Roleplaying Amber? Nah.
"How is it you're not interested in playing Amber? It's so open."
"That's the problem."
It feels like you either get that perspective or you don't. There was a time when we created characters that came to mind, dropped them into a game, and ran with it. Somewhere along the line, though, I gained an appreciation for story and consistency.
Characters who are made within the framework of a setting simply fit better. It's easier and cleaner to weave stories around them when they have built-in hooks that match up with the world. Playing a half-elf in a world where humans and elves are at war opens up a lot of opportunities for interaction right there, and several possible goals and motivations. You lose all that with a character that's totally generic or built for a different world entirely.
But multiversal settings (like Amber) can accommodate anything, right? Everything should "fit." Maybe, except when you get multiple characters together. The paradigm of one won't match the next without deliberate collaboration. That means someone, at least, is bound to be out of place almost all the time. And to be blunt, I don't like that.
Then there's the issue of character creation itself. It's a lot easier for me if I have something to start with. I suppose that's a sign of my own dwindling creativity, but shaping concepts from void is difficult and usually not worth it to me.
So, as a game setting, I'm not particularly interested in Amber - or any other multiversal setting, for that matter. Twenty years ago, maybe I would have jumped at the chance, but not so much now. Sorry.
It's possible if I'd read the books, I might be more into it. Alas, I acquired a compendium of several novels only to start in on the first and utterly lose interest. I don't think I made it fifty pages in. I may try again at some point, but sometimes such things just don't click.
"That's the problem."
It feels like you either get that perspective or you don't. There was a time when we created characters that came to mind, dropped them into a game, and ran with it. Somewhere along the line, though, I gained an appreciation for story and consistency.
Characters who are made within the framework of a setting simply fit better. It's easier and cleaner to weave stories around them when they have built-in hooks that match up with the world. Playing a half-elf in a world where humans and elves are at war opens up a lot of opportunities for interaction right there, and several possible goals and motivations. You lose all that with a character that's totally generic or built for a different world entirely.
But multiversal settings (like Amber) can accommodate anything, right? Everything should "fit." Maybe, except when you get multiple characters together. The paradigm of one won't match the next without deliberate collaboration. That means someone, at least, is bound to be out of place almost all the time. And to be blunt, I don't like that.
Then there's the issue of character creation itself. It's a lot easier for me if I have something to start with. I suppose that's a sign of my own dwindling creativity, but shaping concepts from void is difficult and usually not worth it to me.
So, as a game setting, I'm not particularly interested in Amber - or any other multiversal setting, for that matter. Twenty years ago, maybe I would have jumped at the chance, but not so much now. Sorry.
It's possible if I'd read the books, I might be more into it. Alas, I acquired a compendium of several novels only to start in on the first and utterly lose interest. I don't think I made it fifty pages in. I may try again at some point, but sometimes such things just don't click.
The thing is, Amber/Chaos becomes the backdrop and the consistency, while the shadows become where you can have a more relaxed conflict / setting to play in. For some people, the shadows aren't important, while for others, the shadows become more important than the poles. But, fair enough.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but what I've seen of Amber/Chaos doesn't really interest me. ;) Again, maybe that's due to a lack of familiarity with it (as I only really can draw from the RPG book, not having read the source material).
ReplyDeleteWell, Amber is a very typical fantasy setting. It is a port city and trades with a number of border kingdoms. Chaos is a shifting landscape of baronies and duchies with byzantene politics. As a fantasy setting it works.
ReplyDeleteNo open world settings, hmm. Desire for story and consistency. Yet I think I recall you being partially against more narrative RP engines.
ReplyDeleteTsk. Now I know I've had the open world/multiverse discussion with you before. And I'm pretty sure I've gone over my paradoxical nature in appreciating narrative-based RP systems in theory while being dissatisfied with them in practice.
ReplyDeleteYeah... It might be that the idea of a fantasy "core" world doesn't make much sense to me when you've got infinite possible realities to call upon. While I'm sure there are excuses for favoring swords over pistols, the vast knowledge available from the shadows makes that central world sound like a bunch of people with their heads perpetually in the sand.
ReplyDeleteWell, not really. The thing is, the Primal Pattern enforces what is allowed to exist within Amber, and the regions that surround Amber have much of the same rules -- being reflections of Amber. So, the fantasy setting remains extant, because those things which don't fit the confines of Amber just simply don't work unless fuelled by a primal source of power. Gunpowder doesn't work in Amber, and since Amber is the realm of 'stasis' it will generally remain unchanging as time goes on. For those who want/need technology, they go out into Shadow. Because things in Shadow aren't 'real', in most cases they'll tend to break down or stop working the closer someone gets to Amber -- other things will work -- up to a point, but won't be able to be recharged since there's no place to recharge them. You can wear your digital watch into Amber, and tell time, but there's nobody selling batteries to recharge it, and if your laptop runs out of juice, you're screwed.
ReplyDeleteAs I said "there are excuses." ;) Maybe I can't adequately convey my feelings on it. The setup makes everything in the shadows less important (and going there is almost like having your roleplaying character roleplaying, which gets a little silly). And while that works for physical items, it doesn't work for knowledge and concepts, making a feudal-ish society seem dated even without technology. *shrugs* Overall, when addressing Amber in specific, there just has not been any quality of the setting I've seen that has drawn me in and made me interested to see more.
ReplyDelete