have failed in his attempt to repair the damaged Pattern. Brand, whose aid to the armies of Chaos had been thwarted by Fiona, claimed that he could save everything. He could raise up Amber anew, create the Pattern anew. All would be right again. Pressed between the Abyss and the Mother-of-All-Shadowstorms, enough of the Amberites were willing to take Brand up on his offer. He created a new Pattern and, wedding himself to Princess Dara of Chaos, made himself King of the Courts of Amber and Chaos. One thousand years have passed and the anniversary of Brand's Triumph is approaching. It is a time to celebrate. Brand's kingdom has been peaceful and prosperous, and he is generally loved and respected by his subjects.
Before going into exact setting specifics on the setting, here is one important thing that you need to know about this setting: This game is only canonical in regards to the first five books. Little to none of the data in the Merlin books is relevant. Most importantly there is no Logrus. There is no House Sawall. There is no Mandor, Jurt, Despil, Rinaldo or Jasra. Also, in case it isn't obvious: The shadow Earth that Florimel used to visit no longer truly exists. While you could likely find a close facsimile to it, the GM highly discourages it. Oh, and the name "Barimen" is not really used. While originally the name of Dworkin's old House in Chaos, the Chaos branch of the line is extinct and the lands have been absorbed into other Houses. The royal family is simply "House Amber". In general, your GM is a canon geek, and has a list of assumptions people make that drive him nuts.
The Courts of Amber and ChaosNew Amber CityNew Amber, much like its namesake, lies on the side of a mountain called Kolvir. Above it spins the half-rainbow, half-swirling darkness sky of Chaos. New Amber is all cities in a very literal sense. Not only is it ringed by hundreds of archways to allow free trade to certain privileged Shadows, but on the outskirts of the city the roads twist and wind through all of Shadow, allowing anyone who knows the way to reach New Amber, and vice versa. The Castle Named only "The Castle" to avoid clunky attempts to differentiate it from it's predecessor, the home of the Royal Family is a vast and sprawling series of buildings covering much of the upper slope of Kolvir. In addition to providing a home to the Pattern, it also has a number of small archways that allow members of the Royal Family to travel anywhere they wish in Shadow. This is very similar to walking the Pattern to the center, except it lacks the hours of walking and the Zelazny-esque stream of consciousness. The Family The Royal Court Brand is no longer the young, spry artist he once was. He is grizzled, bearded and wears a patch over one eye. He claims it was the "price of wisdom". He is also King of Amber and Chaos. Dara is now the Queen of Amber and Chaos, she has grown into a stately matron of the Realm. Bleys is the Warlord of Amber and a member of the Privy Council, commander of all its armies. He is perhaps the most powerful man outside of their Royal Majesties. Borel, the Queen's uncle, is also the Royal Weaponsmaster and a member of the Privy Council. He is General of the City Guard and responsible for the martial training of the Royal Family. Deirdre, though not close to the King and Queen for reasons apparently stemming from a hostage situation over the Abyss during Patternfall, still resides infrequently in the Castle. Fiona has made peace with her brother, and is now part of his Privy Council. Florimel is, as always, well loved in Amber. She spends her time equally in Shadow as in Amber. Julian is General of the Wild Hunt, the branch of the army dedicated to seeking out enemies of the Realm. Merlin is the arguable heir to the Throne of Amber. Primarily it is an argument between the King and Queen. He has a strong claim to the throne, but Brand would prefer someone of his own line on the throne. A millennium has not found any resolution to this matter. The Absent Benedict had little interest in the politics of Old Amber. His feelings have not changed with the birth of a new one. Since the war has finished, he has retired into Shadow. He is known to occasionally answer Trump calls. Llewella, mourning the loss of Rebma, has also departed into Shadow. She almost never responds to Trump calls. The Enemies The technical term for Random's condition is "bugnuts". When everything panned out after Patternfall, the youngest of Oberon's children did not cope well. His wife, son and best friend were apparently dead, and Brand was going to be King. After a botched attempt to kill Brand, he fled into Shadow and has been a terror out there ever since. Speaking of bogeymen, there is also the Green Knight. Many at the last battle of the Patternfall War spotted him. None know his identity, but he occasionally attacks small patrols and a few of Brand's children have nearly been killed by this emerald specter. Many have dealt the Green Knight mortal blows, but yet he still continues to loom as a threat. The Dead Caine was murdered during the early days of the Patternfall War. While the prime suspect was Corwin, there has been no conclusive evidence of who his murderer may have been. Corwin was sent on some special mission by Oberon, from which he never returned. Dworkin likely had front-row seats to the end of the world. Gérard was in Amber when it fell and has not been heard from since. Martin was also in Amber when it fell. Oberon is presumably a big smear where the Pattern used to be. Wherever that is. The Courts The Courts of Chaos did not go away. They were simply absorbed into Amber. They now represent lesser noble houses.
