Archive: Ultimate Amber Conspiracies

I know I said I have other things to do, but this page (retrieved via the wayback machine) made me smile. Much of what I love about Amber is the way the entire universe transformed with every 100 pages of Corwin's tale. You just couldn't ever trust anything you read.

Random as Villain
The first time I read the series, I was really struck by Randoms behavior on the trip to Amber in Nine Princes. Go ahead and reread it, forgetting for the moment that Random is the goodguy who becomes king, and remembering that in Amber everyone is capable of plotting and scheming.
He gives Corwin plenty of odd looks, and asks leading questions. The first time I ever read it, I suspected that Random was actually working for Eric to test and see what level of threat Corwin was. In fact, every time I read it, I get the impression that Random really knew how clueless Corwin was all along, but went with him anyway.
I can see a few different interpretations for this.

For starters, Random could just be naturally quite cautious, and prone to give everyone strange looks and test them. Thats certainly a part of Corwins nature. But when we see Random again a few books later, were never given that impression again. If I were Corwin, this would worry me.
So, maybe Random knew. He could have done detective work on his own, or have been clued in by a sympathetic relative. Maybe originally he planned to lead Corwin in to Amber for some personal motive (to please a relative who wished Corwin dead or controlled, or maybe Randomis a sicko who just wanted to watch Eric & Corwin kill each other). Then, in Arden, he changed his mind, perhaps realized he no longer had reason to hate Corwin, or perhaps realized what kind of sticky situation hed gotten himself into with no obvious exit.

Or, maybe Random was working for Eric. We learn later that Eric didnt really want Corwin dead, just out of the picture so Eric could deal with the damn read-heads. So, maybe Random was just doing recon for Eric, finding out Corwins plans. Later, when Random tries to kill Eric with a crossbow, its just a fake, an act to bring Random to Amber in case Eric needs him in the battles versus Bleys and Fi. But you have to come up with a sneaky reason for Random and Eric wanting Corwin to walk the Rebma pattern. Thats the greatest flaw with this theory. (Maybe they used Corwin to get Random back on good terms with Moire?) And why does the Unicorn then pick Random to be on the throne? (maybe Vialles love has changed him, and the Unicorn can sense this?)

A better idea would be if Random were in cahoots with Fiona and Bleys. Maybe they thought all along that they needed 3 to hold the throne: one king, and two others so the king would never be alone in Amber but the other 2 could take turns vacationing in shadow. So, when Brand turned on them, they recruited Random. Then the grey-skinned guys would be expendables used to make Randoms story believable. Afterall, they burst into the house to be slaughtered instead of cleverly shooting through windows. Odd, especially since they didnt seem to be too brave when Random later recalls the story of them chasing him from Shadow Prismatic. Perhaps his goal was to set Corwin loose to keep Eric from focusing on Randoms allies. When Random shot at Eric, it would be a move to clear the throne for Bleys. But would the Unicorn chose Random? (Fi and Bleys are powerful sorcerors, maybe they could fake it somehow? A shadow of the Unicorn?)
Consider Random and Fiona's proposals to rest of the family in Sign of the Unicorn:

• "It may be" Random said, "that one of us made the deal but underestimated his allies. The guilty party may now be sweating this thing as much as the rest of us. He may not be in a position to turn things off now, even if he wants to."

• "We could offer him the opportunity," Fiona said, "to betray his allies to us now. If Julian could be persuaded to leave his throat uncut and the rest of us were willing to do the same, he might come around - if Random's guess is correct. He would not claim the throne, but he was obviously not about to have it before. Is anyone willing to commit himself to a position on this?"

Almost seems like Zelazny himself was favoring this theory, with Random and Fiona trying to get up the nerve to come clean, but later changing their minds because of Julian's attitude.

The idea I like best is that Random worked with Brand. He actually admits that Brand had called him from the tower. And we learn later that Brand had tried to recruit Caine. The grey-skinned folks are actually chasing Random. Random is sure that Corwins got at least some of his memories back, so he figures hell sacrifice Corwin in a move that weakens Eric. Randoms attempt on Erics life was a move of desperation, feeling hed lost everything. He claims to have done it for Corwin's sake, and so Eric spares him. After Eric dies, Random talks everyone into rescuing Brand from the Tower. Sure the Unicorn would never choose such a traitor, but if anyone can fake themselves a Unicorn and message from Oberon, its got to be Brand. (Picture this: Brand falls into the Abyss, kills Dierdre, heals his wounds magically, and shapeshifts into the Unicorn to leave the Abyss. What a campaign it would make! Youd have a secret war as Fi and Bleys try to find proof that Good King Random is a dirty rat, but they dare not actually move against him since Benedict thinks Random is the Unicorns choice!) And is it really that hard to imagine that Random doesnt care two bits about his bastard son and actually perhaps recommended Brand use Martin to erase the Pattern? Note that in the quote above Fiona says to Random "He would not claim the throne, but he was obviously not about to have it before." Is this Zelazny having Fiona reinforce to Random that if he is working for Brand, he doesn't have a chance? Fi suspects, or maybe knows Random's part in things.
I'll explore this theory of Random as the ultimate conspirator a little further, in the section on The Many Deaths of Caine, below.
One more point, in those last two theories, they not only need a shapeshifter to impersonate the Unicorn, they also have to fake Oberon's message.

