New and optional rules ideas for the Amber DRPG.
Many GM's and even some players complain about the arbitrary nature of a Patternwalk or Logruswalk. The fact is there aren't many GM's out there who really feel justified in killing a player during a Patternwalk. They're a player after all, if you kill their character who's to say they just won't quit playing in your game. The effect of this kind of attitude is that it adds credence to the notion that a character will never die on the Pattern, an NPC maybe but never a PC. It is because of this kind of attitude that I began using dice to adjudicate the outcomes of Pattern and Logrus walks. It works something like this:
When a character attempts to walk the Pattern or the Logrus they add their Endurance Attribute to the total number of points that they have spent in Pattern. The sum of these two numbers is their percentage chance of success. Then I give them the option of rolling for their character or letting me roll to determine whether their character actually makes it through the Pattern or Logrus. The Player or the GM must roll equal to or under their percentage chance to survive.
EXAMPLE: Shawn has decided to walk the Pattern. He's been told that he's a son of Amber (although his father hasn't stepped forward to claim him yet) and has decided to find out for himself. In preparation for this momentous event Shawn has spent months accumulating all of the knowledge about the Pattern that he can and spent 50 points. So Shawn is all set, with a group of curious onlookers nearby he takes his first step on to the Pattern. Now it's time for Shawn to roll the dice. He checks his character sheet and finds that he has 5 points in Endurance. Adding that to his points in Pattern he finds that he has a 55% chance of surviving his Patternwalk. Now, with just a few second thoughts, Shawn rolls his percentile dice. He gets a 68. With a loud scream and a puff of sparkly smoke Shawn dies.
Now you may be saying, "Hey that's just as bad as the GM snuffing the PC!" Well, you're right. This system wasn't designed to make walking the Pattern or Logrus easier it was designed to make walking either of those Powers a gamble. I wanted my players to treat the Pattern with more respect than the family transporter pad. Without any real threat of dying there is no reason for a PC to respect the major Powers.
Of course, for those of you who think this is a little harsh, there are a couple options: 1) Character can get help walking the Pattern or 2) They can burn some points instead of burning the Character.
Getting Help: A character can ask someone they trust to help them walk the Pattern. The character doing the helping, by making a psychic contact, can add a number of points to the walkers chance of success equal to the number of points in Pattern but not to exceed the number of points they have in Psyche.
EXAMPLE: Shawn decides to ask his friend Paul, who has already walked the Pattern, to help him with his Patternwalk. Paul agrees and makes psychic contact with Shawn. Paul has 50 points in Pattern but unfortunately he only has a Psyche of 10. Paul adds those 10 points to Shawn's percentage of success raising it from 55% to 65%. Shawn still rolls 68 on the percentile dice and goes *poof*. Maybe he should have asked someone else. The drawback to asking someone to help you on a Pattern or Logrus walk is that just the opposite can happen if you ask the wrong person. It is just a easy for someone in Psycic contact with the walker to decrease their chances of success as it is to increase their chances, the mechanics are the same you just subtract their points instead of adding them.
Burning Points: The other option I have given players when their character is about to die in this kind of situation is to burn character points to make up the difference between their chance of success and the number they rolled. Instead of dying their character *barely* makes it through the Pattern and is weakened in the process. They can choose to remove these points from their Attributes or Powers, or anywhere else their character has points. These points are permanently lost.
EXAMPLE: Instead of killing his character outright Shawn decides to burn some character points instead. His chance of success was 65% but he rolled a 68 so Shawn only has to spend 3 points to make up the difference. Shawn decides to lose 2 points in Strength and the 1 point he spent on his Extra Hard dagger. In roleplaying terms Shawn explains that because of the trauma involved with walking the Pattern he was weakened and he'll just have to work out some to regain his strength. As for the dagger, he was sure he left it on his nightstand just the other evening. Oh well.
So your players are relying a little too much on Trumps and you want to make things a little more paranoid? Why not make your players sweat a little by making their Trumps a bit more dangerous?
The best way that I have found to get those pesky players to stop taking Trump calls is to give the caller Psychic Superiority automatically. I'm not talking about how many points they have in Psyche either. Trumps give their user automatic Psychic Superiority over their subject, regardless of the user's Psyche. If that doesn't make you stop taking Trump calls I don't know what will.
Need an explanation for why Trumps work this way? Here's mine: A Trump is a window into its subject's soul, sort of like a sorceror having their True Name, posessing it gives you power over the subject. The possibilities for Trump use become numerous. No longer just a means of communication and travel, the possession of a Trump allows attack at an instance, the possibility of spells cast on the subject from any distance and the implied threat of simple possession.
The drawback to this setup is that your players will communicate less freely and less frequently, Trump Artists will operate in secret to avoid discovery, Trump decks will be hidden mysterious objects never to be shared, and Trumps themselves will be taboo especially with the Elders hunting down anyone who might possess one of theirs.
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Nine Princes in Amber, The Guns of Avalon, Sign of the Unicorn, The Hand of Oberon, The Courts of Chaos, Trumps of Doom, Blood of Amber, Sign of Chaos, Knight of Shadows, and Prince of Chaos are all Copyrights of the Amber Corporation.
The Amber Diceless Role Playing Game is a Copyright of Phage Press.
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