Claimh Solais

Amber-in-Exile: The Background

Here is the background information I sent the AiE players:

Here is some more background information as you begin
to think about character ideas. This is all stuff
that your characters know about the family history and
the worlds. This background write-up assumes
knowledge of the setting and the Corwin books.

Corwin woke up in a hospital with amnesia and checked
himself out.

His went to Flora and with Random travelled to Rebma
and Amber as it happened in the first Amber novel.

Random stayed with Vialle while Corwin and Bleys
attacked Amber. They failed and Corwin's eyes were
put out by Eric. He escaped with help from Dworkin.
(Yep, everything is still the same so far.)

He went to Avalon to get the makings for guns and
spent some time with Benedict. Benedict does not
join with Corwin and lets him leave. (Things start to
change here. No Dara. No mysterious deaths that
Benedict blamed Corwin for.)

Corwin arrives with guns in Amber but finds an Amber
where Eric has made a truce with the leader of demonic
creatures who attacked Amber. When Corwin attacks
Amber a mysterious woman whom he would later learn is
named Dara shows up and joins the side of Amber,
bringing a small army of demons with her. Her
sorceress powers and demonic allies working alongside
Eric and his control over the jewel of judgement makes
short work of Corwin's army and again Corwin escaped,
trumping to Llewella. Badly hurt in the battle,
Corwin is hidden by Llewella while he heals.

In Amber, Eric ends up marrying Dara who is some sort
of noble in the "Courts of Chaos" and cements a
lasting peace with Chaos. He also determines
Corwin's allies and declares them banished from Amber
for Eternity. To make things worse, someone in
Amber, presumable Eric, has sent assassins to shadow
to kill the "traitors."

You know that some of the exiles made attempts to make
peace with Eric (Llewella came close)and others have
attempted new attacks on Eric (Benedict came close.
An assassin killed his wife in Avalon. He's still
angry.) Bleys has kept in contact with Fiona and
others have had enough conversations with the brothers
and sisters in Amber to know a little that is going on
in the kingdom and things are going well....but Eric
gets a little crazy whenever Corwin or the other
"traitors" are mentioned and if he knew that Fiona was
talking to Bleys fairly regularly, she'd probably be
added to the list of exiles.

Currently, the exiled elders settled in to the
following shadows and have shown no sign of plans to
attack Amber in years:

Corwin in Marl- Marl looks a lot like 1920's Earth
with a lot more art-deco style. Magic is extremely
common in the shadow of Marl. Cars run on elemental
magics. Magical "Glowstones" are used instead of
lightbulbs and every cop keeps a few "Runeslugs" for
his pistol in case he needs to stop a rampaging
Werewolf. The cities have walls around them and
their surrounding farms. Travel between the cities is
dangerous because of the beasts that are said to roam
the Wilderness. Corwin owns a beautiful estate on
the outskirts of the city of Selastos. As far as the
locals know, he is a businessman who moved to the
Selastos area several years ago from the city of
Galitia. He has taken a wife and local rumors say
that he has been buying enough magical weapons to
equip a small army, but none of the kids have ever
seen any of this arsenal when visiting (or growing up)
there.

Benedict in Valusia- You here that Valusia is a lot
like the Avalon that both Benedict and Corwin were so
fond of. It is every cliche of a D&D inspired fantasy
world rolled in to one. There are elves. There are
Dwarves. There are heroic adventurers who keep the
common people safe from the monsters who would hurt
them by exploring infested dungeons and ruins.
Benedict has a home in King's Port, the "City of
Heroes" where all of the world's greatest adventurers
come to meet and exchange tales. He is known as a
wealthy patron to many of the worlds most famous
groups of adventurers, the ones whom all of the bards
sing of: The Silver Riders, the Golem Smashers and
even the world's most famous band of adventurers, "The
Seven." Any child who grew up in this world would
have grown up dreaming of adventures themself and as
soon as they were old enough, Benedict would have sent
them out to slay dragons, rescue princesses and all of
that jazz. Benedict's home is the second largest in
King's Port, second only to the kings. Despite the
monster-infested crypts and tunnels, Valusia is a
beautiful world to live in, the perfect one worth
fighting for. The Race Wars ended decades ago and
Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Half-folk live together in
peace. (If any players want to play half-elves, they
can if they are a child of Benedict's.)

