Is Sci-fi "bad" for Amber?

[gabriel_ss4u]

Yeah, but that sounds like an idiot player I would never have in my campaign.
What is the player's reasoning for attempting an assassination of Benedict?
Why would Benedict have a cottage in a shadow that such weaponry exists and could be used against him when relaxing?
even if someone used advanced pattern to make such a thing work in a localized area, I'd figure Benedict would read the lesser warfare person and know his goal.
(unless this player somehow had a higher warfare...??)
or better... what would a recourse to a successful assassination be?

I hear ya. But it all boils down to the players and GM, as I said before, I do feel spoiled having a cream of the crop group in which I was blessed enough to know and play with.
One of them, his player was from the Champions superhero universe (raised there as a super), and fits well into the campaign.
But I also feel if it cannot blend well in someone's campaign, then sweep it out the door.

[Croaker]

I recall the early idea Wujick put forth about Loki walking the Pattern, (or atleast attempting it), that opened alot of thoughts up to me. Is Loki a shadow being? a Chaosian? a primal being?

Do you recall where it can be found? I have absolutely no memory of such a thing, and it sounds interesting

[Nihilistic Mind]

Sci-Fi certainly isn't bad for an Amber campaign. I wouldn't use it in heavy quantities and I usually run the game under the assumption that Shadows with extremely advanced technology are a bit closer to the Chaos side of things rather than the Amber side.

For instance, antagonists from the Courts of Chaos in the Fires of Greymoor campaign I'm running use energy powered rifles that use a form of Shadow teleportation. It's limited, easy to trace and extremely dangerous, but it created a really cool fight scene as well.

I mean, in the end, the use of technology on the side of the GM is all about balance. I wouldn't use it to beat the crap out of the players. In fact, I almost hope they think investing all of their advantages in Shadow Tech is a good idea (I'm not going to limit them, essentially).
Pattern is always there to aid or hinder, after all.

[RPGPundit]

Well, that's another issue: I've always seen the courts as pretty full of Magi-tech; stuff that seems like a kind of technology but is actually totally based on magic.

RPGPundit

[gabriel_ss4u]

Do you recall where it can be found? I have absolutely no memory of such a thing, and it sounds interesting

This was referring to play-testing of Amber if my mind is correct. Some of his players in a game scenario I think. I'll look it up. I believe it was the game book or an Amberzine.
::: rifling thru books like Dworkin...:::

[Corambis]

Another possibility is that if an Amberite traveled to a superhero Shadow, that their own strength, endurance, and what not would suddenly scale up, or that they could scale it up by just using the Pattern while in that Shadow.  Or as someone said, given that they are Primal, even though Superman could lift more than they could, it could be that if Superman tried to hit an Amberite, he would break his hand, or at least bruise his knuckles.

[gabriel_ss4u]

Yes!
Yes!
...ummm, nah, not the bruised kanucklez one IMC, unless it might be Gerard he hit.

[jibbajibba]

Another possibility is that if an Amberite traveled to a superhero Shadow, that their own strength, endurance, and what not would suddenly scale up, or that they could scale it up by just using the Pattern while in that Shadow.  Or as someone said, given that they are Primal, even though Superman could lift more than they could, it could be that if Superman tried to hit an Amberite, he would break his hand, or at least bruise his knuckles.

In the context of the books I can't see this working.
We have no real evidence that Amberites can use the Pattern to alter their relative Strength etc in a shadow. They might be able to shift to another shadow where things are lighter and allt eh dwellers are realatively weaker as a result but that is a slightly different thing. If this were the case then Pattern would indeed be worth those 50 points and Fiona woudl be able to boost her strength above Gerard's even in Amber (just a shadow afterall).

If you think about how Zelazny might approach stuff like Super powers and the like. I can't see Corwin shifting to Metropolis and being tougher than Superman. I can see him turning up in Metropolis and just being like an ordinary bloke thinking wow look I really believe a man can fly... Its hte ordinary Humaness of Amberites that makes the story so compelling I think if you move out of that space you loose something.

[Corambis]

In the context of the books I can't see this working.
We have no real evidence that Amberites can use the Pattern to alter their relative Strength etc in a shadow. They might be able to shift to another shadow where things are lighter and allt eh dwellers are realatively weaker as a result but that is a slightly different thing. If this were the case then Pattern would indeed be worth those 50 points and Fiona woudl be able to boost her strength above Gerard's even in Amber (just a shadow afterall).

If you think about how Zelazny might approach stuff like Super powers and the like. I can't see Corwin shifting to Metropolis and being tougher than Superman. I can see him turning up in Metropolis and just being like an ordinary bloke thinking wow look I really believe a man can fly... Its hte ordinary Humaness of Amberites that makes the story so compelling I think if you move out of that space you loose something.

Well, like so many things with Amber, a lot depends on your interpretation of various things.  The Amberites all have what would be considered superhuman powers, although they aren't necessarily too far outside the realm of physical possibility.  The strongest man on Earth might be able to come to close to a very weak Amberite.  If we're talking about a Shadow with different rules regarding what is physically possible, ie. strength magnitudes above human norm, then I think Amberite's gaining more strength and other attributes could be a valid approach.

As for the ordinary Humanness of Amberites, I think the Humanness comes out of their personalities and their foibles.  They already have powers that set them aside from normal men and women.  And it is not like we are talking about a permanent change to their attributes; this would only be true for that Shadow.  And I am not saying they should be granted unrealistic powers like heat-vision or super breath... but they would still have their unrealistic powers of sorcery, Pattern, and what not

You could just as easily say that the superhero Shadow has an extremely weak gravity, such that without the Amberites' stats actually changing, they would end up being immensely more powerful than normal inhabitants of that Shadow, and physically on a par with a Superman equivalent.