The Many Deaths of Caine
So, Caine faked his own death, huh? Then shows up at the nick of time to save everyone?
Why are there greyskinned folks at his "fake" death? All wed seen of these was when they chased Random, who later claims they were guarding Brand. But Caine knows enough about them to plant one at his faked death? Have we missed a part of the story?
If thats what happened, what is Caine up to? I guess hes framing either Fi or Bleys for his death. Seems odd though, since apparently no one gets the reference and they all blame Corwin anyway. Is Caine trying to imply Corwin works with Fi and Bleys? Or has Zelazny actually goofed up?
It's curious how this body gets Random talking about freeing Brand. Could Caine be a co-conspirator of Random and Brand? Did he fake his own death to put everyone against Corwin, but at the same time to make sure Random could get Corwin and everyone to rescue Brand?
Or maybe Random (secretly in-league with Brand) killed Caine. He finds a shadow of the greyskinned guys to plant and inspire Corwin to help him free Brand. Then, in The Courts of Chaos, Random produces a shadow of Caine to insure that Brand is shot with magically weakened arrows so Brand can recover, turn into the Unicorn, and step up out of the Abyss to make Random king.
Or the greyskinned guy really kills the real Caine. Perhaps with Fiona and Bleys present too. Later, they realize that theyll be punished for Caines death, so they find a shadow of Caine to bring to the war with them and clear their names. Explains why the next time we see Caine hes at Fionas side and so obediant. Also explains why a single bullet is enough to kill him in the second series: hes just a shadow of himself.
And Zelazny seems to support these ideas, in the quote from Sign of the Unicorn above, Random and Fiona both propose that whoever was allied with Chaos could come forward and gain amnesty for working now in Amber's best interests. Everyone seems to like this except Julian, who specifies that he will only grant mercy if the culprits allied with Chaos are not responsible for Caine's death. As near as I can tell, Fiona (and possibly Random, if you liked those theories) is about to confess, but Julian scares her off.
But why? If she didn't kill Caine, she has nothing to fear. The same for Random. Either: 1)Fiona or Bleys killed Caine; or 2)Random is in league with Fiona and he killed Caine; 3)Fiona (and Random?) think it's possible that Bleys killed Caine without consulting them; or 4)Random is in league with Brand, and he thinks Fiona will frame him for Caine's death and she suspects he'll do the same to her, so both put on a tight lipped poker face. This last idea (number 4) could explain Fiona's telling Random "He (meaning Random and Brand) would not claim the throne, but he was obviously not about to have it before", she's reminding Random that framing her and Bleys still won't be enough to put Random or Brand on the throne.

Here's an odd thought. Julian's supposed to be Caine's confidant. He's the only one that knows Caine is alive. Then why does he add his condition that he can still kill a conspirator who "killed" Caine. It seems counter-productive at that point, turning the family further against each other. Why not drop the condition to get a confession? Is Julian that big a prick that he doesn't see what's happening? Eric is dead. The enemy is near. At this point, if you'll give no chance for the traitor to recant, then you'd be better off jumping up and accusing them so you can be certain Benedict knows who to point his sword at.
If Caine's alive, it doesn't matter what Julian pledges. Caine never gave his word, so he can play assasin. Bearing that in mind, Julian should have backed down to give Fiona the false sense of safety and get a confession. No, there's more going on here. Caine's dead, or doesn't let Julian in on the fake until later, or, hell, if we want to be really paranoid, we can assume Fiona killed both Caine and Julian, replacing them with erratic shadows. (For that matter, maybe Bleys really died on the fall from Kolvir, but Fiona brought a shadow of him to the war too, so none of her brothers would think shes without allies.) Why not? Maybe Brand is dead also, and Fiona orchestrates all these shadowling imposters to clear her name before Benedict and Corwin's eyes.

Other clever little Amber conspiracy theories can be found here.

There's also darker conspiracies on this page, but some may find it shocking and/or distasteful. Consider this fair warning.

Archive: Alternatives to Merlin's Chaos

Thanks to The Way Back Machine, I was able to locate several more of my old Amber files. I big shout-out to Digital Sextant for showing me this possibility. The following used to be up on Geocities:

Alternatives To Merlins Chaos
If youve checked out my Laws of Magic and Science in Amber page, you might have gotten the impression that I dont particularly care for the second series (a.k.a.: Merlins saga, the last 5 books of Amber, etc)

Thats not exactly true. Theres plenty of great writing in Merlins tale. Zelazny is a skilled storyteller, and, Eric Wujcik points out in Shadow Knight, the second series has a lot of plot and style lessons in it that GMs would do well to learn from. On their own, the books are wonderful. I just dont like them as a continuation of Corwins saga. Heres a demonstration of why:

Corwins Chaos
Chaos, as Corwin depicts it, is incapable of traveling between shadows. In all the years of Oberons reign, we are lead to believe that Chaos never attacked, nor even interacted with, Amber. This version of Chaos needs the black road, the red-heads assistance, and half-breeds like Merlin and Dara to be able to bring an army to the foot of Kolvir.

Its also worth noting that Corwin never describes the tendrils or effects of the Logrus in his 5 books (unless you count Corwins brief recap of Julians vague description of what Caine said Brand used to get the jump on him).

And the only shapeshifting we see in this series is done by Dara, Dworkin and Oberon, only the last of whom seems to have total control over it. In fact, even in the heat of battle Borel, Strygalldwir and the hordes assaulting Garnath each have but a single form they maintain. The armies of chaos are wyverns, faceless women and giant cats.

Merlins Chaos
Then Merlin comes along and says that Lords of Chaos are free to move around in shadow as they please. He describes in detail many powerful uses of Logrus, including destroying whole worlds with Primal Chaos and racking and unleashing flashy spells in the blink of an eye.

He also says that the most common form for folks in chaos is a gargoylish demon-shape the likes of which never appears in the first 5 books. And as if that's not enough, Merlin implies that even the lowliest of servant creatures in chaos is capable of shapeshifting and controlling what form they are in.

Eric Wujciks Chaos
Erics rulebooks closely mirror Zelaznys second series. Heres my experiences from playing a Lord of Chaos in that setting.

So, lets say I want to lay siege to Amber. I get together with a couple of my fellow Lords and Ladies of Chaos. We use the Logrus to first build an army of demons and shadow-soldiers. Then we use the Logrus to whip up a bunch of magic swords and arrows to arm them with. Sure, this takes years, but in theory we have a near-infinite life span, control of time flow, and the backing and support of most of the courts. Then we use the Logrus to haul ourselves over to the Golden Circle and from there use trumps to bring our army to us. Instant invasion, no black road required.