Bleys in Icon- Icon is a lot like modern Earth with
even geography that is close, but for centuries the
world has been run by the International Confederation
of Nations, or ICON. ICON has control over
everything, even the religion. While the people toil
and work, they live happier knowing that their faith
in the Father will mean that someday, perhaps even
after their deaths, they will be chosen to stand by
his side in the final battle against the Corrupter and
the Corrupter's demons and all who fight and die in
that battle will earn a place in paradise. (Imagine
the Islamic belief in a Jyhad combined with much less
intense rules about alchohol and sexual relations and
you've got this world's religion. These people party
hard in the present and as long as they only visit the
church's whores and drink the blessed wines of the
church.... and are prepared to fight in the judgement
day battle, they will be okay.) Okay,this world may
sound awful but actually it's a decent place to grow
up. There are plenty of entertaining ways to spend
your time and Bleys works in some high-ranking
position for ICON and has a great huge penthouse in
downtown New Amsterdam. Besides his involvement in
helping run ICON, Bleys is the best (and only) trump
artist amongst the exiles and spends a lot of time
going with his family to the different worlds of the
other families to paint trumps of the worlds. (Each
character has a trump of the front gate or elevator of
each of the homes.) Each trump is hand-made and takes
a long time to make, so any child of Bleys would have
spent more time in the various shadows than any other.
In fact, a child of Bleys would have had been unable
to attend ICON's schools since he or she would have
been gone so much and would have had a tutor.

Random in the Outer Rim- Random had to give up his
more adventurous ways for Vialle but still managed to
find an exciting place to live. On Caprica IV, a
planet in the outer rim of its shadow's galaxy, it
seems to many to be uncivilized. It has been a
couple decades since a bloody galactic civil war left
Caprica IV and many of the other outer rim planets
under the control of the Alliance but the Alliance has
done little to bring law to the "lawless" planets.
Random and his family live a more comfortable life
than most on Caprica IV as Random is the owner of a
fleet of ships who does shipping throughout all of the
known planets and has a habit of joining in on some of
their shipping runs. His kids would also know that
most of those ships do illegal smuggling and older
kids (his children or the childrens of others who
decided to come live in the Outer Rim would havethe
chance to become "Rogue Traders" themselves. (Yes,
this world is basically "Firefly."

Llewella- I've got several cool ideas for Llewella's
world, from a world where everyone lives on the roof
of a huge rainforest and keeps dragons as pets or an
Atlantis-like undersea kingdom but instead I decided
that we could, as a group, decide on the fifth world
for the exiles to call home.

Your own personal shadow- When one of the children is
old enough (16), the elders let them choose to leave
and settle their own shadow if they wish to (and they
can do it any time they wish after that). The
character would not have the power to shift shadow,
but the elders would walk with him or her until they
find a world like he or she describes. With a set of
trumps of the different homes and a new one of their
new home, the young Amberite would be left with a
universe at their disposal. This option costs 6
character points at character generation and the
player can describe the world the young Amberite moved
to. If several cousins or brothers and sisters
decided to call the same world home, they can split
the cost.

Holidays- The families live seperate most of the time.
You've heard the elders say they worry that if too
many of them gather together in the same shadow for
too long they will lend the shadow too much reality
and will become too easy for Eric to find and send his
demonic assassins. However, all of the exiles get
together for "holidays" several times and during those
times, the children would have all gotten to know
their cousins, the only people they can talk to freely
about growing up an Amberite...where you know that you
and your parents have amazing powers and you can't
tell anyone. Despite not seeing them too often (a few
times a year at most), you would feel closer to your
cousins than any shadow-person in your own world.
Some may say it is because they are more real to you,
but it may just be that they are the only ones who
understood what it was like to grow up so different.

Sorry for all of the typos I am sure are in this and
the bad grammar and/or writing but I wanted to type up
a lot quickly so you guys could start throwing around
character concepts. Next, I'll send out the character
generation stuff, including powers and stuff.

The worlds have gone through a few tweaking since the planning began and Llewella's has been created. (More soon!)

Amber in Exile: The Campaign

I've been prepping for the first game in my first-ever traditional Amber campaign (at least the first one I've GMed) and realized that there are some folks out there who would be interested in reading what I am doing. The game is starting this Saturday and we are still ironing out the characters through e-mail. To start with the sharing, I offer for your reading pleasure, the character creation details I sent the players a few weeks ago

First of all, some words about attributes so you have
a better idea what the GM is thinking of the
attributes before you spend points.

Psyche- The most important attribute. Characters
with higher Psyche can better defend themselves if
attacked by mental powers, keep focused under fire and
can better use mental powers (both more skillfully and
with more power). It is both a measure of a
characters willpower and mental finesse. Please
note: No matter how high a character's Psyche is
bought, it does not give you mental powers, only the
power to use or defend against the mental powers
better.

