THE KEYS OF AMBER

A FABLE FOR AMBERCON 2005

Once upon a time there was an Eternal Kingdom known as Amber. Its King, Oberon, was also Eternal, but his Queens, always chosen from Realms of Shadow, were not. One overcast morning Queen Rilga passed into the Lands of the Dead, and the Kingdom mourned. As her body was laid to rest, Dworkin, the Court Wizard, spoke to the assemblage:

"Here lies the Last Queen of Amber. This I have foreseen: that King Oberon will never again marry, and that there will come a day when the Eternal King will no longer rule. On that day the task will fall to one of His children. Thus, today, all those Children must be tested to prove their worth."

Dworkin then cast a powerful enchantment upon the Castle of Amber, locking it behind a bespelled barrier, and proclaimed:

"The Children of Oberon must seek the Keys of Amber, and return before Sunrise tomorrow, or the Eternal Throne - and their Birthright - will remain sealed...forever."

PLAYER CHARACTERS

SCIONS OF THE ETERNAL KINGDOM

            King Oberon + Queen Cymnea > Finndo & Osric age 19 (identical twins), Benedict age 18

King Oberon + Queen Faiella > Eric age 17, Corwin age 16, Caine age 15, Deirdre age 14

King Oberon + Queen Clarissa > Fiona & Bleys age 13 (fraternal twins), Brand age 11

King Oberon + Moines, Queen of Rebma > Llewella age 12 (out of wedlock)

King Oberon + Dybele > Florimel age 12 (out of wedlock)

King Oberon + Queen Rilga > Julian age 10, Gérard age 9, Random age 8

Click Here to see a character description for each Prince and Princess.

GAME MECHANICS

THE WAYS OF THE WORLD

Keys of Amber will be played by traditional ADRPG rules. Player characters are pregenerated and have Basic Pattern as well as set point values/Attribute Ranks in Psyche, Strength, Endurance and Warfare.

Additionally, each player character will have access to Story Points that may be used during the adventure. The Story Point System works as follows:

Story Points are a way for a character to rise above their (un)usual abilities in a dramatic situation.  The duration of the effect is determined by the GM, but is usually limited to one task or “scene.”  No more than 3 Story Points may be used at once. Spent Story Points are gone forever, but the GM may award more later in the adventure for exceptional role-play.

Story Points may be used in the following manner:

· They convert one-to-one into Good Stuff for your character, or Bad Stuff for others.

· One Story Point raises an Attribute or Power by ten points.  For example, Warfare could be raised by 10 points per Story Point spent for the length of one combat, or 10-30 additional points in Pattern could be gained temporarily to attempt an Advanced effect.

· Story Points spent may increase a character’s attempt at an unfamiliar skill or extremely difficult task.  Examples: one point would allow a character unfamiliar with medicine to set a broken limb; two points could let a character effectively navigate a ship even though she’d only read books about sailing; and three points might help a character complete a task at the extreme edge of his abilities, like playing charades while walking the Pattern…blindfolded.

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