If were really bright, we set up a few personal shadow worlds with Control of Contents, Time and Destiny and use them to lay traps to thin out the Amber royal family first. Then, once actual battle takes place, we make full use of the Logrus, a few Lords in the back using it to summon up reinforcements and unleash some really nasty racked spells while the demons in the front ranks keep those Amber Royals busy. Should some Amberite fight their way through my living wall of demons, I can use shapeshifting to become a unkillable pillar of fire or turn into a dragon and fly away. Come to think of it, a lot of my demons can do that too. So maybe my front ranks should all be in avatar form, pretty tough to kill with a sword.

And lets face it, if Im on speaking terms with any of the Amber royal family, its just to use them as scapegoats and cover. Black roads? Cross breeds? Who needs em?


So How Can This Help My Campaign?
If youre running or planning to run an Amber-based campaign set before the second series, especially one with no Chaos PCs, you have an opportunity to bring the element of surprise back into your game, to twist the players expectations and keep them guessing, or to provide them with a mystery worthy of their best investigative efforts. Or, you could use these in a campaign revolving around the Courts of Chaos as a way to give veteran players a whole new set of powers to explore, and an exciting change from the types of characters they're used to making.

That was a fun trip through through memory lane. You can find more of my old site at web.archive.org. Do a search there for "http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Station/4341/amber/amber.htm", and then hunt from that. As I find time (lots of other stuff to do today) I'll post a few of the better pages from the archive. Not everything there has stood the test of time.

Outmaneuvered by a Horse, part 2

This post is simply GM's notes written between Attribute Auction and first session of my most-recent Amber campaign, a rough draft of the 6-part story I planned to tell.
Also see Outmaneuvered by a Horse, part 1

6-8 session planned arc:

Chapter 1: Called to Amber
Dark Road imagery in shadow (Andre met Random & was pulled to Amber)
Flora finds Todd, gives him Eric’s offer of peace and recognition, if he’ll trump to Amber & help
Eric, Caine, & Gerard pass on field of battle
Random gathers those he can in library: PCs & Flora
Benedict, Julian & Dierdre do not show up because they’re seeing to the cities defenses
Random explains the back story and “theory” that true villains may have captured Brand
Plan to meet in Pattern room in an hour
Find the bodies in the dungeon
Images of Dara on the Pattern
Fiona calls Freeman, he lets her know what’s going on
Random about to walk the pattern so they can get to Brand

Chapter 2: Rescuing Brand
Random walks the pattern - give each PC a chance to kill the little fink
Fiona arrives in the Pattern room in the midst of all of it
Battle in Garnath pushes to outskirts of the city - chaosites running air sorties to harass castle
It’s a set-up! Greyskinned thugs have moved Brand, and are waiting to ambush.
If PCs just pull Random out, opportunity to free Brand is lost
If PCs push through to fight thugs, then they may still rescue Brand
Fiona may or may not be exposed. Trumps to Bleys if she is.
Brand may just die - depends on PC actions. Random will offer to nurse him if need be.

Chapter 3: Chaos’s next assault
If Fiona was exposed, this assault is supported by Bleys, and is even stronger than the last.
Chaos flows over the city, and the enemy ascends the hieghts to the castle.
Cool battle scenes versus inhuman chaos lords. (Sev & Flagg? Much wierder stuff?)
The awful hordes sieze the castle. PCs flee to dungeon or shadow.
If Julian has not been involved yet at this point, he (mislead by Fiona’s lies) kills Brand

Chapter 4: Tracking Down Corwin
Clearly, every sleeved Ace is needed if we are to overcome our foes.
If Corwin is alive, Random/Brand pushes to find him.
If Corwin is dead (killed by Bleys) Benedict volunteers about Corwin’s cart of rouge.
Corwin’s probably binging (morbid, bitter, & drunk) because the world is so screwed up.
Corwin may try to kill Benedict for what happened to Dad. Vengeance or mistaken enemy.
If guns are found, the castle can be retaken. This changes setting of chapter 5.

Chapter 5: Hunt & Kill Fiona
Could be in shadow, dungeons, or primal land. Hunt led by Brand or Benedict, if possible.
The idea is that Fi can rewrite the universe, we need to stop her or the villains win.
Could be successful, or could be nasty. Depends on who’s still alive, and who has the jewel.

Chapter 6: Taking the War to Chaos
Either Fi is dead and the battle can be safely taken to chaos, or:
Fi obliterates the primal pattern, and all must flee to chaos, or:
Brand takes it upon himself to rewrite the pattern like Oberon in the books.
However it plays out, big battle in the most disturbing of all places. Todd may run with jewel.
Ideal ending is Random & PCs as only ones left.

An Amber Vignette

I know Jeremy thinks I spend far too long prepping stuff for RPGs, but sometime it results in cool little things like this transcript of a "cut scene."


Let’s play make believe. You are Random, King of Amber.

Years ago, you collaborated with Fiona and Bleys. You gained the throne and they got to slowly change the nature of the Pattern, so that balance was restored, and their relatives in chaos [via Clarissa] are free to set foot in Amber without fear of [order-induced] illness. This put and end to Oberon & Dworkin’s domineering choke-hold on cross-shadow transportation. Then some damn nephew of yours [a PC] accidentally broke the tool that Fiona used (to not only tune the Pattern and redirect the nature of the universe, but also) to control Dworkin’s mind. Her influence on these things is now undone, and all is beyond control. Oops!

Several battles later, you are saving Fiona and her son [another PC] from Dworkin and those loyal to him, when you realize you’ve walked into a trap. You trump your wife, Vialle, hoping she can pull you to a place of at least temporary safety. But as you are reaching her, Dworkin reaches you.

You awake: gagged, bound, blindfolded, and psyche-barred. About the only sense allowed to you is hearing. And indeed, you hear Dworkin’s voice, relishing every minute of his victory. But he’s not talking to you.

“Your husband has failed you in several important ways, water-breather. He has failed to protect, allowing first your injure by the Hepanians [a minor NPC threat from the Golden Circle], and now by drawing you into the trap set for him. A more noble man would have sacrificed himself to defend you.”

