Pattern Pattern Pattern
To walk a Pattern successfully a character must have Blood of Pattern and at least Amber level Endurance.

Basic Pattern Imprint (Full)
50pts
The character has all of the abilities listed below under Partial Pattern Imprint. It is cheaper to buy Full Pattern Imprint rather than buying all the powers piecemeal over time.
Prerequisite: Blood of Pattern, Amber Level Endurance

Basic Pattern Imprint (Partial)

    Pattern Imprint [15]
      Blood Curse [0]
      Teleport from the Pattern[0]
      Strengthen Shadow[0]
      Shadow Walk[10]
      sitee
        Hellride[5]
        Shadow Resources[10]
        Royal Way[10]
        Travel to non-locations[5]
          Travel to Abstractions[5]
      Sign of the Pattern[5]
        Pattern Defense[5]
      Alter Probability[5]
        Alter Shadow Rules[10]
  • Pattern Imprint
    15pts
    The character has walked a Pattern. The character immediately gains the powers of Blood Curse, Teleport from Pattern, and Strengthen Shadow. The character no longer ages.
    Prerequisite: Blood of Pattern. Amber level Endurance.

  • Blood Curse
    Free
    Once in their life, usually on their death bed a character can pronounce an infallible curse upon anyone or thing. It can not be a direct statement like "I wish Frank would die" but a general curse on Frank's existance, which may end in his death eventually.
    Prerequisite: Pattern Imprint

  • Teleport from the Pattern
    Free
    Once reaching the center of the Pattern by walking it a character can teleport instantly anywhere in shadow. Only by walking one of the physical Patterns, and spending the drama points during the walk can this power be used. Prerequisite: Pattern Imprint

  • Strengthen Shadow
    Free
    Simply by being in a shadow the shadow becomes more "real". This makes it easier to find by other Amberites and much more likely they will accidentally run across it. The longer an Amberite is in a shadow the more real it becomes. Eventually it may even cast shadows of its own.
    Prerequisite: Pattern Imprint

  • Shadow Walk
    10 pts
    As book p40. The character can walk through shadow. This is done by slowly changing details of the current environment to match those of the destination as the character walks forward. Generally shadow shifts are small and out of sight, "around the next corner" for instance. Because hiding shifts out of sight frequently involves placing things just over the horizon, shadow shifting involves a lot of travel. So the limit on the speed of shadow shifting becomes how fast you can travel. You can use a mount (like a horse), machinary (say a car) or magic (perhaps a flying carpet) to increase the rate of loccomotion. However when using technology that depends on the specific physics of a shadow (like a car or a flying carpet) shifters have to be careful not to stray into a shadow where the laws of reality do not support your mode of transportation. And the more sophisticated a device the more sensative it is to changes in shadow.

    Generally you can only shadow shift to a place; if you wanted to find a loaf of bread, for example, you might try and shape shift to a house with a smell of fresh baked bread and then barter with the owner for his labours.

    In theory it's possible to find a shadow where anything exists; even time rates may vary between shadows. However concious control of all features of a shadow--especially finding one with a chosen time rate--is difficult. Furthermore not all shadows are actually accessable to an Amberite; the physical laws of a shadow may not support the existance of an Amberite, and many shadows reside near Chaos where all but the most experienced shadow shifters cannot reach.

    It is almost impossible to walk shadow when you have no references to change: so a lack of light, or a land that is all white with no features liike snow drifts to hide things behind cannot normally be shadow shifted out of.

    When you walk though shadow you distort it slightly so that you leave a trail that others (even non amberites) may follow, and which remains apparent to experienced shadow walkers until a measurable time has passed. 1
    Prerequisite: Pattern Imprint

  • Hellride
    5 pts
    As book p40. Characters may only Hellride to locations. Hellriding can be dangerous but it is the fastest method of traveling through Shadow. It takes Drama Points to Hellride.
    Prerequisite: Shadow Walk

  • Royal Way
    10 pts
    As book p40. They Royal way may only be used to get to locations that the character may be comfortable in. For instance Fiona could not use the Royal Way to travel to the Courts of Chaos, the line would stop before she got there, but she cold go to modern earth since she could travel in luxury the whole way.
    Prerequisite: Shadow Walk

  • Sign of the Pattern
    5 pts
    The character can call to mind an image of the pattern and draw on it for power. Used for Pattern Defense and Trump creation. The character can do mundane tasks, like walk, or paint while maintaining the sign but can not use other Powers that do not require its presence.
    Prerequisite: Pattern Imprint

  • Pattern Defense
    5 pts
    Once the character has called up the sign of the Pattern it can be used to defend the character against other powers. This takes 1 Drama Point. The character can not do anything other than walk forward at a slow pace, relativly directionless while maintaining Pattern Defense.
    Prerequisite: Sign of the Pattern

  • Alter Probability
    5 pts
    As book p42. This can be used to make it likely that a character could find a copy of Tom Sawyer in the next book store on modern earth since there is a pretty good chance that will happen. Characters using this power are always lucky. Drama Points may be required depending on the scope of the alternation. Prerequisite: Pattern Imprint

  • Shadow Resources
    10 pts
    The character can travel to things in shadow that will do certain things or end up in certain places in the future. the character could find a copy of Caine's favorite book that will be bought, pass through several owners and be picked up by Caine a week later with the note the character left in it still intact. It would take Shadow Resources for a character to find a working bastard sword in a tree stump on modern Earth since the probability of one being there are virtually 0. Requires Drama Points.
    Prerequisite: Shadow Walk

  • Affect Shadow Rules
    10 pts
    The character may temporarily change the rules of a localized area in a Shadow. This allows the character to change various inanimate aspects of the Shadow as well as physical and chemical laws. For example by concentrating on the Pattern a character could make a glass of water burn on Shadow Earth. Changes only last as long as the character is concentrating and only effect a small area. The more real a shadow the harder this is to accomplish. It can not be used in Amber. This power takes real concentration hence it is used for small localized short duration events. Trying to use it for longer durations means the character can not even accomplish simple tasks, like directing a horse while concentrating. Requires Drama Points.

  • Travel to non-locations
    5 pts
    The character can Shadow Walk or Hellride towards something the don't know the location of. Like towards a person or an item.

  • Travel to abstractions
    5 pts
    The character may walk to abstract ideas. This is very imprecise and may fail, or may lead the character to some subconsciouses desire instead. For instace the character could walk to a shadow where a cousin will come by and help them eventually. Like "where I'm needed most".


    Notes

    From the mailing list:
    IMO what Corwin means isn't "Wouldn't you go shift towards a random fast-time shadow" but rather "Wouldn't you revisit a shadow you've already found where the time flow is faster?"

    If Amberites can't just casually seek out a new fast shadow, there's another thing to consider. I think Corwin's experiences with Earth demonstrate that Shadows can change rather significantly over time, and it makes some sense that the situation in rapid shadows would change all the faster. So Amberites would periodically want to go back and check to make sure their old safe-house shadows were still safe, lest the information become out of date.
    --Gregor gregor at niflheim.net


    Advanced Pattern

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    Last modified: 01/18/2005 09:18:03.