Forever Amber?

[Vertexx69]

I'm with you fellers. The 2nd option seems to mesh much better with an adventure type of game pace.

 

[kookalouris]

Thanks for all your replies,

My apologies, my friends and I have watched the tivo-ed Presidential debate as an excuse to have a drinking game. I am at least one rum-and-coke past any sense of real compostition and editing. If anything is unclear or casually offensive (when I offend, I am usually quite deliberate about it), let me know and I will clarify and/or apologize tomorrow after the hangover...

First, take what time you need with replies. This game is like a slow-cooked stew, quality ingredients deserve the time to become more than the sum of their parts. In all seriousness, I am constantly amazed how any game is a unique creation of its participants and as individual as irreplacable as anything I could name. Please don't be worried about how much I ramble on. I will write a whole page if one sentence will mean something to you. The problem is I don't know which sentence will be the prize.

At the pace we are going, I think I will be able to have detailed character creation details by next Sunday (one week after the initial welcome post) but let it take the time it will take.

That said, I think I can hazard that your characters will be the last hope of a rebellion stuck on a mundane Earth similar to the one the players and posters reading know and live on.

These questions will asked probably a few days from now, but let me get you thinking.

• Who do you want to be your enemies (you can be unwillingly related to them, that is very 'Amber.')?
• Who do you want to be your friends?
• How much do we want to keep to established Amber continuity and when in that continuity do we want the game to happen?

With your mental fires stoked, let me continue on in the meantime...

The premise of this game requires a powerful magic that makes Amber royalty consider themselves mere mortal youths. For plot purposes...

• The magic is psychological, the character have all of their abilities but have repressed that knowledge. They do have their FULL resistance against death and dying (although they might maintain stay in a purely psychosomatic coma resembling death).
• The magic is not so inflexible as to allow the characters not to use their full Amber blood abilities to save themselves if that ALONE would make the difference between life and death. If possible, the characters and onlookers will then quickly rationalize any supernatural evidence away, using subconscious shadowwalking if necessary.
• The magic delusion will fade as the characters reach adulthood. This cannot be stopped and wouldn't be, in any case. It is necessary that the children remember who they truly are, just not YET... Repeated evidence of Amber phenomena will only hasten this ultimate dispelling...
• The magic is necessarily adjustable. There are times when the intensity of the delusion may need to be changed (yes, there are rare times when seeming mortal and mundane can actually be an advantage). The method of control can be used by practically anyone if they know how. The Orphans will learn how during the course of the game and manipulate this magic for their own ends. In the end, though, the magical glamour cannot last forever.
• To be adjustable, the magic could be...
  • An item: Perhaps a trump or ring or tattoo. The power of the delusion would vary depending on the proximity of the item (or for, say, a tattoo, its condition and elaboration).
  • A being or construct: say a retainer or familiar that needs to be near in proximity or affection (maybe both) to the character.
  • A location: perhaps a pattern or homeshadow, proximity to it is the strength of the spell.
  • A ritual: a spell or poem, the occurence and detail of the ritual would be its strength,
• Part of the magic would a compulsion to maintain the strength of the delusion for both the Orphan and unknowing onlookers. The compulsion isn't irresistable but would seem to be such a minor and mundane desire that, short of knowledge of the magic, there would be no real reason to deny it.
  • An item could seem sentimental, found by onlookers, they would feel a need to return it to its 'rightful' owner.
  • A favorite pet would generally be loved by the character and the pet would of course try and stay close to the character.
  • A location would be a favorite place of the character, where they might feel at home.
  • A ritual could be a favorite song that the character's like to sing, for example.

These are just possibilities and there could be different geases for each character.

There is no direct precedent for such a plot device in the Amber books (that I can think of) so I am open to suggestions as to how the Rebels obtained such a power. The Victors ignorance of the source, existence, and details of such a magic may be one of the Rebel's few much-needed advantages. But the Victors learn quickly...

I had hoped to explain how such a magic would affect Llewella, Princess of Amber, as an example. But time and sobriety elude me, I will try to write more tomorrow. As always, I value your feedback...

 

[Nightbreeze]

Woo..I finally got my hand on the e-books and there are far more options then I though. Luckily, no point spending is required for now.

So, I thought a little bit about the character.

Enter Steve Jennsen, a 17-old kid living in the family house, 30 km away from Boston. Quite tall for his age, with a honest expression, gray eyes, black hair and somewhat absent look. He is currently preparing for the high school equivalence exam and then the SATs, after having studied at home all his life, and afterwards he will apply for Harvard. Although he has basically no extracurricular activities (such as sports and so on) because of his secluded live, his consistent placement in the first places of international math competitions has already granted him an assured place at the university.

