Aging in Amber

[Tolknor]

Very interesting. Mind you, I don't know if I'd do it with such potential extremes of aging back and forth.

RPGPundit

Hehe,ya that was certainly an extreme example of the effect.  I imagined it being a slow process akin to living backwards day by day.  The Keshts were inspired by a CBS Sunday Morning bit about a couple who got into square dancing in their 70s. Cute couple.

So Bill Roth might take 10 years to stop looking 65 and reach looking mid 50s.  Another decade and he might settle in as a 45ish looking man in the prime of life.

 Now if he starts going to raves, and started a garage band doing covers of Nirvana, i might see him getting down into his 30s.   Of course, doing covers of the Rolling Stones might make him age back to his 60s.. got to be careful about that.  Those guys are old!

[RPGPundit]

This reminds me of Earth X, in a way.

Earth X?

[Tolknor]

Earth X?

marval comics.  not sure i seethe similarity but then im not a comics guy.

[Croaker]

It's a kind of alternate future where everyone has super powers.

In it, the Asguardians and other deities were aliens whose form, powers and character were defined by the beliefs of others, or something like this. It's been years, and my memory is bad

[RPGPundit]

Oh. I don't really read Marvel.  I'm a DC guy all the way.

RPGPundit

[Taewakan]

An example of the  enthusiasm of life concept i gave to players was story of Salvador Kesht

A leader on the Banker's Council of Amber. He lead the House Kesht with his wife Elizabeth, called Elspie. On the Board of the Bank of Amber. As Economic Deputy Steward he oversaw Amber's financial affairs.

At Patternfall he was well over 800. Aging badly, knowing his death was coming soon.  He commanded an Archer's Regiment comprised of members of his merchant staff. Not a known warrior, he surprised many people with his steady resolve at Patternfall. He stood the charge of a regiment of Hellcats, calmly shooting them down, securing the left flank. For this action he earned Benedict's surprised respect and an even more shocking Knighthood on the field.

 Since aging in my game was a function of will for mortals in Amber, as the zest for life rises the person grows younger, as it dwindles they age. This lead people to find a physical and emotional age they like and stick with it a long time.

Thus Salvador and Elspie. Before Patternfall these two well-respected people were on the declining side of 800 and seemed near death. Then Salvador went to Patternfall, prepared and willing to face the foe and accept death. When he returned to Amber he took his shocked wife by storm. Taking her dancing, carousing, and becoming involved in the Amber Military Aide Society, a group that aids veterans of Amber's Military. Soon both started loosing their gray hair, they started walking faster, making love longer, and they grew young again. Now they both look little over 30 years old and their exuberance and their love story makes the ladies of court, and the romantic of heart, swoon.

Well said. Nice short story. Fits with my interpretation of the way aging works at the center of the Amber-verse. As we all know, it isn't what you know - its who you know.

[Arref]

I tend to think while mortals in Amber have greater longevity, they live far longer if they are friends of one of the Pattern initiates.

Rein lived centuries, I think.
Rilga aged quickly when Oberon lost interest in her.
Bill Roth was apparently valued by Random, Florimel and Fiona; he became healthier and more youthful.

Agree with this and it works well in my campaign. It also makes PCs realize their choices have a lot of consequence, friends, cliques, etc.

[jibbajibba]

Age doesn't actually work in Amber and it doesn't fit the novels either.
Corwin seems to refer to a Halcyon age where the family were all in Amber but later as the books continue he makes the Amberites immortal. This means that it's highly unlikely that they would ever have lived like that. Since we get the impression that they age at a human rate til they reach maturity from Dara/Martin/Merlin. We have to assume that the various sets of siblings were never children together nor even "young" at similar time points.

So its likely that Corwin was what a hundred years old when Random was born? 50? in any case unlikely to be just kicking about Amber.

I find in my Amber campaigns, where I use succession as an age related bid for stat, that you can often get siblings that have never met at all because one has been out of Amber adventuring for 400 years or whatever. Its a bit like Oberon's wives or the ridiculous geography of the Castle from the Visual Guide it simply makes no sense if you think about ti too much therefore it needs to be altered for each game.

[Taewakan]

Perhaps immortals mature even more slowly than they age. According to canon, they aren't even considered adults by their peers, let alone their elders until they are fifty-ish.

I've always thought that the stories about the gods revealed them to be stunted adolescents.

When you are born to power the idea that if you can then you should is pretty much a given. I mean, who is to judge? Certainly not your lessers and your (supposed) equals all feel the same as you - that they deserve anything they CAN do.
It is the way of the world at the top. The will to power. Yay FN.

The only ones who count are the ones that can say no and make it stick.

[RPGPundit]

Yes, and Oberon, like Zeus, really didn't seem very interesting on training up his brood to learn actual responsibility.  He just wanted them to fear and obey him, for the most part. I mean why try to groom a potential successor when your operational game plan is to never ever go away?

RPGPundit

[RTrimmer]

Yeah, in my last campaign Oberon had done away with two previous sets of children when they became too dangerous. Raise them to distrust each other, disappear, manipulate circumstances and they start murdering each other with death curses mopping up most of the winners. Would have worked too if not for those meddling PCs.

Yes, and Oberon, like Zeus, really didn't seem very interesting on training up his brood to learn actual responsibility.  He just wanted them to fear and obey him, for the most part. I mean why try to groom a potential successor when your operational game plan is to never ever go away?

RPGPundit