Inzalo - Shadow Earth

Mostly indistinguishable from current, modern shadow earth, even including the MCU (important plot point) and other modern references to culture and the like available.

Basis for a start-point campaign.

Africa map exploration - due to satellite anomaly, is the opening of this environment.

Everyone is starting with human stats, and 25 points beyond.

Yes that means that most of the large powers are beyond reach, but … this is (at least at the start) supposed to be an earth-centric game.

Useful Pages

Auction Rules

The Auction Rules

If you want your character to be, for example, a hotshot in mental powers, then bid heavily in Psyche, but don’t neglect Endurance. Combat is determined by Warfare, the last auction, but a good warrior should have some ranking in Strength and Endurance as well.

Here are the hard-and-fast rules of the Attribute Auction.

All players start with 25 points.
Every bid is permanent. Each player’s highest bid is paid and can not, ever, under any circumstances be reduced or refunded.
Extra points can be gained by making contributions. Contributions are some kind of regular, on-going chore, or enhancement to the game that the player promises to do for the campaign. Examples include keeping a diary for your character, taking notes for the whole group, or drawing art (trumps?) for the characters.
Players can only bid for themselves. It’s just not fair to the other players. If missing players want to participate, the GM will stand as proxy. But since the bid is going to be over discord, and asynchronous, it shouldn’t be hard for the bidding rounds to happen.
The winner of an Attribute Auction is unbeatable by everyone else on their ladder. Until enhancement points are distributed, and possible new rungs are established, whomever wins for an Attribute is that Attribute’s ultimate winner. First place is the only safe place. If you get first place in any Attribute Auction, you will know you are the best of your ladder. Anyone after the Auction, can buy up, even spending as many points as the first place winner, but they can never beat, or equal whomever gets first place, until a new rung is established. And the first place winner always has the right to buy up, first, if they are about to be surpassed.
Ranks are based on the Attribute Auction. Each group of player really sets up their own ladder and therefore their own levels for advancement. With your bids you are making the rank system for this section of this campaign. What you bid will determine how the campaign will be set up. The final results also determine how characters advance later on.

Here’s how it works. Assume the final results for Warfare turns out to be fifth place for 10 points, fourth place for 15 points third place for 19 points second place for 20 points and first place for 22 points. That means buying up Warfare later will have to match those point levels, just ad if they were rungs on a ladder. You couldn’t possible spend 18 points in Warfare. You have to “match” the bidders who bid in the Auction, so you can only spend 15 or 19, but nothing in between.

The initial ladder may have people tied for a place, so there might be 3 people at 19 points. This is just fine. Until people buy up. If you do go up the rung, you will be listed as 3.5 or 2.5 or the like so that the actual 3rd or 2nd rank person can still beat you, since they had that rung from the beginning, but … they might also have bought up at the time you are buying up.
There is some small adjustments by buying either Bad Stuff or Enemies (not currently available), or the like. While this is a possibility, it is not necessarily the best path. But that choice is always yours.

How an Auction Works

The attribute is described. To make sure everyone knows how important this attribute is.
Everyone privately writes the GM with their opening bids. These bids, like any others, can’t be taken back. The main point is to allows everyone an equal chance to get in a bid before things go crazy. “No bid at this time,” is a completely acceptable bid.
When everyone is done the first tentative ladder will be published.
Second (and subsequent) rounds of bids then will be solicited. One cannot lower one’s bid, only raise it. One can only bid at the ladder’s rungs, except for the top rung. That can keep going up.
Once no more changes are submitted, the bidding is closed, and the ladder is published. The people associated with each rung might or might not be known. (It is highly likely you will know your own rungs, for example, but you won’t know if they are shared, and, if so, with whom.)

Attributes

Character Attributes

Psyche

This is the rating of the character’s mental strength. Psyche also shows the character’s force of will, and their agility in manipulating any of the powers. In addition a character with a high psyche will be sensitive to danger and to other things.

Most important, the relative rankings in psyche will determine all contests of the mind. These psychic battles often fought through one power or another, or even by touch, will be always judged by a character’s psyche. The loser in a psychic battle can, if overwhelmed, be killed by the power of the mind alone.

Why bid on Psyche? Mental power, no matter what your power base, is the battery that runs things. Whatever of the powers you have, it is the character with the highest rank in psyche who will be most feared or respected.

Strength

Strength rates the character’s muscles, and therefore the damage that a character can inflict in hand to hand combat, as well as the character’s resistance to damage.

Once characters lay hands on each other, or those that would oppose them, the contest, no matter what it might have been before, becomes one of sheer strength. Unlike other form of combat, where a character can usually run away, there is likely no escape from a wrestling match with a character of superior strength.

Why bid on Strength? If there is any such thing as a “sure thing” it is having a superior ranking in strength. Most combat can go either way, influence by any number of factors, but once you’ve got your hands around your enemy’s throat, all that counts is strength.

Endurance

When normal mortals tire after a few minutes of fierce combat, ranked individuals can keep fighting, fencing, or partying for much longer. In addition, ranked endurance includes the ability to heal wounds rapidly, even to the extent of (eventually) regenerating lost limbs and organs. In a fight of any kind, whether warfare, strength, or psyche, the character with the greatest endurance always has a chance of holding out longer than any opponent with lesser endurance, and winning by default.

Endurance is the only attribute that comes into play in every situation involving either physical combat or the use of arcane powers.

Why bid on Endurance? Frankly, you need it for everything. And, even if you are somewhat inferior in some battle, a higher rank in endurance, combined with a little patience, virtually guarantees victory. Endurance is the ultimate tie-breaker.

Warfare

Not all folks are trained in warfare, but anyone who is the use of any weapons from daggers to machine guns, requires warfare to operate skillfully. Strategy games (including power-brokering in companies, and actual, on the field tactics) are all judged according to the relative warfare of the participants.

Weakness in warfare is more dangerous than in any other attribute. That’s because the relative rank in warfare determines how long the combat will last. If the rank is too low, the character can be hurt or killed before even having a chance to flee, much less realize that they are engaged in combat, or might be at risk of their life.

Why bid on Warfare? Face it, most conflict boils down to warfare. There’s nothing faster, nothing more decisive. Power usage and finesse are determined by warfare, just as the flash of the blade is. A mark of a respected character is one who uses both skillfully.

Powers

Powers Balances and Opposites

Over the course of two decades of Amber gaming, the players have learned, encountered and even created a wide variety of different major Powers. These powers can be in opposition (explosives reaction when joined, like Pattern/Logrus) or in balance (no kaboom). Many of these powers are represented by a sigil drawn as a focus for that power, generically known as a Squiggle. Many squiggles have a custodian that is the focus and manager of that power, as Dworkin is to the Pattern and Suhuy to the Logrus. Some powers can be taken partially, with the intent of representing beginner-level knowledge and with the plan of working up to the full power. Partial powers are divided and priced on a case-by-case basis. Powers Point Cost Chart

This is a quick summary of powers as understood by the players, so expect incomplete information and possibly incorrect theories.