Someone, presumably your wife, is struggling against restraints not far from you. You can hear her motion, but you can’t reach her. You can’t see her. You can’t call for help. It’s your fault she’s there. You can’t even speak to make threats or to lay your bloodcurse on Dworkin, who is continuing to harass your wife:

“Second, he has failed to provide you with a child, when surely, as King and an Amber Royal, he could have summoned or created the greatest of fertility specialists, or at least found an environment conducive to your conceiving. But, no. Instead, he favors his heir by the most recent woman he abandoned, Lady Morganthe.”

He laughs ever so slightly, Her anguish is muffled to a whisper by the gag.

“Lastly, and most reprehensibly, he has failed in that which is, by all accounts, the only flaw to that beautiful frame of yours. He has failed to give you eyes, so that you might see.”

“He knows that all his many brothers remember well the laws of physics and biology they learned as youths playing with their blades. Tissue rejects others tissue in Amber. This, coincidentally, is what prevents shapeshifting there, what held away the hordes of chaos for so many eons previous, and provided protection for us all. It also prevents transplants from holding stable on the Real World.”

“He and his red-headed conspirators changed that rule with all the others they rewrote to help their chaotic allies. He knew that it really was in his power to gift you with sight, but to do so would reveal his handiwork to his family. Even Gerard would see that something had changed if suddenly a mere Rebman commoner could hold a transplant in Amber. Too much for coincidence, after all. It would show your husband for the traitor he is. And so, you were not given that greatest gift, because your husbands love for you is insignificant compared to his fear of his brothers.”

“I, however, fear no one. I also hold no one responsible for the actions taken by those who have used them for their own pleasures. That’s why I have these.”

You hear the sound of a container being wrenched open, pressurized so it releases a hiss of gas and unidentifiable odor. Her struggling stops.

“I’ll give you what he wouldn’t, Vialle. Eyes that see and work in Amber, so you can behold the scheming pathetic little backstabber you call mate. It’ll take but a few minutes to implant the lenses and within an hour they’ll be permanent.”

It doesn’t matter how hard you throw yourself against the restraints or scream through the gag, they won’t budge and you can’t make yourself heard over Dworkin.

“I don’t even ask for anything in return. This is purely for altruistic reasons. I just want you to feel loved, Vialle, like someone really cares for you, ...since obviously your husband doesn’t.”



(Dworkin, when he's playing the villain's part, is my favorite Amberite to portray. I present him eccentric and goofy any time he's not the badguy, so that when the tables turn, he can get damnably creepy and nasty. He's your dottering old senile grandfather, whom you never expected to be a scheming psychopath.)

Befriend a Red-Head

This is from an email I sent to my players just prior to character creation 2 Amber Campaigns ago. That campaign was one where there wasn't a red-head trying to destroy the Universe. Guess what happened anyway.

Befriend a Red-Head: The Campaign will start just prior to the events described in Nine Princes in Amber, with each character having some sort of friendly or useful relationship to Bleys, Fiona or Brand. If you have any specific requests for who and what your connect to one (or more) of these individuals is, I’d be happy to hear them Thursday.

Open-Ended: Don’t expect this to follow the same plot the books do. Specifically, the PCs could cause or prevent the “official” schism between those three, and your actions will either put someone on the throne or betray them and cause their deaths. Don’t be afraid to reach and change things, but also don’t be surprised when events don’t follow the same script as the novels.

The Bottom Line: My GM-ing style is based very strongly upon a desire to empower my players. Every NPC I play has at least one weakness, discover what it is and you’ll defeat them. There are no unwinable situations or unkillable uber-NPCs. The PCs actions (your actions!) will be the single-most important influence on the fate of the Universe, so be bold. Don’t let my NPCs overshadow you, for your Player Character is more important than any NPC I could ever play.

Old Amber Index

Lately, I've put up several posts that simply restored/archived my old Amber Diceless RolePlaying Game website. This is stuff predominantly from 3 to 5 Amber campaigns ago.

New Powers (well, several years old now, but new when when I first wrote them):

• Chaotic vs Orderly Shapeshifting and Dynamic Form are two marginally different takes on the same concept. The former is more open-ended, whereas the latter stats things out better.
  
• Entropy Mastery is a new power based on the stuff Chaos does in books 1-5, not 6-10.
• Mentalism is a power allowing Amber PCs to be psykers, jedi, gypsies, or savants.
• Here's what I could recover and recall about Lamarkian Shapeshifting. I wish I could find the rest of it.
  

Other stuff relevant to Character Creation:

• Player handout for Chaosite PCs in the campaigns that Dynamic Form and Entropy Mastery started in.
• Expanded Shadow World Worksheet along with some house-rules on Personal Shadows.

GMing advice and tools:

• A painstaking thorough analysis of the physical laws in Amber proper. The formating is painful, but the content is clever in places. Simulationists seeking to properly model the first five books of Amber will love it.
• Tips on running an Amber campaign, and most specifically portraying the Elder Amberites. It would have done me a world of good to reread that before my most recent ADRPG Campaign.
• Here's as much as I could find and reconstruct of the Bergstrom Method. This was guidelines (kind of an alternate system) for determining the winner of combat in Amber. It's been a grail quest for me. It used to be all over the internet. Then I went through a dark era where I lacked confidence and just wanted to hide from the world. Sometime shortly before I recovered from that, all the sites it had been on vanished. Trying to reconstruct it was a pain in the butt. The post linked above might not be everything I ever wrote about it, but it's enough to use. EDIT: That link proves to not be the Bergstrom Method, and may have even been the Testerman/Trimmer system which inspired it. The real "Bergstrom Method" is here.
  

EDIT: Since posting this earlier today, I've added two Amber-related "fluff" items.

• A colorful vignette from my best Amber Campaign ever.
• A philosophy statement and opening context constraint from a good (but not my best) Amber Campaign.

7th Sea index part 2

I've been on a real "clean up the cobwebs / post the old stuff" kick lately. For a couple days this focused on the 7th Sea RPG.

Here's an index of 19 posts (within 24 hours) that were related to 7th Sea.

Since then I've added:
In-depth expanded Sorte rules. Custom-tuned for a one-player fate-witch campaign.
Alternative (simplified) Weather Chart.
Terrain tiles from the montaigne sewers and ancient temple.

Get your 40k today!

