Items and creatures are no longer built up from separately costed qualities and powers, but are bought outright, on a sliding scale of costs reflecting the power and utility of the item/creature. When you pay points for an item or a creature, it becomes bound to you as part of your personal “reality”.
Since there are no longer any hard and fast rules for Creature/ Artefact creation, anything that you come up with will probably be subject to negotiation. Basically, think of the artefact or creature that you want, decide what it can do, and spend what seems to be the appropriate number of points (see below). I’ll then suggest any changes that I think might be in order. In general, I'm not wild about standardised, generic items - ideally, they should be personalised, idiosyncratic things with a history behind them, so that it makes some sense why they should have become part of the character's "reality". So a few words about them in the background would be nice. Giving them a name helps.
Please also note that creatures and artefacts must be bought individually - you cannot use Quantity Multipliers as in the Amber DRPG rules. The exception to this is an item that is made up of a number of separate parts, but which can only really be used together (i.e., a pair of matching swords would have to be bought separately, but a set of stones used for scrying could be bought as a single item).
Costs and Examples
| Cost | Artefact | Creature |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A well made item without any unusual properties (e.g., a weapon, suit of armour, sailing ship, etc.), or an otherwise mundane artefact with some supernatural aspect (e.g., a self-filling hip-flask) | An ordinary animal - a fine specimen, perhaps, but with no unusual abilities (e.g., a horse, cat, hunting hound, raven, velociraptor, dodo, etc.) |
| 2 | An item with some unusual property (e.g., a supernaturally sharp sword, armour that repairs itself, a self-reloading cross-bow that generates its own ammunition, an unnaturally fast ship, a set of intelligent lock-picks, a flying carpet, etc.) | An ordinary animal with some unusual ability (e.g., a supernaturally fast horse, a telepathic cat, a velociraptor with super-sharp teeth and claws) or a supernatural creature (not too powerful) such as a griffin or a wyvern. |
| 4 | An item with a number of minor but unusual properties (e.g., an ultra-fast ship that is resistant to cannon-fire) or with one major power, (e.g., a scrying mirror, a sword that can summon storms, a magical focus or accumulator) or the ability to transcend the limitations of Shadow (e.g., a gun that works in most - if not all - Shadows, a compass which can guide movement through Shadow, etc.). | An animal with a number of minor but unusual abilities (e.g., a telepathic and invisible cat, or a bullet-proof horse that can breathe fire) or with one major power (e.g., the ability to shape-shift, to use magic in some limited way, or to move through Shadow under its own steam) or a reasonably powerful supernatural creature (e.g., a minor daemon, a small dragon). |
| 8 | An item with a number of major and minor powers (e.g., a super-sharp flaming sword that is also a magical accumulator) or with one particularly potent power (e.g., a mirror of teleportation) | A creature with a number of major and minor abilities (e.g., a fire-breathing hell-hound able to move through Shadow) or some powerful supernatural creature (e.g., a major daemon, dragon, etc.). |
Creatures and Artefacts of Power
Creatures and items with magical powers will tend to have
limited, specialised abilities (e.g., a cat that can start
fires, or a gauntlet that can shoot lightning bolts by
pointing). Items with any real power (Pattern, Trump etc) will
not be available to Player Characters - a Pattern blade like
Corwin’s Greyswandir could be bought in theory, but would
probably be a 16 point item, and so (I’m afraid) is out of
your price range. The only exception is the Trump Artist’s
personal Trump Deck (free with Trump Artistry). Creatures
with Pattern, Trump or Real Chaos powers do exist, but you
cannot pay points for them. They are called NPCs.
Allies etc.
Allies, Friends or Devotees can be bought as in the main
ADRPG rulebook. Note that "Amber devotee" or "Chaos devotee"
have little use in this variant setting (you could always
choose "Avalon Devotee".) Note however that these people are
still NPC's with their own agenda's, and that having paid points
for them do not make them "yours".
Replaces Power Words from the Amber DRPG Rules. Cantrips are brief “mini-spells” that take about a second or two to cast, and which have brief, small-scale effects. They cannot create things out of thin air, nor can they affects targets which are out of sight. They also cannot have lasting magical effects (so you cannot have, for example, warding Cantrips). They can be cast on people, but this always requires a Psyche advantage for them to work (you cannot get round this by using “True Names”, as is the case for Power Words). The good news is that for your 10 points you get not five but as many as you like, up to a reasonable initial limit (say a dozen or so), and you can learn new ones during the game without paying more points.
