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.