Questions and Answers

How do I start? Pick out a name for your character and join the board under that name. Then contact me (David the GM) to work out all the details.

When does play begin? Methinks I'll wait until we have four or five players committed.

How will the Players and GM communicate? I will create a special forum for each Player, viewable only by myself and them. Among other things, that is where we'll place the Character Sheets and the character bio.

I don't know the rules... No problem. The core rulebook can be downloaded in PDF format right here: Amber DRPG Core Rulebook Likewise here is the supplement: The Shadow Knight

It has been a while since I've read the books. Does that preclude my playing? Not necessarily, although I'd recommend re-reading at least one before we start. You almost certainly want a character who reflects your relative lack of detailed knowledge--some one suffering from amnesia, or more likely someone raised away from Amber itself.

Is it appropriate to start asking questions here?

Absolutely!

I just sent you a PM...I find it much easier to work with a subforum (as we can reference previous posts, etc. Can you set us up a "Winnow Development" subforum or thread? How do you want to do it?

I am setting up a Winnow Subforum right now...!

Meanwhile, your most excellent question: DavidGM, I am also interested in the overall tone and flow of the game you envision - unequivocably vicious and nasty politics? puzzle-solving? Amber-centered and all about the power? Exploration-centered? "Save the cheerleader, save the multiverse" type of stuff?

The Crimson Unicorn will be an adventure/mystery story, focused on character. In designing the story my inspirations included Captain Blood, The Duchess of Malfi, King Lear, the motion picture Thor and the Odyssey. There will be battles, maybe even a war before we're through--but that isn't what the story is about. I want to challenge each character into learning something new about the world and about themselves. Kingdoms and innocent lives are at stake. But so are some people's souls.

Should it help you understand where I'm coming from, I prefer Firefly, Babylon 5 and Farscape over Star Trek and Star Wars any day of the week. I enjoyed Twilight well enough (ditto 30 Days of Night) but adored Let Me In. Love to watch Bones but love Criminal Minds even more, yet they both pale in comparison to Dexter.

Narnia was okay. LOTR was fantastic. Game of Thrones is awesome. My favorite superhero movie of all time is Watchman.

"Watchmen." I liked that too, but my favorite superhero series is definitely X-Men. I'm with you on Firefly, et. al. For vampires...True Blood takes them all. Lots of good stuff around.

For what it's worth, I have yet to see a movie or TV show do vampires the way I think they could be done. Always with some whiny emo crap, sad for centuries over an insult or murdered puppydog or whatever. Blah. Never is the vampire a calm an intelligent evil. And in the end, they always turn into that stupid mottle-skinned lumpy thing with bat ears....From Dusk til Dawn? Stupid.

And, in spite of myself, and in spite of Nick Cage, I'm kind of partial to Kick-Ass, as far as super-hero movies. Watchmen was up there, though.

OMG yes Kick-Ass was great...not sure I'd class it as a superhero movie but it was certainly superhero-inspired. Hit Girl...awesome!

And the young actress that did her was great in Hugo, I saw recently. An excellent movie, if not fanboy material in any way.

I was actually at the premier of Kick Ass and saw Chloe Grace Moretz as well as several other members of the cast (one of the relatively few advantages of living in LA). Soon after she starred as a vampire in Let Me In, one of my top vampire films of all time. She's also in Tim Burton's next film, in which Johnny Depp is playing a vampire (I collect vampire films and am writing a vampire novel).

personally i lean more towards transhuman scifi. i would highly recommend 'Saturn's Children' by Charles Stross. its a tale told by robots after the last human is extinct and global warning has started to boil earths oceans, and its something of a mystery novel. Stross is a very good author, and his 'Family Trade' series has some vague similarity to Amber. he tends to write scifi spy novels, of a sort.

I saw "Let The Right One In" (original Scandinavian version of "Let Me In")...I suppose now I have to see "Let Me In"...

Hey, a big question - is there high tech? How high? All my games had today's earthtech as the high limit - made things simpler - personally I detest (read: loathe) sci-fi high-tech in Amber, but I ain't the GM, so I'm asking and hoping to get a good answer... :bounce:

Is there high tech? How high?

Electronics as we know them do not work in Amber nor in the immediately surrounding Shadows (including the Golden Circle). It you go far enough out, all kinds of things might show up, but so far the highest tech of anything in anyone's background is roughly analogous to Earth in the present. No plans to involve much high tech at all.

Are Corwin's chronicles written or available?

In Amber itself? No.

Oh, dude. It has been WAY too long since I've read the Chronicles. I'm about 2/3 of the way through Nine Princes, and there's just all kinds of stuff in there that I'd forgotten. Hopefully, it will make for some interesting improvements to my character, once I get back into what's possible in this world.