List of Known Powers:

Beastmastery is changing your own or someone else’s true form. The head of the Beastmaster’s Guild of Chaos is the cat Snarsht, and the necromancer Norton makes extensive use of Beastmastery. There might be a link between Beastmastery and Conjuration, but, only the Sea of Thought has speculated on it, without any actual working tests, or models yet. (Need a chaosian in the Beastmasters Guild or Norton connection to justify - Basic: 65 Advanced: 95)
Bibliomancy is the power of forcing things to become true by reading/writing them. Jean has rewritten himself so that he cannot see anything that could be bibliomantic. Caelin is a major proponent of this power, his alternate-reality duplicate the Archivist is even more so. (Need an instructor, and there are few in this Amberverse, probably have to be connected to House Moonlight - Basic: 25 Advanced 50)
“Blucite” was a power used by Llewella and Gwen but poorly understood by the players. It is perfectly insulating and perfectly reflective and only Llewella knows how to cleanly remove Blucite. Players have destroyed it by exposing it to its opposite, Fringe. The current “best” theory is that Blucite is time-stopped Rebman water, which might be a problem now that Rebma is gone. (Unknown how to learn, unknown point cost)
Bronelle’s Power is little known, and yet to be explored. More as it get there.
Conjuration is the art of creating something new out of the shadowstuff (or reality, depending on how skiled you are) around you, or making something that already exists more Real. Deconjuration is not the removal of that thing, but the randomizing of said thing into local bits. Sometimes the deconjuration happens with a bang, or a flash of light, depending on how fast/how far the effect is pushed, and the skill of the conjurer. (You need to have (or have access to) another power to imbune that power into a conjured object. Mystic Inertia is hard, and it is almost impossible to grant something as much Mystic Inertia as you have, much less more. Basic: 20 Advanced: 40)
Faerie power includes glamour and faerie gates, but is not widely available. Known practitioners include Queen Titania, Zach and Ivy. It might also be a Promontory. It might also just be a person. It’s … unclear. (The ability to manipulate Faerie is a gift given (or removed) by Titania. And you have it, or you don’t, no levels. 45)
Fringe is the power running a series of gates and platforms that interconnect various shadows, and can also be used to create crystalline objects and shields. Fringe was developed by the Tehrmelern (speculated as a proto Ways and Means Committee), who were later destroyed by the shapeshifting Mellor. The Fringe was rediscovered by Osric of Chaos. See Also: [1] [2] (You need to be fringeworthy, which is a connection to Osric but once fringeworthy, you can use the gates, as you will. Any advanced changes/manipulation of the gates is advanced (you need to understand the Tremellorn brain). Basic: 15 Advanced: 75)
Loaves And Fishes is a power from a suite of 17 powers that existed in another promontory set where neither pattern nor logrus was. Jean has picked this up, and despite his tendency to fish around in himself, the power was originally designed to be outward facing, and might have a tie to Mathematics. (Need to be taught by an initiate, on the promontory of it’s origin. Basic: 10)
Logrus, the sigil of Chaos. Logrus can be used to bring things to you from nearby, by casting a tendril to what you want, and pulling it to you, provided you are more sufficiently anchored that it is, to move through Shadow by casting a tendril forth, latching onto something more solid than you are and pulling yourself to that thing. The more skilled you are with Logrus, the further or more spicific you can get. When you get really advances, you can be weilding many micro-tendrils at the same time. You can also use your Logrus power to conjure tentacles or limbs, to store spell, to power spells, or if sufficiently advanced, grant supernormal sensing of one’s surroundings. Logrus is learned by navigating it. A hazard of navigating it is an insanity of one sort or another. (One needs to be a Shapeshifter or Advanced Beastmaster to even try and walk the Logrus, and you do need a member of the Logrus Guild to bring you to a point where you could begin to walk it, and usually they won’t if you are untrained. Basic: 45 Advanced: 75)
- Serpent power is a more refined version of Logrus, analogous to the Jewel of Judgement. Known users of this power are Suhuy, PrincessChandra and the Serpent, as well as the Black Council. (Advanced Logrus is necessary to take this. Basic: 105 there might be an advanced)
Magic/Sorcery is manipulating energy to move, defend yourself, blow someone else up, or do something useful. It is many things all rolled up into one. Interesting, cross-shadow travelers seem to have found a corrolation that time moves faster in placess with less of it. Also, it tends to be anti-entropic. The longer that something waits to be used, the greater the power, or the greater chance it will just go “boom.” There are many level and approaches to using magic. Perhaps, even as many as there are or ever have been practitioners. (All elements besides Power Words need at least the Basic level. Power Words: 10 for 5 +2 per word beyond that Basic: 15 Build: 35 Spiral Attunement: 45 Pure Manipulation: 55 Advanced Spiral Attunement: 75 Shaodw Read: 85 Cross Shadow: 85 Exaulted: 105 Caelin Level: More than you can afford.)
Mathematics is a poorly known power with great utility. The most common use of Math is to create a duplicate of an object that is – to use computer lingo – actually a hard link to the first object. Both objects are real and both objects are the original. Math isn’t limited to one duplicate; there are many Jewels of Judgement floating around but “there is only one Jewel”. There is a Mathematician’s Guild in Chaos but the best known practitioner of Math is Dworkin. (Need a chaos connection to the Mathematcians Guild to claim this. Basic: 75 Advanced: Your sanity)
Matrix is a formalized life energy, centered in blue crystals located in the Overworld of Darkover. For a long time the custodian of the Matrix was Clarissa, but it is now her granddaughter Faythe. Not much us know about what the Matrix can do, Faythe is slowly exploring that into beaing. The only major known interaction is when Chaos assaulted Darkover and many skillfulland able Chaosians died. (Need a connection to the curren Matrix Matriarch Faythe Basic: 45 Advanced: 75)
Pattern, the sigil of order. There are many Patterns and reflections of Patterns. Although reflections seem to be their own primal thing, with their own powers, and uniquenesses, unlike mathematic creations. Pattern is obtained by walking it, and access to the original Amber Pattern and it’s reflections in Castle Amber’s dungeons, Rebma, and Tir na Nog’th were theoretically limited to the descendants of Dworkin. Corwin drew a new pattern in his realm of Argent with Pearl as it’s capital, and a new Pattern was drawn in a new Amber after the old Pattern was erased. The un-drawing of the pattern was only possible because all of the reflections (Castle Amber’s dungeon Pattern, Rebma’s Pattern, and Tir na Nog’th’s Pattern) had previously been removed or erased. Amongst the many powers that the Pattern gifts it’s users, traveling through Shadow is the most common. (Need to be of one of the Bloodlines. Basic: 50 Advanced: 75 Exaulted: 150)
- The Jewel of Judgement has a more refined order power - an octave above, as it were. The Jewel is accessed by holding it and mentally walking the 3-dimensional pattern as perceived inside. (Need access to the Jewel and a willingness to face (or ignorance of) the wrath of the serpent who’s eye it is. (Advanced Pattern (but not Exaulted) is necessary to take this. Basic 150)
Pedestal a (pre-existing) cross-shadow network that Gwen discovered, that has some sort of connection or reasonance to a lot of places in shadow, but doesn’t seem to be in any of the “real” places. Might be useful for transport, or messaging, possibly. (Unknown points)
Pharaban Power a power of an unknown potency, but seems to be the root of all fear. May cause Inadvertant Yetification. Seems to be held only by members of House Pharaban. (Unavailable to the players.)
The Reality Engine was used by Gwen to do her dirty deeds. Poorly understood and remembered, but this is a slow way to change the probability of any particular thing happening. This may get filled out more later. Possibly more info in Pride’s Folly and Gwen The Big Bad. (Need an authorized connection to the Reality Engine. Only currently avaiable through the King of Chaos
Reality Seeds and Marbles are poorly understood sources of power. We do know that marbles are contagious (touching a marble turns out into a marble) and Grey Spheres are somehow three? reality seeds wrapped in each other so they are safe to touch. Beings of power can be stored in Grey Spheres and tapped for power.
Rim Fishing is the art of reaching out into the Sea of Chance and pulling from it useful objects, without, mind you, getting pulled in yourself. While one doesn’t have to be an Old Lord to be a rim-fisher or a member of the Rimfishers Guild it is unlikely you will survive long if you are not. (Explain to the GM why you think you can do this.)
- Pit Diving is a similar art to Rim Fishing, except specifically for the (much more survivable) Abyss. In fact, if you just trade with the Demon Houses that inhabit the Abyss you could still claim membership in the Pit Divers Guild. (Explain to the GM why you think you can do this.)
Shapeshifting is changing your own or or someone else’s outer form. Shapeshifting power is common in the Courts of Chaos. The best known shapeshifter is Rainbow, the head of the Dancer’s Guild of Chaos. (Basic: 35 Advanced: 65)
Shadow Manipulation is the ability to shape or change the reality around you. It gets easier provided you have more reality or mystic inertia than that which you are changing does. A number of different powers from Pattern to Conjuration allow you to do this, on greater or smaller scales. If you are effecting more than just things within your range of touch it is known as “Gardening”, and you will have to become an apprentice of Realms Master Shiryu. (You will need to justify this to the GM)
Shadow Travel is crossing the expanse of Shadow by some means. Some of the many ways are: following tracks set down by others; following the elusive trace of someone’s passage; magically moving between points; trump usage; walking and shifting by the benefit of Pattern; pulling with Logrus; bibliomantically connecting two points; wandering throught the Void; using the Reality Engine; using two Faerie Gates; crossing between points on the Fringe; et cetera.
Time travel is impossible, but apparently time is manipulable by a few. The Time Lord is Melchizedek, one of the Realms Lords of Chaos. There is some indication that Melk is cross-reality and there is only one of him, although he does have an apprentice or two. (You will have to justify this to the GM.)
Trump uses images of things to access them, whether forging psychic connections with a person or a temporary gate to a place. Trump can be powered by any of the other powers, and this power source affects where those Trumps work. Trump is illegal in Chaos but is still secretly practiced there. The best known Trump artist is the Chaosian known as Darkstar, but Dworkin is also famous for drawing and providing Trumps for Amberites. (Basic: 40 Advanced: 60)
Undeath is taking things that were once alive and then died, and reanimating them into a form of quasi-life. It is usually accomplished through Beastmastery. Norton is the most widely known master of undeath. Mikail was using undeath to gain prominence in the Slavers Guild. (Explain to the GM how you do this, with your other powers)
Unlife is taking things that were never alive or dead and animating them into a form of quasi-life. Golems and intelligent robots are examples. The most widely distributed wielder? of Unlife is Jean. (Explain to the GM how you do this with your other powers)
Unmaking is a disturbing power held by the Old Lord Cemen, who can use it to instinctively make something go away. There is some awful side effect of unmaking that the author has forgotten and will fill in later. (Don’t think about the Anti-Dragons.) (Not available to the PCs.)
Void is the power related to the Abyss and the great emptiness above the sea of chance. Fiona used it to transport Corwin to the primal pattern. Rainbow, Verra, and Ingold wield this power. (Need a connection with an Initiate Basic: 75 Advanced: 100)

