The von Bek Family Lineage for classic Stormbringer or Hawkmoon

"Warhound and the World's Pain," "City in the Autumn Stars," and "The Dragon in the Sword," are three of my favorite novels by Michael Moorcock.  Here are my rules for creating a member of the von Bek family for Stormbringer or Hawkmoon.

The von Beks are an ancient family with roots in Saxony and Russia.  The family line's military traditions run deep, and the von Beks have ever been respected and revered by their fellow Germans.

There is a bit of substantial legendry regarding the von Beks, as well-- rumors involving witchcraft, travel to other worlds, the Holy Grail, and even stories about an ancient familial pact with the devil (originating, no doubt, with the family's curious motto: Do You the Devil's Work). Most von Bek family members scoff at these persistent legends, dismissing them as fables.

As with most legends, however, these stories possess just a tiny bit of truth.  Here are some interesting facts about the von Bek family and its strange history:

1.  Since the first century, A.D., the von Beks have indeed been the chosen guardians and protectors of the Holy Grail. Even before the family settled in the Bek region from which it takes its name, the Grail had an odd affinity for this bloodline.  Among other things, this means that the Grail has had a strange way of seeking out a von Bek family member whenever it-- or whenever humanity itself-- has reached a moment of crisis.  This also means that only members of the von Bek family lineage may touch the Grail and live.

2.  The von Beks never made a pact with Satan, despite their odd motto and a variety of legends stating otherwise.  However, there have been many times when the family was called into service by the Holy Grail, and Lucifer's interests also happened to coincide with those of the Grail and of humanity itself.  The Devil, growing tired of his banishment from heaven, has in fact given up his rulership of earth-- freeing mankind to determine its own history. The Grail has long been a silent advocate for humanity, and this has led to an uneasy truce between the Grail's chosen guardians and the Devil himself.

3.  Certain members of the von Bek family have possessed a strange ability to travel to other planes of existence, simply by walking or riding out of our world!  Family legendry traces this ability to faerie ancestry, and even has a name for these bizarre worlds-- the MittelMarch, or Middle Marches.  Several family members have published accounts of their adventures within this realm or its neighboring lands, and certain occult texts refer to still more mystical voyages undertaken by von Bek kinsmen.

                                            Creating von Bek Characters

Von Bek characters are created using the same process used in Hawkmoon, as modified below.  For convenience, players may wish to begin with a blank Hawkmoon character sheet.

If the Gamemaster's campaign is going to take place on planet earth as we know it, step one below can probably be skipped; the character can automatically be from whatever century the game is going to be set in.  However, if the character is being created for a campaign about dimensional travel, or for a campaign set elsewhere amidst the multiverse, players will probably want to start by determining which earth century their character originates from.

1. Determine the year that the character was born by rolling [(1d20-1) + (1d100-1).  Keep the following points in mind:

• The family settled in Bek in the 1100's.  Characters from a time prior to 1100 A.D. won't be named 'von Bek.'
• Skill in "Biological Lore" cannot exceed the character's birth century plus ten (e.g., a character born in 1744 cannot have a "Biological Lore" skill rating higher than 28%, since they are from the eighteenth century, and eighteen plus ten is twenty-eight).
• Skill in "Chemical Lore" cannot exceed the character's birth century times five (e.g., a character born in 1102 cannot have a "Chemical Lore" skill rating which exceeds 60%, since they are from the twelfth century, and twelve times five is sixty).
• Skill in "Electrical Lore" cannot be acquired at all for characters born prior to 1650, and cannot exceed 60% for characters born prior to 1780.
• Skill in "Machine Lore" is limited as shown on the chart below:

               Birth Year               Maximum Skill Rating

                >1000 A.D.                        20%

              1001-1200 A.D.                   40%

              1201-1400 A.D.                   60%

              1401-1700 A.D.                   80%

              1701-1999 A.D.                  100%

• Characters born after 1870 may substitute "Drive Automobile" skill for "Ride" skill.
• "Pilot Ornithopter" skill is not available to von Becks born in any century, but in its place, "Pilot Airplane" skill may be developed by characters born after 1910.
• Any armor or weapon proficiencies selected must be consistent with the character's starting time period.

2.  The character's nationality is automatically "German."  (Treat this as "Germanian" under Hawkmoon rules-- add 1d4 to INT and CON).  Additionally, von Bek characters receive a special CHA bonus of 1d6, simulating the legendary von Bek family charm.

3.  All von Bek characters are automatically "Nobles."  If the character's INT permits a second profession (i.e., if it is 13 or more), determine that additional profession by rolling on the Hawkmoon profession table.  Replace rolls of 01-50 with "Warrior."

4.  Finish generating the character using normal Hawkmoon rules, referring any questions to your GM.

5.  As a von Bek family member, the character will have several unique abilities:

     Opening the MittelMarch:  The character can sometimes open a passage from earth (or wherever) into the Middle Marches.  This is purely a plot device for the GM, and will basically work at his or her discretion.  Sometimes the character may wind up in the Middle Marches without even trying to get there!  If the character is attempting to enter the Middle Marches, and the GM doesn't particularly care whether the attempt succeeds or fails, have the player attempt to roll his INT x 2 to successfully "slip into" the next world.

     Grail Affinity:  The von Beks can touch the Holy Grail without being burned (assume that it does 1d4 damage per round to any others who touch the holy chalice, although this damage could be doubled or tripled in the case of particularly vile or unworthy characters who attempt to handle it).  Furthermore, the Grail's fate is somehow linked with that of the von Bek family line, and it tends to cross paths with family members from time to time-- again, this will only occur at the GM's discretion.  The Grail represents healing, purity, unity, and transformation, and should occasionally demonstrate awesome powers reflecting those ideals.  There is some indication that the Grail is capable of changing its appearance, and it may not look the same every time that it is encountered.

     Satanic Alliance:  The Devil and the von Beks have an understanding of sorts: the two parties can work together whenever their interests converge.  Lucifer tends to seek out particularly self-deluded members of the von Bek family line for this purpose.  Players who don't want to play misled, soul-corrupted members of the von Bek family line need not apply these guidelines to their character, as they are purely optional.  The rules for this informal understanding are similar to the rules for "Elan" in Stormbringer, with some subtle differences:

• The character gains 1D6 points of Elan for every thoroughly evil act that he or she performs, provided that the character is able to rationalize or justify this deed as a necessity or tell themselves that they had no other choice (subject to GM verification).
• The character gains one point of Elan for every selfish act that he or she performs, provided that the character is able to explain this action away as being "for the greater good" (subject to GM verification).
• The character may trade fifty points of Elan for a permanent 1-point gain in INT.

Once the character's Elan totals 100, he or she will eventually encounter Lucifer face-to-face.  The Devil will make the character face his or her own self-deception (making further Elan gains impossible), probably causing the character to experience a great deal of emotional distress as he or she comes to terms with having led a wasted life of selfishness and self-delusion.  Lucifer will then offer some sort of quest or mission of redemption to the character.  In the course of this quest, the Devil may intervene from time to time to provide only minimal aid, although such aid will always be rendered just when it is needed the most. The ultimate object of the player character's quest may very well involve traveling through the MittelMarch or defending the Holy Grail-- something that the von Bek bloodline makes the character uniquely qualified for.  Much of this will have to be roleplayed between the player and the GM, although it can certainly involve the rest of the party; the personal, highly emotional nature of this quest (from the character's perspective) should probably be discussed in very general terms before the quest is undertaken.

Von Bek characters tend to serve the Cosmic Balance, whether they realize it or not.  More than one von Bek has been a manifestation of the Eternal Companion, appearing from nowhere to aid the Eternal Champion in his struggles.