From Black Industries, makers of the 40k RPG:

28/January/2008 - Black Industries Announcement

Black Industries regret to announce that Dark Heresy: Disciples of the Dark Gods out in September will be the final product to be released from Black Industries.

Grr! The first printing of the 40k RPG has apparently sold out before it released, and yet they announce they'll be canceling the line. It's tough to say whether or not they'll do a second printing. I think they'd be silly not to. Then again, if there's only ever going to be 2 supplements 'cause they're getting out of the business, they might decide to just cut and run. That would make me really sad. I haven't picked up the book yet, 'cause money's tight this month (and Scion: God released 48 hours before it) but I guess I'll have to snag it the first place I see it.

Stupid corporate offices and their dumb-old bottom-lines! I'd have imagined a 40k RPG would be a major seller (and the "sold out on release" seems to confirm this) and thus worth staying in the business.

Scientific Laws in Amber

More old Amber files from my long-lost website. This one is a discussion of the laws of physics and magic in Amber.

These laws of physics, chemistry, biology, and magic are gleaned from careful readings and contemplations of Corwin’s saga. They do not draw upon Merlin’s story, as it contradicts much of Corwin’s exposition upon how Amber functions. Some of these laws are obvious from a single quick read of Nine Princes, but others are more subtle and required greater study of the books to draw these conclusions. As such, you might find a few surprises here:

1. Pattern is greatly diminished in and near Amber.
   
2. Logrus is either painful and difficult to use in Amber, or just doesn't exist.
   
3. Shapeshifting in Amber is very difficult, possibly very painful.
   
4. The very nature of Amber is toxic to chaosites.
   
5. Silver gains special properties in Amber.
6. Sorcery doesn’t work in Amber.
   
7. Magic items are powerless (or at least less powerful) in Amber.
   
8. Poisons and Drugs don’t work in Amber.
   
9. Illness and disease don’t spread very quickly in Amber.
   
10. Gunpowder doesn’t work, except for the stuff from avalon.
11. Electricity doesn’t flow very well in Amber.
    
12. The closer you get to the Pattern, the more restrictive the above rules become.
    
13. It is possible for characters to manufacture exceptions to these rules.
    
14. A whole separate set of laws governs Primal Pattern Land.
    

That's the short version. Here's the much longer versions, complete with arguments, counter-arguments, examples from the books, painful tangents, etc.

