Some GMs allow for wide variety in the scions of Amber. Chaos, after all, had a great many "looks" in canon. So we can find tall, short, and wide princes/esses of the family royal.
But again, the shadows lie for Amberites. To greater or lesser degrees; Amberites who manipulate shadow for local acceptance or "cultural invisibility" may look differently than their Trumps. They may still be considered by their own lights, but those elements may change to something foreign. One shadow may have shaved heads for both genders, another may insist that everyone must be shorter than five foot.
A good game runs the gamut in moments - at times dark and somber, at times bright and light-hearted. What mood do you like to see prevail?
What timeframe do you like to play in? (this may be related to genre, or not) Middle ages? The era of nano-tech? The rise of the roman empire?
Do you like Puzzles? Riddles? Mysteries? These are all very different things, in my mind. Puzzles use logic, riddles use words, mysteries can be unraveled by a single astute mind or by picking at the threads until the resolution finally becomes apparent...
What other challenges have you come across that you enjoyed or hated?
Do you like playing in large groups? Small ones? What do you think is an ideal sized group for an experienced group?
Do you enjoy watching others play, or do you work on other things when your character is not 'on stage'? Related - do you try as a player not to know any out-of-character knowledge, or are you comfortable knowing things your character does not know?
In an Amber game, do you like the Attribute auction? Or would you rather create your character with a set amount of points and be done with it?
What kind of character do you like to play? What attribute do you like to put first?
Who's your favorite Amberite Elder? Why?
Any questions you'd like to ask back?
Or things that you'd wished a GM had asked before a game?
I appreciate any help/ advice/ you'd like to give me.
Answering fast and sweet:
genre? I'm for character choice genre, which usually means anything were the background supports individuals really making a difference. SF and High-tech usually are less satisfying.
mood? Interactive mood based on players, something that might be a rollercoaster of emotion, but allows range of expression. All fun or all dangerous can be distracting.
timeframe? I'm quite amenable. If the background supports it, I can play end of time, or beginning. I prefer something that doesn't demand stickler to Earth history specifics. Flavor over substance, I guess.
Puzzles? Riddles? Mysteries? Using all three is OK. Mysteries often get mis-handled in my mind since they might be built without enough interactive hooks and might be too clever by half if they only have one solution. Logic is best, especially if the 'player group' has developed a 'shared logic' of the GM's world.
other challenges enjoyed or hated? I love a good bit of 'talking heads'. IOW, at least one limited scene where folks can stop and talk about what's happening before rushing on again. I love turning the 'expected' framework a bit skew. I hate having to play out a GM's script to a foregone conclusion. Ugh!
large groups? Small ones? What do you think is an ideal sized group for an experienced group? Ideal may be five--though I've had a blast with up to ten. Just hard for a single GM to moderate ten active players.
enjoy watching, or do you work on other things? as a player not to know any out-of-character knowledge, comfortable knowing things your character does not know? I love watching. Seldom have the concentration to do something else while others play. Facile with OOC info.
Amber Attribute auction? rather a set amount of points? I'd be willing to do an Auction for a startup FtF campaign, but mostly I prefer setting my own point totals.
kind of character? attribute first? If the GM and I have a thorough discussion about Attributes beforehand, I'll put Strength first. If I don't have that luxury, I'll go with Warfare or Psyche, since most GMs account those most useful. If I'm feeling quirky, I'll go with Endurance first. All Attributes being equal, as in my own games, I'd chose Strength.
favorite Amberite Elder? Why? Tough one. I love 'em all. Today I'll say Fiona, because amongst extraordinary sibs, she has so many disadvantages that she overcomes.
Any questions you'd like to ask back? Complete list actually. Maybe much more useful than my Vision checklist.
Or things that you'd wished a GM had asked before a game?Definitely need to know about Attributes and Opportunity. Also nice to get attribute relative speed of magic as a tool combat/otherwise. Third would be play of actual Trump connection, which can get you killed if you do it wrong in a pinch (or just make you look like an ass. Been there, done that. LOL. Many GMs put a different spin on it.)
Perverse Access Memory:
WISH 54: Background Hooks Do you like to have bits and pieces from your characters’ backgrounds appear in the game? Do you write hooks into your character background for the GM to use in the campaign for your character? Do you like it when the GM gives you a background hook into an adventure or scenario with a previously unknown hook, such as creating an old friend of your character’s who is somehow involved? What are some examples of cases where hooks have worked or not worked for you?