Opposing or Balancing

Powers and balances

Point Costs

Anything listed as “GM” means that it is either unknown, or unavailable unless under extremely special circumstances. Many of the powers listed need specific circumstances to get them (like you need to be of a bloodline to get Pattern) so check the descriptions before adding them. There are also other powers not listed here, check the descriptions for further infomration.

Power	Cost	Power	Cost
Beastmastery	65	Advanced Beastmastery	95
Bibliomancy	25	Advanced Bibliomancy	50
Conjuration	20	Advanced Conjuration	40
Faerie/Dream	45	Loaves and Fishes	10
Fringe	15	Advanced Fringe	75
Logrus	45	Advanced Logrus	75
Serpent	105	Advanced Serpent	GM
Power Words for five	10	Additional Power words	+2
Magic / Sorcery	15	Advanced Magic/Sorcery	35
Magic - Manipulation	55	Magic - Shadow Read	85
Magic - Cross Shadow	85	Exalted Magic	105
Spiral	45	Advanced Spiral	75
Mathematics	75	Advanced Mathematics	GM
Matrix/Life	45	Advanced Matrix/Life	75
Pattern	50	Advanced Pattern	75
Exaulted Pattern	150	Jewel Attunement	150
Shapeshifting	35	Advanced Shapeshifting	65
Trump	40	Advanced Trump	60
Void	75	Advanced Void	100

More indepth on various powers:

Faerie

Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.

Titania is Faerie, and Faerie is Titania.

Part of a four-way balance with:

Queen Titania was Clarissa’s long-running and mutual nemesis. Prior to Unlife and Undeath being acknowledged as minor powers, Life and Dream considered themselves opposites.

The Evil alternate version of Benedict rode Evil Titania as a mount. Our Titania defeated the evil version and kept her defeated form. At least, we’re pretty sure that’s who won.

