Howdy! It's been a while. I'm doing the job search thing and have been pretty busy.
This post continues my series about using characters from Zelazny's other fiction in Amber Diceless campaigns. Previous posts have provided stats for characters from Zelazny's novels Doorways in the Sand, Eye of Cat, To Die In Italbar, from his Dilvish the Damned series, and from two of his short stories, "Mana From Heaven" and "Kalifriki of the Thread." The post about Dilvish was the first in the series, explaining how and why I used characters from Zelazny's books in one of my campaigns-- and that post would also be the best place to start reading this series, if you haven't been following along.
A Dark Traveling is sometimes referred to as a work of juvenile fiction, although I read somewhere that Zelazny himself recoiled from the label. In any case, though, its setting blends almost seamlessly with the setting of Amber if you make the (rather dubious) assumption that 'transcomp teleportation' is just a limited form of shadow travel.
If you haven't read A Dark Traveling, there are spoilers ahead.
The book's basic premise is that there are many parallel versions of earth in existence, each of which contains a different possible set of circumstances. Travel between these "bands," as they are called, is primarily accomplished through a technological device called a 'transcomp,' which is a noisy but highly advanced piece of room-sized equipment. Travel between two bands from transcomp to transcomp is generally somewhat safe-- but more perilous travel, using a single transcomp device on one end and magical sorcery on the other, can also be attempted; blind transcomp travel using only a single transcomp device, or especially traveling from band to band using sorcery only, is an incredibly risky and imprecise affair. Several of Earth's neighboring dimensions, or 'bands,' have allied with each other for mutual exploration and technology-sharing purposes. There are also bands which have allied together for purposes of military expansion and to exploit the resources of neighboring realities. These bands have come to be known as:
- Lightbands which work together for mutual aid and for exchange of resources or information;
- Darkbands which use transcomp technology to exploit or conquer their neighbors;
- Graybands, which are worlds without transcomp technology; and,
- Deadbands, which are empty worlds where life has been exterminated.
Here, then, are a set of NPC's from this novel, beginning with its protagonist:
James Wiley [40 Points]
PSYCHE [Chaos Rank]
STRENGTH [25 Points]*
WARFARE [Chaos Rank]
*Limited to Chaos Rank unless in werewolf form.
"Golly" the Golem - Android security device [25 Points]
* Immense Vitality [8 Points]
* Tireless, Supernatural Stamina [8 Points]
* Double Damage Hands & Feet [2 Points]
* Psychic Neutral [2 Points]
* Rapid Healing [2 Points]
James Wiley is just your typical 15-year-old werewolf, whose father and uncle also happen to run a secret Foundation controlling Transcomp technology on Shadow Earth. He's a resourceful young man, on the verge of learning to cope with his lycanthropy, so mature that adults often forget that he's just a kid. Golly, the android, is something of a house guardian, programmed to protect the Transcomp device in the Wiley basement as well as the rest of the family. Golly could not pass for a normal human and is programmed using the control panel in its chest, although it understands basic verbal commands.
Becky Wiley [0 Points]
PSYCHE [13 Points]
STRENGTH [Human Rank]
ENDURANCE [Chaos Rank]
WARFARE [Human Rank]
Sorcery [15 Points]
Transcomp Witchery Construct [32 Points]
* Lightband Shadows [6 Points]
- Personal Shadow [1 Point]
- Restricted Access [2 Points]
- Countless Quantity [3 Points]
* Deadband Shadows [5 Points]
- Personal Shadow [1 Point]
- Restricted Access [2 Points]
- Named & Numbered Quantity [2 Points]
* Witchery Aura manifestation [21 Points]
- Shadow Path [2 Points]
- Flux-Pin Connection [*3 Points]
- Implant Power [15 Points]
James' adopted sister Becky is already an accomplished transcomp sorceress, having pulled off several blind trips between neighboring bands without getting lost or marooning herself on an unknown deadband.