1. Pattern is greatly diminished in and near Amber. Corwin says as much, and it’s supported by the books. It is not totally impossible to use, as both Fiona and Oberon take short-cuts that Corwin felt he couldn’t, and Corwin surprises himself in the fifth book by starting his hellride closer than he ever had before.
2. Logrus is either: 1) dangerous to the user near Amber, 2) painful and difficult to use in Amber, 3) totally powerless in Amber or 4) non-existant anywhere in the universe and purely just an addition of the second series. The most common explanation it seems in campaigns is a combination of 1 and 2. The typical interpretation is that using the logrus near the pattern can have explosive side-effects. (in fact, the rulebook seems to provide this flashy destructiveness as the usual product of anytime two great powers touch).
   I see a logic flaw with that: if there’s some sort of explosion whenever pattern and logrus meet, why didn’t the chaos forces round up a few fanatics to summon the logrus in Amber and (suicidally) blow up the damn castle? Security was pretty lax in Eric’s reign, judging from how easily Dara got to the Pattern chamber (and how freely Random wandered the castle a few years after trying to kill the King), so there’s little that could be done to stop them.
   Logrus being largely powerless and painful and exhausting to use in Amber fits well enough with the apparent lack of Logrus in Corwin’s saga. (Afterall, the only time Logrus seems to be used in the first 5 books is when Brand summons a monster to attack Caine. And that could just as easily have been the work of Advanced Pattern or Trump.) So, that’s the ruling I tend to use.
   One day, when improvising, I did have a logrus tendril blow up when it hit the pattern. I wish I hadn’t. I’m stuck with it now. My only defense is that I can claim logrus tendrils have a very short range in Amber, and so won’t hit the pattern unless actually used in the dungeons. Coupled with my restrictions on shapeshifting in Amber, this almost covers it.
   Of course, in truth, all of this is flawed. The obvious correct answer should be that Logrus doesn’t exist. As defined in Merlin’s saga and the RPG, logrus is too powerful. If the lords of chaos find it that easy to move through shadow, then they would have always been a constant threat to Amber. Instead, Chaos is the last enemy anyone suspects when the black road shows up. ("Oh, them! But they’re out at the other end of the universe. They haven’t been a threat since Benedict was a baby. They can’t be responsible for this.." seems to be the line of thought) The lords of chaos should have little capacity for moving through shadow on their own, after all, that’s why they needed Brand’s help, and the black road, and hybrids like Dara and Merlin.
3. Shapeshifting in Amber is very difficult, possibly very painful. The very nature of Amber and it’s primal order makes it so. If it was easy, the lords of chaos would have used shapeshifting to infiltrate the City and Castle and perform commando raids or sabotage. They never did, so it must be very difficult for them to take Human form (or shift at all) in Amber. Possibly you can only shapeshift in Amber if you are descended from Dworkin, since only he, Oberon, and Dara ever do in the series.
   It must be really hard for Amberites to shapeshift there too, because if it was anything that could be even remotely described as easy, you can bet that Corwin’s siblings, in their collective millenias of life and struggle would have learned how to do it.
4. The very nature of Amber is toxic to chaosites. Otherwise, even if they couldn’t shapeshift to infiltrate the city, little guerilla bands would have broken off from the black road to harass the amberites after the defeat at Garnath. They needed the black road not only to travel to Amber, but to make Garnath habitable for them.
5. Silver gains special properties in Amber. At first I just thought the Weir were vulnerable to silver. But it occured to me that Corwin refers vaguely to "Certain Beasts" in Amber that silver was potent against, not just specifically the weir. It's possible that Silver is potent against shapeshifters, or potent against shadowlings and chaosites when used in Amber. The specifics of that will be up to individual GM's.
   Just bear in mind that both Corwin and Eric bear silver blades, Corwin's guns used silver bullets, Benedicts mechanical arm was silver, Fiona drops a silver bracelet for Julian and Corwin to rush to. Greyswandir and Ben's Arm both peirced the veil between ghosts and reality in Tir Na Nogth, which could be a property of Dworkin or Oberon's magic, or could be a property of silver itself in that realm.
   It certainly would be in keeping with what we know of Oberon and Dworkin for them to have defined Amber as not only being toxic to chaosites, but to make silver a secret weapon there. Perhaps silver focuses the energy of Order inherent in the place. Hey, GM, it's your call.
6. Sorcery doesn’t work in Amber. Or at least the shadow manipulation and shadow opening microspells don’t. If they do, then why didn’t Corwin or Bleys toss a couple spells at Eric when they attacked? And why didn’t Corwin use a spell to escape the dungeons later? Magic must be crippled in Amber, if not, then all the family would have learned it and used it in their battles.
   Corwin does use a powerword to give Strygalldwir a hot-foot and break his concentration, but doesn’t do the same when Brand is walking the Pattern and obviously needs to concentrate. Either Corwin is a fool, or he is operating under the assumption that magic will not function near the Pattern. Consider that Rebma is lit by magic lights atop the pillars, but in Castle Amber they use lanterns. In Corwin’s saga, the only time magic is used in Amber is when Brand lights a cigarette just by staring at it. But is that magic, or Pattern, or pyrokinetic psychic power?
   Side note: We all tend to assume that the Jewel of Judgement allows weather control as one of it’s powers. But, maybe it just strengthens the magic of the user. Maybe you need to be both attuned to the Jewel and have sorcery in order to summon a storm in Amber. (or cast any spells at all in Amber)
7. Magic items are powerless (or at least less powerful) in Amber. Obviously, artifacts that shapeshift or use sorcery are crippled by the same restrictions discussed above. Greyswandir must have at least "deadly damage", if not greater, magical strength: it cleaves demons in half and sets them afire, and Corwin prefers it to all other weapons. But Eric takes several minor wounds from Greyswandir that don’t worry him at all until his brother starts taunting him.
   Also, if magic items work in Amber, who cares about Corwin’s guns? I’ll take a wand of fireballs or enchanted self-loading crossbow. Curiously, the only magic items that seem to function in Amber are the Jewel of Judgement and the Trumps. This implies that these either aren’t magic per se, or they are but are both on some primal order of power beyond normal magic. (trump as powerful as the Jewel? Blasphemy! But interesting)
8. Poisons and Drugs don’t work in Amber. Otherwise, with all those years of sibling rivalry and family dinners, some brash kid would have killed half the family in a single sitting. Corwin drinks freely with his relatives, and there's no mention of royal food testers.
   If drugs worked, Gerard wouldn’t have hung Corwin over a cliff after beating him up, he would have administered sodium pentathol, or an herbal equivalent to truth serum, and slept easier afterwards. Corwin says most earth medicines won’t work in Amber, so why should miscellaneous drugs or poisons fare any better?
   The real question is: do they not work at all in Amber, or do they just not work on an Amberite in Amber? Perhaps the Pattern protects it’s initiates when that close to the source. Can you poison a shadowling in Amber?
9. For some reason, illness and disease don’t spread very quickly in Amber. Otherwise, the Lords of Chaos would have tried viral warfare. Biological warfare was employed in ancient times by catapulting plague-ridden corpses over the city walls. Certainly a few wyverns could have dumped diseased bodies into Amber as they flew over.
   This is also reinforced by Corwin’s comments about most anti-biotics not working (and his being vague about what does work) in Amber: there’s no practiced and accepted way of dealing with disease in Amber because in Amber disease is very rare. Again, perhaps the pattern protects it’s initiates. Also remember that in Lorraine the black circle spread poison and plague, that it ruined the crops and made people ill. In Garnath, all it did was discolor some grass.
   This law has been argued against before. Some folks just think it's all those Amber-ranked endurances that prevented viral warfare on the "real earth". They point to the long lifespans of the "ordinary" castle servants as evidence that all living things in Amber have great resiliancy and superior stamina. This had me fooled and reconsidering for a while. :)
   Then I remembered that Corwin with his high-ranked endurance lived through the black plague, but wasn't totally unaffected. If it could zap his brain, then it would seem possible for bacterial warfare to work in Amber. Then again, one could argue the other way. Afterall, it seems odd that the Black Death, a resperatory illness, should cause Corwin's amnesia. Perhaps whatever Eric did to best Corwin originally also inflicted brain damage, and dumping him in a plague outbreak was just Eric's last bit of insurance incase the headshot wasn't fatal enough.
10. Gunpowder doesn’t work, except for the stuff from avalon. (Is gunpowder totally inert in Amber, or does it burn but not explode?) There has to be some hitch in the physical laws there that prevents gases from expanding beyond a certain speed. Otherwise, not only would gunpowder and gasoline be utilized, but steam would be too. In WWII, the British navy created several prototype steam-powered anti-aircraft guns. If shadowlings can be this creative, so can Amberites. So whatever the law of physics that prevents gunpowder from exploding in Amber, it must also prevent watervapor and other chemicals from rapidly expanding or exploding. Remember, the ships have sails in Amber, not steam-driven paddlewheels.
    One of the pleasant side-effects of this is that it would probably be easier to contain or snuff fires in Amber. That would also explain why Eric doesn’t think twice before burning Garnath. One quick rain shower and it’s out, with no chance of the hot coals stirring up secondary blazes later. It also adds further explanation to why Chaos never tried commando raids to burn the city. It takes longer than usual to start a fire in Amber, and it has less chance to spread from building to building. They might have even tried, and failed.
    Side note: all this poses an interesting question. I pull the pin on my grenade in Amber. Is the fuse rendered inert permenantly, or is the reaction just suspended or slowed? Will the primer burn itself out in a non-explosive fashion, or will it be stuck in mid-reaction and detonate as soon as I set foot out in shadow? (Thanks to Userkaf and Whisper for pulling their triggers and forcing me to deal with this one)
11. Electricity doesn’t flow very well in Amber. If it did, they wouldn’t need lanterns in the castle, they’d flip a light switch. Even ruling out steam or combustion as a power source, Oberon could have built a hydroelectric plant to power the castle. And even if there’s no waterfall nearby, why didn’t he import flashlights with really good batteries for use in the dungeons at least?
    Electricity might work on Amber, but just generate so much heat and resistance that it constantly melts the wires and just isn’t worth the continual maintainance and upkeep. Or maybe the very nature of Amber drains and discharges electrical energy very quickly, making it impractical or useless.
    Further evidence: on earth, a bolt of lightning can cause heart attacks via electric shock in humans a hundred yards from the strike point. But in Amber, Eric rains down lightning near his own troops with no adverse side effects. It only blasts those who are within the focal bolt, the energy seems to ground itself immediately with little or no spill-over into the surrounding area.
12. The closer you get to the Pattern, the more restrictive the above rules become. For example, Corwin’s car continues to run at the far end of Arden, after he’s arrived at the "real Earth", but before they reach even the outskirts of Amber itself. The black road is strong in Garnath, but extends only to the foot of Kolvir, with no sign of it in the city, castle, or pattern chamber. Corwin states that he had to train his gunners on a world near to Amber, he couldn’t find one far from Amber but with the same laws of science. The stairs to Rebma are lit by a magic glow, but Castle Amber uses lanterns. It’s easier to shift shadow the further you are away from Amber.
13. It is possible to make exceptions to these rules. Consider the trumps, which break the anti-magic law. Benedict's Arm, which functions where most technology is impaired. Corwin's guns. Oberon's many tricks and talents. All of these can be traced back to him or ultimately to Dworkin. Just be warned: those two (and maybe anyone who's attuned to the Jewel) or perhaps the Pattern itself, can make or break or find loopholes in these rules with a bit of effort.
14. A final note: We never see anyone use the pattern to shadow-walk in the castle itself, but we do see Fiona use the pattern in Primal Pattern Land. Oberon creates the blood bird right next to the Primal Pattern. In fact, Greyswandir seems more powerful there then in "normal" Amber. So maybe a whole separate set of laws governs that place. Who knows, maybe guns and spells and flashlights work there too?