And of course there are the Faerie Dragons: The “shiny!” of Faeries combined with the arrogance of dragons.

Morganti Weapons

Morganti weapons originate from the Dragaera Promotory although there is a large connection to Darkover. They are allegedly created by a local race called the Serioli. They come in many forms, including blades, of various powers, and Kittens.

Some known Morganti weapons are:

Iceflame - Wielded by Sethra
Godslayer - Currently in unknown hands
Pathfinder - In Aliera’s hands
Blackwand - In Morrolan’s hands (the Toram-eater)
A host of Sha-um kittens - currently mostly found in Cassandra’s presence
Goliath (the big sword, the Gwen-eater)
Stealth
Hex (six-legged cat)
Wanderer
Stalker
Hopalong - (named by Jean for reason which remain obscure even to himself)
Cannibal - (named by Jean for reason which remain obscure even to himself)

See also the entry on Pattern Blades and Logrus Blades.

Fringe

Fringe energy is a major power that is opposed by “blucite”. It was originally created by the Tehrmelern and rediscovered by Osric.

Access to the Fringe is handled by Fringe “gates”. Shadows contain Fringe gates, which can only be accessed by “Fringeworthy” creatures. The criteria for being “fringeworthy” is unknown but generally about 1 person in 100,000 qualifies.

Each gate leads to a platform, and platforms are connected by long walkways. Physics is weird on the Fringe. The Fringe gains power when objects are thrown off the side of platforms or walkways, as those objects are accelerated away. This is a convenient disposal mechanism.

Fringe power can also be used to create crystalline objects and shields. Fringe was developed by the Tehrmelern (speculated as a proto Ways and Means Committee), who were later destroyed by the shapeshifting Mellor. The Fringe was rediscovered by Osric of Chaos. See Also: [1] [2]

There are multiple levels of authorization, encoded into command crystals. At least two of the higher levels were patched into the original system and must be re-added after reboots.

Logrus

The Courts have a sort of equivalent [to the Pattern] called the Logrus. It’s a kind of chaotic maze. Keeps shifting about. Very dangerous. Unbalances you mentally, too, for a time. No fun.

The Logrus actually alters itself, constantly. Still, it’s more angular, while Corwin’s Pattern is mostly curves and bends.

It’s thought by some that other Slices of Fruit are available via the (in)correct walking of the Logrus. Not only is this dangerous from a walking of the Logrus point of view, but also from the unknowns at the destination.

Logrus Blades

This is an actual forged blade, that has a power bound to it, in this case Logrus Power. The most known (and named) blade of this type is name “Reef” or “Reefs” and is held and wielded by Raven.

This is opposed to a blade made from a previously existing Logrus Master (someone in an equivalent role to Suhuy) (as Caine’s blade “Shoals” apparently was), or a blade curdled out of Logrus (or Serpent) energy, as Ilk’s unnamed blade seems to be.

See also the entry on Pattern Blades and Morganti Weapons.

Magic

Magic/Sorcery is … many things all rolled up into one. Interesting, cross-shadow travelers seem to have found a corrolation that time moves faster in placess with less of it. Also, it tends to be anti-entropic. The longer that something waits to be used, the greater the power, or the greater chance it will just go “boom.”

Power Words

The use of a quick word (or guesture, or both) to achieve a specific effect. Sometimes it needs the name or description of the target to be part of the casting, but often the guesture is enough to localize it. Most people with this power have five of them, but they might be collecting a larger set. They depend on an accessable power source, most shadows have enough magic inherent in them to pull it off. Some travelers who use Power Words, but nothing else will also carry with them a magical battery, so they don’t have to worry about a local power source.

Spell Using

This basic skill allows you to use learned (by rote) spells or those from a grimoir, or handed over from a teacher at the time of casting. Those posessing this level of spellwork could also band together for greater pre-scripted rituals, or, if lead by someone who can do the greater weaving, crafting each part for them in the ritual to great effect. Magical workings of this sort seem to be multiplicitve rather than additive in nature. Known spells, that are designed to be racked can be, providing power is extant to be pulled upon. Batteries can be created, if that ritual is known, as well. Rituals to rack or create batteries or enact spells are particularly built, so there is a certain amount of “needing to get it just right” to avoid catestrophic failures, which are often out of proportion (multiplicitave) with the actual desired result. One greater mage observed, “Magic likes to flow, and constraining it into a spell or working tends to build pressure quickly.”

Many of the “racked” spells are there, waiting for a lynch pin to be released, so that the spell can be released. But they are actively constrained, as they tend to be anti-entropic in nature, which means they could go off unexpectedly. This is why many sorcerers have been taught to use and review their spells often, to avoid such circumstances. Since multiple things can be racked in the same object, using one of the spells racked there tends to relieve the pressure for all.

Spells of this sort come in all shapes and sizes, defensive, offensive, of great consequence, or small. Their linch-pins could be mames, times, circumstances, directions or the like. For example, a “bag of wind” might have a lynch-pin of being opened and pointed in a direction. A love potion? Being swallowed while staring at the target of desire, or saying the name of the desired target. A healing potion? Being in contact with a wound, being in contact with blood. A health tonic, or energy potion? Might simply be it’s consumption. A flaming sword? Being drawn from it’s sheath. A bullet-proof shield? The waving of the bracelets in the direction of the bullet. A voodoo doll? The bit of organic matter of the individual that the connection is made to. The examples are numerous and varied.

Some spells are not as clean as others. For a while there was a bunch of mages teaching their apprentices spells that actually created batteries for the teachers, as part of whatever spell that was being created or hung, so that the teachers always had a pile of spell-batteries to draw from. And, of course, their students graduated and went off to teach their own students, and … more batteries for the original teacher.

There doesn’t seem to be a limit to the number or complexity of the rituals, which is why Great or Grand Grimoirs are often sought, since they can give great power and flexibility to anyone at this level. And, since, of course spells of this sort tend to go boom when done wrong, they are very carefully written down, so that when the author wants, or needs to go back and use them, they are correct in every nuance, to avoid the potential boom.

Spell Crafting

This more advanced form of sorcery is a (partial or full) understanding of the way magic works, and the ability to craft great workings, orchastrate a number of basic ritual magic users into creating something greater, and (carefully) explore new spells into existence. Classic alchemy falls under this, as well as those leading big ritual magics.

Being able to connect some of the building blocks from the spell using level, to create something new, is not as simple as putting lego blocks together, or cutting snippets of code together. It is a lot more complex, and variable than that. And often more fatal, or at least more explosive. The successful folks who manage this often can save villiages, rout enemies, or other great workings. The non-successful folks are often where toxic mageworks need to be cleaned up, possibly even centuries later. This is why wards are important, the greater the working the more fragile, and one interjected note out of tune could cause everyone to have a really bad day.

