The subject of a Trump may be a person, place, creature, or thing. The cards of the royal family of Amber are only one aspect of this discipline. The royalty of Chaos (if they can be called such) also have decks of Trump.
There are two types of Trump skill: drawing Trumps, and using Trumps.
Trump Sketching is the ability to make quick, transitory Trump images. Trump Artistry is the ability to make full Trumps.
Trump Tricks is the ability to use created Trump in certain ways.
As a Trump Artist you are in a unique position. Trump cards are one of the very few items that can't be found in Shadow, can't be bought (except by a Trump Artist), and can't be Conjured.
The only way to obtain a Trump is from a Trump Artist.
A Trump, once created, is a special kind of artefact. Once filled with the power of Trump, a card becomes invulnerable to any conventional forces.
Likewise active Trump are immune to Logrus tendrils (attempting to 'grab' an active Trump can be painful), and the power of the Pattern.
Psyche is the most important Attribute for a Trump Sketcher or Artist. The better your Psyche, the quicker you'll be able to absorb the essentials of any new Trump subject.
And Psyche is obviously important for anyone wanting to become skilled at Trump Tricks.
To learn Trump Creation, the character must be a skilled artist (or equivalent).
Someone else who knows Trump must teach them the ability. Usually you'll have to discuss likely options with the SG. An elder Amberite is the most usual mentor.
WARNING: Getting Trump without Pattern or Logrus means taking a step into the unknown.
Without a method of seeing the difference between Reality and Shadow, the Trump Artist will find it difficult to draw Trumps of Real people and places.
The Trump Artist may even find it difficult to draw Trumps that can reach beyond the Shadow they are created in.
They can be made in 30 minutes to an hour, though Dworkin is rumoured to be able to create one in under 30 seconds! Trump sketches are good for a limited number of uses depending on the creator's Psyche.
After this usage is complete the sketch will be unempowered and no longer viable for either communication or transport.
If the Trump Sketch is to reach across Shadow, then the creator must have either the ability or the potential to influence shadow (Blood of Chaos or Amber, Broken Pattern, etc.).
Otherwise, the Sketch works only within the Shadow it was created in.
A Minor Trump Sketch can only be used for mental, visual, and verbal contact, and does not allow transportation between the places or people in contact.
Factors affecting this would include the sensing character's Psyche, the proximity to the Trump user, any and all intervening barriers (including other people), magical wards and the like, etc.
Additionally, the character will be able to sense the power used in making Trumps.
When a character is within a few hundred feet of a Trump being created they will immediately notice this great flux of power (unless the artist has taken special precautions using various wards, scry blocks, Psyche dampers, etc.).
When a user concentrates on the card there will be a psychic bond between the user and the subject of the card.
Creating a Trump takes from 4 hours to two days of concentrated work depending upon the character's Psyche, Endurance, and relative level of experience with making Trumps.
As time passes, the character will find that creating such paintings takes less and less time.
Suhuy, for example, could probably render a fully functional Trump in 20-30 minutes of work.
The medium used is also a factor. Painting in oils takes much longer to dry and become functional. Acrylics are relatively quick drying albeit not as conducive to that 'ultra-realistic' look which is the hallmark of the best Trumps.
Working from memory, without a live model, will double or triple the amount of time to create a card. Trumps made from descriptions, without the Trump Artist ever having observed the subject, have a high probability of linking to a Shadow, instead of the actual subject.
When the Trump Artist first sits down to create a Trump, they must clear their mind, then think upon the subject of the Trump they wish to create, and finally bring up the Power of Trump.
Once in the empowered state, they then begin drawing the lines upon the medium they are using, rendering a life-like representation of the subject, and embedding the Power of Trump into the image.
Trumps cannot be drawn if there are things to distract the Artist, they must have total concentration during the entire process, and any interruptions during the Trump creation stage will require them to start over.
The Power of Trump gives the Trump (but not the user) the equivalent of Trump Tricks::Trump Defence while it is activated. An unactivated Trump is just like any other non-Trump drawing.
A Trump Artist can detect the characteristics of a Trump by careful examination.
If the creator has an extreme Psychic advantage, any ill effects/traps on the Trump might have a chance to activate. Otherwise, the Artist is informed of the pitfalls.
| Thursday, October 23, 1997 |
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