When not studying (either for the exams, or for his own interests, which include history, biology and philosophy), he plays football with his extended (quite wealthy) family each Friday, when they gather at the house: and there are enough family member scattered in the radius of 500km to make the games quite competitive.


Now, what he doesn't know (and I am leaving gray areas, so that the DM can surprise me )

He is the son of either Osric or Finndo, illegitimate first sons of Oberon. Let's assume that when they were cast away from Amber, on the front lines of a war they couldn't win, at least one of them managed to get paired with someone from the courts of chaos (their mother is supposed to be from there, so maybe she acted as the intermediary; or perhaps they were sent to fight against the courts of chaos).

Steve, or better, Stark, is the result of this pairing, and is subjectively quite old. Given the fact that he has spent a lot of his time in seclusion, concentrating on his studies of the primal powers and sorcery, nobody knew him at the beginning of the Final Confrontation. Then, out of nowhere, he appeared alone to storm several strongholds of the Victors, which at that phase were already predominant. After successfuly storming the third one, he locked himself in the central room, storage for ancient artifacts, and when the defenders finally managed to nullify his wards on the door, he was sitting there, staring into the nothingness. Needless to say, he was restrained and imprisoned, but a raid from their opponents managed to free him. Not that the opponents knew much more on his motives: they just wanted to free someone who was apparently on their side.

He was still recovering when they decided to enforce the "hidden childs" plan.

Perhaps, Stark was just trying to restore the equilibrium. Or perhaps, he already foresaw what was going to happen, and his "incident" was carefully crafted. Who knows. The point is that even if the spell on his is to be suddenly lifted, he wouldn't remember much of his former life, because of that partial amnesia he suffered. But if the incident was crafted, he probably left some clues somewhere, to help his future self.



As for the origins of this magic: could it be that it is the result of a single being? Some of you may remember an episode of Doctor Who, when he assumed the disguise of a normal human with such a success, that he was able to fool both his enemies and himself (and I think it was even mentioned in the amber drpg). What if one of the elder rebels, long time hidden under disguises, has learned such a thing, and how to enforce them on other beings?

 

[kookalouris]

My apologies for not writing in a couple of days. Work has been a beast. I hope to write something tomorrow.

But I have to commend Nightbreeze on Stark. What a great character idea!

It will be a plus to add elements of Osric or Finndo as Zelazny left them as blank slates for us to embellish. More tomorrow (I hope!)

 

[Nightbreeze]

why, thanks

Ah, and I forgot to give my two cents for about our position in the time continuity: given the fact that in the second chronicles of Amber nothing big happens (I mean, from the cosmological point of view. Merlin's misadventures are nothing to scoff at), why don't we assume that the big confrontation started during the second chronicles (but was invisible to us readers) and escalated shortly afterwards? It is up to kookalouris (I can't help but think about "cook" and "calories") to decides whether Merlin becomes king or not, and which side wins, how and why. He can even get most of the known characters killed and replaced, just to add some fun

 

[kookalouris]

My apologies for the delay in posting. Unfortunately, my job has now gone to mandatory overtime. So, for the short term at least, the game will be a little bit s-l-o-w-e-r than I had foreseen.

Still, that means we can take what time we need to get it right.

In the meantime, let me go ahead and give you some of the ways Llewella could be made for this game.

As Zelazny wrote her, Llewella was a minor character in the Royal Family of Amber. She chose to spend most of her time in Remba, the undersea world near Amber and spent little effort chasing the Crown of Amber.

I have chosen her as example partly because she is the most alien of the canon siblings and the most challenging to bring into a Shadow Earth of the Here and Now (the most likely game possibility so far). There could many different versions of how Llewella could be done, depending on player and game needs.

• One dimension could be just how much of a 'volunteer' Llewella was for the 'mortalization.'
• Another could be just how alien Llewella is for the world she is in.
• And, finally, just how advantaged is Llewella relative to the natives.

Volunteer Llewella; By nature, politically indifferent Llewella would only have volunteered for such an exile if the stakes were very high and Remba itself might be at stake. Not particularly power-hungry (even for a non-Amberite), she would oppose those who were.

Conscript/Prisoner Llewella; A reluctant Llewella could have been captured by the Rebels or hunted by the Victors. It may be that Llewella's natural non-involved nature may have been seen as abandoment or desertion of the 'true cause.' Unwilling Llewella might be a 'problem child' as her subconscious rage manifests as more-than-typical adolescent rebellion and angst.

Human Llewella; Human Llewella's mystical disguise would not show any unusual features, her formerly green hair (and perhaps even skin) would be a perfectly normal and mundane hue. While she would naturally prefer the water (and might even dye her hair green), she would have no atypical abilities regarding it.