Running Amber NPCs

This was apparently an email letter to another Amber GM, which I then converted some time ago and put on my old Amber website. That site is gone, but I still had the file. It's got some interesting character insights, and worth the read if you're an Amber fan.

Running Amber NPCs

I frequently receive questions from new GMs on the web, seeking advice on their campaign. One regular question is the following:

“I am somewhat uncomfortable trying to play the existing Amberites as NPCs. I guess I don't want to be wasting time and energy making sure I'm playing them all "right" (i.e., in-character by Zelazny's standard) but don't really want to do it "wrong" either. How have you handled that? Was it an issue/problem for you?”

This is most likely to be a problem if the overwhelming majority of your players are veterans of the game or long time fans of the novels, and this is the first campaign you’ve GM’d for them. If that’s the case, I recommend visiting my page on alternate and atypical Amber settings. Your best solution in that situation might well be to run your campaign in an alternate Amber with few or none of the normal NPCs and trappings so as to prevent the players from thinking they know more about the campaign world(s) than you do.

However, if only a small percentage of your players have previous amber experience (such as reading the novels or having played in other campaigns), you really should stick to the Zelazny setting. It really does require less work on your part (since the setting has already been created), and if they haven't read the books, there's no chance of them thinking your portrayal of an NPC is "wrong". They won't have the frame of reference to notice any "mistakes" you might make.

The real truth of the matter is that there really isn’t a "wrong" way to play Zelazny's NPCs. After all, Corwin (and Merlin in the second series) is the only one we spend enough time with to really get to know. Anybody else could have been deceiving Corwin, ANYBODY. And even if they weren’t actively tricking him, he could have just gotten the wrong impression.

Myself, I intentionally twist peoples expectations, and to good effect.

For example, it seems that most Amber veterans think Benedict is the guy to save Amber in it’s darkest hours, and they tend to call him when there's real trouble: My Benedict is an abusive bastard, he was Dad's enforcer, and the family bully. Sure he'll save Amber but you'll all watch your backs when in he's in town.

Beyond a doubt, Corwin and Merlin are the hardest to portray. Because we see so much of their thoughts and actions in the books, people get a really good idea of what they're like and are generally correct, too. If you have Corwin do something out of character, everybody calls you on it, and you feel like you've made a mistake.

But if you have Julian do something odd, chances are the Players won't notice:
Even if they do criticize you on it, your response can be "Julian has 3 scenes in the first 5 books. How can anyone claim to know all the nuances of his persona in 3 scenes?"

or "This is my Julian, this is how I play him. There were a lot of gaps in his history and personality that I, as GM, filled in. I know his past, and how he'll react to situations and people. If you watch me closely over the next few months, perhaps you'll get to know my Julian well enough to understand him too. But if you want to get to know him, you’ll have to do it in-character, I’m not going to casually tell you what makes him tick."

Chances are, you'll never have to say those things. As long as you seem confident in your portrayals, your players won’t question you. They'll just accept it. In the year my current campaign has been going on for, I was called to task once for Benedict's actions by my friend Tim. Tim has GM'd many times before and always played his Ben as the nice uncle who watched out for all the family's best interests. So, to him it seemed odd for Ben to be threatening King Random so often. In response, I just said "that's how you chose to interpret Ben's persona in your campaign: as a nice guy who just wasn't sure if Corwin could be trusted in the novels. I respect that, and if I were playing in your campaign right now, I would accept that portrayal and have my PC treat him as a friend. But in my Campaign, Benedict is the abusive older brother that everyone fears. I hope that you'll respect and accept that." Tim did respect my decision, it was never a problem again.

The secret to playing Zelazny’s NPCs is, make your decision on how you want to play each of them, be confidant in your ability to play them, and be consistent in how you play them. Even if they balk at first, the players will quickly come to respect you. (Tim’s character now plays a balancing act, trying to keep Benedict’s wrath and fury aimed at other NPCs while meanwhile he plots good old uncle Ben's assassination. And all the players seem to enjoy it.)