Cantrips do not depend on local magical energies, but are powered internally by the caster, and so they can in theory be cast in places were magic does not work. However, they are considerably easier to use in magical areas.
Available Cantrips - Since they are a form of magic, Cantrips cannot affect major powers, so a number of the old Amber DRPG Power Words (e.g., Pattern Negation and Trump Disrupt) are not available as Cantrips. However, the remaining Power Words are available, including:
| Psychic Defense | Pain Attack | Light Strobe |
| Psychic Disrupt | Process Surge | Spark |
| Neural Disrupt | Process Snuff | Weaken Structure |
| Lifeforce | Shade | Thunder |
| Burst of Psyche |
This replaces Sorcery and Conjuration from the Amber DRPG rules. Basically, it involves the ability to collect and manipulate the magical energies local to a Shadow to create structured magical effects, which are limited largely by the confines of the immediate Shadow, the energy available, and the amount of time and effort you are willing to put into your spells and enchantments. The rate at which you can gather magical energy depends on your Psyche and the local magical ambiance (it is always faster with a high Psyche and a high magic level), while how long you can keep gathering it depends on your Endurance. The power also includes the ability to sense and analyse magical phenomena - such sensitivity is also Psyche-dependent.
Rituals can be bought in two stages:
Novice (5 points)
(Requires Chaos ranked Psyche)
Allows you to sense magical energies, and to contribute to
magical rituals. You can perform simple rituals on your own,
but the ritual will take long than that of an adept, and the
results will tend to be temporary and will leak magic like
mad. You can in theory mess with other people's magic (like
working out how to defuse a warding), but you should probably
avoid trying to do this if you have Bad Stuff.
Adept (10 points)
(Requires Novice)
Full-blown ritual magic as described in the rest of this section.
Time Limitations
The big difference between Rituals and Amber Rulebook Sorcery is
that you cannot hang spells. All spells take time to cast,
varying from just a couple of minutes to hours or even days,
depending on the scale of the ritual. Spells that manipulate
existing materials and forces generally take less time than
spells that play about with physical laws. There are ways of
speeding things up a bit (other than by buying more Psyche),
which involve the use of artefacts, such as magical
accumulators which can gather the magical energies for you,
or magical foci which can be used to provide shortcuts during
casting. However, even these will rarely do more than knock
about a third off the casting time, and are not always easily
portable (see below). It may also be possible to speed things
up by drawing on local Power sources, if such exist, or
by drawing on your own psychic energy (again, see below).
Spell Effects
The effects of spells are generally limited to the area in
which they are cast. Spells are also normally "line-of-sight"
things, in the sense that you must be able to see or otherwise
pin-point the target of the spell before you can cast it. Even
with things like scrying or summoning rituals (which can
sometimes reach beyond the confines of the immediate area), you
still need something to focus on (usually an object connected
with the target of the spell, or failing that a very good
psychic impression of the target).
Enchantment
Enchanting an object (or a place) is not simply a matter of
making a few mystic passes over it - you frequently need to
spend more time preparing the ritual (collecting the right
materials, researching the most advantageous conditions,
performing preliminary rituals etc.) than conducting the main
ritual itself. A simple enchantment (e.g., making a sword
sharper and tougher) might take hour or so. A major enchantment
(like creating a permanent transportation portal) would take
days.
Resistance to magic
Magic is weak compared to any of the major Powers (Pattern,
Trump, Chaos Powers). A touch of Pattern energy is usually all
it takes to disrupt or dispel any spell or enchantment. Real
people (like Amberites) also have a certain resistance to magic,
which means that casting invasive spells on them requires a
reasonable Psyche advantage. It also means that you cannot
enchant them either (enchanting an intelligent Shadow being is
possible with a Psyche advantage). Items containing a Real
Power can only be altered or manipulated magically if you are
already able to combine magic with that Power. Which you
currently cannot.
Foci and Accumulators
Generic terms for magical tools used by sorcerers and
enchanters. A focus for a ritual has the overall “shape” of the
ritual “hardwired” into it, saving the user time in the last
stages of casting. It does not substitute for the casting of
the ritual, but allows the user to take shortcuts. The
disadvantage is that foci are specific to particular kinds of
ritual (e.g., summoning, warding, weather control, teleportation
and portals, scrying etc.). If you use a focus, you will need to
specify which type of magic it is specific to. An accumulator
constantly draws in magical energy, allowing the user to
concentrate more on the shape and form of the spell than on
gathering energy for it. (Accumulators tend to be drained when
moved from Shadow to Shadow, and even when moved to another
magical Shadow will still need time to recharge). The most
powerful foci and accumulators are often locations rather than
artefacts - a stone circle, an altar, a sacred grove etc. - and
so are not very portable. It usually takes days or weeks to
enchant a focus or an accumulator.
