Lords of Olympus Question

[tcabril]

Please note I know that Lords of Olympus is based upon the Amber DRPG system and I have been playing Amber DRPG on and off for over 20 years.

I am very confused about the nomenclature regarding the Gods in Lords of Olympus.  For example Zeus has the following abilities:
EGO First Class +5
MIGHT Tied First Class +3
FORTITUDE Tied First Class +2
PROWESS Tied First Class +5

To be honest, and maybe I am stupid, but I have no idea what that means and I Have read character creation over 5 times!  The Section on Page 10 Numbered Class does not clear this up at all.

The chart on page 230 is meaningless.

So any help would be appreciated.  I can't even guess what this means.

In Amber we see characters have WARFARE of 250pts for example - but PROWESS (the LoO equivalent) of First Class +2 makes no sense.

Even Lords of Gossamer and Shadow gives you Ability Points to assist in things.

So any help please!

[finarvyn]

Maybe the plusses are on Zeus' dice rolls.

[Evermasterx]

In LoO only the ranks matter, not the points you spent to buy them.
After the auction, you will have a player (i.e. Patroklos) who won the first rank in EGO.
So EGO First Class +5 means that Zeus is five ranks above Patroklos.
This is how I intended it.

[tcabril]

Thank you!!!
That assisted in clearing things up - it was driving me bonkers!!!

So if a PC spends 25 pts on Might and is 1st (of his generation) or First Tier then:
Nereus is +1 over him
Cronus is +2 Over him
Crius is +3 over him
Cyclopes is +4 over him
ect...


I think what confused me was I like numbers!!!
Which may not make much sense in a diceless format but I always ruled that 100 in Warfare is just a bit better than 95 and much better than 50 and WAY better than 20...

If you catch my drift.

So far outside of that hiccup I think its a great system!

[Panjumanju]

Actually, this was the *best thing* about Lords of Olympus for me.  It was such a brilliant way to bring out the rules of Amber Diceless.

I suspect that most people who run Amber think that the points must matter post-auction because they don't find a way of reconciling PC buy for the Attributes with the elder Amberites - so the points have to be kept around in order to make sense of the difference between this generation and the older one.

The alternative, and I think what was intended, is to go back and chart out how the PCs and Elder Amberites stand against each other and put into ranks - but that's cumbersome and awkward.

When I first read "First +1" in the Lords of Olympus book, my brain exploded a little bit - here is a brilliant and simple way to insure that the rank structure maintains.

I've run Amber long enough to realise that if you keep the numbers around as anything but rungs on the ladder, the mechanics get messy - especially in the auction. If a group of players know you are keeping the numbers to match them against elder Amberites, they'll bid high on their first bid in the auction, and then there's very little auction, and a whole lot of mystery among the players as to who has what rank. The mystery is so great that it becomes a non-concern. However, if you stress the Rank, then the goal of the auction is actually reversed; to spend as little as possible for the best rank possible. It makes a huge difference as to how players approach their characters, and the game itself.

So, thank you Lords of Olympus, for clarifying the rules in such a brilliant way.

//Panjumanju

[Croaker]

In LoO only the ranks matter, not the points you spent to buy them

Truth be told, that's the same thing in Amber... save that people cling to the points. The NPCs don't help.

LoO is a lot clearer on this, and this is, IMO, great.

The alternative, and I think what was intended, is to go back and chart out how the PCs and Elder Amberites stand against each other and put into ranks - but that's cumbersome and awkward.

Yeah, did the same thing.

Note that shadow knight expand on this notion (although the roots are clearly in the corebook), in that the 1st ranked demon may have spend only 75 pts, while the 1st ranked amberite will have spend 100 pts. I loved that, since it meant that, on average, demons were stronger, yet had worse warfare.

However, if you stress the Rank, then the goal of the auction is actually reversed; to spend as little as possible for the best rank possible. It makes a huge difference as to how players approach their characters, and the game itself.

Ooooh yes.

It also makes some concepts, like Bleys, easier: Instead of having to spend, say, 50 pts to have a good rank in each attribute, you can get by with, say, 20 in each and be 3rd ranked.

[RPGPundit]

Thank you guys, for the kind words. And to the OP, I'm very sorry it took me so long to see this thread and respond!

While the concept has already been very well explained, I'll point out that the actual explanation in the book is found in the Game Master chapter, on p.79, entitled "Beyond First Class".