This level also allows for the modification of known spells (carefully, and with gentle experimentation) like changing lynch-pins, or shaping say an area effect to a cone effect or the like.

Manipuation of Forces

This level of sorcery are for those great and all powerful individuals who can reach out and bend the flow of magic to their will and whim. These are folks who can tap into your spell, and pull the very power from it, short it out, use it to power their spells, or even, without blowing themselves up, come up with a new spell on the fly. This, of course, is a very selective power, since you have to know your shadow’s magic very intimately, and understand it’s flow, balance, and how it works all the way down and all the way up. Usually takes a lifetime (or longer) of study. Litches (who are already dead, so don’t mind having a spell go awry and pull all the life out of everyone, and have many lifetimes worth of time for experiment and study) are often good teachers (if you can pursuade them to teach you) this skill.

New Horizons

The ability to read a strange place, most often a different shaodw or real place, or someplace that has different rules about how magic works from where you learned it. Being able to both use the magic of this new strange place (if it has any), and/or be able to use or create batteries that will work in this place and other places successfully. This also gives you the ability to read what the local magical “tags” (as it were) are, to be able to make this place you’ve never been to before one of the places you know as a “here” or “there”. You need the Manipulation level ability already to be able to learn this.

While many (most) basic spells are simple enough to (most of the time) be able to be encanted locally, and therefore work locally, this is not a sure thing. Batteries that are not compatable with the local magic might simply not work, or, worse, if tapped discharge disasterously. Someone who can read a place would know that (although they might not be able to adjust an existing spell, depending on their manipulative skill) and be able to make recommendations, after watching a particular ritual.

Cross Shadow

So, you need to cause a rain of frogs across three shadows all at once. Or create a stream of locusts that will pour forth from your monolith, and cross shadows seeking out an individual or a circumstance. Or want to be informed when your name is spoken anywhere in shadow. Or especially open a scrying connection from wherever you are to wherever your name is spoken, with just the speaking of your name as the lynchpin, with no “here” or “there” built into it. Or there is a plague of deamons across all your potential shadow paths and you wanted to us the Patented Ilk Deamon Melt spell for, say, named and numbered shadows. This is the skill you would need. This is different from the shadow read ability, since you could have been handed the codings for those various shadows, but most people who are interested in this, also study for the shadow read exam as well.

Gates

Gates are the way a mage can get around quickly, and cleanly. From one known place to another known place. Most gate spells learned are learned with those known locations coded in, and a lynch pin of a word or phrase that kicks off the connection for a limited amount of time, or number of transits. These are accessable to any Spell User. The distance that a gate reaches is often just a matter of power.

Some, greater gate spells can have the “here” and “there” be additional lynch pins, but knowing the “here” and “there” is often a complex thing, and that information is guarded, and passed down from mage to mage. This is accessable to the crafter, who can (carefully) craft or graft into the spell the “here” and “there” elements, when it is being cast, or used. They could also, most likely, watch a gate spell be used and recreate it successfully.

Those who can manipulate the pure spell elements can take an existing gate (or the residue of a gate that just was, if they are really skillfull) and read out of the spell the “here” and “there” so the gate could be traced, recreated, or even reversed.

Being able to discover the way to code a “here” is a complex magical read of the entire place. Those with the ability to read a place are capable of encoding a “here” into either a crafter-level hung spell, or created on the fly gate spell.

Name Magic

Certain mages have been known to use “name magic” since that is their initial paradigm. Because said individual is such a strong user (Caelin) even if something didn’t have a “True Name” before he tried to use it, it does now, and he tends to know it.

Other Magic

There are many approaches to using magic. Perhaps, even as many as there are or ever have been high-level practitioners. If you have a particular focus, or understanding of your magic or sorcery, talk to the GM and we can see about working it out.

A Magical Place

A squiggle of magic is the Spiral, located in Cobalt, but according to Ferethyn (http://web.mit.edu/~dskern/www/amber/log001107.txt) it is not the Pole of magic. Walking the Spiral is not required to become a mage, but it allowed access to a great power source for mages. Interestingly enough Ferethyn’s Ways is another place that is curdled out of magic, and might be considered a squiggle of it, and not the Pole. There are others.

The Spiral

In Cobalt, down in the mountain’s depths is the Spiral: an ancient, anti-entropically powered magical working place. It is walked from the center outward and it reads those who walk it so as to establish conditions for whatever work is to be performed at the Doors of Manifestation (counterparts to the Veils). At the end of the walk, one steps inside or outside the Spiral, again depending on the work being done, and the Spiral seals itself into the Circled Spiral.

It protects itself through a great degree of control over its locale. Most often, it will recognize those who come to use it unlawfully (including most anyone outside the family, and some in it), and simply shunt them to an illusionary reality where they will accomplish whatever it was they wanted to do and depart believing they have succeeded. It’s quite good at fooling people this way. Other defenses, however, run the gamut of what magic can provide, though it usually resorts to teleporting offenders away, or beating them senseless with stone elementals that rise up from the floor of the chamber itself.

The Spiral is usable by others, and is occasionally sought out by cross-Shadow mages with a lot of time to spare.

Then there was the Spiral Explosion

For a time after this, the spiral was possessed by the spirit of Toram who used it to infect and exert control anyone who walked it. This presence was purged by a Variable Pattern net cast over the Spiral. The net was removed, but can be replaced at any time.

The Spiral Explosion

The Trump Unabomber destroyed the Spiral by disrupting a powerful magical ritual designed to expel Toram from Norton. Merlin was the focus of the ritual, and was Trumped by Celeste. She powered through his blocks to leave a note in his pocket, and disrupted his concentration. Boom. Boom much.

Several Cobaltean mages died and Merlin was blasted into fragments spread out over several shadows. Norton was freed from Toram, and was duplicated at the end - including the items shifted into his body, Greyswandir and Dworkin’s Trump Deck.

Much later, the players discovered that Toram had possessed the Spiral as a result of the explosion and been able to influence those who had walked it.

Pattern

The Primal Pattern

The Primal Pattern was still a secret, and it’s successor still mostly is, and not known to most of the multiverse. The Primal Pattern was originally scribed by Dworkin on the promontory Kolvir with the Jewel of Judgement. The creation of the Pattern also created Shadow.