Specialisation
You can, if you wish, specialise in a particular style of magic,
such as necromancy, mind-control magic, scrying, daemonology,
control of the elements, etc. etc. This is basically a character
thing, reflecting the character’s interests. It does not mean
that you are necessarily bad at other aspects of magic, only
that other specialists may be more knowledgeable in areas
where you are not. In game terms, it simply means that you
will know about your area of specialisation, and will find
it easier to analyse and create new spells of that type.
Specialisation gives you no benefits in terms of casting
times etc.
Using Rituals
I intend to run this power in a fairly freeform manner – tell
me what you want to try and do, and I’ll tell you whether you
think you can do it, and if so, how long you think it’ll take.
Within the limitations stated above, you can create pretty much
any spell you want - there is no need to provide me with a list
of spells, although you may want me to OK any ideas you might
have. Also, a brief word on magical tactics: Flash-bang or
combat-oriented spells are impractical – no self-respecting
target is going to wait 5 minutes for you to wind up a
lightning bolt to throw at them. This does not mean that
rituals are useless in combat - you just need to plan ahead.
A more practical ritual would be one that summoned up a small
storm, which you could then manipulate to cast lightning where
you wanted it. This would still take up to 5 minutes to wind up,
but at the end of it you have an offensive ability continuously
on tap.
Slightly changed from the Amber DRPG rules, in that there is no avatar form per se, and certain abilities that often get treated as part of Basic Shape-shifting (such as major internal reorganisation, elemental forms etc.) are relegated to the Advanced version (unavailable in this game). Shape-shifting is a power that can be discovered or developed without a teacher, so you can keep it a secret.
The basic elements of shape-shifting are as follows:
Shape-shift Wounds (10 points)
(Requires Chaos ranked Psyche and Endurance)
The ability to heal minor wounds closed in seconds or minutes,
and to speed up the healing of major wounds. Does nothing for
fatal wounds, unfortunately, but can tip the balance between
life and death in borderline cases. This is fairly instinctive,
requiring relatively little conscious control.
Daemon Form (5 points)
(Requires Chaos ranked Psyche and Endurance)
The ability to change into an armoured, combat-oriented form,
invariably daemonic in appearance. This is a natural, fairly
instinctive form, and the change is a fairly quick one, taking
only a few seconds.
Animal Forms (5 points)
(Requires Chaos ranked Psyche and Endurance)
The ability to change into pretty much any kind of animal. Does
not automatically give you complete control over the form’s
abilities (such as flight) - these will still have to be
practiced and mastered. The more familiar you are with the animal
in question, the easier it will be to imitate it.
Shape Body Parts (5 points)
(Requires Animal Forms or Daemon Form)
The ability to shape various parts of your body, for instance to
grow claws, fangs etc. Also allows you to redistribute your body
mass, so as to make yourself taller or shorter. With some care,
it is possible to enhance your senses so that you can track
scents or see in the dark, but it is usually more effective to
turn into an animal that can do these things instead.
Facial Features (5 points)
(Requires Animal Forms or Daemon Form)
The ability to mimic the features and coloration of others.
The better you know the subject you are trying to imitate, the
more accurate this will be.
When buying partial Shape-shifting, the minimum expenditure is 15 points.
Attribute Requirements
As above. A higher Psyche allows you to change shape more
quickly, and to mimic other forms more precisely. It also
allows you to learn new forms and master their physical
abilities more quickly. Repeated shape-shifting is a drain
on the character's stamina, so in the longer term a decent
Endurance is also important. You also need a minimum of
Amber Rank Strength in order to fly in any winged form.
Other details about Shape-Shifting
Your clothes and immediate personal possessions tend to change
with you, although more bulky items like swords or backpacks do
not (unless they possess some kind of shape-shifting themselves,
or you have paid points for them). Shape-shifting involves more
than a mere physical change, it seems. On the other hand,
shape-shifting tends to conserve mass - you can only increase or
decrease your size and mass by up to 50% either way.
Largely the same as the DRPG rules. Trump artists may have their Trump Deck as a Personal Item, which they will be able to find again if lost, as per Creatures and Artefacts (q.v.). This costs no additional points.
