Subj: SB Info #1 of 5 (Invitation) Date: 96-05-14 18:57:19 EDT From: Jvstin To: grg@efn.org BCC: Jvstin This was the original invitation. I sent it to people who was in games I am or was in, and GM's or would have been GM's of mine. Naturally, thanks to AOL, your no longer active account bounced it when I tried to send it to you. The familiar buzz of a Trump Call comes into your mind. Opening your mind to the contact, a possibly unfamiliar man appears. He is sitting in a chair, behind which is a stocked bookshelf. A glass of a dark liquid, possibly tea, sits on top of a book on the table next to him. His hazel eyes, through thin, small glasses, gaze at you. A small smile creases his face. A yellow manila envelope is in his hand. "This will explain" he says, and then presents the envelope through the contact, and into your hands. The contact ends as abruptly as it began. Opening the envelope reveals a message, and a Trump of your caller. You read the message... STRANGE BEDFELLOWS, the Amber Campaign "Politics makes for strange bedfellows, and I've been in a lot of beds..." --Scipio, son of Flora, in When Shadows Fall. Hello! Some of you know who I am. More of you at least recognize the name. I'm sure more than one of you have no clue as to who I am, or why I am e-mailing you. My name is Paul Weimer, better known as "Jvstin" or through my characters past and present--from the skirt chasing diplomat mentioned above, to a good hearted but often arrogant magician, from a food loving Chaosian to a Prince with a more than ordinary companion...I am an avid Amber player, and all of you are either GM's of mine, fellow victims in games or have been GM's or players in campaigns I've been in. In other words, you, too play Amber. And so I invite you to join my first on-line campaign, Strange Bedfellows. A word first. I know that some of you know that I am very aware you have no time for a new campaign, for reasons ranging from nuptials to sailing ships to other reasons. I decided to also send this to you, my friends, anyway, in appreciation. Your fine campaigns and fellow PCs have made my return to the gaming world online a pleasant one, and gave me the impetus to start my own, finally. So, this invitation, although sent in the a priori knowledge that you can't accept, is sent anyway as a token of appreciation. A compliment, if you will. Back to you potential players. Anyway, I've continually played Amber online since suffering a hideous deprivation the sad details of which some of you know all about. Before that break, I was a regular for a couple of years, having come to the online world in search of new roleplaying companions, my face to face players seduced by other games, or other calamities. I've played in many campaigns, so good, some bad, all learning experiences, as I learned to roleplay in this format new to me. I think I have apprenticed enough as a player on-line to flex my world creating muscles on-line, too. In other words, I am an online GM virgin. The vital facts: Much More detail will be sent to interested parties, of course but here is the basics: Format: PBEM. I am aiming at 3 turns/ 2 weeks at the moment, possibly ratchiting this for the type of players I get. I am well aware of the various strains of players, having actively played with many of you. Some of you are slow and methodical, some are quick and dirty, and some of you defy pigeonholing. Time Period: Post Second Series(quit the groans! :D ) approximately 6 years after Merlin's coronation, or 15 years after Patternfall. There will be a timeline. A preliminary one will be sent for aid in character creation, and then a final one will be composed based on the characters that crop up. After that nastiness between the great powers, things on that front, at least, have settled nicely. No more blowing up the castle, thank the Unicorn! [Did you hear the apocryphal story that Zelazny had that happen since he was unhappy with the Visual Guide?...] The peaceful reign of King Random and Queen Vialle is proving to be just that, despite predictions of their detractors. In fact, Amber, at least on the surface, is in its best shape in a long time. So much so, that several members of the family, aunts and uncles, as well as cousins, who long swore off the true realm, have decided to make themselves known again. Naturally, the established Royals have to take these new playing pieces into account. Factions will form up again, or just reawaken perhaps, and where is your character in all this? Is she one of these lost cousins, coming to Amber for the first time due to the relative peace or just because you are coming of age and want the inheritance of your blood? Or have you been around for awhile, and just as curious as your aunts and