The reign of Eric I King of Amber

[Sydius Mendoza]

I'm currently working on my yearly read-through of the Amber Chronicles. I had a thought while reading the chapters where Corwin is blind and imprisoned. Have any of you ever run a campaign, limited or otherwise, during the few years that Eric reigned as king of Amber. It seems like an era that is packed with potential adventure hooks, although it seems limited in terms of time span ( if one is sticking to the books as "gospel" for a campaign setting)?

All thoughts welcome...

[finarvyn]

I ran a game like this once where Eric was fighting the forces of Chaos, as well as the continued intriques by Bleys.

I didn't try to follow the "Corwin escaped in a certaiun time" theme because once I start a game I assume that any future events might not happen. It's always an alternate timeline where things could turn out very differently than the books.

[Panjumanju]

The first Amber game I ran started in that time period, the 3 years of Corwin's imprisonment.

* Eric is King in Amber.
* Evil Uncle Corwin is in the dungeon forever.

The characters spent those 3 years slowly realising that a) Eric is not a kindly person, and b) Corwin is not necessarily that much better, but he's not Evil, and there is a divided claim to the throne for a good reason.

It was then very exciting for everyone when Corwin escaped. Some PCs sided with Eric to hunt down Corwin. Others escaped into shadow to join him.

Riveting stuff.

//Panjumanju

[Sydius Mendoza]

I ran a game like this once where Eric was fighting the forces of Chaos, as well as the continued intriques by Bleys.

I didn't try to follow the "Corwin escaped in a certaiun time" theme because once I start a game I assume that any future events might not happen. It's always an alternate timeline where things could turn out very differently than the books.

I had been thinking more along the lines of a limited 3-5 shot campaign. So I wasn't too worried about either adhering or ignoring the timeline of the books. But, doing a long running campaign in this time period almost requires going tangential to avoid railroading the PCs, so I totally see your point there.

Thanks Finarvyn!

[Sydius Mendoza]

The first Amber game I ran started in that time period, the 3 years of Corwin's imprisonment.

* Eric is King in Amber.
* Evil Uncle Corwin is in the dungeon forever.

The characters spent those 3 years slowly realising that a) Eric is not a kindly person, and b) Corwin is not necessarily that much better, but he's not Evil, and there is a divided claim to the throne for a good reason.

It was then very exciting for everyone when Corwin escaped. Some PCs sided with Eric to hunt down Corwin. Others escaped into shadow to join him.

Riveting stuff.

//Panjumanju

Riveting indeed!

I had been thinking along the lines of elements of both approaches you and Finarvyn posted. Fighting the incursions of the Black Road, plus the more political intrigue of the Court. I hadn't even thought as far ahead as Corwin's escape, and I really like what you described. So much so I just might "steal" it.

Thanks Panjumanju!

[Sydius Mendoza]

Hey Pundit, and chance of you weighing in on this thread?

[RPGPundit]

I've run several games like this; starting either when Corwin is missing or when he's a prisoner.

Usually it plays out like someone described; people start to either fall into the Eric camp or the Corwin camp, and get into struggles with each other. Sometimes the Bleys camp, while he's off skulking in shadow plotting a second attempt at the throne.

The main thing is to let the things the PCs do matter. Don't feel forced to stick to the story.

RPGPundit

[Tolknor]

Its certainly an interesting idea.  Worth playing out sometime.

 I did not run a game during that time but in both my campaigns, most especially the Jeweled Amber game, i referred to a variety of things that occurred during the reign.  Most included Amber nobles who became important NPCs in the future game.  Though i did have Flora's actions during the reign of Eric effect the reign of Random.

[RPGPundit]

That's an important point: Eric actually ruled for a very long time, first as regent, then as king.  He would have made alliances, and had favorites, and it seems to me unlikely that everyone would have been happy to see him go.

RPGPundit

[Tolknor]

I tried to keep the cousins, (younger amberites), at arms reach from the Elders as much as possible. To that end the nobles and servants became frequent contacts with the players.  They tended to break into three groups; Ancients, Seniors, and Juniors, though those terms were not used in character conversation.  Ancients were nobleman that had served Amber under Oberon, some for vast periods of time.  Seniors were people who entered Amber service in Oberon's last days, during the Interregnum Eric oversaw, during Eric's reign, up to the Black Road war and the Battle of Patternfall. Juniors were those that entered service Either at the time of Patternfall or during Randoms reign.    

This did lead to players evaluating alliances and arrangements with various generations of noble families depending on their own view of past and current politics.

[RPGPundit]

Yes; the non-royal nobility of Amber are an excellent plot device and one that tends to get underused; in my last two campaigns they featured very prominently.  They're the kind of thing that PCs can really dig into for making alliances and contacts, or for having enemies that are not in and of themselves extremely powerful but are sometimes involved with powerful Elder Amberites.

RPGPundit

[Tolknor]

Ancients, Seniors, and Juniors, though those terms were not used in character conversation.  Ancients were nobleman that had served Amber under Oberon, some for vast periods of time.  Seniors were people who entered Amber service in Oberon's last days, during the Interregnum Eric oversaw, during Eric's reign, up to the Black Road war and the Battle of Patternfall. Juniors were those that entered service Either at the time of Patternfall or during Randoms reign.    

This did lead to players evaluating alliances and arrangements with various generations of noble families depending on their own view of past and current politics.

I ran the seniors as having a proprietary sense of superiority, having served Oberon at the end, and Eric.  I had Random not disrupt the institutions in place if they worked.  In time they became elitists and looked down on the new people Random put in posts.  This included the players of course!  Nothing slapped the players egos like William Feldane making his TSKing noise and saying, "You youngsters don't know how things work in the Ministry.  Why don't you go shadow-walking and see the sights..  We'll take care of things around here"

The other side of course were younger people settling debts over grievances inflicted during Eric's riegn.  Random officially declared all vendettas over past deeds settled and anything else he would handle.  This was received with mixed reviews of course.   As each player built their contacts they got embroiled in their politics.

[RPGPundit]

Yeah, in real-life comparisons, these kinds of messy changes-of-power that are not through a smooth line of succession are usually fraught with scores to settle and general panic about upheaval; with the old order trying to undermine the newcomer, while opportunists seek to raise their estate under the new administration.

Of course, in the real-world comparisons the new monarch isn't usually a near-unbeatable God-King in comparison to the lower aristocracy, so that can have a certain effect on resistance.

RPGPundit

[Tolknor]

Of course, in the real-world comparisons the new monarch isn't usually a near-unbeatable God-King in comparison to the lower aristocracy, so that can have a certain effect on resistance.

RPGPundit

True.  But there was a resistance movement under Stalin.  It fared poorly and tossed up martyrs by the train load but it survived.  I like the idea of dragging a player deeply into a conspiracy to unseat Random and having them realize that it might be too late to extricate themselves.

[RPGPundit]

True.  But there was a resistance movement under Stalin.  It fared poorly and tossed up martyrs by the train load but it survived.  I like the idea of dragging a player deeply into a conspiracy to unseat Random and having them realize that it might be too late to extricate themselves.

Yes; and obviously I'd say in Amber, the Amberite nobles who represent the "ancien regime" would be likely (if worried that they will lose privilege under Random) to try to get backup of those Elders they do feel more amenable to, or who had their own issues with Random being chosen king.

RPGPundit