Strength- The most important attribute. Characters
with a high strength are stronger and tougher than
lower strength characters. A character with a high
strength is more likely to get right back up after
getting hit with a car. At Amber level, a character
is stronger than any natural shadow person and can
(with effort) lift a car. At higher point levels, it
takes less effort to lift a car. First rank would be
able to throw a car. At Chaos level, the character
is still as strong as a human body-builder. At
human, the character is no stronger or tougher than an
average human.

Endurance- The most important attribute. Endurance
determines how well you heal from injuries and how
long you can fight or act, physically or mentally,
without rest. At Amber rank, a character easily run a
marathons. At higher ranks, characters could fight
for days without sleep. (Mental attacks can't last
for the days that physical attacks could as they are
much more draining to use or defend against than the
physical attacks.)

Warfare- The most important attribute. Warfare
determines how well a character has trained in the
arts of war, both physical combat and strategy. At
Amber rank, a character could go toe-to-toe with green
berets just from the use of the superior speed and
reflexes of an Amberite. Any higher level and the
character has more skill in using those natural
abilities.

Points and player contributions- Characters will have
100 pts to start with. There will be a one-time
bonus of ten points for supplying a trump and there
will be bonus advancement points provided for
character journals. (They don't have to be
well-written, just written. The points will be 1/3
of the advancement given for the session they cover,
so if the experience for a session was 3 pts, a
character journal of that session would award one
bonus points.)

Powers:
The following standard ADRPG powers are available at
character creation:

Trump Artist
Sorcery
Conjuration
Power Words
Shapeshifting (costs an additional 10 points and must
have a story of how the character is a shapeshifter)

(Note: When Pattern Imprint becomes available to the
players, players will be able to take Basic Patten
Imprint for free.)

Also this power from Shadow Knight is available:
Trump Tricks (20 pts)- While no artist, this character
has learned to manipulate the trump in special ways.
She can observe other trump conversations and
sometimes even catch the surface thoughts of those she
monitors. (from p. 166 of Shadow Knight)

The following are new powers available in this game:
Telepathy (20 pts)- Character may mentally communicate
with other characters from a distance without the help
of Trumps or other powers. Characters with Telepathy
and Pattern Imprint may telepathically contact
characters in different shadows.

Telekinesis (20 pts)- Character can move things with
his or her mind.

Combat Mastery (10 pts)- Player must declare what type
of combat the character has mastered. When fighting
with the style of combat or weapon you have mastered,
your skill is legendary. May be taken multiple times
for different styles of combat or weapons. Examples
include Swords, Archery and Judo. Characters with
Amber or better Warfare is considered to have a
Warfare twenty points higher when Combat Mastery is
applicable. If character has a human rank in
Warfare, the rank is Chaos when Mastery applicable.
If character has a Chaos rank, the rank is Amber if
Mastery is applicable.

Languages of Power (20 pts per language)- Character
knows the secret magical language of a type of
element, creature or aspect of reality. By speaking
in the language, the character may be able to convince
the element or aspect of reality to perform for them
causing magical effects. Player must declare in
character creation, the language known. Examples
include: Stone, Air, Water, Plants, Birds and Beasts.
There is no known power language for Pattern or
Logrus.

Limited Shapeshifter (15 pts)- This character can
shapeshift into either a single form or a single type
of forms. She can not shapeshift instinctively or to
move through shadow. Forms must be declared during
character creation.

Shadow Walker (10 pts)- Character may travel through
shadow as if she had Pattern Imprint, but has no other
pattern powers. Character may have just developed this
ability naturally from some trace of Pattern Imprint
in her blood or may have another method to travel.
Shadow Walkers do not travel through shadow as quickly
as a character with Pattern Imprint. Points spent on
this will be refunded as advancement points if the
character walks the pattern.

Other powers- Have an idea for a power you'd like?
Email me. Depending on the power, it should cost
between 10-30 pts.

Artifacts or Creatures: Character may have one
artifact or creature of any amount of points.

Savage Alien Nation!

I've been toying with how to build the setting of Alien Nation in Savage Worlds. Here is what I have:

NEW RACE: Newcomers

The Tenctonese (aka Newcomers, Spongeheads, or Slags) are a humanoid species from the planet Tencton. Tencton has been described as a planet with a bright blue sky and a silver mist. More than 300,000 Tenctonese currently residein the United States, since their ship arrived on Earth in 1991. They were released from quarantine a few years later and most of them settled in Los Angeles. The Tenctonese are distinguished by the fact that the majority of the race are slaves. Few Tenctonese have ever seen the race that enslaved them and even fewer have ever seen their home planet. Tenctonese are taken from their parents as children at the age of ten and their tasks are allotted to them. Some of these children are chosen to be "Kleezantsun" (pronounced with a “cluck” sound at the end) or Overseers and are specially conditioned. While slaves, the Tenctonese were given a very powerful addictive drug that caused euphoria and kept them compliant to their unseen masters. During the years that the Newcomers were kept in quarantine, they were able to work through the withdrawal from the dependency.

