Character Creation

Powers | Artifacts and Constructs | Personal Shadows | Allies | Stuff | Contributions

Character creation will be handled in a pretty standard manner. Each player receives 100 points to spend in the Attribute Auction and on powers. Players that aren't able to participate in the auction or join in later will have to buy attributes at half-ranks. The normal four (Psyche, Strength, Endurance and Warfare) will be used. It's probably not a good idea to spend more than 50 points or so in a single attribute at the start, but it's your character.

It's not necessary to be an Amberite, but I would like to see the majority of characters with Pattern or being related to the Amber royal family. Chaosians are fine, but they should Work Well with Others^TM. Exceptional Shadow folk will also be considered, but having hooks into the greater scheme of things is a must. Don't create some Shadow dweller and then expect me to get them involved without any input from you.

If you are an Amberite, your Parent (sounds more ominous when it's capitalized, doesn't it?) will be GM-chosen, but you are more than welcome to suggest who you'd like to be descended from. However, keep in mind that a) I don't have to listen to you (though I'll try), and b) your idea of so-and-so d'Amber might not match how I'll portray them in the game, so your perfect parent may turn out to be a disappointment, or even a hassle. But that's everything in this game, isn't it? :) Likewise, Chaosians can have some say as to what House they're from (in fact, it's kind of expected if you create a Chaosian that you have a House in mind). If you have an idea for a House that didn't appear in the books, I'm all ears.

Powers

Here's which powers can and cannot be bought at the beginning of the game, and their point cost:

Most Advanced powers are off limits to start because they aren't exactly widely available to anyone who has the patience. They are a Big Deal and are treated as such. I would like the characters to be relatively inexperienced when compared to the Elder Amberites and the mighty Lords and Ladies of Chaos. The basic powers are powerful enough if you know how to use them (and one of the themes of this game will be just that: learning how to use these powers). The two exceptions to this are Advanced Shape Shifting and Adept of Broken Pattern. The first for two reasons. One, it can be used in my game to move between Shadows (although not as efficiently as a Pattern initiate or someone familiar with the Logrus can), and it allows for those who really, really, really want to play someone without Pattern or Logrus a way to get around (and for 65 Points, it's not a cheap vehicle); two, Shape Shifting is something more easily experimented with, as your body defintely carries a certain familiarity. With some experimentation, a younger being could reach the Advanced level of this power. However, one who has done nothing but live as a Shape Shifter in their time might be disadvantaged in other areas.

Advanced Shape Shifter: What's this small weapon?
Diner (with a confused look): It's a fork. You eat with it.
Adv.S.S.: Instead of using your claws? How terrifying!
Diner: You're new here, I can assume?

The second, Adept of the Broken Pattern, while useful, doesn't provide any great advantages that some of the (more stable) basic powers can't also perform. Plus, using Broken Pattern to get anywhere is a bitch. Anyone willing to spend the 25 Points on it gets what they pay for.

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Artifacts and Constructs

Artifacts are items of power you pay points to gain and keep. Keep being the important part. Anyone with the right powers can just search for a magic item, find it, and claim it as their own. The inherent problem with that is that your new toy may have a previous owner that doesn't want to lose it. Or perhaps it's cursed, or has a psychic trap laid on it, or is really a small carnivorous creature that looks and functions like a Super +6 Razor Blade, or....

The idea is very similar to what your mom always told you about not picking stuff up if you don't know where it's been.

If you spend the points, though, you know where it's been. It's been with you and it's safe. Plus, anything bought with points that your character loses can eventually be refound, remade, regained, etc., without fear of who's had it before you. It's a part of your character's assets that they can count on to an extent.

Constructs are similar to and quite unlike Artifacts. Instead of being items of power, they're extensions of your own powers. They are works of art that your character somehow put together (or found/discovered in the correct manner), and can become quite powerful for a relatively low point cost. Aspects of the Powers you know can be replicated or enhanced through a Construct, and be made to work in new ways. The drawback is that they're based on one or more Shadows for a power source, making them vulnerable, and they have this tendency to become sentient and going off with their own plans.

Rules for Artifacts are in the main rulebook, and all quirks (no Trump-like qualities without knowing Trump Artistry, no spell-hanging items without both Sorcery and Conjuration, etc.) are in effect. However, there's nothing stopping you from getting something by finding it in Shadow (though you know the dangers in that). As for Constructs, the rules for them in Shadow Knight are kind of shaky at best. If you're interested in having one, though, feel free to contact me so we can brainstorm. Some possibles:

• A Pattern-based Construct that works to ward off non-Pattern influences.
• An Advanced Shape Shifting tool useful for healing and altering physical objects.
• A psychically absorbant Trump device that lets the Trump Artist "store" the necessary psychic imprint after only a few moments of contact with the subject.
• A Sorcery Primer that cuts down the time necessary to rack spells by being well-indexed, easily searchible and readily referenced.

