Although there was nothing wrong with his concept, the way in which he talked about using the powers of the Amber system made me feel that he'd missed something.
''Well'' I said, ''You're looking at the character as if he were a comic book super hero. You can play the character like that, but you won't get as much out of the game.''
I felt all wise and mentorly, right up to the moment that he said ''All right...how do I play an Amber character?''
I'm still thinking about it, which is the purpose of this web page. It's very clear that playing an Amber character is different from playing a character in any other game: those of us who have played know how it feels, but how to describe it to someone who has never played?
Let's take a look at some of those aspects of character in detail, and see some of the personality traits that Zelazny imbued his characters with:
| ''Listen, Corwin'' he said, ''you've been decent enough with me recently. If by some chance you're not really Corwin, you're dead. You've got to be though. You can't be someone else. Not from the way you've operated, without memory even. No, I'll bet your life on it....'' | |
| Nine Princes In Amber |
Amberites are, above all, bigger than life and twice as loud. They are the type of people that legends are made of: quite different from the normal folk of shadows, who go through their lives hounded by a million little concerns. Practically speaking, they are ''distinctive''.
Your goal as a player should be that, after a few sessions of play, everyone in the game has a feel for your character. They should have an idea of how he treats people, how he reacts, etc.
This doesn't have to involve making the character predictable: people may not be able to tell which way you'll jump in a certain situation, but they should be able to recognise your style in anything you do. Specifically, if your character was replaced by an amateur shape changer, the other PCs should be able to spot the impostor instantly.
How do you achieve this? Manage things with your own personal flair. Having a particular calling card is one way, but there are a variety of methods.
Most of all, bear in mind that this is not a game to see who can do the best against the various threats: it's a game to see who can have the most fun.
If your character's style is likely (in a specific situation) to be the wrong way to go, go with it anyway and suffer the consequences!
You'll have more fun, even though your character will not win in the context of the game-world.
|
''You know what I meant. You are responsible for all of Amber now. You have to do the right thing.''
''And you know what I meant. I'm not going to kill a couple more of us because of your suspicions. I would need more than that.'' ''When you get it, it may be too late.'' I shrugged. ''We'll see.'' I reached toward the door. ''What are you going to do now?'' I shook my head. ''I don't tell anybody everything that I know, Brand. It is a kind of insurance.'' |
|
| The Hand of Oberon |
Deception, secrecy, intrigue. All of these are essential to the game of Amber. It is one of the relatively few games where PCs lie to each other on a regular basis: why?
As it mentions in the quote, such secrecy can be very dangerous: things can happen, bad things, because your comrades don't know all of the things you do.
More often, the group simply fails to put the pieces of their knowledge together until far too late to be of use. Worse, such secrecy can cause a lingering distrust among players which can sour friendships.
But secrecy is still a good idea, if you do it right.
Simply put, you are not doing anyone any favours by letting go of your secrets. Secrets are the currency of Amber, more than gold or gems or even power.
Sharing a secret with someone is like giving away your money: and it is giving it away, because any secret you share is destined not to be secret for very long.
Remember the old saying, anything known by three or more people can be considered public knowledge. In Amber, that number goes down to two.
So, the only way to keep secrets for the group is to keep them yourself. You should do so, and you should also respect the fact that other PCs will be keeping their own secrets.
It's not even a matter of distrust: simply a matter of survival.
The time will come, however, when your secrets will have value: the money is ready to be cashed in.
You have to be aware of that time, and take advantage of it, sharing your secret with a select few, because secrets have a tendency to become moot if they're kept too long.
And that's just as good a way to waste their value as never to have kept them secret at all.
|
One of the hardest things for a new character to deal with is that almost everything they care and worry about
in normal role-playing games is... well, moot in Amber.
Does an Amberite, for example, drool at the prospect of gaining ten billion dollars in unmarked bills? Well, only if that's something that they personally find satisfying. They certainly have no real use for the money. Does an Amberite fear the combined attention of the NSA, CIA, FBI and Army? Only as an inconvenience, and only that if they have some business that can only be conducted in one particular shadow. For the most part, Amberites just don't have to worry or care about anything. But most Amberites do worry, and they do care, deeply. What makes the game and its characters so potent is that they have a choice about who and what to care about. |
A while ago, I was playing a character who was teamed up with other Amberites. We were doing some work in a cyberpunk shadow, and I proposed a plan that would accomplish our purpose at the expense of getting every Zaibatsu in the shadow pissed at us.
To my surprise, I encountered significant resistance: people cared deeply about not upsetting the Zaibatsus (due, I think, to lingering fear from the time they played Cyberpunk). I finally ended up physically shaking one of them (only in character, of course) shouting ''Listen! If you care about this particular company, that's one thing, but rest assured that I don't! They may be big shit in this shadow, but they are less than nothing to a Prince of the true realm!'' That seemed to get my point across, and we proceeded with the plan. |
I GM'ed for a character who was intensely worried that the US government would figure out that he was immortal.
Why was he worried? Because he had chosen to make Earth his home, and he had many NPC friends with whom he interacted on a regular basis. Because he cared about the place, and the people, a concern that normally wouldn't matter became important to him.