Barry [-25 Points]
PSYCHE [Human Rank]
STRENGTH [5 Points]
ENDURANCE [Chaos Rank]
WARFARE [5 Points]
Barry is a college-aged assassin and trained ninja from a neighboring Lightband who lives in the Wiley household under the guise of being an "exchange student." He's pretty good at what he does, and can take just about any normal shadow human in a fair fight-- although fair fights aren't really Barry's thing.
Tom Wiley [0 Points]
PSYCHE [Human Rank]
STRENGTH [Human Rank]
ENDURANCE [Human Rank]
WARFARE [Chaos Rank]
Transcomp Construct [35 Points]
* Lightband Shadows [6 Points]
- Personal Shadow [1 Point]
- Restricted Access [2 Points]
- Countless Quantity [3 Points]
* Deadband Shadows [5 Point]
- Personal Shadows [1 Point]
- Restricted Access [2 Points]
- Named & Numbered Quantity [2 Points]
* Transcomp Device manifestation [24 Points]
- Shadow Teleport [8 Points]
- Flux-Pin Connection [*3 Points]
"The Foundation" Alies [50 Points]
* Combat Training [1 Point]
* Extra Hard Military Equipment and Weapons [1 Point]
* Able to Speak in Tongues and Voices [4 Points]
* Transcomp Shadow Seek [4 Points]
* Cross-Shadow Environmental [*6 Points]
Tom Wiley, James and Becky's father, invented Transcomp technology on Shadow Earth, which allowed him to make contact with several nearby bands. He met his wife, Agatha, on a nearby lightband where magic and sorcery is much more active than on planet earth, and her family's magical bloodline has been passed on to James. Tom has used wealth acquired through Transcomp technology to create "The Foundation," a powerful paramilitary group which is heavily involved in lightband politics.
Agatha Wiley [0 Points]
PSYCHE [3 Points]
STRENGTH [Human Rank]
ENDURANCE [Chaos Rank]
WARFARE [Chaos Rank]
Power Words [10 Points]
Transcomp Witchery Construct [32 Points]
* Lightband Shadows [6 Points]
- Personal Shadow [1 Point]
- Restricted Access [2 Points]
- Countless Quantity [3 Points]
* Deadband Shadows [5 Points]
- Personal Shadow [1 Point]
- Restricted Access [2 Points]
- Named & Numbered Quantity [2 Points]
* Witchery Aura manifestation [21 Points]
- Shadow Path [2 Points]
- Flux-Pin Connection [*3 Points]
- Implant Power [15 Points]
Agatha Wiley is a powerful Transcomp sorceress who is fiercely protective of her family. She adopted Becky into her young family shortly after James' birth after sensing that the young girl had raw magical talent which exceeded even her own formidable abilities.
Uncle George Kendall [15 Points]
PSYCHE [Human Rank]
STRENGTH [34 Points]*
ENDURANCE [15 Points]*
WARFARE [Chaos Rank]
* Limited to Chaos Rank unless in werewolf form.
Shadow Ally - Aunt Meryl Kendall [1 Point]
Agatha's brother George shares the Kendall men's tendency toward lycanthropy, and has been training James on the ins and outs of being a werewolf.
Crow [15 Points]
PSYCHE [5 Points]
STRENGTH [Chaos Rank]
ENDURANCE [Chaos Rank]
WARFARE [Human Rank]
Power Words [10 Points]
Sorcery [15 Points]
Transcomp Witchery Construct [30 Points]
* Darkband Shadows [5 Points]
- Personal Shadow [1 Point]
- Restricted Access [2 Points]
- Named & Numbered Quantity [2 Points]
* Deadband Shadows [4 Points]
- Restricted Access [2 Points]
- Named & Numbered Quantity [2 Points]
* Dark Witchery Aura manifestation [21 Points]
- Shadow Path [2 Points]
- Flux-Pin Connection [*3 Points]
- Implant Power [15 Points]
Crow is one of the deadliest darkband lords-- a powerful Transcomp sorcerer in his own right, but his armies were ultimately smashed by Tom's Foundation forces and he himself was vanquished by Agatha and Becky in a sorcerous duel. Barely escaping to a deadband where he will not be discovered, Crow silently watches and plots his revenge.
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