"Bound Logrus," a new power for 'Amber Diceless Roleplay'

I wrote these rules way back in 1997, when a regular player in my campaign asked me to come up with an equivalent to "Broken Pattern" for characters from the Courts of Chaos.  The rules for "Broken Pattern," of course, can be found in Shadow Knight (pp. 12-15).  Enjoy!

Bound Logrus

Bound Logrus is the Chaosian equivalent of Broken Pattern-- a Shadow-form of the Primal Logrus which has been tainted by the presence of Pattern.  Chaosians will recognize it as a modified copy of their own Logrus from the Courts-- except that the tendrils of this form of Logrus are securely bound by fragments of the Pattern, severely limiting both movement and flexibility. Some Chaosians derisively refer to Bound Logrus as "Crippled Logrus" or "Shadow Logrus."

Bound Logrus cannot be assailed like its unbound counterpart in the Courts; it is impossible to creep along the thick web of Logrus tendrils without encountering bits of fragmentary Pattern along the way (and therefore destroying oneself in the process). Likewise, there are no gaps (or cracks) to crawl along, as is the case with Broken pattern. It is effectively impossible to gain mastery of an entire Bound Logrus.

Mastering sections of a Bound Logrus is a different story, however. The bound tendrils are weak and anesthetized, and may be subjugated in a simple contest of wills (this is a Psyche battle; treat individual tendrils as having a Psyche of Chaos and an Endurance of Human). Once this contest has been resolved, the character may, if victorious, compel that tendril's ongoing servitude.

Note that there are several known manifestations of Bound Logrus in the Shadows immediately surrounding the Courts (and that any Shadow containing Bound Logrus is a Shadow of the Realm).  Because Bound Logrus is a perversion of the Primal Logrus, many Shadows containing versions of it were located and destroyed under the reign of King Swayville; those that survive will surely be guarded by magical wards of one sort or another. Although King Merlin will likely be more tolerant towards Bound Logrus practitioners, there are still many within the Courts who view it as a detestable, vile, and loathsome art-- and who care little about official policies of tolerance. Most Chaosians see the very taint of Bound Logrus as a crime punishable by death.

Basic Tendril Mastery

10 Points. Or free, if the character already has Logrus Mastery or Advanced Logrus Mastery. Purchase of this power also confers a one-time, 10-point discount when buying one of these 'higher order' powers later. (Note that being a Tendril Master doesn't preserve the right of non-Chaosians to purchase Logrus later on; the character must still have Shape Shifting or a Court Devotee to purchase Logrus powers after character creation).

Tendril Mastery Abilities

Tendril Servant. Mastering a single tendril of Bound Logrus confers control over that tendril, which will begin to take on some of its master's personality (and may eventually even develop into a distinct individual). Such a servant will be assiduously faithful to its master, save where such loyalties put it at odds with the Primal Logrus-- and even then, a tendril servant will steadfastly avoid betraying either Logrus or its own master. For game purposes, a treat tendril servant as Human in all four characteristics (with the Item Powers of Mold Shadow Stuff, Shadow Seek, and Alternate Form/Shape). Remember that the servant is a creature of chaos-- and that contact with the Pattern will ultimately destroy it. The tendril servant also begins play with the equivalent of three points of Bad Stuff, which essentially transfer to its owner's Stuff total; the tendril may be improved with character advancement points if its master chooses to spend them in this manner. Tendril servants are normally bodiless entities, although they can assume material form for brief periods of time if needed. mentally summoning a tendril servant to its master's location takes twenty to thirty minutes, and it usually takes another ten to fifteen minutes for a servant to assume physical form (most servants choose to remain immaterial whenever possible).

Shadow Manipulation.  A Tendril Master can extend his or her tendril across Shadow, in much the same way that a Logrus-user can. The individual tendril can then be used either for transportation, by pulling oneself along it, or to retrieve an item from a neighboring Shadow. The major disadvantage to this form of Shadow manipulation is the time requirement involved; in addition to the time needed to summon his or her tendril servant, the master must wait patiently while the tendril searches and probes adjacent Shadow for whatever it seeks. Unlike the Logrus-- which has many, many tendrils spreading out equidistantly throughout countless Shadows-- use of a single tendril can take several days (or even many weeks) to search out a few nearby Shadow realities. Worse yet, a single tendril can only provide direct access to Shadows which immediately border its master's location; traveling across several successive Shadows requires repeating the entire process for each Shadow crossed. Using a single tendril, a journey from the Courts to Amber could easily take from five to twenty-five years, depending upon the route taken and the obstacles encountered.  Needless to say, this is not a method of travel preferred by most Chaosians; most tendril masters tend to use Trump to get around in Shadow.

Tendril Weapon. All tendril servants have one alternate form which they may assume-- the Tendril thorn. This is something like a shimmering, immaterial blade with the properties of Invulnerable to All Conventional Weapons and Double Damage. The greatest disadvantage to using thorns as weapons is that they must be summoned before they may be used-- and often, a battle will be over before their arrival. Another disadvantage is that a thorn is destroyed by contact with Pattern-- and that it serves as a conduit, doing Deadly Damage to its wielder if it is held when this occurs. Thorns cannot be "sheathed;" when a Tendril Master isn't actively wielding the thorn, it dissipates rapidly.

Advancement.  There are two special advancement paths which are only open to characters with Tendril Mastery:

1. The character may purchase Advanced Tendril Mastery for an additional fifteen advancement points.
2. Characters who also have Chaos Devotees or are Shape Shifters may purchase Basic Logrus Mastery with a ten-point discount.

Advanced Tendril Mastery

25 Points. Or fifteen points, if character has already purchased Basic Tendril Mastery.

Advanced Tendril Mastery Abilities

Multiple Tendril Servants.  The Tendril Master now controls a portion of the Bound Logrus, rather than a single tendril. Effectively, this means that the master now has Named & Numbered tendril servants-- each with the powers and limitations discussed previously. Only one of these servants (the main tendril vine from which the others branch out) will have anything approaching an individual personality. This primary tendril will be Chaos-ranked in all four attributes, while the others are uniformly ranked Human. The servants now move at Engine Speed and fight with Combat Training. All other abilities and limitations of individual tendril servants are unchanged from Basic Tendril Mastery.

Shadow Manipulation.  Use of Advanced Tendril Mastery to manipulate Shadow is still a time-consuming process, though it has certain definite advantages over regular Tendril Mastery.

Advanced Tendril Masters have access to more tendrils of Bound Logrus with which to manipulate Shadow; this means that the master can extend tendrils into several neighboring Shadows at once, instead of making contact with them one-at-a-time.

Extending tendrils of Bound Logrus into several Shadows at once allows a tendril master to search for a particular item in Shadow relatively quickly, provided that the item being sought is immediately adjacent to the Shadow from which the tendrils' master is extending them. Using Bound Logrus tendrils in this manner is much slower than similar use of the Primal Logrus, while still being an improvement upon the time required to use regular Tendril Mastery.

Traveling through Shadow is still incredibly slow for an Advanced Tendril Master. The use of several tendrils at once certainly gives an Advanced Tendril Master more choices about which Shadow-path to take from any given point in Shadow, but the process of extending the tendrils and pulling oneself along them must still be repeated for each and every Shadow traveled though. It is now possible to select Shadow paths which are more of a direct route than before, possibly allowing a trip from the Courts to Amber in a single year or two, although this would be the Bound Logrus equivalent of a Hellride, and such a journey would surely be fraught with peril.  Similarly, Advanced Tendril Masters may now elect to take The Royal Road, although such a leisurely trip using Advanced Tendril Mastery could easily take several centuries to travel even the shortest of distances.

