Character Creation and General Guidelines

The Castle rises out of your dreams. Resting under bluer-than-blue skies, and perched above bluer-than-blue waters. It sits as you feel it always has, constant, eternal. It is sometimes accompanied by the City of Night, and always reflected in the City Beneath the Waves. When you sleep, it is as if you are there, walking in the shadow of its glory, and when you awake, everywhere, it seems, are it's reflections. It beckons to you, haunts you, somehow commands and compels you. The word that swims unbidden from your ancient and locked sub-concious is still as meaningless as the first time you heard it:
Amber Its meaning is lost, and its purpose is unclear, but it is, somehow, part of you.
You have been given a key, now you have only to find the door.

here are countless places in the multi-verse. So many, in fact, that one could spend several lifetimes and never see them all. The multi-verse spans an entire consciousness of possibilities, from the high-tech to the low-tech, from the space-capable to the land-locked. Some locations are aware of each others existences, but usually not in the way those from the Eternal City are aware. Some, even, are aware of the Eternal City itself, but they are rare. Some locations, yours, have had visitors from the Eternal City in the past. It is from these locations that you will draw your life experiences, these Shadows of the Eternal City that will ultimately bear their reflections itself.

Players are encouraged to create diverse and exciting Shadows for your characters to hail from. They can be as detailed as you like, but there are some restrictions on their creation:

Characters may not "own" their Shadows, no points may be spent in their creation.
No Character can be from the Golden Circle Kingdoms, the Black Zone Realms or from Arden, Rebma or Tir-na Nog'th.
None of the Shadows the characters hail from will be aware, directly or indirectly, of the existence of either Amber or Chaos.
I would also prefer if all players came from a different Shadow, or at least if they hail from the same Shadow, are not pre-related. I'd prefer none of the characters know each other prior to their arrival in Amber.

itizens of the multi-verse represent all walks of life, and even all species of life may be dominant in the Realms. Usually, in every Realm, one member rises to a position of prominence, in some way, and are exemplified above their peers. Be it in Strength, Mental Prowess, Martial Acumen, or even by weight of sheer will, some member of the Realm proves to be the very pinnacle of achievement. Usually, this is simply a matter of simple genetics, sometimes through careful breeding. However, rarely, it is because the person in question has the blood of the Eternal City flowing through their veins.

Now for the nitty-gritty of character creation. Players have 70 points with which to build their characters. Characters start at Amber Level Attributes, which can be bought down if necessary. Attributes are pretty much standard:
Psyche: Psyche does not measure intelligence, but shows the character's force of will and mental strength.
Strength: Very straightforward, measures hand-to-hand combat ability as well as brute applications of physical strength.
Endurance: Physical force of will as well as stamina and staying power. Every point in Endurance translates to one extra second that a character will stay alive after suffering a normally fatal injury outside of massive physical trauma.
Warfare: Covers martial prowess as well as gamecraft and tactics.
Ranks will be determined based on final expenditure of points, but will not be emphasised until the character is interacting with Amberites. It will be assumed that the character excels in all Attributes when dealing with denizens of his or her Shadows. Additionally:

Players can submit to me their top three choices for Amber Heritage. This is not a requirement, and if you wish to leave it entirely up to me, you may do so. There is no guarantee, however, that I will choose from your top three.
Characters will not be required to pay for Pattern when they take it. Once Pattern is taken, the characters will be rounded out at a full 120 points.
Contributions such as websites, Trumps, and backstory journals will be rewarded.
Amber is the final destination and goal for the game, however, Logrus users are a possibility, but must be cleared with me.
The game takes place many years before the events of Corwin's Chronicles, however, Shadow Earth equivalent time is modern day, should any character choose to be from there.
Characters should all be between the ages of 15 - 30 approximately, and while they may have any experiences they choose, they should not have more than that number of years worth of experience. This is Days of the Youth, after all.
I'd also encourage some originality in Character Creation when it comes to backgrounds. Not every Trump Artist has to work on a medium of ink and canvas, not every Sorceror has to be a wand and pentacle wizard, and not every Shadow has to be steeped in the Fantasy/Medieval age. Challenge the strictures, change the paradigm. Give me interesting characters!!