The Tenctonese appearance is close to humans. They have a larger cranium with markings on it that continue down their spine. These markings along the spine are erogenous zones for the Tenctonese and a common practice in foreplay is called humming where one will place his or her mouth along the marks on the spine and hum. They have no hair on their heads and very little body hair. Genetically adapted for work on various planets, they are stronger and more resilient than humanity. They age very slowly, thanks to a special gland in their neck that slows the aging process.

The Tenctonese diet varies quite a bit from humans. Tenctonese are unable to digest cooked foods, so they eat a lot of raw foods, including meats. They prefer dead mammals with the fur still on. A common favorite amongst Newcomers is beaver.

The Tenctonese have been the target of a lot of hate and there are organized groups of human who advocate that the Newcomers should not be allowed to live amongst humanity. These “purists” are heavily organized and are lobbying hard against any laws that would give the Tenctonese more rights, such as the current bill in congress that would allow Newcomers to apply for US Citizenship and give them the right to vote.

Since their arrival on Earth, several Newcomers have become famous in particular fields, including the Newcomer actress, Eleanor Roosevelt (star of Alien Heart) and several Newcomers who play in professional sports.

Newcomer traits
Built for hard labor: Newcomers start with a d6 in Strength
Built to last: Newcomers receive a +2 to all soak rolls against physical damage and may ignore wound modifiers when forced to roll on the knockout blow or injurie tables. (Note: In the movie we find out that they have two hearts and even after being shot in one heart, they can continue fighting.)
Adaptable: Newcomer extras roll a wild die on all trait tests, just like a Wild Card. They do not get the other Wild Card benefits.
Extreme Allergy to Salt Water: Salt Water burns Newcomer flesh like acid. Treat any Newcomer who comes in contact with Salt Water as if they are touching lava.
Dependent: Years of use of addictive substances to keep them docile by their former masters have caused the newcomers to have a weakness to many sorts of drugs. Spirit rolls to resist addiction to these drugs and many other drugs they have encountered on Earth are made with a -2 to -6 penalty.

New Hindrance: Slave Mentality (Major)- The character has become so conditioned to receiving orders that he or she has had problems adapting to life as a free person. This character is at -2 to resist any attempts of Intimidation or Persuasion and must make a Spirit roll to take any action not suggested to him or her by another.

New Hindrance: Overseer (Major)- The character was an Overseer or “Kleezantsun” aboard the Newcomer ship, a newcomer who oversaw the other slaves. Overseers were hated by the other newcomers since they were conditioned for cruelty to keep the slaves in line. During the chaos of the day of the Newcomer arrival, many Overseers were killed but some managed to mix themselves in with the slaves and escaped undetected. These newcomers live in fear of the day that one of their previous charges will recognize them and take revenge for years of abuse. Overseers were trained and made to believe that they were superior to the slaves they watched and because of this they have a deep-seated belief of their own superiority. Because of this, Overseers have a -2 Charisma when dealing with other Newcomers, even if the other Newcomers do not know about the character having been a overseer on the ship. Overseers can attempt to overcome their training and avoid the -2 penalty before making a trait test by making a Spirit roll at -2, but if the roll is failed they come off as overly fake and friendly and there is additional -2 penalty.

ACNW 2006- Gargoyles and Grails in the Dreaming City

Game description:In the years since the Sidhe inhabitants of Murias opened the gates of the great city to mortals, the city has grown in ways that they could never have imagined. Modern technology and ancient magics coexist in the Dreaming City and it has become a haven for all sorts of mythical creatures. Frozen in stone for decades by a powerful spell, the latest additions to the city have been seen soaring over the skies of Murias. They are winged gargoyles from a time when superstition and the sword ruled and if they don't adapt to the new world quickly, they will never be able to keep the oath they made centuries ago: to protect the grail. They will need allies who understand the city....