Tendril Weapons.  The Advanced Tendril Master can direct his Named & Numbered tendril servants to manifest themselves as Named & Numbered thorns. These thorns are now able to animate and fight by themselves if so bidden (using their ability to move at Engine Speed; fighting ability is based upon their Combat Training. Animated thorns can only exist apart from their master for a few minutes before dissipating, though this is certainly long enough in most instances to cover a successful retreat. Contact with Pattern will still destroy tendril-thorns, and the thorns will still conduct Deadly Damage to their master if this occurs, even if the tendril isn't being physically held by its master when this occurs. Note that an Advanced Tendril Master must still mentally summon the tendril thorns before they can be used.

Spell Storage.  An Advanced Tendril Master is Able To "Rack" Spells on his Named & Numbered tendril servants, effectively allowing him or her to Rack Named & Numbered Spells. Spells stored upon tendrils of Bound Logrus are subject to rapid deterioration (as described in the chapter on "Broken Pattern" in Shadow Knight); the spell Checkspell (found in the same location) can be used by Advanced Tendril Masters when this occurs.

Advancement.  Characters with Advanced Tendril Mastery may purchase Basic Logrus Mastery with a twenty-five point discount, which may not be combined with the ten-point discount conferred by Basic Tendril Mastery (i.e., the two discounts can not be 'stacked').

General Notes on Bound Logrus

Bound Logrus is inherently weaker than most other Powers in Amber Diceless. It is destroyed by contact with Pattern, and it is helpless against Trump, Logrus, Broken Pattern, and Abyss. Bound Logrus is stronger than Sorcery or Conjuration, however, and it provides some unique abilities for your players to take advantage of in your campaign world.

Kalifriki of the Thread as an NPC for Amber Diceless Roleplay

This post is part of an ongoing series about characters from other Zelazny fiction which I have used in a crossover Amber Diceless campaign.  In previous posts I've discussed using characters from Zelazny's Dilvish the Damned stories, characters from his novel Eye of Cat, and the modern-day human sorcerers from his short story Mana From Heaven.  I had great success using these characters together in one of my campaigns, which I described in more detail in the post about Dilvish.

Today I'm sharing my write-up of Kalifriki, a cosmic bounty hunter and assassin who appeared in two Zelazny short stories, "Kalifriki of the Thread" (1989) and "Come Back to the Killing Ground, Alice, My Love" (1992), which were both collected in 2003's Manna From Heaven.

If you haven't read either story, there are spoilers ahead!

In "Kalifriki of the Thread," we first meet the titular hero as he embarks upon a mission to assassinate a Kife, a shapeshifting alien being with the ability to possess other creatures.  Each Kife must be slain several times within a single year in order to be truly killed, and so this story follows Kalifriki across multiple dimensions (shadows) as he chases the Kife through various realities, each filled with fantasy creatures and technological wonders.  At one point Kalifriki is gravely wounded and seeks refuge in the Castle of Toymakers, tended to by automatons belonging to the master toymaker himself, only to discover that the one of the toymaker's lieutentants was in fact possessed by the Kife and that the Castle had become a deadly trap.

We learn much more about Kalifriki in "Come Back to the Killing Ground, Alice, My Love."  In this story, much longer than the original, we get the following delicious exchange between Kalifriki and Alice, who is in need of an assassin, taking place on a Greek island:

     "I can afford you," she told him, reaching for a soft leather bag on the flagging beside her chair.
     "You precede yourself," he responded. "First I must understand what it is that you want of me."
     She fixed him with her blue gaze and he felt the familiar chill of the nearness of death.
     "You kill," she said simply, "Anything, if the price is right. That is what I was told."
     He finished his tea, refilled their cups.
     "I choose the jobs I will accept," he said.  "I do not take on everything that is thrust at me."
     "What considerations govern your choices?" she asked.
     "I seldom slay the innocent," he replied, "by my definitions of innocence. Certain political situations might repel me---"
     "An assassin with a conscience," she remarked.
     "In a broad sense, yes."
     "Anything else?"
     "Madam, I am something of a last resort," he responded, "which is why my services are dear. Any simple cutthroat will suffice for much of what people want done in this area. I can recommend several competent individuals."
     "In other words, you prefer the complicated ones, those offering a challenge to your skills?"
     "'Prefer' is perhaps the wrong word. I am not certain what is the right one-- at least in the Greek language. I do tend to find myself in such situations, though, as the higher-priced jobs seem to fall into that category, and those are normally the only ones that I accept"
     She smiled for the first time that morning, a small bleak thing.
     "It falls into that category," she said, "in that no one ever succeeded in such an undertaking as I require. As for innocence you will find none here. And the politics need be of no concern, for they are not of this world."
     She nibbled on a piece of melon.
     "You have interested me," he said.

To make a long story short, Alice hires Kalifriki to destroy an intelligent artificial black hole... or, as she initially described the target:

     "Aidon," she said. "He is Aidon."
     "The one you seek?" Kalifriki asked. "The one you would have me kill?"
     "Yes," she said. Then, "No. We must go to a special place," she finished.
     "I don't understand," he said. "What place?"
     "Aidon."
     "Is Aidon the name of a man or the name of a place?"
     "Both," she said. "Neither."
     "I have studied with Zen masters and Sufi sages," he said, "but I can make no sense of what you are saying. What is Aidon?"
     "Aidon is an intelligent being. Aidon is also a place. Aidon is not entirely a man. Aidon is not such a place as places are in this world."
     "Ah," he said. "Aidon is an artificial intelligence, a construct."
     "Yes," she said. "No."

Anyway, Kalifriki is an immensely powerful being with potentially dozens of cosmic-powered enemies, making him perfect for use as a player character's "ally with baggage" in the campaign that I had set out to run.  Here is how I wrote his statistics up for Amber Diceless:

Kalifriki of the Thread          [100 Points]
PSYCHE [35 Points]
STRENGTH [15 Points]
ENDURANCE [Chaos Rank]
WARFARE [15 Minutes]

Thread of Cosmic String [10 Points]
     * Valley of Frozen Time shadow [6 Points]
          - Primal Shadow [4 Points]
          - Access Barriers [2 Points]
     * Red Thread Bracelet manifestation
          - Able to "Mold" Shadow Reality [4 Points]
          - No Psyche [0 Points]
          - Innate Connection [*1 Points]

Cosmic String Conjuration and Shadow Travel [35 Points]

Kalifriki bears a thread of cosmic string upon his forearm-- an infinite strand which loops imperceptibly throughout all of time and space, across every dimension, and which touches every possible reality.  He is able to travel along the length of its fibers to any place which he desires, to alter reality, to conjure or create or destroy at will.

'Mana From Heaven' NPCs for Amber Diceless Roleplay

This is part of a series of posts about my use of characters from Roger Zelazny's other fiction in one of my Amber Diceless campaigns.  For more information about the campaign, check out my previous post about using characters from Zelazny's Dilvish the Damned stories-- which I followed up with a post about using characters from his novel, Eye of Cat.

"Mana From Heaven" is from Manna From Heaven, a 2003 collection of Roger Zelazny's short stories  The difference in spelling between the short story's title and the name of the collection (i.e., 'mana' versus 'manna') was intentional.  Manna From Heaven (the collection) is perhaps best known to fans of the 'Amber' series as the place where all of Zelazny's 'Amber' short stories were finally collected together under one cover.

"Mana From Heaven" (the short story) tells the story of a group of modern-day sorcerers on planet earth (or "shadow earth," from the perspective of my campaign).  During the course of the story, it is revealed that these sorcerers are the descendants of priests and magicians from ancient Atlantis.

