Walking the Pattern / Amber Intro

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Joshua
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Walking the Pattern / Amber Intro

Post by Joshua »

So, most characters have survived the life and death struggle that is walking the pattern. This has been slightly expanded and tweaked a little from the game and books. Is it because pattern has evolved over the millennia or were there deliberate changed made? (Such as when the pattern swords were forged.)

Also, since the background of the game is so radically changed from the books, a number of example origins are listed in this thread (at the bottom so I can add more without issue.)
Quick Link:
  1. Swim or Drown
  2. The Invitation
  3. The Wanderer
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Joshua
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Re: Walking the Pattern / Amber Intro

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Generic Pattern Walk

Each pattern is approximately 100 yards by 150 yards. Even just looking at the pattern makes the room around it feel insubstantial or "less real" than the pattern itself. Each pattern is made of more-or-less a single line drawn from the center outward. So, there is only one path onto the pattern (remember you walk the lines) and the starting point is obvious. The space between the lines appears to be filled with the floor of the room and as such fades into an empty abyss as you get closer to the pattern.

Stepping on the pattern charges you with energy.(i) Sparks of the pattern's color rise from your footsteps, up your legs and out your hair. Each step feels like walking uphill and takes much more energy than it should. In a sense, you are walking into a greater level of reality.(ii) This also accounts for the deadly feeling of "inertia" if you stop moving on the pattern. If this is all that was needed, it would only take Chaos level endurance to walk the pattern.(iii)

The Three Veils
Along the winding path, and most important for game terms, are three areas of vastly increased difficulty. Roughly at the start, middle and end of the path. After each barrier, walking gets easier, and some have stopped to rest. This is usually fatal, although with sufficient endurance, it need not be. Regardless, one cannot rest on the pattern; any pause is not refreshing and you cannot 'catch your breath'.
  1. The First Veil: Generally appearing after the first curve, this is an invisible formless barrier. While people have not experimented with this enough to be common knowledge, this is the actual entrance to the pattern. Before this (only about a dozen paces) one can actually survive stepping off the pattern. Once one reaches this barrier however, the surrounding room seems to vanish, and any 'floor' becomes insubstantial. Stepping off the pattern after this point will cause you to fall through the less real shadow perhaps into the Abyss, perhaps to something else. In general, this barrier is just draining as you pull yourself up to the level of 'real' the pattern is.
  2. The Second Veil: The second veil is about judgement. At this point, the pattern has taken a notice of you as an outside entity and attempts to push you away. It is an order of magnitude more difficult than the first veil. It is here that those with Chaos endurance falter and run out of steam.
  3. The Third Veil: Per the book, this is like putting a foot through concrete. Unlike the second barrier, this is a concentrated attempt to stop you from walking further. Each step is pain and also uphill. Some have described it as a mixture of the first two Veils, and like an alloy, the barrier is stronger for mixing them.
Once through the final barrier, at the center of pattern, one can collapse. As long as one does not pass out, it takes only a momentary thought to teleport to wherever your attention wanders. The pattern is still draining your energy, but not nearly as fast as walking. Plus, there's no inertia to overcome. Although it has not been done yet, if you decide to walk out of the pattern(iv), it is only about half as difficult as walking in. (Any low ranked endurance character could do so safely.) The three Veils do not rise against those walking out.

  1. Some characters, especially those with pattern potential, can gain a giant stat boost from walking the pattern. This will be elaborated on later.
  2. When such debates occur, the idea that the 'incline' in level of reality is translated to the difficulty of walking is a popular one. Another one is that the pattern itself is leeching your life-force to power itself. A third is that you are having your 'shadow self' being replaced by a 'pattern self'.
  3. Strength is irrelevant. The kind of stress this puts on your body, no matter how much it feels like it, is not physical and physical strength (or psychic strength) does not apply.
  4. Turning around in the middle of the pattern is not possible, for unknown reasons.
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Joshua
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Re: Walking the Pattern / Amber Intro

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Specific Patterns

Amber
The Amber pattern is deep within the dungeons of Castle Amber.
The three veils it has are a mix of physical and mental challenges designed to strip you of your own misconceptions and illusions.

Rebma
The Rebma pattern is deep within the underwater cavern, in one of the vast buildings. It is in one of the rooms that is not filled with air.
The three veils it has are a mix of physical and mental challenges based on facing yourself and who you are.

Tir-Na Nog'th
This pattern is in the floating gardens in the center of the floating castle. The highest platform of the gardens (visible to any of the towers) holds the pattern, although this platform is only visible in moonlight, and the pattern itself is only stable enough to walk during a full moon. (A 3 day period, although the middle day is the best to walk.)
The three veils it has are all mental challenges and memories that gives you visions of what might happen or you you might have been / might become.

Ht'gon An-rit
This pattern is in a amphitheater set into the side of Mount Kolvar. The noon-day sun fills the room and during the noon hour the pattern is visible.
The three veils it has all feel like physical challenges, and one gets bursts of family, ancestors and ones homeland.
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Re: Walking the Pattern / Amber Intro

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Experience 1: Swim or Drown

The potential to walk the Pattern was randomly cast into infinite shadow. It settled in people of great fate, or at least, some fate. Be you human, a superhero, an orc, goblin or fae, you got a tiny shard of this. Most did not notice, although some started to display extra-ordinary levels of abilities. Dworkin drew the pattern 7 years ago in amber, but in Shadow, time is irrelevant. It could have been yesterday, it could have been 1000 years ago.

At some point, Dworkin showed up. He wore the guise of a mentor or old man. He lured you away, perhaps with a promise of power, perhaps he made you chase him, perhaps he grabbed you and dragged you elsewhere. Be it through guile or instruction, he set you on the pattern and instructed you to walk to the center. It was tough, but you succeeded.

At the center, you saw everything. The castle Amber was the center of the world, and all things merely shadows cast by it. Then your attention shifted, and you teleported to the first place you thought of.

Dworkin may have found you eventually, but in general, once you saw that vision, you walked to Castle Amber, shifting through countless realities to get there. Once at the castle, you were greeted by the court jester, Quin, and treated like royalty. Apparently, you had become a crown prince of some place you had never been by walking the pattern. You were given expensive clothes, and introduced to the other courts.

If you go this route, might I recommend doing most of it as a prelude?
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Re: Walking the Pattern / Amber Intro

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Experience 2: The Invitation

Sometimes Dworkin is a bit more rational. It's uncertain why this happens, perhaps it is when people are more inclined to be interested in Amber without the heavy-handed aspects. In these cases, Dworkin will lead the character to Castle Amber, and introduce them to court first. This probationary period can last for however long the applicant feels is needed.

In some cases, they are simply allowed to stay as a supporting member of the court, but not actually allowed to join it. Dworkin seems to understand which is which. If he makes a trump of this character, it will have a suit if they will walk the pattern, and be of the major arcana if not.
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Re: Walking the Pattern / Amber Intro

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Experience 3: The Wanderer

Those with the potential to walk pattern (And sometimes those who don't) occasionally find themselves walking to Amber. Those with pattern potential can make it the entire way, although most require some kind of help for the last leg of the journey. Perhaps a caravan, perhaps Dworkin, maybe even the unicorn may have helped you the final steps. The final distance has gotten easier as time passes in Amber and more caravans travel. Usually, this ends with the person being discovered by Quin or Dworkin and shown to one of the castles, but sometimes it may be a bit more interesting than that. (For example: involving slavery, guerrilla warfare or revelations about monsters.)
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