ealms are as diverse in their powers as they can be in their technology and people. This diversity is woven together from a common thread of Power emanating from the Eternal City. This Power can take many forms through its reflections. As such, though the sources, the methods, even the practices can come from many different sources within the multi-verse, they all share a commonality in the origins of that Power. From ancient sorceries steeped in ritual and tradition, to magic-like technology that allows wonderous achievements. From items conjured from the very stuff of reality, to items created from a massive industrial machine all come from the same sources of Power that originate in the Eternal City.

Any of the Powers in the core Amber rulebook may be taken at character creation with the exception of Pattern and Logrus (and, of course, the Advanced versions of those Powers). Regardless of their origins, the Powers will work in Amber, and any Shadow visited by the character where the core power is not restricted in it's use. Anything that requires a change of the universe (such as Sorcery that works through the "magic" of computers) will need to be cleared with me as to it's effects in Amber. Additionally:

Trump Artistry (and by extension, Advanced Trump Artistry) will work, albeit in limited fashion, until the character can "fuel" it with either the Power of Pattern or Logrus.
Artifacts may be created as freely as they can be in the normal system, but they must follow the dogma of the Shadow in which they were created.
No Artifact or Power may convey the power of Shadow-Shifting upon the character. Even in vast star-systems where numerous "Shadows" might be represented, the technology or power which allows travel between the Realms is not Shadow-Shifting in the way the Princes and Princesses of Amber are familiar with.
No Artifact or Power may place the character in touch with the Eternal City, the Courts of Chaos or any of their immediate Realms.

mber. The name, you now know, of that place that exists only in your dreams, yet haunts your life. It must exist, somewhere, but where? No roads will take you there; yet all roads must lead to it. No trip, no matter how long, will see you at it's shores; yet the journey there is a short one. You know that your destiny lies in it's shadow, but you do not know how to attain it. However, the dreamscapes are slowly changing, the visions are becoming more real. Someday, and someday soon, your distance from the Eternal City will change. And that thought at once horrifies you and excites you to no end.

As indicated in the sub-title for the game, Days of the Youth will take place in Two Acts. Act One will consist mainly of Player/GM interaction through Character/NPC "backstories". These will take place, of course, within the confines of your chosen Shadow, and should serve to flesh out your character and his or her interaction with the world around her.
Eventually, of course, (and I don't predict it taking a long time) you all will come to Amber. There you will be able to interact with your fellow players, as well as your parents (possibly) and all your newly found relatives. Act One will draw to a close not long after everyone has taken the Pattern (or, possibly, the Logrus).
Act Two will begin 5 Amber years after Act One closes. It will be during that 5 year interim period that the game will take a brief hiatus (and I do mean brief) while your characters enjoy some "backstory" interaction with your new-found siblings and relatives. After the game resumes, Act Two will introduce the Meta-Plot. There will be some specific restrictions placed on your characters at that time in regards to their locations when Act Two begins, but more detail will be given out at that time. After Act Two begins, you will once again be able to interact freely in "current time".
Days of the Youth will take place "some years" before the events of the Patternfall War and the writings of The Chronicles of Amber, thus, some missing or dead Amberites may still live in Amber, and, of course, there will be some Amberites that will not yet exist. This will present an "alternate" take on the Amberverse and could introduce an "alternate setting" for future games following the conclusion of DotY.
There will also eventually be a Q&A site up with answers to commonly asked questions as I collect them from each of you. Please, if you have any questions at all, feel free to ask them.
Thank you for your involvement, and I hope you all will enjoy the experience.
-Kenneth C. Baker II,
Oct. 20, 2002