ACNW 2006- High School and Other Horrors of the Dreaming City

Game description: Of the four great Tuatha de Danaan cities, only Murias remains. The great walls of Murias have kept the city safe time and again from the nightmares that destroyed the other cities and Murias has grown in to a great Metropolis with all of the comforts of the modern world. Now, something strange is happening to the students of Murias Public #3 and you've been asked to help the authorities discover what it is. The brave men and women who have fought unfathomable horrors to keep the city safe are about to face their biggest challenge yet: High School.

ACNW 2006

I have titles for the games I plan to run:
Gargoyles and Grails in the Dreaming City
High School and other Horrors of the Dreaming City
Brave New Gotham
Brave New Krypton (repeat)
The 4400

That's right. Five games....with the possibility of a sixth. Now to get cracking on the blurbs.

More on Solomon Kane

From the PEGInc.com website:

08.08.06

The Savage World of Solomon Kane

In the spring of 2007, Pinnacle Entertainment Group, in conjunction with Paradox Entertainment, Inc. will produce "The Savage World of Solomon Kane™ Roleplaying Game." God’s angry warrior, Solomon Kane™ is Robert E. Howard’s (Conan, Kull, Bran Mak Morn and many other incredible characters) most unusual creation. Black-clad and steely tempered, Kane bestrides demon-infested Africa and the war-torn Europe of Queen Elizabeth I to dispense relentless justice with the point of his sword. Pirates, vampires, mad queens, winged Furies, rapacious bandits, the berserk warriors of lost Atlantis – evil cannot escape justice from Solomon’s slashing rapier.

Pinnacle's CEO Shane Lacy Hensley is a long-time fan of the Kane stories: "Our game Savage Worlds is in large part inspired by the classic pulps, with my personal favorite Solomon Kane™ at the absolute top of the list. I've read and re-read Solomon's adventures for years and am thrilled to be doing this project. As you know, Pinnacle isn't known for licenses, but this is one that's very near and dear to our hearts. We feel this is a perfect match for our talents, our history of historical horror, and our game system."

The Savage World of Solomon Kane™ will be a full-color, 256-page book, written by Shane Lacy Hensley and Paul Wade-Williams, with a cover by Matt Wilson of Privateer Press. It will contain the award-winning Savage Worlds rules, background information on Kane and his adventures, all new locations, scenarios, and dark secrets for heroes to explore. New setting rules reflecting the incredible conviction of Kane are included, as well as a wealth of character ideas appropriate to Solomon's 16th century world of horror and adventure, and dozens of scenarios inspired by the Puritan’s own savage tales.

© 2006. Solomon Kane™ is a Trademark of Solomon Kane, Inc. All Rights Reserved. © 2006. Robert E Howard™ is a Trademark of Robert E. Howard Properties, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Savage Worlds

I'm really excited about some upcoming releases for Pinnacle's Savage Worlds game. The system was instantly one of my favorite systems after playing it for the first time. The original setting books that I've read for the system have been fantastic. (I have and have read "Evernight," a fantasy setting and their superhero setting, "Necessary Evil." If I were to ever run NE, I'd probably run it in Mutants and Masterminds instead because, despite my love for the system, I don't feel SW is ideal for superheroes/villains.)

Recently, a new version of Deadlands has been released using the SW system and its getting a lot of good buzz. I plan to pick it up as soon as I can afford it.

Now, there has been a whole bunch of licensed products anounced for SW which should also help bring more to the system. First of all, there is Pirates of the Spanish Main, based on the collectible game. It is due out very soon (if it is not already out) and I hear online that it is excellent. Between it and 50 Fathoms, a GM should have everything they would need to run a Pirates of the Carribean game. There has also been an announcement of a few more Wizkids properties being written for Savage Worlds: Rocketmen and Mage Knight.

However, the most exciting news was this:

ACNW- Brainstorming games

The game submission deadline for ACNW is coming up quick and I need to figure out what I'm going to be running. I know I will run one or two Dreaming City games. I don't have names for them yet and only have a few vague plot ideas at this point but it will come in time. I also want to run another Elseworlds game. I just haven't settled on a plot. I've got a few ideas centered around Gotham City, so I have a feeling that will be the setting for the game. Although, there is also the "Brave New Oa" idea I had which centered around the Green Lanterns settling on Earth after Oa is destroyed. (Yes, its inspired by a storyline in Green Lantern Corps back in the 80's.)

I'm watching the 4400 and I keep thinking that it would be cool to do a game where players are the several of the returnees but no plot-bit has come to me. I have had several Firefly ideas in my head for some time, so that is tempting.

Dreaming City

The new version of the character generation rules, the version I am using for the games I run at Ambercons, is up. For anyone who is curious, you can find them here. I'm prepping at least one Dreaming City game for ACNW this year.