If I spend points on a gun, will the gun work everywhere, even Amber, since I spent points on it? Or is it still regulated by the shadow laws?
I've started up an Amber campaign but its been a long time since I've gone through all the rules and everything. For some reason I can't find where it talks about items you've spent points on working in shadow/not working in shadow. I might be remembering wrong, but I thought there was something about if you spend points on it, that it's more likely to work even if it's in a shadow where such an item wouldn't work.
Hopefully this'll be a quick easy answer. I tried searching the forums but couldn't find what I was looking for.
Thanks for whoever knows!
The basic answer is no it will not work everywhere.. The only known projectile weapons to work in Amber, if you're in cannon, are the muskets that Corwin's "furry" troops had, but he went out of his way to find a propellant that explodes in Amber.
Now depending on what "rules" you're working to an item with 4 points of "mould Shadow Reality" would most like work most places, although not in Amber as its a "Real" shadow and not malleable.
The whole "physics" of Amber are interesting.. Amber has a "Sun" so fusion and technically fission should work.. so why hasn't somebody just nucked the place? I wrote a few thoughts on the subject for my own campaign .. The Golden Circle and Technology (http://www.azer.co.uk/amber/13_bckgrnd.html)
That one I can answer. Atomic weapons require precise electrical timing and explosives in order for the compression. Since those don't work, there is no way to create a critical mass.
Two basic rules.
First don't let 1 player build a character that invalidates another players character design choices. If 1 player puts 50 points into strenght and another player puts 4 points into a gun that shoots every where, the strenght guy is going to lose everytime and be pretty pissed about it. (If they go to a shadow where guns work than the strenght guy can get his own gun. Thats fine.)
Second don't change genera with out telling all the players. Guns don't belong in the hobbit.
Quote from: Headless;1117176Two basic rules.
First don't let 1 player build a character that invalidates another players character design choices. If 1 player puts 50 points into strenght and another player puts 4 points into a gun that shoots every where, the strenght guy is going to lose everytime and be pretty pissed about it. (If they go to a shadow where guns work than the strenght guy can get his own gun. Thats fine.)
In a "Throne War" the charaters should know nothing about one another, i.e they're all generated in isolation, therefore if one player wants to spend 50 points on strength, and another wants to spend 20 points on "a gun that works anywhere"(with the caveat about Amber above) then both are valid choices, and the "strength" guy had better pick his fights carefully..
QuoteSecond don't change genera with out telling all the players. Guns don't belong in the hobbit.
This is not the hobbit, the is Amber, and as per the rules and the books, "anywhere you can imagine pretty much exists", therefore guns and modern tech are a de-facto part of a lot of realities, so there is no "genre" change. Remember, the first book starts with Corwin recovering in a mental hospital after a car crash, and in the first Merlin book somebody tries to assassinate him by shooting him.
Quote from: LarsonGates;1117232In a "Throne War" the charaters should know nothing about one another, i.e they're all generated in isolation, therefore if one player wants to spend 50 points on strength, and another wants to spend 20 points on "a gun that works anywhere"(with the caveat about Amber above) then both are valid choices, and the "strength" guy had better pick his fights carefully..
In Amber everyone needs to pick their fights carefully. A couple of points first a gun that shoots everywhere is 4 points not 20. Second there needs to be limitations on thar and the player who has it needs to clearly understand what they are. The other players don't need to know what the limitations are but they should be told (either in character or out) that it must have some.
QuoteThis is not the hobbit, the is Amber, and as per the rules and the books, "anywhere you can imagine pretty much exists", therefore guns and modern tech are a de-facto part of a lot of realities, so there is no "genre" change. Remember, the first book starts with Corwin recovering in a mental hospital after a car crash, and in the first Merlin book somebody tries to assassinate him by shooting him.
Its not the hobbit, but its not star treck either. Amber and the courts both seem to have Italian renaissance level society and technology. The basic assumption of Amber is those are the important places. If there are other important places they should know about them, or its the players that have made them important.
When thinking of creating working guns in Amber, I use the setting history as a guide: none of the other elders had been able to create an item that could fire in Amber so the PCs won't be able to figure it out either. Corwin had a lucky accident with the jewellers rouge and since none of the others has been able to recreate that substance (that we know of) in the Merlin series, it was probably a one-time creation that can't be repeated. Not to say that there aren't other technological devices that could be accidentally discovered. The character would probably need to have a lot of good stuff, and it should probably cost a few points just like in some home-ruled systems that allow players to buy a secret during character creation.
Quote from: Khazav;1118375... it was probably a one-time creation that can't be repeated. Not to say that there aren't other technological devices that could be accidentally discovered. The character would probably need to have a lot of good stuff, and it should probably cost a few points just like in some home-ruled systems that allow players to buy a secret during character creation.
Magically contained anti-matter primers to instantly turn water into steam or highly compressed gases are a couple of possibilities for the industrious player to discover.
Quote from: zircher;1118464Magically contained anti-matter primers to instantly turn water into steam or highly compressed gases are a couple of possibilities for the industrious player to discover.
The general problems with compressed gas weapons, is the heavier the calibre the lower the number of shots and the lower the rate of fire. I already use this for Guards units in Amber Embassies in the Golden Circle states. The problem with Magic in Amber is that it degrades very quickly or doesn't function at all, so it would require a high level of proficiency and self-maintaining spells and a some outside source of energy, most likely some form of trump coupling.
That's the spirit! Make the guns trumps that summon high pressure bullets from the depths of Rebma. :-)