Whenever player characters try to do anything, from opening a door to creating a universe, the SG has to decide whether or not the character is successful.
And player characters are only the beginning, since the SG has to answer the same question, silently, about anything attempted by any of the dozens of non-player characters operating behind the scenes.
Does it work?
In Amber, the answer is almost always yes. Characters, player characters or otherwise, almost always succeed at everything they try.
Of course most things are just the little things we do every day. Characters are usually successful at walking, talking, reading, eating, playing and sleeping, just like people in real life. When it comes to using the Powers, like Pattern or Magic, most of the things that characters try will succeed.
There are exactly three exceptions, three cases where characters can fail. They are when a character has Bad Stuff, lacks the ability, or is opposed by some other character.
At the point of character creation, the players are allowed to fill in the details of their character's life and skill experiences.
The player always deserves the benefit of the doubt, so that if any part of their background could provide the needed skill, it is usually assumed that it does (we are dealing with Amberites here, after all).
However, if nothing in the character's history indicates the opportunity to learn the skill, then the player character never picked it up.
For example, a player may not have specified computer training.
However, if the character's background includes a couple of years of study at a modern-era university in a fairly sophisticated technological Shadow, then it's fine to assume that the character must have picked up some computer training.
Perhaps not enough to reprogram a supercomputer from scratch, but enough to know the basics of exploring a database and getting on line to a network.
As far as inability to use Powers, characters often fail as they experiment with new aspects.
For example, look at an expert auto mechanic. The mechanic can fix most problems, but will run into difficulty when faced with a car imported from a different Shadow.
It's not that the mechanic lacks the skill, it's just that dealing with a totally new car design requires a bit of experimentation, with a good chance of occasionally screwing up.
When a character says ''I plunge my sword through the creature's neck'', they automatically succeed if the creature is helpless. However, most of the time, the creature is not co-operating.
A character's attempt at murder is usually contested by some other character's attempt at escape.
They can't both succeed, so the result is a matter of Story Guide judgement. Contests in Amber are often waged without the characters being aware of it.
Player characters will sometimes be opposed by hidden elder Amberites, or by off-stage Nobles of Chaos.
In these cases, player characters could easily see their failure as due to luck (Bad Stuff), or inability.
If the combat is not important to the story, just you beating up some standard Shadow warrior, hardly any time is spent on it.
On the other hand, if it's a close fight between hated enemies, it's worth getting into it in more detail.
Each fight is a way of advancing the story. This means several things. It can mean finding out information about the characters, whether they are participants, observers, or manipulators.
Each time we see how well someone fights in the books, as when Bleys kills hundreds, or how poorly, as when Julian is over-powered by Corwin, it says something about those characters.
In role-playing this is even better since the characters can actually experience being kicked around by somebody, or have a chance to beat up on a lesser character.
Each time something like that happens, it speaks a lot more clearly than the Story Guide just describing the abilities of a character.
Since the story comes first, and we don't want to get bogged down, the mechanics of Amber combat are very simple.
Whoever has the better Attribute wins. That's it!
More important battles simply involve more detail, and more decisions for the characters.
If the fight involves weapons, troops or strategy, use Warfare to determine the outcome. If grappling, wrestling or in similar hand-to-hand fighting, use Strength. For direct mental conflicts through Trump or other means, use Psyche.
You already know that the higher rank in each of these Attributes will determine the winner. That's no mystery.
The mystery is figuring out where you stand. Are you better? Worse? Or pretty close?
No matter which arena, you've got certain choices, each with their own risks.
No matter what kind of combat you get into, there are certain handy things that can be used to equalise the odds.
First, if you've got an appropriate Power Word, it can be used instantly, any time during combat.
It's also possible to use something like Logrus tendrils or Advanced Pattern. These things can be used instantly so long as they are prepared before the combat begins.
Either invoking the Logrus, or walking the Pattern in your mind, is time consuming job that needs your full attention. So, unless you've got something ready to go before the combat starts, forget it!
Magic spells are also fairly quick, but only those that are memorised or ''hung''. Problem is, if there are any lynchpins involved, they're going to work pretty slow.
A skilled swordsperson, in range, can pierce your body several times in the time it takes to utter a single lynchpin.
| Monday, August 25, 1997 |
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