Trump can be bought partially in three stages, with each stage being the pre-requisite for the next.
Trump Sketches (10 points)
(Novice level - requires a ranked Psyche)
Allows the artist to create very basic Trumps. Trumps sketches
are usually only good for two or three uses if used for
communication only, and only one use if used for transportation.
After this they literally burn up. If unused they tend to lose
their power after a couple of days. They are harder to use
than more permanent Trumps and are limited in range.
At this level, it takes several hours (an absolute beginner
might take a day or longer) to produce a sketch. The artist
can also identify incoming Trump calls by sensing the activity
in the caller's Trump. This requires them to (a) possess, and
(b) be able to touch the Trump in question.
Temporary Trumps (10 Points)
(Initiate level - requires Trump Sketches)
Allows the artist to create more permanent Trumps which can be
used by other people. Temporary Trumps fade to uselessness
after a couple of weeks if unused, and last about a week if
used solely for communication. If used for transportation on
a regular basis, they burn up after a couple of days.
At this level, it takes several hours to create a temporary
Trump, but less than half an hour to produce a Trump sketch.
The artist is not only able to identify incoming Trump calls
as above, but can also sense (again by touch) Trump energies
in other constructs (physical or non-physical) and in people.
Full Trumps (10 points)
(Adept level - requires Temporary Trumps)
Allows the artist to create fully-fledged, permanent Trumps which
can be used repeatedly by other people without running out.
At this level full Trumps take several hours to create, temporary
Trumps take about an hour, and Trump sketches can be knocked off
in about five minutes. The artist no longer has to touch an
object or person in order to detect Trump energies in them,
although they do have to be standing very close to them, and
they still need to finger through their Trump deck to identify
incoming callers. They can also detect the aftereffects of
Trump usage (e.g., they can tell if someone has recently
Trumped in or out of a room), although bear in mind that the
residues of Trump activity tend to fade quickly.
Using Trumps
The higher your Psyche, the faster you can complete a working
Trump. Trumps have an effective range, also based on the user's
Psyche. The higher your Psyche, the easier it is to Trump long
"distances". Also, in order to force a Trump contact on someone,
you need a fairly significant Psyche advantage over them. Forcing
difficult contacts is quite tiring (as is creating a Trump in the
first place), so Endurance is also a factor. The first level of
contact over a Trump link is mind-to-mind - you can see and
converse with each other, but not touch. Physical contact
requires a bit more effort, especially if one of the parties
resists such a move.
What I would like to see for each character:
The Realm of Avalon is situated in a valley, about 30-50 miles from north to south, and about 70 miles from east to west. Through the middle of it (roughly west-east) flows the River of the Blessed, originating in a large lake (the Lake of the Moon), and flowing out into the sea (which is at the east end of the valley). Close to the mouth of the river is the harbour town of Emmeth, which now contains just a couple of fishing boats and the ruins of a much larger quay.
The valley is surrounded in north, east and south by rocky hills, which are covered by the Forest Sauvage. One can wander for quite a distance through those woods, which become denser and darker as you go further in. Finally, the way is always barred by thick barriers of impenetrable thorny rose bushes, which bloom when the moon is full. No one has been able to cut a path through them, and neither will they burn. Even the strongest, best armoured knight becomes stuck after a few hundred yards. It is said that the Fey, who live in the forest (according to legend), know secret routes through the thorny bushes to other places.
Far to the North there is a land of high mountains, dark and frozen. It is said that giants live there, and strange painted men.
Across the sea, about a day and half of sailing away, lies the realm of Lyonesse. It is a dead kingdom, covered by ruins and empty villages, amongst which savage tribes of humans roam.
The Orknegh islands
The thorny roses of Avalon bloom with magnificent silver roses at each full moon. There are other roses in the realm, but none as big or as thorny as those.
'... a place of silver and shade and cool waters, where the stars shone like bonfires at night and the green of day was always the green of spring. Youth, love, beauty -- I knew them in Avalon. Proud steeds, bright metal, soft lips, dark ale. Honour...'
[GoA, 31]
This is the land you live in, and grew up in. Perhaps you were born here, or moved here when you were young -- from the lands of the Fey, or the dark and frozen mountains in the North.
The land is mostly at peace, now. But that was different in the past, when Prince Corwin came riding out of the Forest Sauvage, building his castle and his realm at the same time. But that is more than two score years in the past now. The town of Avalon is the glorious centre of the realm, with its silver towers gleaming in both moon and sun.