Spells can be cast much more quickly using Atlantean sorcery than they can be using the 'normal' sorcery described on pages 60-65 of the Amber Diceless roleplaying game; Atlantean spells cast on shadow earth don't require the use of lynchpins, and even when cast elsewhere they only require the "Name of Current Shadow" lynchpin, allowing Atlantean sorcerers to unleash magic in a blistering rapid-fire attack.  At the same time, though, Atlantean sorcery also consumes a rare form of magical energy called mana, severely limiting the amount of magic that an Atlantean sorcerer can fire off before replenishing their mana supply.  This makes Atlantean sorcery simultaneously more powerful and less powerful than the type of sorcery that Amber characters typically dabble in.  Compared to a typical sorcerer from Amber or the Courts, Atlantean sorcerers pack a wicked first punch, but against characters from Amber or the Courts they won't generally have much to back that first punch up with after it's been thrown.

There are only three sources of mana that an Atlantean sorcerer can utilize in their magic.  First, they can absorb the ambient energy of places or situations which they have a personal thematic affinity with; for example, the Atlantean known as "Priest" can absorb ambient mana from large Gothic cathedrals, while "Werewolf" absorbs ambient mana whenever he is exposed to moonlight from a full moon. Second, Atlantean sorcerers can store energy in mana receptacles, items which are also thematic to their personal style of magic; "Priest" has a crucifix and rosary which are mana receptacles, while "Werewolf" uses a silver bullet pendant worn around his neck. Finally, all Atlantean sorcerers can absorb ambient mana from the annual Perseid meteor shower in August.

In addition, each Atlantean sorcerer also has a limited form of shape shifting which allows them to adopt one alternate form which is also appropriate for their style of magic.  "Priest" can tranform himself into a golden winged archangel, while "Werewolf" can adopt the form of a fearsome half-man, half-wolf beast.  When in their preferred magical forms, Atlantean sorcerers absorb mana energy more quickly, and their magic consumes mana energy more slowly, but their avatar forms cannot be maintained for very long.

Don't read any further if you haven't read the short story and don't want to know any spoilers!

In addition to the Atlantean sorcerers listed below, "Mana From Heaven" also mentions Atlanteans named Gnome, Lady, Lamia, Siren, and Sprite (Zelazny makes it clear that there are many others).  The evil Gnome is killed over the course of the story, shortly after revealing that he had transformed Lamia into a block of charcoal-- leaving the protagonists to speculate about whether she could be restored to life.

Corwynn Llewellyn ("Druid")          [25 Points]
PSYCHE [Chaos Rank]
STRENGTH [10 Points]
ENDURANCE [Chaos Rank]
WARFARE [Chaos Rank]

Atlantean Limited Shape Shift [20 Points] - White Stag
Mana Sorcery [10 Points] - Mistletoe Grove Affinity

Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Silver Sickle
Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Wooden Bowl
Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Stone Pendant

Druid mostly keeps to himself, but is generally on good terms with other Atlanteans.

Dave Mason ("Phoenix")          [25 Points]
PSYCHE [15 Points]
STRENGTH [Chaos Rank]
ENDURANCE [Human Rank]
WARFARE [Amber Rank]

Atlantean Limited Shape Shift [20 Points] - Phoenix
Mana Sorcery [10 Points] - Volcano Affinity

Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Belt Buckle with Basalt Glass
Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Lava Stone Pendant
Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Watch Band with Volcanic Rock Inlay

Phoenix lives in a human city and is more integrated in human society than many Atlanteans, which is why Gnome schemed to create a conflict between him and Werewolf.  He is generally well-liked by other Atlanteans.

Elaine Davis ("Dancer")          [0 Points]
PSYCHE [Chaos Rank]
STRENGTH [Chaos Rank]
ENDURANCE [Human Rank]
WARFARE [Human Rank]

Mana Sorcery [10 Points] - Performing Arts Affinity

Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Bone Flute
Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - String of Pearls
Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Silver Bracelet
Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Key Ring

Djinn in empty bottle of Cutty Sark [37 Points]
     * "Exalted" Vitality [16 Points]
     * Engine Speed [4 Points]
     * Tireless, Supernatural Stamina [4 Points]
     * Invulnerable to all Conventional Weapons [4 Points]
     * Psychic Resistance [1 Point]
     * Regeneration [4 Points]
     * Limited Shape Shift [4 Points]

GOOD STUFF [3 Points]

Dancer is a normal human who had been dating Phoenix for a while when Gnome attacked him and took her hostage. After spending time in Atlantean society, she quickly gained the knack of Atlantean sorcery, leading Phoenix to speculate that she herself had some Atlantean blood in her ancestry. At this time she has not developed the Atlantean shape shifting ability. She has earned her second kyu in the human martial art of Kyokushinkai.

Her attack Djinn in an empty scotch bottle is something of a magical hand grenade, because its destructive magical energies will be released if the glass is ever broken.  It originally belonged to Dervish.

Father McManis ("Priest")          [25 Points]
PSYCHE [Chaos Rank]
STRENGTH [Chaos Rank]
ENDURANCE [Chaos Rank]
WARFARE [Amber Rank]

Atlantean Limited Shape Shift [20 Points] - Archangel
Mana Sorcery [10 Points] - Cathedral Affinity

Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Crucifix
Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Rosary
Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Silver Chalice

Like Phoenix, Priest lives in human society and is opposed to the idea of an Atlantean uprising.

Sam Lidell ("Cowboy")          [25 Points]
PSYCHE [Chaos Rank]
STRENGTH [Chaos Rank]
ENDURANCE [5 Points]
WARFARE [Amber Rank]

Atlantean Limited Shape Shift [20 Points] - Pecos Stallion
Mana Sorcery [10 Points] - Herd Animal Affinity

Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Bolo Tie
Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Turquoise Ring

Cowboy and Werewolf are the most outspoken opponents of those who believe that the Atlanteans should seize power and enslave normal humans.

Ines Delgado ("Amazon")          [25 Points]
PSYCHE [Chaos Rank]
STRENGTH [Amber Rank]
ENDURANCE [Chaos Rank]
WARFARE [15 Points]

Atlantean Limited Shape Shift [20 Points] - Feathered Serpent
Mana Sorcery [10 Points] - Spilled Blood Affinity

Amazon is known primarily for her martial prowess.  Her views on matters of Atlantean superiority aren't known, but she isn't overly fond of humans or modern human civilization.

Sayed Fasil ("Dervish")          [50 Points]
PSYCHE [50 Points]
STRENGTH [Human Rank]
ENDURANCE [Human Rank]
WARFARE [Human Rank]

Atlantean Limited Shape Shift [20 Points] - Whirlwind
Mana Sorcery [10 Points] - Oil Field Affinity

Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Ceremonial Dagger

Invisible Assassin [41 Points]
     * "Exalted" Vitality [16 Points]
     * Rocket Velocity [16 Points]
     * Tireless, Supernatural Stamina [4 Points]
     * Invulnerable to all Conventional Weapons [4 Points]
     * Shadow Trail [1 Point]

BAD STUFF [-1 Point]

Dervish is a schemer and master manipulator, and an undeclared enemy of the pro-human faction. Many suspect him of working with Gnome to pit Phoenix against Werewolf as part of Gnome's plot to keep everyone distracted while Gnome seized control of shadow earth.  At this time nobody knows whether Dervish is content with things as they are now, or whether he has already manipulated other allies into attempting their own power grab.

