Primal powers. Not dreams. Dreams are windows, sometimes doors, through which the perceptions of Player Characters may see things they don't understand.
And I'll let my friend, Jvstin, intrigue you about the magic of Dreams. Check out the power to walk Dreams here.
But the exploration of Primal powers, the clocksprings of the universe before Pattern is an interesting journey for the GM.
You can take Corwin's perspective. Then the Primals might be Vengeance, Rivalry, and Music.
You can take Dworkin's perspective, and then the Primals might be Art, Blood, Madness, and Devotion.
In my campaign, I tried to build Primals that twist through the foundations of the story Zelazny tells in the novels of Amber. Certainly you can tie the Queens that Oberon choose into this entire question. You can twine the spikards, the rivalries between sibling bloodlines, and perhaps more into the question of Primals. The powers of Trump, Pattern, Logrus, and Ghostwheel are all on a more modern and sophisticated level if you plan this way.
In fact, what if the Primals themselves are 'dead gods' as Merlin describes them? What if they had agendas and aspirations once upon a time? And what if the Amberites are larger-than-life avatars of some of those 'old battles' and agendas?
Or the building blocks of Shadow might be more wild, more 'chaotic' than Chaos itself.
Is it worth exploring the parallel between UnderShadow and Underhill, the realm of the Olde Wilde?
So--- what the heck is a Primal Power? What sort of things rival the far-reaching powers of Pattern and Logrus?
Every GM gets to pick and choose.
Certainly some Storytellers will take elements already in the canon text and say that 'GhostWheel' or 'Mirror People' are privy to more intrinsic secrets of the Universe.
But what did the Shroudlings know? What is it the GhostWheel was playing with that led him to Kergma? Or what did Merlin learn of that "ululant cry I had learned in a dream" such that Kergma would come "skittering down the folds of darkness"?
"In my old age, I find that I prefer rules-light and low-mud, because it's too much effort to be detail-heavy, and because too much detail really does destroy the sense of wonder. I think that sense of wonder is what I want in a game nowadays most of all."
Here's a 'headshot' of the Llewella 'sim' for the game I tooled up last week. That's a silver netted evening gown with black panels, no panels required for the top, of course.
I also did a 'Lancers' outfit that is more her style in Amber, where topless fashions are considered gauche. Not that I'm going to start a Fashion Page for the Eternal City.
When I talk about a time waster--it usually means that I can't believe how much time I'm spending on something creative, like web pages or rpgs. Sometimes you end up with something to show for it--but the rest of the world hardly appreciates it regardless.
How could they? You did it because it was absorbing and fun, not for anyone else.
To me, for example, TV is not a time waster, because I either enjoy watching (so there is no waste) or I don't watch at all (which is normal, I have way too many other things to do that are more fun).
So that's the creative eccentricities of time wasting per my own definition.
Sorry for those of you who might have dropped by while I wasn't here--and I do hope to pick up the rhythm I had going before the holidays.
I've been captured by a strange fancy--the Sims.
For those of you who don't know about this time waster it seems the people who brought you the excellent Sim City and such have for some time been manufacturing people and neighborhoods.
Now, I'll admit that I saw these programs in the stores and didn't think too much about it. Gaming software generally leaves me tepid.
But this darn game is a cultural phenom.
And you can build castles. You can create families. I've spent the last week trying to see if I could get the program to create a "Llewella" person.
And did it.
An example of the lengths that some people will go to with Sims is this very nice site. Welcome To Roman Sims--Carpe Simulos! This person has put HOURS of life into this production. It is almost like being storyteller, director, stage construction, and wardrobe person all at once.
The range of expression goes from historical parallels to SCA and RenFaire sites, to recreation of Fav TV shows, comic book characters, and other homages.
I picked up a model of 'Supercar', a show from so long ago only Moses and God know what I'm talking about.
Enjoy. But I warn you--
if you love dollhouses, paperdolls, GI Joe doll adventures, or spending time staring at pixels, don't buy this game.
Here's a 'headshot' of the Llewella 'sim' for the game I tooled up last week. That's a silver netted evening gown with black panels, no panels required for the top, of course.