Alien Llewella; Llewella might have some of her abilities and strange (to Shadow Earth) features explained away as a very rare genetic 'condition.' It would still be something the teen would be very self-conscious about and try to keep private (which would help keep 'cover.').

Advantaged Llewella; The Royal Family of Amber is literally superhuman and, even reduced, Llewella would be more athletic, intelligent and attractive than the natives (just not obviously impossibly so). Her social position would also be exceptional, rich, politically powerful, even royalty.

Disadvantaged Llewella; or perhaps merely ordinarily human. 'Lily' might be a sullen, withdrawn loner that no one really pays any attention to (which may be the way the alienated teen likes it). What possible advantage could a very 'ordinary' background be for the player characters. First, it might bleed off the arrogance and hubris typical of the average child of Oberon. As pride has been the undoing for more than one Prince of Amber, this could actually be an advantage. It would also make the disguise that much harder for the 'other side' to penetrate.

Whatever else is decided about Llewella, she will occasionally daydream about an undersea fantasy realm called..."Remora" or "Umbra" or something like that. Whether she tells anyone about this or even paints it for others will depend on how alienated she feels.


OK, these are some, but certainly not all, of the ways one of the Princesses of Amber could be put into this game. I use this as example. My philosophy is that whatever doesn't hurt the game can only help it so many different interpretations are possible, depending on player preferences.

I hope this helps as you think about your character conception. My next post will be the big 'wish list' about the common features of the game. This will be the best time to tell me what you want in the game, if you haven't already. After that, finally, more detailed individual character details.


As always, I look forward to your feedback...

 

[Nightbreeze]

May I suggest that you post this over at myth-weavers too? Just to get some more people. I mean, we seem to be just four right now, and you never know.

I would also suggest speeding up with the start, as soon as everyone has a description...but that's just the thirst to play . I will post a more detailed description of Steve's personality after your next posts

 

[kookalouris]

My apologies for not writing in a little bit. In addition to more unexpected time at work, I now have a surprise ear infection (and I thought it was just the bad muzak at work).

I will try and write more in the next couple of days. The extra time has bred some interest at the other thread over at PBP House. And since the game is necessarily slower now than I had wished, I have put one more duplicate thread on Myth Weavers (which I'm new to, but me likes!! ).

Forever Amber? - Myth-Weavers

Belated wish list next...

 

[kookalouris]

The Big Wish List:

This is a series of largely optional questions about the game. These will be the common factors that players and GM should agree upon as much as possible. Answer the ones that are important to you but this is the moment when your choices will have the most power to change the game. From the responses to this post, I will start to design the game background and structure.

Some of you have already answered some of these questions (and I do remember your responses) but I wanted to formally offer the questions up for clarity.

In most cases, I am utterly neutral as to the possible answers. In some, I have a preference that I want to share with you. And in still others, I can offer a little more hints and spoilers to the game if that helps with your decisions of course (and these may be in SBLOCK spoiler boxes).

First, some questions about the nuts-and-bolts of running the game:

• What do we want to call the game? Amber will do but it would be nice to further distinguish this game from the larger creation of Zelazny so as to avoid confusion.
• What method do we want to run the game? An ENWorld forum would do the job. Is there any chance I can talk the players into a dedicated Yahoo group so as to store files and the like (or other group services, such as Google or MSN)?
• How often would you like to post? Recent events at my workplace have probably slowed me down to twice or thrice weekly at most.

Now some plot questions:

Some of these have been asked (and answered) before. Please indulge me asking them again for completeness.

• How much do we want to hold to the canon continuity of Amber? Do we include the Bentacourt books? Are there specific variations of Amber continuity we want to see? What point in the continuity do we want to set the game?
• What Zelazny characters and places do you want to see in the game? I will try and work them in. Which Zelazny characters and places DON'T you want to see in the game?
• Of the characters and places you do want to have in the game, who do you want on your side and who do you want to be your enemies? Remember, we are only as good as our villains.
• How Evil do you want the Victors to be? Merely the winning team or out to destroy Life, the Universe, and Everything!?
• While your characters have to be near each other in a plot sense, do you want to all be part of the same family and the same place or different families in the same time (similar to the Roswell/Smallville TV series)?

Let me get these questions to you while I have the time. I may add more [rod serling]...for your approval[/rod serling]

 

[Deuce Traveler]

1.) kookalouris' Amber Chronicles
2.) ENWorld forum
3.) 3x/week

The rest of the questions I leave to the options of the GM. I will decide my character once we have a better idea of the plotline.