Wolfgang Walford ("Werewolf")          [25 Points]
PSYCHE [Chaos Rank]
STRENGTH [20 Points]
ENDURANCE [15 Points]
WARFARE [Chaos Rank]

Atlantean Limited Shape Shift [20 Points] - Werewolf
Mana Sorcery [10 Points] - Full Moon Affinity

Mana Receptacle [5 Points] - Silver Bullet Pendant

Werewolf was in love with Lamia and was deceived by Gnome to believe that Phoenix had killed her.  Because Werewolf and Cowboy were opposed to the idea of Atlantean supremacy over humans, Gnome wanted them both to be embroiled in conflict with other Atlanteans while he grabbed power himself. Werewolf is on good terms with Phoenix and Dancer now, and has preoccupied himself with restoring Lamia to life.

'Eye of Cat' NPCs for Amber Diceless Roleplay

This is the second in a series of posts about using characters from Roger Zelazny's other works of fiction in an Amber Diceless campaign. I suggest starting with my earlier post for details about how and why I pulled this off in one of my games.

Eye of Cat was a 1982 Zelazny science fiction novel which pitted William Blackhorse Singer, a famous Navajo hunter and tracker who specialized in the live capture of alien animals, against Cat, a shape-shifting carnivore who blamed Singer for the destruction of its race.  It was nominated for the 1983 Locus award, and Zelazny cited the novel as one of his personal favorites among his own works.

As described in my previous post, I assigned a character or group of characters from Zelazny's other works of fiction to each player character as 'shadow allies' in one of my Amber Diceless campaigns. William Blackhorse Singer was one of the characters used, and once his assigned player character had initiated contact with Singer over the course of the game, I then began to use Cat as a mysterious unseen opponent working to thwart and hinder that player's goals from a distance.

This write-up departs from the events of the novel and it includes spoilers.

William Blackhorse Singer, Navajo Tracker and Medicine Man     [83 Points]
PSYCHE  [Chaos Rank]
STRENGTH  [Chaos Rank]
ENDURANCE  [Chaos Rank]
WARFARE  [Chaos Rank]

Underworld Shamanic Limited Shadow Wandering [10 Points]

Power Words (Navajo Songs of Power)  [10 Points]
     Psychic Defense, Neural Disrupt, Lifeforce, Defensive Luck, Burst of Psyche

Paranormal Allies Construct [100 Points]
     * Astral Plane Shadow [27 Points]
          - Personal Shadows [1 point]
          - Only Accessible via Astral Projection [8 Points]
          - Countless Quantity [*3 Points]
     * Psychic Contact Manifestation [73 Points]
          - Exalted Psychic Dominance [16 Points]
          - Psychic Barrier [4 Points]
          - Named & Numbered Psychic Identities [2 Points]
          - Containa Named & Numbered Power Words [2 Points]
               ~ Elizabeth Banks - artist with psychic gift of ESP
                    - "Resume True Form" power word
               ~ Charles Dickens Fisher - government contractor with psychic attack ability
                    - "Pain Attack" power word
               ~ Alex Manson - telepathic stockbroker
                    - "Burst of Psyche" power word
                    - "Psychic Disrupt" power word
               ~ Mercy Spender - alcoholic spiritualist and healer
                    - "Lifeforce" power word
               ~ Walter Sands - ghost with ability to manipulate probability and inflict blindness
                    - "Defensive Luck" power word
                    - "Light Strobe" power word
               ~ James MacKenzie Ironbear - Sioux satellite engineer and 'witch doctor'
                    - "Burst of Magic" power word
          - Flux-Pin Connextion [*3 Points]
          - Psychic Sensitive [1 Point]

Supercharged Taser Pistol [1 Point]
     * Extra Hard [1 Point]

.30-06 Hunting Rifle and Scope [2 Points]
     * Double Damage marksmanship [2 Points]

Billy Singer is an interstellar tracker and hunter specializing in the live capture of alien animals for zoos, biological researchers, and private menagerie owners. At the novel's start he has become disconnected from his Navajo traditions and identity and is no longer satisfied with his success as an interstellar explorer and hunter-- he has given up on life and become passively suicidal.  At first Billy welcomes Cat's offer to save humanity from hostile aliens in exchange for allowing Cat to hunt him, but he is taken aback when Cat insists that Billy make the hunt a real challenge as part of its offer of assistance, pointing out that it can read Billy's mind and will know if he doesn't do his best to survive.  Billy is surprised to find that living under the threat posed by Cat reinvigorates him, bringing him back into touch with the roots of his childhood cultural identity. When Cat reveals that it can read Billy's mind at even greater distances than Billy had at first supposed, and that it can therefore anticipate Billy's attempts to evade it, Billy returns to the Navajo reservation and embarks on a shamanistic spirit quest, leading him into a parallel spirit world where Cat can not follow and which concealing Billy's surface thoughts from his mind-reading pursuer.  This gives Billy a little time to plan for their final showdown without giving anything away through Cat's telepathic abilities.

Billy's "Paranormal Allies Construct" is a group of earth's most powerful psychics, initially assembled by the government to help him thwart an alien attack, and later instrumental in helping him defeat Cat. This group of psychics meets mentally, on the astral plane, projecting its group consciousness into Billy's psyche, aiding and advising him from afar.  One of the individual members of this collective consciousness was physically killed while helping Billy, yet that member's ghost remained a part of the group's collective consciousness on the astral plane and it continued to contribute to their shared mission.

Cat, Torgalind Metamorph          [250 Points]
PSYCHE [50 Points]
STRENGTH [85 Points]
ENDURANCE [55 Points]
WARFARE [Amber Rank]

Mind-reading, Telepathic Communication, and Empathic Projection [20 Points]

Psychic Shadow Trail [20 Points]

Shape Shift Animal Forms or Camouflage [20 Points]

Cat is a cunning telepathic shape-shifting predator who enjoys sporting with its prey, only closing in for the kill after the hunt becomes tiresome.  Although Cat was killed at the end of Zelazny's novel, this write-up presumes that it is still lurking in shadow, watching Billy from a distance, seeking to harm those who help its prey-- but also preventing anyone else from harming its quarry or denying Cat the pleasure of the kill.  Cat will probably appreciate the efforts of anyone who makes its pursuit of Billy more challenging, intentionally or unintentionally, and might even quietly assist that individual from a distance if doing so prolongs the game.

"Cat" isn't actually the alien's name-- it lifted this word from Billy Singer's thoughts when Billy first saw it in its native form (a huge pantherish body with a single large eyestalk), making a mental note of its feline appearance.

Dilvish the Damned as an NPC for Amber Diceless Roleplay

After running a few Amber Diceless campaigns, it's pretty normal for GM's to look for a way to shake things up a bit. The game's open-ended mechanics lend themselves to tinkering and experimentation, and every Amber GM has their own set of house rules or variant game options (you've already seen a few of mine in this blog!)... but Zelazny's stories of infinite shadow realities also leave the setting itself open to twists of interpretation.  Literally anything can be found in shadow, which leaves plenty of room for GM creativity without an exaggerated fear of contradicting established canon.

One of the more interesting Amber variants that I tried was a crossover game which incorporated other works of Zelazny's fiction.  After character creation had been completed, I assigned an 'ally' from one of the author's other stories to each character, in much the same way that the GM selects Devotees in the game.  The rules were pretty simple: each ally was somebody that the player character knew from his or her travel in shadow-- somebody that the character trusted-- and the player could call upon this ally at any time for assistance.  However, I also cautioned each player that deciding to bring their ally into the game would also bring that ally's enemies and personal drama into the game-- each ally came with their own 'baggage.'  Once each player opened the door to bring their special allies into the game, that door remained open, allowing me to introduce that ally's enemies and complications to become entangled with their player character's story arc.

There was no point cost for these special allies, since everybody got one.  I didn't worry a whole lot about balancing the allies out among each player, either, figuring that I would apply Newton's law of each action producing an equal but opposite reaction; the more each fictional ally was used, or the greater the player character's reliance upon them, the more their personal baggage would intrude upon the player's own narrative.  It worked like a charm.  However, point costs are provided below for your reference.

