Let's start off with the fictional player Doug. He spent the least points in the Attribute Auction, a measly 10 points for Endurance. This means for powers and items, he has 90 points to spread around. Or, if he wants to put the work into drawing Trumps or writing a diary entry for each session, he can get more points.

Doug's Character -- Leon

Psyche: Amber Ranked (0 points)
Strength: Chaos Ranked (+10 points)
Endurance: 5th place (10 points)
Warfare: Amber Ranked (0 points)

Pattern Imprint (50 points)
Sorcery (15 points)
Conjuration (20 points)

Silver Star brooch (3 points) -- Cliaand (7 points) -- Court Friend in Amber (2 points), Chaos Devotee (4 points)

Bad Stuff (+1 point)


Leon is a studious guy. He likes the power that his sorcery and conjuration gives him, and doesn't mind the extra time to maintain a few spells, as long as he's never caught unprepared. He is rude and egotistical, like most Amberites, and works at maintaining a 'dark, mysterious' personality.


Steve is the next person to turn in a character. Since he spent the most on his attributes, a whopping 75 points, he doesn't have much chance of getting something powerful, like Pattern or Logrus. Still, all his points in Attributes will make him a formidable opponent.

Steve's Character -- Connor

Psyche: 2nd place (23 points)
Strength: 2nd place (15 points)
Endurance: 2nd place (22 points)
Warfare: 1st place (15 points)

Kylin (black lab) (14 points) -- Amber Devotee (6 points)
Good Stuff (5 points)


Connor is a real young one as Amberites view things. Even though he's still stronger, and better, at most things, it's still possible that he's just an extraordinary Shadow dweller. His parent in Amber has been looking out for his welfare, sending his dog Kylin to keep watch over the boy until he could walk the Pattern. Because of his young, naive personality, it's easy for Connor to make a good impression and try to turn enemies into friends.


James turns in the next character. He spent fifty points on Attributes, coming out in the lead in Psyche. He doesn't hold the lead by much though, so he should look for extra powers to help him stay in the lead with mental powers.

James' Character -- Osmond

Psyche: 1st place (24 points)
Strength: 3rd place (3 points)
Endurance: 4th place (18 points)
Warfare: 3rd place (5 points)

Pattern Imprint (50 points)
Power Words (10 points) -- Magic Negation, Chaos Negation, Psychic Disrupt, Trump Disrupt, Burst of Psyche

Trump Contribution (+10 points)


Osmond is a very smart guy, and mentally powerful. His Power Words help give him an edge in close Psychic battles, and he looks forward to learning skills like Sorcery. He enjoys wandering in Shadows where inhabitant have high mental powers, to help him sharpen his skills. His player James is willing to put effort into drawing a Trump for each session, whether of another character, or a place they visited.


Cindy turns in her character next. She placed almost in the middle of the Attribute Auction, so she doesn't have any important weaknesses.

Cindy's Character -- Jeanie

Psyche: 3rd place (8 points)
Strength: Chaos Rank (+10 points)
Endurance: 3rd place (20 points)
Warfare: 2nd place (12 points)

Pattern Imprint (50 points)
Trump Artistry (40 points)

Trump Contribution (+10 points)
Character Diary (+10 points)


Jeanie was raised in Rebma, the underwater reflection of Amber. It had been rumored that she was an illegitimate daughter of Oberon, and since she did bear a slight resemblance to the family, she snuck in to walk the Pattern in Rebma as a teenager, and then headed off into Shadow. Though she enjoys strategy games, and sports like fencing, she's not as strong as a typical Amberite. Jeanie enjoys artistry and creating things, and she learned Trump creation from Queen Moira.


Melanie turns in her character last. With taking the lead in both Strength and Endurance, there's not much her character can't handle in hand to hand combat.

Melanie's Character -- May

Psyche: Chaos Rank (+10 points)
Strength: 1st place (20 points)
Endurance: 1st place (25 points)
Warfare: Amber Rank (0 points)

Pattern Imprint (50 points)

May's Mithril Claymore (3 points) -- Glittering Chainmail Suit (5 points) --
Urth (3 points) -- Good stuff (4 points)


May is a real tomboy, enjoying the physical sports rather than mental pursuits. She has a distaste for court politics of anywhere and prefers to go galloping off into Shadow to pursue glory and adventure.