uncles as to why these "newcomers" have decided to rear their heads? Maybe you are even a child of one of these newcomers! Or, possibly, like Llewella, you want to sit this dance out, if you can...Politics makes Strange Bedfellows. Whose bed will YOUR character share, if any? To answer a common question: Oberon, Osric, Finndo, Deirdre, Brand, Caine and Eric are all considered still dead. Bleys has popped up now and again. Locale: Mostly in and around Amber for starters. Most of the early things afoot are there, so Amberites are preferred. However, Characters are important to me, so if you have a concept which is non-Amberite/Rebman/G. Circle I'd like to know! The more specific mailer for interested parties goes into further detail on character creation. Points: 110 base. More for history and contributions. There will not be an auction. Character creation: Basic powers are available from both books. Rebman characters have an additional minor power available. Merlin is wrong--Trump Artistry does not have Logrus or Pattern as pre-req. Advanced powers...well, WHY does she or he have them? Stuff: Maximum + or minus 5. You can bank points above five for future advancement, but it does not affect your luck. Artifacts: The usual stuff ("4pt level") is allowed. Constructs: So, you want to build one, eh? Shadows: Go right ahead. If you have a new GC/BC shadow, even better... Allies: Non-Amberite allies feel free to design. Amberites I get to inflict, I mean pick for you... Enemies: "Anti-Allies". Here is a great idea I picked up off the net. It is a way to give your characters a couple of extra points, and more roleplaying opportunities for both of us. Parentage: We all do it. When we get an Amberite character idea, we usually have a good idea of who the parent "should" be. We hint hair color, eye color and more to the GM. Sometimes we get lucky, and we get who we think. Synchronicity! Sometimes, we have to trash a lot of potential story ideas and personality because the GM "needs" you to be Caine's son. Don't get me wrong. Some campaigns that is necessary. I understand, and have had to do it myself. I, personally, don't like doing it if I do not need to. As a player, I like detailing the past and present of my characters, and where they might grow in the future. From those who have seen the personal travails of Scipio, Marcus, and his brethren and sistern, you know that I put stock in the Personal Arc (pun intended, for those who get it!) of a character's story. I personally often as early as in the character concept start thinking on this, and of course this requires an idea of who the parent might be. Thus, in the interest of more fun roleplaying, if I can allow players to tell me who their parent is, I do. This campaign I can do this. The only upfront exclusions I have are Oberon and Dworkin. So, if your character concept fits best as you being Gerard's daughter, TELL me. Unless I get the same two or three elders, I usually can accomodate, so long as its sound. Of course, if you genuinely like the GM telling you who your character's parent is, well, then I will. Example: "Maria is the daughter of Fiona. She is a dancer in shadow." "Jean Luc is Deirdre's son. Early on, he resisted Mother's efforts to mold him into a warrior, preferring the company of the redheads. After her horrible death, Jean has, in memory, finally decided to learn combat and has put magic aside." A bit of an extreme example, but it's clear which character , at least so far, will get the elder the player would like. Maria's player would be asked what Fiona has to do with being her Mom. Is the dancing encouraged, Fiona trying to keep her precious daughter safely out of the line of fire? Or is it a rebellion? Perhaps they aren't on speaking terms... You finish the message, and put it aside. You turn your attention to Jvstin's Trump, its coolness beckoning you to use it, to find out more... What do you do? Subj: SB Info #2 of 5 (FAQ) Date: 96-05-14 18:57:25 EDT From: Jvstin To: grg@efn.org BCC: Jvstin Those people who 'picked up the Trump' received the more detailed FAQ. This is edition 2 of it. CHARACTER CREATION: Base is 110 points. +10 for a history Contributions: I classify them as "short": poetry, Trump descriptions(only if you are an artist--in other words, you are describing Trumps your character has made. They can be places, elders, or even PC's...) and vignettes or "long": stories, or a Narrative Diary of last month's adventure. Not a rehash of the posts, but an introspective interpretation of the hell, I mean fun your character has had. Short is worth 5 points, Long worth 10. 