By hook or by crook... I'm thrilled if a GM is so flexible that they want to take an idea attached to my PC and run with it. It isn't required, nor do I expect a "passel of hooks" (ok, yes, that is an inside joke for GA) to make a Character more interesting. A lot of startup is on faith--and stuff that seems possible might just not ever be pertinent.
In Strange Bedfellows, my PC is old in the measurement of shadow-years, and she comes with a bunch of hooks. Yet I went that route because I was joining the game late and had no chance for joint background with other PCs. Normally, I'm more about seeing the other PCs and then deciding how their stories 'cross' each other. Again, Bhangbadea was given a companion and other agendas, including a busy history timeline that explained where and why she had never been to Amber. I think the GM in that game made good use of a potentially disconnected Character. There are still hooks waving in the wind on that one that might be used.
I don't mind the "old friend" trick, as long as there is a discussion about it--or I know the GM really understands the PC's backstory well. Unknown hooks show me two things: that the GM likes to surprise, and that the GM cares about my PC in relation to the big picture of the game. Can't complain about stuff like that.
As a GM, I can be Very Enthusiastic about hooks.
I've yanked Cassandra of Mycenea around by the hooks a lot. Perhaps more than she expected. She chose a backstory of a "victorian matriarchy" which slowly gelled in my vision as a paradox or sorts. I found every time Cassandra went to her home shadow, Amber had slightly changed her perspective and I could reveal another dichotomy about her own backstory by her interaction with her family and local politics.
She arrived in Amber as a "civilized lady from an advanced polite culture" and she usually returns to Mycenea as a "brash action heroine with acquired barbaric habits." The Player has relished the role change. And we never could have worked something like that out beforehand, we didn't know enough about each other's Play.
The Polish links below, lead through campaign pages, and to some called "Black Zone", whence I find this Very Scary Trump of Fiona. And this one of Flora, which almost looks like Susan Sarandon.
Sandmorel This tickles me.
When I needed to delve more into the history of Sand and Delwin for EGB, I fabricated Sandmorel's name without clues from canon. Many GMs use the more 'natural' Sandra, or Cassandra, or even Sandy. I wanted something more exotic, more suggestive of Darrheabarr and the Empire of the Gleaming Banner. It appears to have struck a chord with some folks.
Struktura polityczna Dworców Amber Family Tree
"What do you think is going on, anyway?"
"Some horrible Wagnerian thing," I told him, "full of blood, thunder, and death for us all."
"Oh, the usual," Luke said.
"Exactly," I replied. ---Frakir
Have you read the Amber short stories? Specifically let's talk about 'Coming to a Cord'.
When last we see Frakir in the series, she is knotted to a bedpost. Yes, very kinky.
She works herself free in the short, 'Coming to a Cord' and goes slithering about the castle.
"Coming to a Cord" does not settle the role of the Logrus-smArtifact, it only complicates it. Something must have climbed into Frakir when she was in the Undershadow. Something old and knowledgeable and familiar with things that Merlin and Frakir never encountered. Something that knows the names of the elder powers--and even the seer Vialle doesn't learn the Names. Talk about a plot thread/cord/strangle thingie. Something is tangled up in Frakir and looking for Merlin.
"Watch Oberon, when something doesn't seem to make sense...
watch him more closely." ---Suhuy, Keeper of the Logrus
And what does the 'Who's Who' tell us about Harla?
"Harla: Another 'wife' of Oberon that just didn't work out and they separated by mutual consent; no record of divorce or annulment; no record of marriage either; peculiar since Oberon did for a time refer to her as his wife. No offspring are known from their 'marriage'."
Does this seem odd? Inexplicable? Was Harla boring? Infertile? Did Oberon just have a fling that Amber observers interpreted as a real relationship? But wouldn't that sort of 'hot date' have happened many times? Why this one woman who appears, is married to a King, then disappears again without a trace?
We must presume that Harla at least made it to Amber for a time. Made an impression on court. And somehow, though no other woman did this, made a seamless exit that involved little gossip and no loose threads.
Doesn't this really seem odd?
Well, the obvious answer is Oberon killed her. She didn't vanish at all. And anyone who wanted to talk about the sudden disappearance just knew better after a few 'unlucky' accidents happened to those that did chat it up freely. So pick a reason for a very mature, extremely controlling exile gentleman from Chaos--who has kept himself and his lame-ass father alive after being chased across the universe by the most dangerous people in creation--to suddenly lose it and kill someone that he really likes a lot and has just married.
No? Don't buy it? Me either.
Harla walks and Oberon lets her. I smell another major campaign "tweak point" for ambitious GMs.