Now that all the players have in basic character descriptions, the Game Master can start working on other aspects that they can't control. Most importantly, which Amberite (or Chaosian) is their parent? This choice is not left up to the player. For example, Cindy thinks that her character Jeanie should be one of Oberon's other long lost kids. The Game Master may decide that someone else, such as Caine or Llewella, would be better as her parent. They also can't choose who their Court Friends or Devotees are. They may never even find out. The effects of Good Stuff and Bad Stuff change depending on who the Game Master is, and usually end up being different every game. Some items can have more points for a skill than what is listed; Greyswandyr, for example, could have Primal Damage to Creatures of Chaos (16 points). Items like that are up to the GM's choice, and are never available to a starting character.

The best part of Amber is that characters grow and develop. At the end of a campaign, the Game Master asks each player for a list of what they want their character to gain, and how many points of Bad Stuff they are willing to take to gain those items.
For example, let's say, after a short campaign, the GM decides each character will have 32 points for advancement. Without telling the players how many points there will be, he requests a wish list from all of them. Steve turns in a wish list for his character Connor. Connor wants a magical dagger for 4 points, with Double Damage and Named & Numbered forms. Second on his list is Pattern Imprint, and he's willing to take up to 5 points of Bad Stuff for that. (What this means -- Since Connor already has 5 points of Good Stuff, if he can get Pattern with only 5 more points, he will get it, and lose those extra points from Good Stuff) Third, he wants an increase in his Strength Attribute, 5 points to put him almost equal with Melanie.
The Game Master looks at the list, one item at a time. From 32 points available, giving him the dagger for four is no problem. The GM takes off the points, and hands Connor the dagger. Then the GM looks at the list again. The next item is Pattern Imprint, which would cost 50 points. Except there are only 28 points left for advancement. Even with the 5 points of Bad Stuff (for 33 points) Connor still can't get Pattern. Instead of moving further down the list to the next item, the GM adds those 28 leftover points to Connor's Good Stuff. Meaning, from this Campaign, Connor got a 4 point dagger, and went up to 33 points of Good Stuff. Even though there were points available for the Strength advancement, the request for Pattern Imprint took priority over the Strength advancement. It just has to wait until the next time.


Characters can advance to be pretty powerful. Below are two examples of my main character, the Blue Ninja, taken three years apart.


The Blue Ninja, Wanderer of the Forest Inn

Psyche: 10 points
Strength: 10 points
Endurance: 40 points
Warfare: 25 points

Pattern Imprint (50 points)
"Altered" Shape Shifting (50 points) -- This allows Blue Ninja to shift to either of his memorized forms (dragon and panther) almost instantly, without regard to mass. Changing to new forms, or changing aspects of himself, can take up to three times as long, and can have additional difficulties changing back.
Sorcery (15 points)
Conjuring (20 points)

Chaos Devotee (4 points)

Panther's Claw (16 points) -- Dragon's Breath (16 points) -- Glittering Mail (6 points) --
Good Stuff (2 points)

Total: 260 points


This version of BN is a friendly, outgoing explorer. He loves getting into trouble, though nothing too serious, confidant in his abilities to fight or talk his way out of most situations.


The Blue Ninja, Prisoner of the Undershadow

Psyche: 45 points
Strength: 110 points
Endurance: 95 points
Warfare: 80 points

Pattern Imprint (50 points)
"Altered" Shape Shifting (50 points)
Sorcery (15 points)
Conjuration (20 points)

Chaos Devotee (4 points)
House Support (3 points)

Solar Flare (34 points) --
Bad Stuff (+6 points)

Total: 500 points


After a mistake with a Trump and Pattern, the Primal Pattern banished him to the Undershadow. For four years, he was chased by Pattern Ghosts of Eric who tried to kill him. Eventually, he was able to fight his way free, with help of the Logrus, in return for the promise to slay two of his relatives, Nicole and Duncan. He has a vicious scar across the left side of his face, which destroyed his left eye and gives him a much more sinister appearance. He still hasn't recovered from four years of living on the edge of death, and often reacts like he is in the middle of an attack, giving him a sinister, warlike appearance.


Now, there is a primary difference between my character above, and most player characters. The player doesn't (and shouldn't) be able to keep track of their Attributes and Good/Bad Stuff. Those are used almost exclusively by the Game Master to keep track of the character's standing in the group.


Anyway, now that you have a character, who is well thought out, you need to keep in mind a few rules about roleplaying. Click here to see a few of them.

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