This is now the Neville/Auricle/Ferro Pattern. This is due to some interesting circumstanses including:

Amberite Blood spilled on it
the erasure by Ferro
re-drawing efforts by Neville (who didn’t survive the effort) and Auricle, who did

From Sign of the Unicorn:

Continuing downhill, a sense of depth reemerged. The sea, now plainly visible off to the right, underwent a possibly purely optical separation from the sky, with which it seemed momentarily to have been joined in some sort of Urmeer of the waters above and the waters below. Unsettling upon reflection, but unnoted while in effect. We were heading down a steep, rocky incline which seemed to have taken its beginning at the rear of the grove to which the unicorn had led us. Perhaps a hundred meters below us was a perfectly level area which appeared to be solid, unfractured rock-roughly oval in shape, a couple of hundred meters along its major axis. The slope down which we rode swung off to the left and returned, describing a vast arc, a parenthesis, half cupping the smooth shelf. Beyond its rightward jutting there was nothing-that is to say the land fell away in steep descent toward that peculiar sea.

And, continuing, all three dimensions seemed to reassert themselves once more. The sun was that great orb of molten gold we had seen earlier. The sky was a deeper blue than that of Amber, and there were no clouds in it. That sea was a matching blue, unspecked by sail or island. I saw no birds, and I heard no sounds other than our own. An enormous silence lay upon this place, this day. In the bowl of my suddenly clear vision, the Pattern at last achieved its disposition upon the surface below. I thought at first that it was inscribed in the rock, but as we drew nearer I saw that it was contained within it-gold-pink swirls, like veining in an exotic marble, natural-seeming despite the obvious purpose to the design.

[Corwin] drew rein and the others came up beside [Corwin]. Random to [Corwin’s] right, Ganelon to [Corwin’s] left.

[They] regarded it in silence for a long while. A dark, rough-edged smudge had obliterated an area of the section immediately beneath [them], running from its outer rim to the center.

“You know,” Random finally said, “it is as if someone had shaved the top off Kolvir, cutting at about the level of the dungeons.”

“Yes,” [Corwin] said.

“Then-looking for congruence-that would be about where our own Pattern lies.”

“Yes,” [Corwin] said again.

The well-known reflections or copies of the Primal Pattern were:

The Pattern under Castle Amber on that Mount Kolvir
The Rebman Pattern, in Rebma
The Pattern in the Sky, in Tir na nog’th

The reflections of the Pattern have not survived the PCs.

The Pattern in the Castle

This pattern, with it’s speed-bump, was pulled out from the castle to be used by Oberon as a power source, and to keep his relatives from using it against him. It was the last of the reflections of the Primal Pattern.

The Pattern in Rebma

This reflection of the Primal Pattern was pulled out of Rebma by Caelin and used to batter the Anti-Dragons out of existence. It’s removal was a major factor in the destruction of Rebma.

The Pattern it Tir

This pattern was pulled from Tir by Caelin to help combat the Anti-Dragons. Tir is no longer accessible due to this, but Jean is still somewhere in Tir.

The New Primal Pattern

A new, unblemished Primal Pattern, drawn to replace the one that was originally drawn by Dworkin, damaged by various of his descendents, and erased by Ferro.

Part of the reason why it was redrawn was to reestablish Shadow after the Shadow Purge happened.

This pattern is said to still belong to the “Bloodline of Dworkin” and, on Ferro’s assurance, before Deidre could become King of Amber she proved her worth by walking it in a small, private, family-only ceremony.

This pattern is much more complex than the one Dworkin drew, mostly because it had three authors, none of which think similarly. Reflections of it are much harder to come by, at the moment, although, that might change over time, as it begins to influence reality more and more over time.

Apparently, while completing the last few steps Neville knew he wasn’t going to survive the effort, so he put all of his last might into demanding and shaping compassion, especially for the Golden Circle Kingdoms, and for other family members that some folks are … less pleased about walking this pattern now. Death curses might be strong, but Death Blessings, powered by a Pattern and a Jewel of Judgement tend to be quite strong.

Jewel Of Judgement

The Jewel of Judgement was once the eye of the Serpent. The Serpent only has one eye at large; all Jewels are linked. (It’s all Mathematics, as Dworkin would say.)

The Jewel is apparently the repository for Amberite souls; everyone else’s souls go into the support for the promontory. In some places that means those souls enter scales of the local Wyrm, in others they become food for the local Kraken. There is some speculation that the entire eye-stealing incident may have been motivated by getting a better view after the universe ends. The Jewel, fortunately or unfortunately, acts as a sort of “soul velcro”, making it simple for the Court Necromancer of Amber to yank souls out of it and return Amberites to life.

Although there is only one Jewel, there are several Amberites who have it.

Neville, aka King Eric II had the Jewel as given to him by Jean, formerly on the mantel at House Swayvill. It is presumed that that instance is no more, after the Pattern Redraw Incident.
King Deirdre has one around her neck, as she is off to deal with a possible Gwen contingency/resurrection plan.
Hamster Dworkin has a Hamster-scale Jewel, which has briefly been in Norton’s eye, completely saning him for the nonce. It is said that that is forbidden from happening again.
Bucephalus, Malachai’s horse, has a Jewel, on his chest harness.
Both Janus and Corwin have been known to walk around with (the same set of) half a dozen Jewels. (Where is this set now? No one seems to know.)

Despite rumors otherwise, there is no Frog of Judgement, no matter what the lineage of the BobaFrogs, and the Frogdalorean armor might claim.

An Alternate (and powerful) Pattern

This N-dimensional Pattern was drawn by the Hillbilly Suhuy as an experiment around the re-understanding of the Logrus as order and chaos working hand-in-hand. This is the Pattern for Hillbilly Amber. All other known patterns are basically flat (two dimensional) in nature, even if they are wrapped into three dimensions (like, say, on a bottle), whereas this most definitely is not. The death (and subsequent ghosting, and possible resurrection) of it’s author allows for the speculation that it still exists.

The (now gone) SuperPattern

Find a way to grow very large, a la Alice in Wonderland or Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.
Draw a very, very, large pattern.
Use your powerful pattern and profit!

The Super Pattern was drawn by Ingold and was quite effective. An incarnation was summoned against Gwen during the battle against her in what became Pride’s Folly.

Ingold wanted to undraw his pattern, and fed all of the power from it to Titania during that entity’s fight in Amber against Evil Titania (previously identified as “Evil Benedict’s Steed”, or a “bunny out of nightmare”.). When the pattern was drained by Ingold, its creator, while he stood in the center maintaining a Trump contact to Titania, it vanished.

Ingold vanished in a clap of lightning at that time, and all attempts to locate him have been fruitless. Ingold is considered missing, and too resourceful to be dead (or to stay that way).

Corwin’s Pattern

See also the canonical Corwin Pattern Creation

Baby Ygg is not as talkative as it’s progenetor.