If the prospect of running all of the usual NPCs still seems to daunting of a task, another trick you can use is to have some of the family absent deep in shadow.
Figure out how you want to play a few members of the family and have the rest be in exile or on vacation. You can then focus mainly on the NPCs you understand or find interesting yourself. I started out my current campaign mostly focused on Random and the Redheads. Llewella's only had 2 scenes, she mostly stays in Rebma. Flora's had only a half dozen scenes, all in her son's world. Julian mostly stays in Arden, and only gets played when someone intentionally seeks him out. Gerard and Caine mostly stay with the fleet. All of them are unknowns, the players can't anticipate their responses, which is fine, because the PCs barely know them.

But all my Players know Fiona and Bleys and Random and Benedict really well. They have defined personalities that can be counted on to respond in certain ways. My players are constantly saying things like:

• "Oh, Ben's gonna kick the **** out of you for that one!"
• "Random's gonna flip his lid"
• "of course Bleys will help you with your fencing, but if you go in there dressed like that he's gonna hit on you too"
• "Corwin's and his daughter are just butting heads again, give them a day or two and they'll sort it out."
• "I'm just worried what Fi will do when she hears about it, she's been under so much stress lately"
  

One good way to get a grip on the characters is to first make a list of what you've gleaned from the books about their persona:

1. "Julian is stoic"
2. "Gerard is insecure, thinks everyone else is smarter than him"
3. "Fiona is generally calm and cool, but with flashes of biting sarcasm"
4. "Corwin is still very emotional about Deirdre"
5. etc. etc.

Then, analyze this list, and come up with a few pivotal moments in their early lives that you feel could have made each character act this way. Having access to a handful of seminal events in the NPCs childhood gives you a great anchor to work from.

Example: Oberon used to criticize Gerard very vocally whenever he'd make a bad decision. Now, if anyone calls Gerard a fool or even just tries to point out to him an better plan of action, Gerard takes it personally and gets really confrontational. If anyone seems to excel at
problem solving or intellectual pursuits, Gerard will either avoid them or try to impress and scare them by showing off his strength.

More Examples: Deirdre is so militaristic because of the way Oberon treated her. This abuse led to her rage and desire to one day grow good enough with a blade to seek her revenge.

Eric never took a stance against Oberon when he would be abusive to Deirdre.

As a result of his guilt, he did take a stand to protect Fiona in her childhood. She was young and impressionable, and thought she was in love with him because of it.

Eric rejected her after a brief and ill considered romance. As a result, Fiona tends to strike back by using men as playthings. It was this attitude that led to her cabal with Bleys and Brand falling apart.

On a related note, years before that cabal, Fiona seduced young Julian. She then, in full family style, used him, broke his heart, and cast him away for someone else. As a result Julian both hates and loves her. He's never resolved his emotion over this. He keeps thick emotional barricades around himself, pretending not to care for anyone and letting no one into his heart.

Eric saw through this, recognizing that Fi treated Julian just how Eric had treated Fi centuries earlier. He made an effort to befriend Julian as a result.

We now have a Fiona that uses sex as a weapon or means of control, a Deirdre that rebels against her father and is bitter and resentful that Eric defended Fiona and not her, an emotionally wounded Julian, a guilt-ridden Eric, and secret motivations to explain why the various family members interact the way they do.

None of this of course is ever stated in the books, yet it (and any of a hundred other possible interpretations) does fit the framework of what we see of the characters and their relationships.

The trick here is to find some sort of web of personality traits and events that defines the characters in your mind. Not just how they act, but the reason behind it. The players don't necessarily ever have to learn the "truth" about the NPCs pasts. But your being aware of a few details as GM will allow you to improvise the NPCs behavior and reactions in consistent and intriguing ways. Your players will feel part of a real world, not a two-dimensional scenario, and they'll appreciate it. They might even be in awe of it if they've mostly played hack & slash before.

Well, that’s all the advice I have on playing the “famous” NPCs. I’d also have to recommend re-reading the DRPG rulebook, Wujcick packed it full of good ideas and tips.

To get your creative juices flowing, I’ll leave you with a couple more ideas, these drafted from my campaign. . .

My Bleys is a closeted gay man, who tries to out-macho all his brothers to hide his own insecurity in this family of raging testosterone. I found a similar Bleys in the character quizzes of the Sleeping With The Enemy campaign. I’ve further complicated him by giving him guilt-baggage from the most horrible thing that ever happened to Fiona, which he still perceives as his fault.

My Random looked to be the most friendly, honest, and open-hearted of the Amberites. 8 months into the campaign everybody learned he'd taken the throne by means of plotting and cabal. So for a while the PCs hated and distrusted him.
Random, as youngest and smallest child in a family full of Herculean bruisers like Oberon, Ben and Gerard found it easy to identify with shadowlings. Especially those in the golden circle, who were more real than most of shadow, lived near to Amber’s greatness, but had no power or rights in the grand scheme of things.
Bleys and Fiona came to him with a plan to make Chaos equal to Amber. He agreed to conspire on the condition that the redistribution of wealth and power also strengthened the Golden Circle and the average citizens in Amber. Together, they stole the throne from Oberon.
When the PCs finally heard what Random’s motivations for usurping the throne were, many of them swung back to respecting and supporting him.

I put similar twists into virtually all my major NPCs. Concepts that just barely fit Corwin’s descriptions of the family, as if his perception of everything were biased and just slightly skewed. It keeps my players on their toes.

Those are just ideas, and long winded ones at that. I apologize. On a related note, I don't necessarily buy that the Lords of Chaos are immortal. In Corwin's saga we don't see any that are particularly old. For all we know, Duke Borel could be in his late 30s. They could have lifespans only as long as shadowlings, or hundreds of years like the
non-royals of Amber city. The Pattern is the source of permanence and stability after all, so one could argue that it's initiates have immortality while initiates of the Logrus, symbol of change and transformation, have short life times and possibly reincarnation. And yeah, I have a page about reincarnation in Amber too, but that's a whole other can of worms...

Anyway, thanks again for writing, hope some of this was useful. Good
luck with your campaign!

Rolfe Bergstrom