The original Dilvish short stories were written between 1965 and 1980, followed by Zelazny's novel This Changing Land in 1981. A final Dilvish story was penned in 1982, when all of the short stories were collected and published in a second volume as Dilvish the Damned.

With that brief word of introduction, here are a set of NPC's from Roger Zelazny's Dilvish the Damned setting, which were assigned as a group to one player character in that campaign.  Dilvish, Black, and Arlata are 'known' to the player character that they've been assigned to, while Baran and Semirama are unknown enemies, plotting their revenge, lurking somewhere in the more chaotic shadows near the Courts.

These write-ups are probably mildly spoilerish to anyone who hasn't read Zelazny's Dilvish fiction.

Dilvish the Damned, Colonel of the East, of House Selar     [105 Points]
PSYCHE [30 Points]
STRENGTH [Chaos Rank]
ENDURANCE [Chaos Rank]
WARFARE [55 Points]

Invisible Blade of Selar [8 Points]
     * Destructive Damage [8 Points]

Sorcery [15 Points]

Awful Sayings - Major Workings of Utter Destruction [25 Points]

Green Elvenboots [18 Points]
     * Double Speed [2 Points]
          - Confer Quality Upon User [5 Points]
     * Able to "Mold" Shadow Stuff [1 Point]
               ~ Dilvish always lands on his feet
               ~ Dilvish leaves no tracks
               ~ Dilvish is a phenomenal climber
          - Confer Power on User [10 Points]

BAD STUFF [-1 Point]

Dilvish is a half-human, half-elven noble from a world where each race is strongly prejudiced against the other. His human family lost its titles and lands for mixing with elven blood and the elven House of Selar was similarly shunned for mixing with human blood.  Some time before the first Dilvish story begins, he prevented the evil sorcerer Jelerak from conducting a human sacrifice and was banished to hell for his trouble.  There Dilvish learned something of demon magic (his awful sayings are a specialized form of magic which work something like the "Summon Primal Chaos" power on page 49 of the Amber core rules) and befriended the demon horse Black. After spending many decades in hell, Dilvish and Black escaped together and embarked on an incredible quest to avenge themselves upon Jelerak, which are recounted by Zelazny in the Dilvish stories.

Black, Dilvish's metallic demon horse     [189 Points]
PSYCHE [Demon rank 3 - 18 Points]
STRENGTH [Amber rank - 3 Points]
ENDURANCE [Amber rank - 2 Points]
WARFARD [Demon rank 5 - 31 Points]

Impervious Armor [4 Points]
Double Damage Hooves [0 Points]
Deadly Damage Flame Breathing [2 Points]
Permanent Resistance to Order [4 Points]
No Shadow Manipulation [0 Points]
No Shape Shifting [-5 Points]
Magical Well [4 Points]
Pact Servitude [*3 Points]

Always skeptical and at times even bitterly sarcastic, Black is nonetheless a loyal ally to Dilvish.  He often points out the flaws in Dilvish's plans and complains when Dilvish ignores his counsel, yet he never hesitates to give Dilvish his full support and assistance when the chips are down.  In appearance, the metallic beast is jet black, almost passing for a regular steed at a distance.  Black eventually develops a friendly affection for Arlata the Elf, becoming quite protective of her.  Black is a powerful sorcerer in his own right.

Arlata the Elf, of House Mirata     [-45 Points]
PSYCHE [Chaos Rank]
STRENGTH [Human Rank]
ENDURANCE [Human Rank]
WARFARE [Chaos Rank]

Sorcery [15 Points]

Stormbird, Arlata's elven steed [6 Points]
     * Double Vitality [2 Points]
     * Double Speed [2 Points]
     * Double Normal Stamina [2 Points]

GOOD STUFF [4 Points]

At fist, Dilvish mistakes Arlata for a former love-- and later he learns that Arlata is actually that lover's granddaughter.  The two meet in The Changing Land, where Dilvish rescues her from the waves of chaos radiating from one of Jelerak's castles, and afterwards she accompanies him on his quest of vengeance.

Baran of the Third Hand     [150 Points]
PSYCHE [20 Points]
STRENGTH [20 Points]
ENDURANCE [Chaos Rank]
WARFARE [Amber Rank]

Sorcery [15 Points]

Conjuration [20 Points]

Extra Hard Sword [1 Point]

Third Hand Construct [84 Points]
     * Shadow of Abstraction [2 Points]
          - Restricted Access [2 Points]
          - Unique Shadow [*1 Point]
     * Third Hand Manifestation
          - Godlike Vitality [32 Points]
          - Shadow Trail [1 Point]
               ~ Confer Quality on User [5 Points]
          - Rapid Healing [2 Points]
               ~ Confer Power on User [10 Points]
          - Innate Connection [*1 Point]
     * No Psyche [0 Points]

Baran cuts a soft, hulking figure, and is one of Dilvish's primary enemies in This Changing Land.  His construct's "third hand" manifestation appears, hovering in midair, as a giant clawed hand emanating from a ripped hole in reality. This write-up presupposes that Baran somehow evaded the grisly fate described towards the end of Zelazny's novel.

Queen Semirama               [6 Points]
PSYCHE [Chaos Rank]
STRENGTH [Human Rank]
ENDURANCE [Human Rank]
WARFARE [Human Rank]

Conjuration and High Compelling [25 Points]

Tualua, insane elder god Construct [66 Points]
     * Plane of the Elder Gods [8 Points]
          - Sealed Barrier [8 Points]
          - Unique [*1 Points]
     * Misty Pit of Writhing Tentacles manifestation [58 Points]
          - Utterly Impervious to Damage [16 Points]
          - Destructive Damage Depths of Pit [8 Points]
          - Godlike Psychic Awareness [16 Points]
          - Able to Randomly Mutate the Stuff of Shadow [16 Points]
          - Innate Connection to Shadow [*1 Point]
          - Power-Based Psyche [2 Points]

Semirama is an ancient human, given the semblance of perpetual youth and beauty by the sorcerer Jelerak. She uses her alluring looks to manipulate everyone around her, especially Dilvish and Barak-- who both understand how evil and manipulative she truly is, yet still seem powerless to resist her charms. Semirama's real power lies in the Pit of Tualua, an insane god which radiates waves of reality-bending chaos from its seething pit of mist and tentacles, since she seems to be the only one capable of soothing the Lovecraftian entity within.  As with Baran, above, this write-up presupposes that she somehow avoided the fate described in This Changing Land.

Items Embedded with Pattern or Logrus for Amber Diceless Roleplay

Roger Zelazny's books don't explain everything.  One thing that I've always been curious about is the creation of the Pattern-swords, Greyswandir and Werewindle.  In our game, we speculated that perhaps these items had been created when they were carried by the owners the first time that they ever walked the Pattern, creating a unique type of artifact.

This would make the Pattern-swords strange relatives of Merlin's strangle cord, Frakir, and Mandor's steel balls, which Merlin says were created in a similar manner when their respective owners carried them when they first walked the Logrus.

Embedded with the very essence of Logrus or Pattern, these special kinds of items should be freely available to anyone with Pattern or Logrus ability.  However, they can only be created at the following times:

1. At character creation.
2. On the first occasion when the character walks the Pattern or the Logrus (though points must be paid for the item in advance).
3. If the GM allows it because of special, campaign-specific circumstances.