Looks like I'm going to have to re-read them after I've finished the new Game of Thrones book. It's been about 6-7 years since I read them last and I'm sure there's loads I have forgotten. I do remember what a selfish son-of-a-bitch Corwin is however. He's all me, me, me, me, me.

Should be interesting to meet them all in game.

Gavin

I really miss having a general OOC thread where all the players can chat about each other's situations as players (not characters) - like, I would say, "Woah, Kier, you're creeping me out, man!" or whatever.

Winnow wrote:I really miss having a general OOC thread where all the players can chat about each other's situations as players (not characters) - like, I would say, "Woah, Kier, you're creeping me out, man!" or whatever.

Yeah that's exactly what I felt. When they asked Mint how she felt my thoughts were "I don't mind the wriggly things but you are brother and sister right?" Creepy.

I'm really enjoying chatting with Winnow by the way, its almost like a form of philosphical sparring!

Gavin

There's an OOC forum now. Two, actually. One of discussion of the game and another for pretty much anything.

Maybe I'm missing something...where are they? I don't see anything...

Or do you mean the "About the Game" and "Personal News and Stuff" ?

I am going to guess I am right...I was expecting something like "OOC Discussions". So, I will make one.

David, rule interpretations vs. canon - what is the interpretation of these we will be using in the game?

Finding anything in Shadow: ADRPG says you can shadowwalk to anything, even something as vague as "whatever is causing my problem" (ADRPG, Page 10) or to a family member e.g., "I'm going to out (sic) to find Uncle Bleys." (Page 40) Canon obviously contradicts this as no one did this in the books and Corwin remained lost for 200+ years of Earth time. In practical terms it also makes things in the game too easy.

Identifying Amberites or Chaosites. ADRPG says advanced Pattern initiates can identify anything as "real" (originating in Amber, etc) or things of Pattern with Pattern lens (P43-44). In fact ADRPG seems to be saying that anyone who has walked the Pattern has Pattern within him like DNA. Canon contradicts or at least does not support this, otherwise it could always be confirmed whether someone was a shadow or Real, or Caine's "corpse" was really him, Dara could have been confirmed before walking the Pattern as an Amberite...in fact, in the recent scene Fiona could have just looked at The Kier through Pattern lens. I am guessing since she did not, you agree with canon. I hope so, otherwise it takes a lot of mystery out of things...

Power words: Completely non-canonical. Do they work as ADRPG sets out? [I never used or allowed them, they offend my sense of Amberish-ness]. I believe Wujcik later said he put them in to counter Powers and sorcery for non-users. From my point of view that's a tacit admission that the system as he wrote it was broken in some ways beyond the average GM to deal with and he had to create an artificial counter.

Mental influence and contests: ADRPG says physical or mind-to-mind contact makes Psyche use against another mind possible. Canon does not support this, except in the limited instance of calming an Amberite's own horse. No Amberite ever touches or looks in the eyes of anyone unaided by Trump and does a Jedi mind trick. In the books mental contests always need Trump or maybe (can't think of any time but) some other mystical connection.

Finding anything in Shadow: That remains quite possible in theory. The problem is, how long does it take and what lies in between? Suffice to say I am secure in my abilities to handle this.

Identifying Amberites or Chaosites. Methinks this is indeed possible, but isn't particularly easy, especially when it comes to people. Fiona may well have perceived things about the Trumps no else did (then again, maybe they did) but even she needs more than a glance or even a prolonged conversation to tell if someone is an Amberite.

Power words: They are in the game and we are using them. I feel them a bit awkward but have included them.

Mental influence and contests: Again, methinks this comes down to difficulty. In theory one can do this, but in practice it is difficult. Very. Even the most advanced adepts can barely manage this without some kind of tool, like Trump. And it remains a wild card--because as I see it the only way to mount such an attack is to lower one's own defenses.

Very well, thanks!

David wrote:Mental influence and contests: Again, methinks this comes down to difficulty. In theory one can do this, but in practice it is difficult. Very. Even the most advanced adepts can barely manage this without some kind of tool, like Trump. And it remains a wild card--because as I see it the only way to mount such an attack is to lower one's own defenses.

If two PCs trust one another enough to mutually lower their defenses could they communicate this way? Would doing so only lower their defenses to each other or to outside attack as well?

Also, does Amber or even the Golden Circle have any sort of Newspaper?

If two PCs trust one another enough to mutually lower their defenses could they communicate this way? Would doing so only lower their defenses to each other or to outside attack as well?

Yes, but it requires skill, preferably on both their parts. It does involve lowering defenses but with sufficient skill (i.e. Fiona/Bleys/Brand level) the defenses can be selectively lowered.

Also, does Amber or even the Golden Circle have any sort of Newspaper?

Interesting idea! I don't see any evidence Amber itself has anything of the kind, but I'm sure some members of the Golden Circle do. All that's needed for such is relatively widespread literacy in some large cities, fairly cheap paper and printing presses.