Several folks have managed to walk Corwin’s pattern:

Corwin
Deirdre
Cassandra
Cassandra’s idiot son known only as “The Rider/The Head”

Pattern Blades and Other Artifacts

A Pattern Blade is traditionally a weapon where the Pattern has been infused into the blade, although Duncan has a different smithing technique where the Patternness is the primary weapon. Generally, these weapons are edged, but Fiona managed to make a pattern hammer that is still sharp.

Known Pattern weapons are:

The Sword of State - Was in the control of Neville usually in the posession of The Grey Man, and therefore possibly subject to the summoning of the Steward of Amber.
Eric’s PatternBlade - Tied to the Pattern in Castle Amber. As far as is known, it’s name might be “My Blade”, since Eric was never that creative. Was in Neville’s posession and is now supposedly in House Helgram somewhere.
Uber-Merlin’s Pattern artifact stash - suspected to have been shifted inside Oberon, and thus looted by Neville. Might also be in House Helgram somewhere.
Werewindle - Tied to the Pattern in Castle Amber. On Martin, under a “Somebody Elses Problem” field of some kind.
Greyswandir - Tied to Tir’s Pattern. There should be three copies of Greyswandir floating around. Two are local and were duplicated when Norton was duplicated on The Spiral, one is from an alternate Amber.
1. Sandy Corwin has a Greyswandir.
2. Norton has a Greyswandir, usually shapeshifted inside him.
3. One of the Greyswandirs are missing, probably lost by the Clown Prince but might be in Malachai’s possesion.
Andauntrick - Tied to the Primal Pattern. Most recently wielded by Merlin.
Mjolnir, pattern hammers created by Fiona as a psyche-to-warfare transmuter. Apparently various Fionas have thought this to be a good idea, across Slices of Fruit.
1. Local Mjolnir - budded into by Jean, infused with Variable Pattern by Gentleman Suhuy, then destroyed by Oberon when it was used against him.
2. Uber-Mjolnir - budded into by Jean as a replacement for Local Mjolnir. Currently the gavel of the Primal Jean that is currently the Steward of Amber.
3. Variable-Pattern Mjolnir - Destroyed by Oberon. For some reason it had gopher teeth-marks on the handle. It is unclear why.

Duncan created a large number of Pattern weapons and artifacts.

I believe the Pattern Blade brought to a duel by someone defeated by Janus is still floating around, but I forget where.

See also the entry on Logrus Blades and Morganti Weapons.

Pit Diving

“Brand go down the hole”.

Once a pit at the edge of the Courts of Chaos, containing demons and a FringeGate amongst many other things. Slammed shut during the Shadow Purge.

Pit divers would enter the Abyss to retrieve or discover items. Osric of House Chanicut was once a Pit Diver.

Shapeshifting

Shapeshifting is the act of changing your body’s form. Shapeshifting power is common in the Courts of Chaos. There is a Shifters Guild for those in Chaos who want to improve their skills. The best known shapeshifter is Rainbow, the head of the Dancer’s Guild of Chaos.

There are two paths to advanced shapeshifting. Chaos-side, and Order-side. Chaos-side is an inhereted trait (originally a survival trait at some point for some of the Old Lords) but it can be latent or skip generations. Order-side can be a studied trait, but might need to be inherited, there has not been much research into this, as to yet.

Chaos-based Shapeshifting

Basic shapeshifting is your body’s automatic system trying to provide you with a form that will survive in your current condition. This pretty much happens without thought on your part, and while might not be the most elegant solution in any given circumstance, usually just keeps adjusting until it finds a form that works. Good stuff helps in this case, in the shifts being quick, unobtrusive, and more correct (needing less adjustments) bad stuff, well, gives you the opposite, cycling through possible solutions, and settling on not-necessarily the best form for the needs of the moment, or oscillating between two necessary, but contradictory solutions.

This is really useful since the environment of the Courts of Chaos is not necessarily consistent one step to the next, and a number of the “ways” or normal short-cuts go through places that shapeshifting is just such a natural solution, that most chaosians treat it like wind-blown hair. Occasionally it is noticeable, but normally not even worth a comment, and yet, there are some folks really hung up on how their hair looks. It’s as automatic as your heart beating, and just as unconsciously controlled. If someone knocks you out, you don’t devolve to your base form that might drown or suffocate without water over your gills or anything. If you are moved, your body’s autonomic shapeshifting process (under all but the most extraordinary circumstances) will shift to cope with your new circumstance.

It means you can’t decide “I need to be a wolf” and become a wolf, but, if you happen to be in a circumstance that running fast on four legs, while covered in fur, is what is appropriate to the circumstance, you might end up wolf like, or cheetah like. Good stuff might cause the form to match others in that environment better, and bad stuff might make you a jackal amongst the lionesses.

There is always a base form (for some odd and unknown reason, most people’s base form is chandroid in nature), that, should the circumstance preclude the ability to shapeshift will resumed. Also, most revert to that base form upon death.

Order-based Shapeshifting

Basic shapeshifting starts by learned how to change basic things (like making your fingers longer, and then back again, while maintaining functionality) then learning specific shapes, and how each of them is supposed to work, and how to transition between them. Sometimes the learning can be painful, and, there have been a number of times that fucntionality understanding can be enhanced via medical studies, scientific understanding of physics, biology, and chemistry. The more detail learning that exists, the more successfull the shapeshifting can be.

One usually progresses by learning how a new form works, and safe steps, to go backwards and forwards between those working forms. The transition stages are often unstable, and unbalanced, but sometimes, they are steps in the path toward a final form (See also White Wolf, shape-shifting between their various forms.)

Advanced Shapeshifting

Advanced shapeshifting is the convergent point of both paths. It is a Chaos-side learning to take control of an autonomic system, or a Order-side learning to shift more fluidly with the circumstance, trusting in their knowledge and body to be able to cope.

It also can get you into more trouble, for one can take on a shape too completely, such that the you is lost, or take on a shape with no ability to shapeshift (or a talent for shapeshifting that just hasn’t bloomed yet) so the ability to shapeshift back out is lost.

Unlife

One of the four balanced powers that work in concert. Currently Jean is the master. It is all the things that don’t dream, are not touched by the spark of life, nor have given up the spark of life.

The three others that balance it are:

Undeath currently with Norton as its master.
Faerie currently with Titania as its master.
Life/Matrix currently with Faythe as its master.

Void

The Void is a cross-shadow (possibly cross-promontory) connecting power.