1 contribution/month minimum. Also, exceptional work will get bonus points, especially if it can be shared. I don't have a website, aren't likely to get one, so this means that it will wind up on the Amberfic list, if you like. The first one is due on the first of the second month after the campaign begins. Ie: If things start on May 24, the first contribution is due on July 1. You are free to turn in any early, of course. If you are EXCEPTIONALLY late (I understand that like me, almost all of you are in other games and so I am tolerant, but skipping a month entirely just about uses it up), then the points start slowly dripping away, starting with any good stuff. Consider it that the universe is turning against you... :) +2 points for a nice description of your Character's Trump. There is no theoretical limit to starting points, and it is relatively easy to go beyond 110 points, if you want to do the work, and thus help make the campaign great! There is no auction, so you are assigning points blind Then again, you can design a character much to your specs, without being upset at yourself with the auction results. Powers: The basic powers that are available: Pattern Trump Artistry--as noted, despite Merlin's statement, it does not require Pattern or Logrus. Shape Shifting Logrus: One note for future reference. ANYONE with shapeshifting and requisite stats can try to navigate the Logrus. This is a common long term goal for PC's in my campaigns who are of pure shadow origin. Power Words Sorcery Conjuration: Note on the last two. I don't like the magic system much, but I haven't reworked it to my liking, either. Also note users of the two powers can have minor flourishes. A conjurer could not only conjure musical instruments, but ones which can play themselves. Sorcerers can preform very minor magics without having to memorize spells. Light a cigarette and so forth. Broken Pattern. The point values are far too low, in my opinion, and thus IMC. I have it cost 20 points for basic and 35 for Adept. The points are discountable toward Pattern or Logrus, though. Thus, completely non-Amberites( who have little prospect of advancement, save possibly Logrus) who take it STILL have a point advantage over the royals, but not such an unbalancing one. Adaptation: Those with at least one Rebman parent only! A minor, 15 point power. In short, a weak, marine version of Shape Shifting. If you want to play someone with Rebman ancestry, and want to know more about it, let me know. Advanced powers: Only with really good reason. Almost all of the characters will be "too young" to have spent the time to merit them. Many of the elders don't have them, so why does your character? Thus, Advanced Pattern, High Compelling, etc. are all basically closed off to starting characters. Other Powers: They do exist, but not to Starting Characters. This includes entirely new powers, as well as abilities beyond Advanced Level of Trump, Pattern, etc. What are they? Your character will have to do the legwork themselves... Other guidelines: Far be it from me to pigeonhole you!, but the 4 basic types of characters possible are: 1. KNOWN CHILD OF ESTABLISHED AMBERITE. This ranges from a son of Corwin to a daughter of Fiona, who knows of the child, and vice versa. Most players will probably, have heard of you(unless you were raised in secrecy) but you have the advantage of knowing the terrain... 2. UNKNOWN CHILD OF ESTABLISHED AMBERITE. Poor abandoned child in shadow, as yet unclaimed by their parent. Or, perhaps, now coming to Amber, believing that their true heritage lies there. Note for these characters. Walking the Pattern on turn 5 having put the 50-6=44 extra points into abilities is unfair! And I hate the idea of giving 40+ points of bad stuff. So, if you want to go this route, then, a la Simamber, you can "freeze" 44 points as advancement points, which, combined with Amber Devotee, turns into a Pattern Imprint when you actually walk the squiggle. If you just take a devotee, and walk the Pattern without banked points, the consequences are ENTIRELY YOUR OWN. 3. CHILD OF MISSING/NEW AMBERITE: An interesting choice is to be a child of the 'new elders'. Elders which you know have returned or revealed themselves are Sand, Mirelle, Van and Leona. Another choice is to be the child of one of the missing children of elders who have returned. A grandchild of an elder, if you will. In any event, this is a viewpoint radically different than many of the other players, and we'd have to work on it together if you want to try it. Note to you, Romilly, I have to close off Sand and Leona, as they have already been taken up, and really are single child parents... 