Furthermore, characters should be limited to one Pattern or Logrus item each, although they can create that item in "Named and Numbered" quantity by paying the appropriate cost multiplier.  For example, Mandor had several steel balls, but they all serve essentially the same function; they are all a focus for Mandor's spells.  An item created in this manner must also be light enough to be carried, and it cannot be a living creature (although it may, like Frakir, exhibit signs of personality after being created).  Furthermore, I'd personally discourage players from having both Logrus and Pattern items, although this is up to the GM.  Other than this, there really aren't any limitations, except for the imagination of your players.

Pattern and Logrus items created in this manner are different from items created using the "Artifacts" rules from the rule book. Even though those rules allow for items containing Pattern or Logrus, these rules cover a different type of item altogether.  Items created by a character on his or her first time around the Pattern or Logrus have special qualities in my game.

If the GM chooses to allow it, players might also be able to build items embedded with Trump, Broken Pattern, or the Abyss, although I've never allowed this in my game.

1. DEVELOPING THE ITEM'S CONCEPT

Items created when a character walks the Pattern or Logrus for the first time tend to reflect that character's personality. For example, Merlin's strangle cord, Frakir, is as intelligent as it is unique-- two words which also describe Merlin's intellectual, freewheeling attitude. Mandor, the consummate magician and sorceror, has several steel balls that seem capable of enhancing any spell which he casts.  Both Brand and Corwin chose swords for their first trip around the Pattern; as different as these two brothers were, this says volumes about them, doesn't it?

There are two different starting points for developing an item: by choosing what sort of item it is, or by imagining the type of effect that the item produces. Concepts should be developed with the character's personality in mind, regardless of which approach is used.  Here are two examples from my game:

Brother John's character, Josiah, was originally conceived of as a trickster,

a rogue character who defies convention and always seeks to bend the rules.

Brother John decided that this his personal item would be a foxtailed cap.  Since

caps, like other types of apparel, have something to do with appearances, Brother
John chose for Josiah's cap to have something to do with Josiah's appearance.

Vickie's character Deborah was an aristocratic seductress, raised by her
Confederate mother to be a debutante and Southern Belle. Whatever her personal

item's form, she felt that it should assist her somehow in influencing the actions and

beliefs of others.  Another player suggested a choker necklace with a heart-shaped

locket (very Postbellum, indeed); this item came to be infamous in its own right

over the course of that campaign.

Once the concept has been formed-- either by starting with what the item is or focusing on what the item does, and taking the character's personality into consideration-- it's a simple matter to build the item to suit.  Which leads us to step two...

2. BUILDING THE BASIC ITEM

The next step should be familiar to Amber players: turn to the "Artifacts" section of the basic rule book, and get to work!  If the GM is using Shadow Knight, the player might be allowed to build this item as an Implant (GM's option, of course, but I'd be firm about not allowing players to build constructs for their Logrus and Pattern items... and rest assured, experienced players will eventually ask!).

It's very likely that players will develop item concepts which the rules don't explicitly allow for; creative interpretation of the rules is the key here, but the GM should be prepared to invent new qualities (and to assign appropriate point costs for them) if asked.  Let's return to our previous examples to see how this might work:

Brother John is concerned about Josiah's foxtailed cap; he's decided that it should

be able to sprout legs and move around as needed, and he also wants it to

make him invisible and/or change his appearance at will. This is no problem, the GM

decides.  The cap is built with Limited Shape Shift (4 Points) and Confers Power on
Wearer (10 Points).  The GM has ruled that invisibility is one of the forms that Josiah's

cap confers upon him, although the effect is more of a blurring than true invisibility.

Brother John also picks Sensitivity to Danger (2 Points), allowing the cap to
warn him of potential threats.  This adds up to a grand total of 16 Points.

Vickie's concept is a bit trickier... She wants for Deborah's choker locket to influence

and manipulate the feelings of those around her.  There really isn't an Artifact power

listed in the rules that covers this particular situation, so the GM decides to

get creative. First, she decides that the locket will be Able to Mold Shadow

Stuff (2 Points), which means that it can cause shadow creatures to be

more favorably disposed towards Deborah. But what about the other

player characters, or major NPCs-- can't Deborah's locket influence them at all?  The

GM decides that Deborah's locket is a focus for her own High Compelling

abilities! The GM reasons that this should probably cost about 10

Points, and that the locket will temporarily boost Deborah's Psyche whenever she tries to Compel others. Vicki also wants to be able to communicate with her locket,

and for it to be capable of reading the minds of others (this is Extraordinary

Psychic Sense, costing 4 Points). These abilities also add up to 16 Points.

Some new Powers which have been developed for Embedded Items in my game include:

Lesser Focus (10 Points).  The item serves as a focus for one of the character's lesser powers (Power Words, Conjuration, etc) and will boost the appropriate character statistic by roughly as much as one ranking (e.g., Chaos to Amber, 3rd ranking to 2nd ranking, etc). The lesser power which this item affects must be defined by the player at the time of its creation.

Greater Focus (20 Points).  The item serves as a focus for a major power (Pattern or Logrus). It functions exactly like a Lesser Focus, above, except that the item temporarily boosts the use of whichever greater power created it.  The item will not be able to boost the character's attribute ranking against its opposite number, however (i.e., a Logrus item won't help against Pattern, or vice-versa).

Gateway to Source (20 Points).  The item serves as a conduit to its point of origin: the place where it was made. This might be the Primal Logrus, or it might be the Pattern of Rebma, but the exact location never changes. This conduit allows the player to teleport to that location, provided that the source of the item's power (either Pattern or Logrus) works in the shadow where the item is located.

Usable At Distance (10 Points).  One of the item's powers may be used or controlled at a distance; the character need not actually wield the item personally.  The wielder must, however, be in the same shadow for this to happen. The owner of the item must specify which of the item's powers this quality is assigned to; the item may not "confer quality/power on owner" across distance.

Usable Across Shadow (25 Points).  One of the item's powers may be used or activated as described above, only across shadow. The same limitations given for Usable At Distance apply here.

The above list is in no way intended to be all-inclusive; I just thought I'd try to throw in a few examples from our campaign. GMs are encouraged to be somewhat liberal when interpreting the rules for Embedded Items, though; these items should be located somewhere between 'normal' Artifacts and constructs on the general scale of power.

3. RECEIVING THE 'EMBEDDED' DISCOUNT

By now you're probably asking, "What's the big deal?" After all, aside from the slightly elevated power levels which can be attained using these item creation rules, there really isn't much difference between items created using those rules and the rules here.  In fact, constructs are probably more cost-effective than Embedded Items, albeit a lot harder to control.

The answer is simple: There's a discount. All items created using these rules cost only one-half the normal sticker price. For you math majors out there, that amounts to a 50% discount!

Embedded Item (*1/2 Points).  The item cost is discounted by 50% because it was created when the character first walked the Pattern or Logrus. Any fraction or remainder of points spent should be rounded up to the nearest whole number.  The character may only have one of these items (ever) and must work with the GM when creating or designing the item.

Returning to our previous examples for just a moment, then, we see that both of the items we were constructing will have a final cost of 8 points each.

4. PROCEED WITH CAUTION

Wow! You mean to tell me that I get an artifact with slightly elevated power levels because it is embedded with the Pattern or Logrus, and that I only have to pay half the normal point costs for it?  This sounds too good to be true!

Actually, it is too good to be true. You see, there's a reason that some Amberites, like Benedict or Gerard, didn't opt to create a Pattern item when they first walked the Pattern (at least, not that we know of!).

There's a danger involved.

Corwin says that walking the Pattern disassembles you and then puts you back together again. Merlin says that this shared experience is what created both Frakir and Mandor's steel balls.  Merlin also says that he shared a special bond with Frakir because of this.

Remember when  Merlin found Greyswandir in the shrine to his father?