Fiona is believed to have used Void when transporting Corwin to the Primal Pattern in Hand of Oberon:

I entered a cleft in a hillside. The way was narrow and very dark, with only a small band of stars above us. Fiona had been manipulating Shadow while we had talked, leading us from Ed’s field downward, into a misty, moorlike place, then up again, to a clear and rocky trail among mountains. Now, as we moved through the dark defile, I felt her working with Shadow again. The air was cool but not cold. The blackness to our left and our right was absolute, giving the illusion of enormous depths, rather than nearby rock cloaked in shadow. This impression was reinforced, I suddenly realized, by the fact that Drum’s hoofbeats were not producing any echoes, aftersounds, overtones.

The band of stars had narrowed, and it finally vanished above us. We advanced through what seemed a totally black tunnel now, with perhaps the tiniest flickering of light a great distance ahead of us.

The light had grown large, become a circular opening. It had approached at a rate out of proportion to our advance, as though the tunnel itself were contracting. It seemed to be daylight that was rushing in through what I chose to regard as the cave mouth.

The Void bears similarities to Shadow concepts like “Between” or “The Outer Darkness”, “The Empty Spaces” or “The Deep”. It seems likely that outer space is a shadow of the Void, which implies a large scale for the actual Void.

Those who seem to have mastered it:

Ingold
Rainbow
Verra
A non-local Princess Chandra, who had lost the Serpent

No player characters are known Void adepts, and as a result this power is poorly understood by the players.

Good, Bad, and Zero Stuff

Good stuff, Bad stuff, and Zero Stuff, an explanation

There is a limit of +- 4 points of stuff possbile in this campaign.

The good stuff and bad stuff in this campaign is at a little variant from standard Ameber campaigns

Zero stuff

You make your own luck. The universe plays fair with you, or no more unfair than the random toss of dice. Sometimes you are up, sometimes you are down, but basically your decisions and choices shape your destiny and Lady Luck never really notices you, one way or the other.

1 point good/bad stuff

One point of good stuff costs you one point. One point of bad stuff gives you one more point to play with.

The one point in stuff is all the little things. For one point in good stuff, when you show up at a bus stop, there is always a bus just about to pull up, your line is always the fastest moving one, there is always an elevator just as you press the button, and the like.

For one point in bad stuff the exact opposite is true, your line is always the one that moves the slowest, the bus just came if you are right on time or a hair late, if you are early that’s the bus that is late, there is never an elevator waiting, it will always take a bit, etc.

2-4 points of good/bad stuff

This is the meat of the luck.

For good stuff, the bus you miss? That’s the one that gets robbed. The flight you miss is the one that crashes before it reaches it’s destination. The random person who bumps into you, will be important to your quest. The pack you found will either have in it exactly what you are looking for, or belong to the person you really needed to meet, when you return it to them. It is like riding the syncronicity highway. You live a somewhat to very charmed life. Life is easy for you, and those around you. Especially if you take the lead.

For bad stuff, you are always on the wrong foot, have the wrong tool for the job, accidently annoy the person you were supposed to get information from, or have as an ally or compatriot in your quest, at the extremes, the inn you finally found to fall asleep in, after having been up for days straight? It gets set on fire in the middle of the night due to a drunken brawl you had nothing at all to do with. Things like that always happen to you. Your life is never easy, never boring, and often dangerous for you and those around you. Especialy if you take the lead.

Often the amount of stuff one has effects the personality of the person who has the good or bad stuff.

5 or more points good/bad stuff

Anything 5 points or more in either direction, and you were either too lucky to be caught up in the game, or you were so unlucky you didn’t survive long enough to be around to join it.

Rogues Gallery (Alphabetical order)

Logs (So Far):

Game Quotes

20240713

Amelia: I never thought I’d have to teach opsec to my computer.

FAQ

Q: Are the characters meant to be completely unaware of Amber, the pattern, and the existence of other shadow realms?

A: Well. Basically, except they exist in myths. Zelazny and Stross both wrote their books. You can elect for your character to have read them, or not, at your choosing.

Q: So, for example, a character could have sorcery, but their understanding of it would be limited to the fantasy or comic stories they know. Is that about right?

A: They could have the potential for sorcery, and be completely untrained, and it would often manifest to them as luck (either good or bad, dependent) or just like the universe favors them, in certain ways, since in this here and now, there is no objective, repeatable sorcery that people know about.

And over the course of the run, there is a high likelihood that they could end up in the company of someone who might be willing to train them.

(Because, if you spend points on it, as the GM, I’m happy to make sure the points aren’t wasted, although they might not manifest at the very beginning.)

And, as something that my players have discovered, it is often worth having some artifact that could be used as a power store, and another/same artifact that one can hang un-cast spells on, so that when the time comes, both are familiar, and paid for.

They could be a “lucky” piece or a family heirloom, or some other reason you often keep it with you.

Also, you should give thought to the shape that your character will understand the sorcery, once it becomes active. Which set of fictions does it match?

Q: What guidance would you offer in character creation?

A: A character should be someone who would have the time, resources, energy and curiosity to try and unravel something that might just prove to be a nut-job conspiracy theory. This is a mystery, discovery, and exploration-based campaign. There might be science fiction, fantasy, horror, comedy, or other elements woven in.

If you want your character to have some of the domain knowledge you have, pick a reason that your character would have had that background. Like for example, if your character knows how to use a sword, is it because they fight heavy list? Do Kendo? Have been part of a live-steel tournament? Is part of the Storm Trooper 501st legion, and you practice with light sabers on a regular basis? Did fencing in University, and preferred saber to foil?

Same with any other skill. If you want to have it, give me a reason that it is in your skill set, and that will probably suffice. If you are ranked in a stat, we can figure out which world records that stat might have helped you create, or why you didn’t let your superiority shown (ranked in warfare gives you the wiles to play down your superiority).

Q: Should the characters already know each other?

A: It is possible, and some might know of the others as well, depending on backgrounds, and circles folks move through. So being open about character concepts and possible directions might help things gel and mesh more. I mean, if someone picks a vlogger or “influencer” as their character, others might have seen them. If one is an expert in their field, others might have read their published papers, or have been to a lecture, etc.

Also, in case it wasn’t clear, from the above, any or all of you are highly encouraged to collaborate with your backstories, regardless of their having met or not, because sometimes complimentary paths of thought can help build characters that will mesh well, once play commences.

Q: The quick guide makes Amber seem like a fantasy world, but then you mention elevators and other modern niceties. I guess what I should be asking is what will the setting be?

A: We’re starting in present day earth. The overall setting for the system includes earth as one of many ‘shadow realms’ that exist between the opposing worlds of Amber and Chaos.

Most if not all of the path that I foresee does, indeed, sit on earth, or a close earth analogue. In fact one of the folks asked if they could play a self-based character, and that is entirely possible. The end of the scenario might, for those interested, gateway into the greater amberverse.

Other head-cannons available for discussion.