4. OTHER: A catch all. Ranging from Chaosians to Crossbreeds, to Shadow Dwellers. In this campaign, a very lonely choice, most likely, unless you are from somewhere like the Golden Circle. Even so, a really divergent character to play. (But, I have at least one, so maybe not...) THINGS TO BUY: Trump Deck. For several reasons, I feel compelled to explain how they work IMC. Amberites: Trump Artists and non-TA's alike can buy the deck at 2 points no sweat. This gets you a 'Dworkin Deck'--The elders, a Trump of the City, and a Trump of the Throne Room. That's it. What about Trumps of the other PC's you ask? Well, you only have the Trumps of PC's WHO HAVE GIVEN YOU ONE. There is no shortage of artists, so a third party could easily do this for a pair of PC's, but it is NOT a given. You will be give time to conspire together, so we will hopefully have this all sorted out by start. No one has made general issue trumps since Dworkin and so Trumps of your cousins are rarer. The only interesting exception is everyone's favorite salesman, Luke. He is known for giving out his trump even without being asked. It shows him, without his kingly regalia, smiling. He is seated in an ordinary chair, presenting a buisness card toward the viewer. One of the last things I establish just before the game begins is to ask everyone who they have given a trump of themselves to, and helping finalize their own deck. Trump Artists of course, have a huge advantage in this area... Others: Characters not from Amber, be it unknown Amberites or non-Amberites, who decide to buy Trump decks, I will help 'customize' the deck with the player. SHADOWS: Knock yourself out. Expand the playground, so to speak. If you want to expand the Golden Circle, feel free. Mine is fairly large, with lots of interaction. More the merrier! Or build the world of your imagination far away from the centers of power. One of the best things about the ADRP system is its limitlessness. You can have a fairyland shadow with dragons to fight and princesses (or princes!) to rescue, or you can visit Ringworld... Amber and Chaos may be the poles of existence, but they are not all there is to it. Not by any means... CONSTRUCTS: If you want to, go ahead. Just remember the disadvantages as well as the benefits. ALLIES: The standard stuff. One point (non-royals) allies are entirely up to you. Be creative! Any higher ones are up to me. Note that Chaos Devotees are not needed for eligibility to navigate the Logrus. Those who take Amber Devotees as noted above are strongly recommended to bank points if they haven't walked the Pattern, but are planning on it. ENEMIES: The reverse of Allies. A person, ranging from a mundane, to a family member, has a hostile interest in your character. Of course they cost 'negative' points, that is, if you want an enemy, you will get a free point. Again, non-royal enemies can and should be designed by the player. If you want to risk an anti-family friend, or something higher, well, I get to pick who it is, and of course, just like allies, you may be uncertain of who your nemesis is. Be warned. An anti-devotee is very dangerous. Enemies which are 3 points or higher are likely to be either very powerful personages in shadow, or (more likely) family members. Dangerous people, with a variety of methods and powers. Someone to really fear... ITEMS: The standard stuff, again. TIME: A timeline will be sent seperately, but the campaign starts on March 15, 5AM, the 15th year after the redrawing of the Pattern. Thus, counting the first year of the new system as 0, the date is 3-15-15. The start of the new system, 1-1-0, was defined as the day Random returned to Amber from the Courts, and established his rule. If you read the end of Courts of Chaos carefully, not even Corwin is sure of how much time has passed between Oberon's redrawing of the Pattern, and when the Amberites returned: "They are cold once more, the cards, and the shadows are themselves again. Amber stands. Years have passed since we departed it, and more may lapse before I return..." So, there is a definite temporal anomaly, to borrow the Star Trek term, at Patternfall. So, upon their return, on a snowy morning, Random decided to start his reign properly by revising the calendar. The time difference between Chaos and Amber was reset by the storm to a standard 23 Amber days:1 Chaos turning. No shadow can 'naturally' have a slower rate. No shadow can naturally have a rate faster than 1 Amber:23 local. Those who buy control of time for their shadow, can, of course, exceed these limits at their discretion. The Ygg-Amber and the Corwin's Pattern-Amber time rate is, as you might expect, 11.5 Amber:1 local. Simple Math shows the Chaos-Ygg rate should be 1 Chaos: 2 Ygg, and this has been proved empirically. Time Rates are given or described as x:y where x is the baseline(Amber or Chaos) rate and y is the rate of the shadow. Thus Earth, from the novels, is 1:2.5 Martin's Shadow might have been 1:21. Three weeks passes there for every Amber Day. A shadow which is slow relative to Amber might be 7:1. Only one day passes there for a week in Amber. A shadow of the Black Zone might be(to Amber) 20:1. 