But, because it was his concern, he never once felt stressed or displeased when a situation came about that could blow his cover. He was thrilled, because it was an aspect of the story that he had created.
And that's the fundamental reason behind this advice: if you choose who and what you care about, rather than having it thrust upon you, you are helping to mould the story yourself.
You become a co-operative part of the whole process. And you'll find, I think, that it makes you value the game, your character, and the things he or she cares about, infinitely more.
|
In a psychology study, experimenters found that if you give a person a task, then hand them one tool which can (with great difficulty) be used to complete the task, they do so immediately.
However, if you give them the same task, and give them twenty tools, each of which could (with great difficulty) be used to complete the task, they take longer than if you'd handed them one. You see, rather than trying to complete the task, they respond to the fact that they're in a testing environment, and they try to use as many of the tools as possible. This phenomenon occurs all the time in role-playing games, and Amber, because its characters have more tools than any other game, has this problem more than any other. |
In another campaign, my character, along with a large group of PCs, was imprisoned by earth police.
Don't ask how, it's an embarrassing story. Needless to say, we did our best, in our individual ways, to escape. Some of us broke the bars, some of us (including myself) Trumped out, and some of us did really obscene things with our powers and such. I realised some years later that the right thing to do would have been to use Pattern to make sure that a lawyer came to our defence, and got us out pending a hearing (at which, of course, we would never arrive). But, because all of us were so entranced by the many exotic things we could do, none of us thought about a simple, almost mundane solution. |
How do you avoid this? As the rule book recommends, ''Develop your character's focus''. Figure out how they see the world, and look at any challenge through their eyes.
For one thing, since most people specialise in one skill or power, this will give you a best tool, which you can evaluate any challenge in terms of: if you're a warrior, and you're presented with people barring your way, you know what to do.
Similarly, if you're a diplomat presented with the same situation, you know what to do.
You have to be careful, however, that your best tool does not eclipse the rest of your toolbox. A warrior probably doesn't want to draw arms in a diplomatic situation, any more than a diplomat should try to talk his way out of a cavalry charge.
As with all things, a good balance is needed between your character's ability to choose an appropriate skill, and their ability to limit their options to the point that they can react quickly.
|
Here's one for my friend Steve who wants to know why he shouldn't use Advanced Pattern to turn his
enemies into bunny rabbits.
Such powers can be (barely, and depending on the GM) within the reach of someone with Advanced Pattern. But doing this type of thing is like sandblasting a soup cracker. It's a waste of power. Why is this bad? Because in Amber you can always assume that there are enemies out there who are gauging your power levels: if you use your full power on a regular basis, they'll know what it is, and how to counter it. In other words, using full power when you don't have to leaves you with nothing held in reserve for crunch-time. |
In the first Amber campaign I GMed, I had the pleasure (at least it was pleasurable in the long term) of working with a player who knew quite a bit about martial arts. He had also (predictably enough) cornered the first rank in Strength.
The first time he got into combat, he spent five minutes detailing what his character was going to do to the tough martial artist he faced (another Amberite of comparable rank). I listened, and nodded, and then I said ''All right... since you're restricting yourself to primitive moves, so basic that a shadow could learn and master them, your opponent quickly gains the advantage.'' There was a long pause, and then I could see things click for him. ''Ah...'' he said, ''...well, I'll stop limiting myself that way: I'll push back onto the offensive, hoping that my show of weakness has lead him to feel overly confident.'' From there on in, the player was a joy to work with. |
It's not bad to use your powers: it's good, it helps to develop the character.
But, as an issue of survival and story-telling, your character should be prepared to exercise more power against (say) a Hoarfrost Demon than he does against (say) a rude taxi-driver.
If you just don't have any more power then it makes for a less entertaining story, as well as putting you in a tough in-game situation.
After all, if they've got even a Chaos ranking, the character is so much better than you that you can't even imagine their skill.
So how do you get involved in a combat, when you're so much less skilled?
Easy: it's like riding a horse. The horse deals with stepping over rocks, and keeping its balance, and going at a certain speed. Your job, as the rider, is to give it direction,an idea of what you want, and to rein it in when it gets a little out of control.
Just so, in Amber, your character will deal with keeping his balance, parrying blows and evaluating a foe. Your job is to give a little direction: describe whether you're fighting offensively or defensively, decide whether an opening is real or a feint, and so on.
In real terms, this means giving the GM an idea of what you're going to do, and then letting the character take over: I'm advancing, my sword dancing in a distracting pattern, while I search for weaknesses, for example.
To go along with this, you should ask the GM to explain the options your character sees in a situation: this is a wonderful source of information, and a very quick way for you to cooperate with the GM in seeing things from your character's viewpoint.
Just as riding requires a relationship of trust between the horse and rider, so role-playing requires trust to be built up between the real player and the fictional character.
If the GM tells you that there are only four strategic options, don't try to figure out some tricky sword-move that will give you a fifth option.
If you really hate the options presented to you, then make yourself a fifth option by changing the nature of the conflict.
If a sword-battle is going badly, don't try to second-guess your character's handling of a sword, do something useful like figuring out a way to beat a hasty retreat!