Character CreationAll characters are:
(a) Built off of 100 points. Players who get their character to me by March 25 receive an additional 50 points. Attributes While the four attributes are still the same, there is one attribute that I'm dealing with differently from textbook: Psyche. I am absolutely deleting any of ADRPG's notions about psychic contact and mental manipulation/domination. Psyche provides characters instead with the following:
Primal Blood [0]: All players get this for free. This is the heritage of Chaos which is strengthened by walking the Pattern. This allows you to simply walk through Shadow. You cannot hellride, seek out Shadows of Desire or the like. You can simply (a) go to a place you know or (b) shift shadows arbitrarily with no real goal. This is not fast and any Pattern Initiate can run you down like a possum on the Interstate. Pattern Initiation [20]: This is a limited version of Pattern from ADRPG. You can hellride, seek out Shadows of Desire, Pattern Defense, and that's it. As a tangent: you can shift shadow in New Amber proper. Even in the Castle. The only place you cannot do so is in the Chamber of the Pattern. This does not mean it is easy. You would not want to lead an army as you do so. But it can be done. Advanced Pattern (requires Pattern Initiation) [+15]: This allows extremely fast travel through shadow, gross manipulation of a shadow (slowing it's time rate, putting it in someone's path, etc.), and occasional wacky Pattern stunts like walking through erased portions of a damaged Pattern. Given a month or so you can even destroy a shadow. You can also detect Patterny emanations.Trump Artistry (Requires Pattern Initiation) [15]: You can create Trumps! You can also sense their use and creation. Advanced Trump Artistry (Requires Trump Artistry) [+15]: Not only can you create Trumps that lead to places other than what is depicted, but you can also create Trumps in your mind and use them to bring things to you or send yourself elsewhere. You can even shadowwalk mentally, creating a series of Trumps that look more and more like something you desire.Trump Trickery [15]: This is the ability to use the cards in crafty matters. You can:
Pattern Sorcery (requires Pattern Initiation) [5]: This functions much like Probability Manipulation in ADRPG. It does not work well, if at all in Amber proper. Unlike Advanced Pattern, which alters the stuff of a Shadow, this nudges things into and out of neighboring shadows. This can be as minor as "I found a quarter here," to "A storm cloud is fast approaching." The bigger the effect, the longer it takes to create it. Ritual Sorcery [5]: You can enchant items of power. On a crude level, you can create armor that is more resistant or a sword that is able to cleave through tough substances. Combined with other powers, you can create large magical gates between Shadows and Trumps that are resistant to spying. Archetypal Shapeshift [5 per alternate form]: Each form is considered to be a physical manifestation of your personality. This can be a pillar of living flame or a big talking cheeseburger. For each alternate form, you may have up to 3 points of Item Qualities (NOT Powers). For clarification, contact the GM. Physical Sculpting [25]: You are able to sculpt your form. You cannot turn your body into living flame, but you can easily adopt a number of humanoid or animal forms. If you have an alternate form courtesy of Archetypal Shapeshift that is made of living flame, then you may also sculpt your body in that form. Forms adopted through sculpting may, with effort and concentration, possess 1 point worth of Item Qualities. Artifacts You receive the following artifacts for free:
Shadows You may buy a personal shadow for 1 point. Allies Per ADRPG. Birth Rank Rather than force players to spend valuable character points to determine birth rank, I have devised a system for how to handle this. Players who send me characters before the con may say that they wish to be either "born earlier", "born later", or "don't care". The first person to claim either "earlier" or "later" will be the first born and the last born. The second in either category will be second, etc. Those who don't care will get the fun middle area, with the eldest of the middle brood based off of who provides me with a character first. Stuff You may have as much as +/-10 points of Stuff. |