1 day there is 2 and a half weeks in the True Realm. Relative to Chaos, this world would be 23A/1C divided by 20A/1x. Basic algebra gives us 1.15x/1c. In standard notation, with Chaos first, this is 1:1.15, which makes sense since it is faster than Chaos relative to Amber. For those Lords of Chaos who think Earth Girls Are Easy, the Chaos-Earth Time rate is therefore 23:1 / 1:2.5 = 57.5 Earth to 1 Chaos, or in standard notation 1 Chaos:57.5 Earth No wonder she didn't think you called! From her perspective, you didn't!!! These natural Time rates more or less define 'distance' from the poles. The more out of sync a shadow is with Amber, or Chaos, the 'further' you must hellride to get to it. Not only must you align the physical variables, you must also align a temporal one as well. For shadows which have had their natural rate of time changed, the original rate is the one used to determine distance from the poles. The shape of all shadow, by the way, is an ovoid. The foci of the shape are Amber and Chaos, with Chaos at the small end. Thus, heading from one does not necessarily mean you are going toward the other, although that is what usually occurs. WHO'S WHO. A very partial list of the major living NPC's of the campaign so far. Just to whet your appetites for now! Also, I may add a cousin or two, depending on the characters I get. Not to mention people YOU create...and people you don't know about, yet... THE STANDARD ELDERS: Benedict Bleys Corwin Fiona Flora Gerard Julian Llewella Random, King of Amber MORE AMBERITES: Dalt, military advisor to King Luke. Luke, King of Kashfa Coral--whereabouts unknown. Possibly dead. Delwin--status unknown. His sister isn't telling, either. Merlin, King of Chaos Sand, daughter of Oberon. Queen of Corilaine Leona, daughter of Oberon. From the shadow Felis. Van, son of Oberon and Clarissa. Resides in shadow Arcanus. Mirelle, daughter of Oberon and Paulette. Full sister to Random. Known to be alive, but current location unknown. Martin, son of Random Carl, son of Julian Lorius, son of Fiona Noys, daughter of Eric Castor and Pollux, twin sons of Gerard Percy, son of Deirdre Cyllene, daughter of Caine Minh, parentage unknown AMBERITES CONSIDERED DEAD: Arawn Eric Brand Finndo Caine Osric Deirdre Xavier Any questions feel free to ask. Let's have fun! --Paul And some players did. Those questions I answered for everyone are here: One of you asked an interesting question about rankings. In the interest of all, here is the question and answer. >>How are stats going to work? How ever get it in first has the place? Are we going to know where we sit on the ladder? There is no ladder. There are no rungs. Come advancement time, if you want to put 1 or 6 points into Psyche, well, then that is what you get. Also, occassionally, characters will earn specific stat bonuses, chosen by me. As far as knowing where everyone is relative to one another, well, the only way to find out is to learn. Understand, I dislike the artificiality of auctions, and the ranking system. I t can work when all the characters are Amberites who know each other, and have known each other for centuries. However, how can one possibly justify a rank chart that includes PC's that have never met, and may never meet! If you want to know if cousin Lorius has a better Psyche than you, well, there is the acid test. Ditto for Strength, or Warfare, or Endurance. A word on points. I am not sure If everyone knows the various bonuses, so I will reitierate again how you, dedicated player, can earn more than a measly 110 points: +2 Points if you send me a description of your Character's Trump (not the same thing as a character description, of course.). + n points for Enemies. + 5 Points for Short Contributions. This can be poetry, vignettes, or, for you Trump Artists, descriptions of your Trumps. +10 Points for Long Contributions. This can be long fiction, or a Narrative Diary of last month's fun. Not just a rehash of last's month's posts, but a reflective interpretation of what had happened to your character. Internal thoughts, side comments and so forth. If anyone has read the Scipio's Tales I have occassionally posted to Amberfic, then you know exactly what I have in mind. Contributions are due monthly. Occassional bonus points for really good contributions, especially if it can be shared. Since I am webless, this means Amberfic (and thus good PR for my campaign in the process...) So, C'mon! Help me make this campaign great, and the points are yours! Many of your fellow players are doing it...