They have the tendency to be quite powerful, but like everything, there are limits. The details need to be worked out with me in advance. I've duplicated some of the info from the rulebooks regarding Artifacts and Constructs (mostly point costs) for those without a book handy who really want to start planning ahead.

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Personal Shadows

As you wish, so may you buy, with the exceptions below. In general, the more points spent on the Shadow, the more details I'll want to know regarding it.

• No Primal Planes unless you go into detail on what makes it a Primal Plane and why you can make a claim to it and no one else can. Also, an idea of "where" out in Shadow the Plane is (how far away from either pole of reality it is) must also be decided. Constructs that need a Primal Plane should also explain why that kind of power is necessary.
• Golden Circle or Chaos-type Ways can be bought as Shadows of the Realm, but relations with nearby Shadows (and Amber, if necessary) must be detailed.

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Allies

Allies are pretty much straightforward, as presented in the rulebooks. Point costs as follows:

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Stuff (the Good, the Bad, and the Zero)

One of the biggest problems revolving around Stuff is that it's supposed to roll personality and luck all into one, and these two qualities seem unrelated. However -- and take this with a grain of salt, as this is my own personal view (which influences how the campaign is run, of course) -- pessimists do tend to find the dark and the negative in everything, and people with a lighter outlook tend to see the possibilities in everything... and make use of them. "Look for Hell and you will find it," as they say. Tie to that the fact that your average character has enough power to bend Shadow to their will and hey. Maybe there's power in positive thinking after all.

What this means is that I do expect you to "play your Stuff," as it were. If your character is going to be a rotten bastard, that's fine. But don't take 5 points of Good Stuff along with it and expect victims to fall at your feet without consequence or repercussion. Similarly, there's something to be said for bad things happening to good people (i.e., nice characters with Bad Stuff). However (and remember your grain of salt), I find that there are two kinds of people that have bad things happen even though they're basically good: people who let themselves be victims and people who struggle against their fate. The first type isn't a very good character type, as they'd be too defeatist to try anything; the second are usually going against something bigger than themselves (kind of a normal occurance in Amber) and acrue some help along the way, and that eventual help works out (to me) as one or two points of Good Stuff... if a bit delayed. Everything works out in the end.

Granted, this isn't to say that kind people don't do the occasionally cruel thing, and vice versa. But the more one way you swing, the more events swing that way, too. Keep it in mind, though, come Advancement Point time, if you see your character heading to the other end of the scale, and plan (guess) accordingly.

Zero Stuff characters are kind of tough, even though they tend to make up the majority. They can be good, but so full of their goodness and pride that it gets in their way of being even better; they could be the Bad Things Happening to Good People type mentioned above; they could be self-serving, doing good and evil deeds in turn as the moment demands; they could be aloof, removing themselves from the conflict around them either through self-preservation or disinterest.... there's all sorts of possibilities. They do tend to know what they want; they had 100 Points and knew how to spend them. As Cindy from the Amber rulebook says when making her Zero Stuff character, "I'm willing to make my own luck." What that means in play, though, is that anything can happen at a given turn. How they handle it is up to them. The good and the bad tend to balance out in the end, eventually.

So, to recap: Good Stuff is not automatic. It's like an E-Ticket at Disneyland. Not everyone has one, but unless you go through the process of getting in line, it's not going to do you any good. I.e., if you do a lot of cruel things and generally act in a non-Good Stuff manner, you'll putter away all your lucky breaks when the repercussions come back to you. It'll help, but not as much as it could have, and the help will eventually fall away as you keep acting in a non-Good Stuff manner. Zero Stuff characters may get lucky breaks, but it will be more an issue of what's good for the flow of things. Bad Stuff is, of course, just that. :)

The cap on Stuff, Good or Bad, is 7. Any more than that, and you'll have it too good and not see enough conflict, or too bad to be that effective. NPCs may be more than 7 into Good or Bad Stuff, but that's their own look-out.

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Player Contributions

Player Contributions are good! Player Contributions also take time, and you might have a life to live and things to do. You shouldn't decide to do a contribution unles you know you'll be able to produce. I've been lax in the past with contributions, but this time, if you miss a couple, things will start to look bad (as in, Stuff) for your character. Make sure it'll be something you can do session after session.

Having said that, here are the guidelines:

You get the idea I'm going to be a real bastard with contributions?..... yup. The next question is, "Aren't you missing the point of this being fun? This is a game, not a professional publication." I agree, and I've thought about that. But what I'd like to try and do is put together a collection of stuff we can be proud of. I've read enough bad poetry just from high school alone. I've seen enough really bad Trump art to wonder what misbegotten Shadows these distorted people live in. And this is something you're getting points for. 10 points. That's a lot of points, really! And this is something you have to do over and over, and I will start making your character's life hell if you forget more than a couple times to produce your contribution. I just want to get across the point that contributions are a pain, unless you like spending a couple hours between every game session doing something Amber related. I don't want anyone committing to something for which they can't keep up. If that makes me a bastard with contributions, so be it.

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