House-rule "RPGsite Amber 2E" ideas

[finarvyn]

As for the entire "hit point" question, it might be neat to have several suggested equations to determine hit points for GM use only. This way, players couldn't try to "work the system" but the GM would have a set of guidelines to work from.

Just a thought.

[RPGPundit]

As for the entire "hit point" question, it might be neat to have several suggested equations to determine hit points for GM use only. This way, players couldn't try to "work the system" but the GM would have a set of guidelines to work from.

Just a thought.

Yes, that's possible, since another problem of putting any kind of more formal "wounds" system in place is that this would infringe upon the freedom of the GM to scale the power level to his liking.  We all know that some people run amberites as nearly-human, others run them as practically superheros.

RPGPundit

[RPGPundit]

As to whether Amber NEEDS a new edition; no. What it needs is a re-issuing, a re-formating, a re-editing, and a re-layouting.  The rules themselves don't NEED anything, though while we're at it we could add a few new options.

RPGPundit

[Pete]

Give all characters Pattern to start with.  Not to mince words, but I always found it ridiculous that the game assumes players are making Amber level characters and not give them Pattern as part of the starting package.  If players really want to play the amnesiac-Amberite or a Chaosite, allow an exchange or a refund.

I also think allowing characters to go to Human levels for stats is a poor decision as well.  But if everyone starts with basic Pattern, the need to go to Human level or take on insane amounts of Bad Stuff pretty much disappears.  I don't discount the GM's option to allow it, but I'm just talking about the default assumptions of the game.

While I don't have my book readily available and can't properly comment on the details, but I always thought the Magic rules (Power Words, Sorcery, etc) were very poor as well.  My initial fix is to simply strip them away but I'm interested in listening to some house rules you folks might have.

[Otha]

Gasp!

How dare you imply that the Amber rules as written aren't perfect in every way!

[finarvyn]

Pundit, in addition to your comment on re-format, etc, I would add that the two rulebooks should be combined somehow and then broken up again into a player's book and a GM's book. I like things like Broken Pattern from Shadow Knight and hate to see that get lost in a 2nd edition.

How dare you imply that the Amber rules as written aren't perfect in every way!

Silly thought. Of course we could have typos fixed. It would be absurd to print 2E without fixing typos.

[SunBoy]

Gasp!

How dare you imply that the Amber rules as written aren't perfect in every way!

Have you got anything useful to say, or you just will keep popping up here and there only to be annoying?

Give all characters Pattern to start with. Not to mince words, but I always found it ridiculous that the game assumes players are making Amber level characters and not give them Pattern as part of the starting package. If players really want to play the amnesiac-Amberite or a Chaosite, allow an exchange or a refund.

I also think allowing characters to go to Human levels for stats is a poor decision as well. But if everyone starts with basic Pattern, the need to go to Human level or take on insane amounts of Bad Stuff pretty much disappears. I don't discount the GM's option to allow it, but I'm just talking about the default assumptions of the game.

While I don't have my book readily available and can't properly comment on the details, but I always thought the Magic rules (Power Words, Sorcery, etc) were very poor as well. My initial fix is to simply strip them away but I'm interested in listening to some house rules you folks might have.

Now you have two good points here. As for the magic system, I actually love love sorcery, but conjuration needs some work, IMO.The pattern thing should be given some thought, as should the values for Chaos powers. 80 points for logrus is a lot, and while it can explain why chaos attributes are lower, it still doesn't feel totally right (but my opinion in the matter changes just about every time I give it some thought...).  Maybe, just as giving Pattern to amberites, chaosites should start with Shapeshifting. That would make things a little cheaper while keeping amberites at an advantage. That said, remember that you only have to take huge amounts of Bad Stuff (or any amount at all, for that matter) if you want, number one, huge attributes or, number two, advanced powers, both of them the realm of the elders, guys who have had centuries to harvest character points. There's no need to spend more than a hundred CP to have a solid character in the numbers... then again, it may be some need to do it to beat the other players, but oh, well, that's part of the fun.
The card based chargen sounds good, too, and while it will insert a randomizer in the system, what can be a little "out of the spirit", it makes very good sense in the setting, but I have a doubt about it: how would you then purchase the powers? Would you give the players some set number of points, substract the final value of their card values from a hundred and give them that, or what? Both of them have their advantages...

[Otha]

Have you got anything useful to say, or you just will keep popping up here and there only to be annoying?

Who says I can't do both?

A card-based character creation system doesn't have to be random.

[Bradford C. Walker]

First thing I do is dump the auction system and the rankings that go with it.  Just spend the points; higher point total wins in conflicts.  (Yes, this means you write "Warfare 51" instead of "Warfare 2nd".) Makes it easier to use NPCs in actual play, and holds open the idea that PCs can surpass their elders.  This also speeds up PC creation greatly, especially since I keep the secretive aspect of the point expendature, and has the effect of never setting in stone relationships of power.

[RPGPundit]

First thing I do is dump the auction system and the rankings that go with it.  Just spend the points; higher point total wins in conflicts.  (Yes, this means you write "Warfare 51" instead of "Warfare 2nd".) Makes it easier to use NPCs in actual play, and holds open the idea that PCs can surpass their elders.  This also speeds up PC creation greatly, especially since I keep the secretive aspect of the point expendature, and has the effect of never setting in stone relationships of power.

But see, I think that's exactly what Ranks are best at; to formalize the competitive environment between the players!

RPGPundit

[Otha]

Hm.

What will cause someone to strive harder...

KNOWING that someone else is better, and that as long as you both are striving to get better as hard as you can, that you'll never ever be better than him...

Or having the SUSPICION that he might be better than you?

[Bradford C. Walker]

Hm.

What will cause someone to strive harder...

KNOWING that someone else is better, and that as long as you both are striving to get better as hard as you can, that you'll never ever be better than him...

Or having the SUSPICION that he might be better than you?

I don't give a shit about that.  I make that change because it makes playing and running the game easier.

[Otha]

So you don't care how the players will react to changes you make to the rules, how it might change the way they play?

[Malleus Arianorum]

Brad already said how it affects players, it (1) makes them go through char gen faster (2) lets new players join the game easily (3) preserves the mystery of the rankings and (4) lets them dream about surpassing the elders.

Personally I'd do it the same way except that I <3 bidding wars

[Otha]

Actually, no, Brad said he didn't give a shit.