Here's the deal:

DISADVANTAGE OF CREATING EMBEDDED ITEMS

Embedded items can be used to control their creators.  Possession of somebody else's Logrus or Pattern item gives you a degree of power over them.

If you're ever engaged in a Psyche struggle with them, you may treat your own Psyche as being one rank higher (Chaos to Amber, 3rd rank to 2nd rank, etc).  Any ties resulting from this temporary boosting of Psyche will always favor the one in possession of the other's Embedded Item.

When you've got somebody else's Embedded Item, you can use it to track them through shadow.  It can be used to establish a psychic link, just like touch or eye contact.  Any power words used against the creator of an Embedded Item always function at maximum potency, whether you know the target's name or not.

GM's are encouraged to think of other ways to penalize players who carelessly lose control of their Embedded Items; players are encouraged not to advertise their Embedded Items' existence during role-play.  Remember, there's a huge discount on Pattern and Logrus items created using these rules; there should be a proportional amount of pain and suffering should a character ever lose possession of one.

French Resistance characters for Behind Enemy Lines

In my last post I provided my rules for Italian and Japanese NPC troops for FASA's Behind Enemy Lines WWII roleplaying game.

As published, Behind Enemy Lines allowed players to create American infantry soldiers; FASA's British Commandos expanded the rules to allow campaigns centered around English special forces units.  Here are tables for creating player characters from the French Resistance, using normal Behind Enemy Lines rules.

Strength:  1D+3

Endurance:  1D+4

Weapons Handling:  1D+4

Agility:  1D+4

Stamina:  (Strength + Endurance) / 2

Weight

2D Roll                    Males                                       Females

     2                            Less than 130 pounds            Less than 110 pounds

     3                            130-140 pounds                     110-115 pounds

     4                            140-150 pounds                     115-120 pounds

     5                            150-160 pounds                     120-130 pounds

   6-7                          160-170 pounds                      130-140 pounds

   8-9                          170-180 pounds                      140-150 pounds

    10                           180-190 pounds                      150-155 pounds

    11                            190-200 pounds                     155-160 pounds

    12                            More than 200 pounds          More than 160 pounds

1D:    1-4 Character is from country.

           5-6 Character is from city.

Background Skills

Skill               Urban         Rural         Max Lvl          Description

Rifle                    11+                5+                   6                  2D:  (DM +1 Rural):

                                                                                                          2-8 level 1

                                                                                                          9     level 2

                                                                                                          10   level 3

                                                                                                          11   level 4

                                                                                                          12   level 5

                                                                                                          13   level 6

Pistol                  10+               7+                   6                  (As per Rifle)

Language             5+               8+                   3                  German, English, Spanish

                                                                                              1D:      1     Basics Only (level 1)

                                                                                                         2-4  Familiarity (level 2)

                                                                                                         5-6  Fluency (level 3)

Driving                 3+               4+                   1                   Cars, trucks, jeeps.

Swimming            8+               6+                   3                   1D:    1      Beginner (level 1)

                                                                                                         2-5  Fair (level 2)

                                                                                                         6      Good (level 3)

Hand-to-hand     8+               8+                   3                    1D:   1-2  Fair (level 1)

                                                                                                         3-5  Good (level 2)

                                                                                                         6      Excellent (level 3)

Leadership           7+               5+                   1

Demolitions         11+              7+                   2                    1D:   1-4  level 1

                                                                                                         5-6  level 2

First Aid              10+            10+                  1

Orienteering       12+              8+                   3                    1D:   1-2  level 1

                                                                                                         3-5  level 2

                                                                                                         6      level 3

Basic Skills

Skill                   Max Level                    Description

Rifle                             6                              As basic rules.

First Aid                     2                               1D:    1-3      level 1

                                                                                4-5      level 2

                                                                                  6        level 3

Demolitions                1                               On roll of 10+ (added to background skill)
Hand-to-hand            3                              1D:    1-3       level 1

                                                                               4-5       level 2

                                                                                 6         level 3

Basic Familiarity (Skill level 1) with Grenade and Submachine Gun.

"Rank"

Die                      Rank                                  Wanted?

2-9                      Cell member                         11+

10-11                  Cell leader                               8+

12                        Resistance leader                   5+

(Resistance leaders roll 2D; on a roll of 11+, the character is a national leader of the Resistance, and is definitely wanted by the occupying German forces).

Combat Experience

Rank               Roll             Combat Experience                 Acquired Skill Points

Fighter             2-5               Green recruit (0)                                                 0

                          6-10             Several skirmishes (4)                                       2D

                          11+               Several pitched battles (1D+2)                       2D+4

Cell leader        2-8               Several skirmishes (4)                                       2D

                           9+                Several pitched battles (1D+2)                       2D+4

Res. leader       2-3               None (0)                                                                0

                          4-8               Hero of several skirmishes (1D+2)                   2D

                            9+               Hero of pitched battle (2D+2)                           3D

Acquired Skills

BAR                                             6 points for each level, to a maximum of 2.

.30 cal MG                                  9 points for 1 level maximum.

.50 cal MG                                  9 points for 1 level maximum.

.45 cal pistol                                3 points for each level, to a maximum of 5.

Submachine Gun                        2 points for each level, to a maximum of 4.

Rifle                                              3 points for each level, to a maximum of 4

                                                      4 points for level 5

                                                      6 points for level 6  (Roll required)
Orienteering                                2 points for each level, to a maximum of 5.

Hand-to-hand                             4 points for each level, to a maximum of 2.

Leadership                                   3 points for each level, to a maximum of 2.

Demolitions                                  3 points for each level, to a maximum of 2.

Swimming                                    6 points for each level, to a maximum of 3.

Carrying, Lifting, and Dragging attributes are determined normally.

Pistols                           Short 8+     Med 10+   Long 12+   Extreme 14+   Rate    Ammo

Lebel M1892                      10(-2)            30(-1)        55                     90                1/2 sec.         6
OSS M1942                        10(+1)            20(+1)       40(+2)            60(+3)             1                 1

Rifles

MAS 36                                75(-2)            220(-1)     450                  650              1/2 sec.         5

SMGs

MAS 38                                20(-1)           50               100                   160              AUTO         32

MGs

M1924/29                           75(-2)           200(-1)      400                   600              AUTO         25

Starting Weapons

Roll                                      Weapon                    Ammunition

2-4                                         Lebel M1892             D6: 1-3, 6 rounds; 4-6, 20 rounds.

 5                                            OSS M1942                (Disposable one-shot)

6-7                                         Luger P08                  D6: 1-4, 8 rounds; 5-6, 20 rounds.

 8                                            MAS 36                      D6: 1-4, 5 rounds; 4-6, 20 rounds.

9-10                                       KAR 98K                    D6: 1-4, 5 rounds; 5-6, 20 rounds.

 11                                           MAS 38                     D6: 1-4, 25 rounds; 5-6, 50 rounds.

 12                                           Sten Gun                   2 30-round clips.

Equipment Availability

1 Grenade, or,                           8+
      2 Grenades                         11+
Wire Cutters                            10+
Demolitions (see below)         10+
Field Glasses                             8+
Food, 1 day's ration                 10+

Demolitions:    2-7                               Dynamite, 1 stick  (caps, fuse, or wire)
                          8-11                             TNT, 1/2 pound  (caps, fuse, or wire)
                            12                               Nitroglycerine, 3 ounces

Note:  To create French paratroops or commandos, use U.S. "Basic" skills instead of French "Basic."  British-trained airborne troops use "Paratroops" rules and American-trained commandos use "Rangers" rules.  Both will be equipped with standard 'Gear' for U.S. soldiers and be armed with the MAS 36 or MAS 38.