Thanee
First Post
Since we recently started a small Amber (the diceless roleplaying game based on the novels by Roger Zelazny) campaign, I was thinking about how it would work to run such a campaign via an internet forum.
I might (earliest here is november, really) want to start such a campaign in the future, and I have some ideas how to make it work. This thread is about discussing these ideas, so let me know what you think. It's mostly about character creation guidelines, really.
If possible, the game would be played in a seperate forum with private messaging and sub forums, where each player will have one forum where only he or she and the GM can look into. Some secrecy is required for a game like Amber, even if it is mostly cooperative (which it would be). It's good to have some secrets.
Requirements - Players must have read the first five books (the second five are not necessary) to have a good grasp about the Amber universe. Also players should have access to the original rulebook (the second one, Shadow Knight, isn't important). Furthermore, players would have to be able to post regularily (about twice a week being the absolute minimum on average).
Base - 100 points + additional 10 points for a player diary. If the diary is not kept updated in a reasonable time, the points will slowly be compensated with bad stuff or taken from the unspent advancement points. There is no other way to improve the point base, except for bad stuff (see below). During character creation, no advanced powers are available. Only the versions as written in the section, where they are introduced.
Attribute Auction - There will be no attribute auction. Players simply decide upon their attributes freely (and secretly) and ranks are then derived from that order, but will not be known to the players. Over time, it might be possible to find out how one character stands compared to another, of course, tho exact rankings will still be unknown. This way, everyone can build the character they want and noone is forced into the madness of trying to be the best.
Good Stuff / Bad Stuff - These are not just the unspent advancement points (or points spent beyond your total) as normal, but are actual attributes with more or less fixed values, ranging from +10 (good stuff) to -10 (bad stuff). Advancement points will be tallied as a seperate value, that has no influence on the character (so these unspent points are not good stuff as usual). It's kinda like the alignment in D&D, or the force in Star Wars, where good means good and bad means evil (roughly). Since bad stuff characters actually tend to have it easier often, with less moral restraints attached to them, they will suffer from some bad luck (as normal for bad stuff characters), while the character with higher moral standards are blessed with good luck. Also, since bad stuff gives points and good stuff costs points, it is very similar to the force, since the dark side is faster (free points), but the light side is effectively more powerful. "Stuff" is set initially during character creation, setting the mood for the character as intended, but after that is changed according to the actions of the character. These changes will also change the point base of the character (see below). Players cannot ask to improve these values with advancement points, they are purely set by their actions.
Advancement - After character creation, players will never again know the exact point values in their abilities. Advancement is done with a priority list (as in the book) where everyone says what to improve. The biggest difference is, that it is impossible to take a debt in bad stuff as you can normally. This list is to be kept updated and once the sum of advancement points reach the cost for the first item on the list (only the GM will know that), the change is done and the player is informed of the change. Afterwards, the item is removed from the list. Attributes are still bound to be increased only according to the ranks set after character creation, while the first rank will go somewhere into the territory of the elder Amberites. Not that it really matters, since the player will not even know, that he or she has the first rank, tho maybe they will find out about their ranking over time (when comparisons against others, either direct or indirect, are done). Powers could possibly be improved (beyond the basic version) step by step, which makes for a more natural improvement, where the characters can actually use some of the advanced powers before they receive the full package. It's of course possible to gain abilities beyond those presented in the book, the section about the elder Amberites (and some other sections of the book as well) has some ideas about what is possible. Good and bad stuff are special (see above). When they change, it will always be applied immediately or as soon as possible, thus gaining good stuff will deduct from the unspent advancement points before the first priority item is considered, while gaining bad stuff will add to them.
Items and Transferal - Transferal of qualites and powers will be highly limited. While it is no problem to transfer some of the item abilities (like an Amber strength value), some are really quite broken, like the ability to regenerate lost body parts within a very short time, which even a shapeshifter or Corwin cannot do with the highest Endurance in existance, or a transfered Psychic Barrier, which makes Psyche attacks completely impossible. These (permanent) abilities are fine for creatures or items, but not for characters. Also it will be impossible to get higher than half a rank above Amber rank in an attribute via an item, and a transfered attribute furthermore will always be a half rank behind the actual value, that is, if an item has Amber strength, it will only be somewhere between Amber and Chaos strength, if transfered to the wearer. So basically, you can cover your weaknesses, but not gain tremendous strength via transferal. It just doesn't feel right and too easily breaks the character point system. Again, for creatures and items themselves, everything is fine, of course.
Personal Shadows and the flow of time - Personal shadows with an extremely beneficial flow of time will be more expensive. The time factor will be figured into the cost somehow.
