Characters for this Campaign

This section looks at what kind of characters will be most at home in this campaign. Don't feel restricted by these ideas: they are only an indication of the direction. It's more important to have a character that you strongly identify with: then you can play that character in any situation. These ideas are here to give general guidelines.

What kind of stories?

The first factor to consider when deciding the answer to the question ''What should my character be like?'' is what will the stories be like. In practice, the content of the stories will be decided by the player characters' actions.

That's especially true because this campaign is designed to focus on the goals of the PCs. You'll be forced to come up with answers to not only 'How do we reach this goal?' (which is the question that most RPGs ask) but 'What goals am I trying to reach?' and 'Who can I get to help me?' and 'What will this goal, and this help, cost me?'

In general, the stories will be fairly standard Amber stuff. Against a backdrop of conflict between Amber and Chaos, and amongst Amberites, with dark secrets buried in the past, the PCs will have to overcome strange Powers and Machiavellian manipulation to survive, let alone defeat their enemies.

Your character should be willing and able to participate in this struggle, whether they prefer open military conflict, behind-the-scenes manipulation, or the use of magical Powers.

An important part of the campaign will be developing the individual stories of each PC. The only requirement this sets on the type of character you should play, is that they not be boring! Make your character one of the most exciting people in your life. Amazing things are going to happen to them, so make sure they'll be just as amazing.

What kind of personalities?

Ambitious, passionate, arrogant, calculating....

Well, that's a few ideas. But it's pretty general, and they may not appeal to everyone. What more do we know about Amberites?

Because the campaign is going to be like the books to some extent, here's a look at the type of Amberites characters that appeared in the books.

You might almost consider these as Roles in a play, or personality templates, that your character might take on. Or you might want to play someone totally outside these Roles.

The first type of character in the books is the ambitious one. These are the characters who move the plot along, who plan big and aren't afraid to change everyone else around to suit themselves. Naturally they run into conflict with each other. Corwin, Eric, and Brand are the relatives featuring here. Brand was so ambitious he was willing to reinvent the structure of reality to please himself. Corwin and Eric only wanted the throne of Amber, to sit at the centre of the universe and direct its gods.

Perhaps luckily for the player characters, they are all dead or, in Corwin's case, deeply changed, at the end of the books.

The second type of Amberite in the books is the talented one. They've chosen a speciality, an area where they are good, and made themselves the absolute best. Benedict is the best example. Gérard chose Strength. Julian chose to be the Defender of Arden. No one knows that place like he does. And perhaps Llewellyn did the same with Rebma. She doesn't appear much in the books, so we don't know for sure.

If you are interested in something in their area, you better believe they found out all about it long ago. And they might not like you snooping around.

Another Amberite category is Power. Many Amberites are deeply interested in the use (and abuse) of magical Powers. Dworkin heads the list, of course, but Brand, Fiona and Oberon feature strongly. And Bleys probably isn't far behind them. These Amberites want control over the basic forces of reality, to know the deepest secrets of the universe, and they aren't afraid to manipulate everyone else to get what they want.

Then there's the sneaky category. May Amberites are sneaky, but some are really sneaky. Caine and Brand spring to mind. And Caine is still alive, despite having once been dead. Is Brand that sneaky?

What about the other Amberites? Well, there are several that don't feature in the other categories, that didn't really impact on PatternFall other than as observers. Flora, Llewellyn and Deidre are the best examples, but even Random is like this to some degree.

A strong sense of family is a part of the general Amberite character. Relatives, to an Amberite, are the most important people. Whether you hate them, fear them, or even love them, they will influence your life more than anything else. Two competing relatives will always delay the inevitable conflict long enough for a quick gossip session to catch up on what everyone else in the family is doing.

What kind of goals?

A central element of any character is their goals. Why do they get out of bed in the morning? What are they up to? Strong, well defined characters have goals they try to achieve. Even if they change them at the drop of a hat.

Here are some sample goals that can serve as bouncing boards for your own ideas:

Rule Amber
Rule an important Shadow, or a series of them (perhaps in the Golden Circle)
Seek out a certain Shadow Power (make up your own)
Attain some position in Amber, respect from your elders (e.g. General of the Castle Guard)
For Amber to defeat and rule the Courts of Chaos
Destroy the Logrus and the Courts
Become the best sword fighter in Amber, and all Shadow
Learn all of Dworkin's secrets
Draw your own Pattern
Run Amber from behind the scenes
Steal the other Eye of the Serpent. (This is the name that, according to Merlin, the Jewel of Judgement is known by in the Courts)
Be the best, most knowledgeable and creative, at using Pattern (or some other Power)
Destroy Amber
Freedom from Amber for the Golden Circle Shadows
More military and political hegemony for Amber over nearby Shadows
Kill that nasty brute Morgenstern

Tuesday, August 19, 1997
Suhuy
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