Any comments?
Bye
Thanee
I might (earliest here is november, really) want to start such a campaign in the future, and I have some ideas how to make it work. This thread is about discussing these ideas, so let me know what you think. It's mostly about character creation guidelines, really.
If possible, the game would be played in a seperate forum with private messaging and sub forums, where each player will have one forum where only he or she and the GM can look into. Some secrecy is required for a game like Amber, even if it is mostly cooperative (which it would be). It's good to have some secrets.
Requirements - Players must have read the first five books (the second five are not necessary) to have a good grasp about the Amber universe. Also players should have access to the original rulebook (the second one, Shadow Knight, isn't important). Furthermore, players would have to be able to post regularily (about twice a week being the absolute minimum on average).
Base - 100 points + additional 10 points for a player diary. If the diary is not kept updated in a reasonable time, the points will slowly be compensated with bad stuff or taken from the unspent advancement points. There is no other way to improve the point base, except for bad stuff (see below). During character creation, no advanced powers are available. Only the versions as written in the section, where they are introduced.
Attribute Auction - There will be no attribute auction. Players simply decide upon their attributes freely (and secretly) and ranks are then derived from that order, but will not be known to the players. Over time, it might be possible to find out how one character stands compared to another, of course, tho exact rankings will still be unknown. This way, everyone can build the character they want and noone is forced into the madness of trying to be the best.
Good Stuff / Bad Stuff - These are not just the unspent advancement points (or points spent beyond your total) as normal, but are actual attributes with more or less fixed values, ranging from +10 (good stuff) to -10 (bad stuff). Advancement points will be tallied as a seperate value, that has no influence on the character (so these unspent points are not good stuff as usual). It's kinda like the alignment in D&D, or the force in Star Wars, where good means good and bad means evil (roughly). Since bad stuff characters actually tend to have it easier often, with less moral restraints attached to them, they will suffer from some bad luck (as normal for bad stuff characters), while the character with higher moral standards are blessed with good luck. Also, since bad stuff gives points and good stuff costs points, it is very similar to the force, since the dark side is faster (free points), but the light side is effectively more powerful. "Stuff" is set initially during character creation, setting the mood for the character as intended, but after that is changed according to the actions of the character. These changes will also change the point base of the character (see below). Players cannot ask to improve these values with advancement points, they are purely set by their actions.
Advancement - After character creation, players will never again know the exact point values in their abilities. Advancement is done with a priority list (as in the book) where everyone says what to improve. The biggest difference is, that it is impossible to take a debt in bad stuff as you can normally. This list is to be kept updated and once the sum of advancement points reach the cost for the first item on the list (only the GM will know that), the change is done and the player is informed of the change. Afterwards, the item is removed from the list. Attributes are still bound to be increased only according to the ranks set after character creation, while the first rank will go somewhere into the territory of the elder Amberites. Not that it really matters, since the player will not even know, that he or she has the first rank, tho maybe they will find out about their ranking over time (when comparisons against others, either direct or indirect, are done). Powers could possibly be improved (beyond the basic version) step by step, which makes for a more natural improvement, where the characters can actually use some of the advanced powers before they receive the full package. It's of course possible to gain abilities beyond those presented in the book, the section about the elder Amberites (and some other sections of the book as well) has some ideas about what is possible. Good and bad stuff are special (see above). When they change, it will always be applied immediately or as soon as possible, thus gaining good stuff will deduct from the unspent advancement points before the first priority item is considered, while gaining bad stuff will add to them.
Items and Transferal - Transferal of qualites and powers will be highly limited. While it is no problem to transfer some of the item abilities (like an Amber strength value), some are really quite broken, like the ability to regenerate lost body parts within a very short time, which even a shapeshifter or Corwin cannot do with the highest Endurance in existance, or a transfered Psychic Barrier, which makes Psyche attacks completely impossible. These (permanent) abilities are fine for creatures or items, but not for characters. Also it will be impossible to get higher than half a rank above Amber rank in an attribute via an item, and a transfered attribute furthermore will always be a half rank behind the actual value, that is, if an item has Amber strength, it will only be somewhere between Amber and Chaos strength, if transfered to the wearer. So basically, you can cover your weaknesses, but not gain tremendous strength via transferal. It just doesn't feel right and too easily breaks the character point system. Again, for creatures and items themselves, everything is fine, of course.
Personal Shadows and the flow of time - Personal shadows with an extremely beneficial flow of time will be more expensive. The time factor will be figured into the cost somehow.
Any comments?
Bye
Thanee
Last edited:
