This will be another re-run of my "Adventures in Role Play" (AiRP) campaign.
You may want to read the Amber thread in the Game Proposal Forum for some further background.
Please read the latest post in this thread before doing anything else!

"Along Divers Ways" is a Play-By-Post adaptation of my "Adventures in Role-play" introduction to Amber Dice-less role-play.

It's setting is non-canonical in the true sense of Amber but is set in an Amber Universe approximately 5 Amber years after the "Keep of the Thirteenth Hour" Events, which in turn occurred 5.5 years after the End of the Pattern Fall war.

The "Keep of the Thirteenth Hour" was a previous Amber FtF introductory campaign. As Amber history records it, these events were known as "The Rodian Wars".
There were 2 potential outcomes to this, but things went awry and the repair of the Pattern failed at the final hurdle (not that any of the characters will have any idea about this).

It's been 5 years, Amber time since, storms rage across Shadow making it's traversal either difficult or impossible, cutting off and isolating huge swathes of Shadow, including, amongst others, all the Golden Circle States, the Central belt around Yggdrasil, and the Courts of Chaos.

The campaign also non-canonical in that I've changed all the names - I just hope I can remember who is who (or don't slip up and use the wrong name).. Those familiar with Amber shouldn't have much difficulty working out who is who.

Character Concepts and Creating Characters
Characters will initially know nothing about each other, initial characters originating on different Shadow Earths, with later additions originating from shadows as campaign progression allows. In almost all cases they will probably known nothing about Amber, The Courts or anything else Amber related (there are reasons why some characters may know about some things). All new characters that join the campaign will start from the same position as the original characters. They will have neither Pattern nor Logrus abilities and will have to learn from scratch.

The campaign is designed for people who know nothing about Amber, the Amber Multiverse(Shadows), and/or dice-less Role-play. If you're familiar with the canonical Amber background, as per the 10 books, then you're welcome to play just don't assume that what you know is true, happened, happened as per the books, or anything else.

At the current point in the campaign all of the existing characters have reached the point where they can manifest the Pattern, have the basic Mindwalk the summoned sign/Pattern sight, and are learning to Shadow Walk.

At the current point in the campaign,new characters can only be introduced at a point the existing characters can encounter them in shadow.
As noted in the opening paragraph 'New' characters will pretty much have to start from scratch. This is very much connected with the campaign history. In very simple terms, anybody who was known in Amber at the time of the 'Rodian War' that is not on a very select list of Amberites would have been exterminated in the early stage of the war.
Only those with Amberite blood who've never been anywhere near a Pattern and/or were completely unknown in Amber survived, which is where the characters all stem from.

As with all PBM games 'Real Life'@TM happens and people drop out. This means I am  looking for players to take over existing characters. This is the only manner in which you can play a character who already has Pattern abilities!

Please jump to the bottom of the thread and find the reference for which characters are currently available.
When we reach a point suitable to introduce any new characters then it will be indicated in the latest 'Bump' post.

If you choose to join you are going to need to catch up on the background, even if you think you're familiar with Canonical Amber. Events have moved on considerably since the books. So don't assume that anything you know is true or correct.

One of the primary drivers for this start, apart from learning what's happened across Shadow, is how characters who know nothing of their heritage (true in most cases) react when they're had their whole world turned on its head, and everything they thought they knew about the world and their place in it, turns out to be completely different from anything they thought was true.
This message was last edited by the user at 20:17, Thu 18 Apr.

How long (months, years) real time do you envision spending on the "Zero" phase of "Zero to Hero"?

What sort of attachment is it, as there may be other options that do not require email.

In reply to evileeyore (msg # 2):


How long is a piece of string?

It mostly depends on how fast the characters work through things, how fast they post, and how much interaction there both between characters, between characters and NPCs, and between the characters and the environment.

They have a huge amount to learn, not only in terms of acquiring "powers", but also in terms of the whole "Amber" background and everything that has happened. How long would it take you to unlearn everything you thought you know about how the universe worked and learn what the new reality is, it's history, and it's politics?

And I have quite a lot of scenarios for them to work through as the process of coming to terms with the new reality..very much learning on the job in a lot of cases.

I send the character sheets as "Word" documents, but I can send as PDFs, or ODT files, or upload them to "WeTransfer" and send the link via rMail.

In terms of posting rate the game will proceed as fast as the slowest poster.

So if somebody goes on holiday for 2 weeks, doesn't tell me, and I need their input for their character then things will get held up till they respond.
If I know in advance I may be able to anticipate things.
I'm in the UK so US players posting "Overnight" European time may get a response the following morning (UK) time. A lot depends on how busy I am on any given day, and not only do I have a full-time job with a work's firewall that prevents access to a lot of sites, I also have other hobbies that may have priority at times. I do however try and respond to posts on a daily basis.

Ah... why do we have to learn all that before the apron strings are cut and the PCs are free to fly?  A lot of amber's background is often learned (for me anyway) by getting out into the Shadows and experiencing the reality of it.  Finding the weird places on the map, questioning the poeple who live there, and then figuring out what to do next.

Like, I don't have to learn the entire history of Asia in order to learn martial arts.  Didn't even have to learn the history of the martial art or any politics, just started learning how to "boot some head" (so to speak).

I get it, some teachers are going to be "You learn it my way or the highway"... but again this comes back to "how much zero" are you imposing?


Right, so do you have any idea of how long you expect or hope for that to take?  You aren't new to PbP, you've got to have some idea in mind you are aiming for.


It can't be copy/pasted into rMail or the Character Sheet function in the game?


It's a really good thing to set an expected pace.  If you say "I expect a post at least every two days†, I plan to be able to post every day for each thread (and no more than that)†, if you go more than three days I will move things along for the thread, if you're longer than that I will NPC you until you can be sidelined.  If you need to be away, please let us know when you're going to be absent and how long for."

The above would tell really fast posters, the type who prefer say Discord/IRQ, that your game might not be their cuppa, and Players who can barely manage a post a week to maybe also give you a pass, instead of wasting time making a character and then being sidelined within a month.  And specifically the "†" sets a posting expectation for prospective Players, what you will hold yourself to and what you will hold them to.  It's really useful to set that sort of a schedule even if...


See, this tells me that you will probably be posting at least every other day.  A nice pace, not breakneck, but also not so slow as to get nowhere ever.

However, "the game will proceed as fast as the slowest poster" means if someone only posts once a week, the game will crawl, Players quit within a few months, and it will completely fall apart... unless you get really lucky and that's everyone's preferred posting speed.

Your analogy doesn't hold. You knew Martial Arts existed, what they were about, and something of their history before you started learning an Martial Art.
If you didn't have any idea that Martial Arts existed, and were suddenly told that Martial Arts existed, and that you had to learn one, then knowing something about them becomes significantly relevant.


The Characters don't know the Pattern exists, or the Logrus exists, or in many cases that Magic exists, or that Trump exists, or what they may be able to do with any of them..


It's a "how long is a piece of string" question, and depends on what characters do or don't do, and/or what options they choose to pursue at what time.
When I ran this the first time, I had envisaged a couple of months for the first part, realistically having run this once, then realistically 4 months, but that's a meaningless answer as you have no idea what I deem the first part entailing.


Does RPoL support .docx or .odt character sheets? I'm still trying to work out all the facilities offered by the site.


True, but I'm reasonably flexible, but yes a reasonable pace would be expected, and yes once a week would mean that things wouldn't progress as fast as I'd like, but sometimes RL gets in the way.

I currently have 3 players with completed characters and a 4th in the works.
Really need 2 to 3 more players before I kick things off.
So if you're considering playing, then submit your questionnaires sooner rather than later please.

I'm still looking for 2 or 3 more players.
Once the game starts there is no facility to take onboard new characters for quite a while, and even then the same basic restrictions as for the starting game will apply. If I start with my current players then anybody wanting to join will have to take over a "starting" character type NPC.

Last Call..
I'm about to pull all the players together so if you were thinking of playing say so now..
After this point I have no facility to take onboard new characters for quite a while, and even then the same basic restrictions as for the starting game will apply.
Anybody wanting to join after this will have to take over a "starting" character type NPC, and catchup on all the background..

Looking for players to take over these characters.. we're very much in the very early stages.
There is no capability to take new characters at the current time!

At the point where it does become possible new characters will still need to conform to the basic precepts as outlined in the questionnaire subject to any specific alterations I make at that juncture.


This message was last edited by the user at 18:52, Mon 26 Sept 2022.

Still have room for people to take over the characters above..

Still have room for people to take over the characters above..

Alana now taken (23/09)
Blake now taken (26/09)
This message was last edited by the user at 18:53, Mon 26 Sept 2022.

Due to IRL attrition I have lost a number of players which make the following characters available to be taken over..
Send me a PM if you're interested.



There is another option to introduce a single character but is very left field, comes from an angle the players have completely ignored despite Cordelia mentioning it on several occasions, and would leave the character slightly behind the rest, by introducing them at this juncture. The other complication is the character would be very much older somewhere around the 40 years of age mark would be from a world equivalent to the late 17th Century/very early 18th century (circa 1690-1710), although what that means depends on which Earth culture from this time period as your base reference. The Shadow is a x2 Time rate (as compared to Amber) shadow, and supports magic. This does not mean that Magic is known/used, so you have free reign to set this (unknown, rare, rare/uncommon, uncommon, common, prevalent). As with all other characters the same constraints in terms of what is known about Amber/Shadows/etc applies.
This message was last edited by the user at 18:17, Sat 22 Apr 2023.

Still have the characters as per message #12 available..

Winter has now been taken, as has potentially the 'left field' character..
This message was last edited by the user at 23:09, Sun 12 Feb 2023.

Still have the characters as per message #12 available..
The ability to introduce the 'left' field character still exists, although that door may be about to close rapidly..

Still have the characters as per message #12 available..

The ability to introduce the 'left' field character still just about exists..

Still have the characters as per message #12 available..

Whilst the ability to introduce a character via the 'left field' exists, it's now past the most suitable point to do so.

Still have the characters as per message #12 available..
I've recently lost another player due to IRL issues so could really do with a couple of replacement players.

You do not need to know anything about Amber to play. The initial part of the campaign is designed to introduce all the background you need and teach you all about the skills and powers that exist in the Amber Universe. All you need to be able to do is to play a character who has had everything they thought they knew about reality and their place in it turned completely on its head and shattered.

Still have the characters as per message #12 (bar Kenneth who has just been taken) available..

Whilst the ability to introduce a character via the 'left field' exists, it's now past the most suitable point to do so. Aside from the other constraints outlined in msg#12 they effectively 'start from scratch' in terms of acquiring Pattern abilities.
Note also that this will apply to any new character that I have to opportunity to bring in going forward. There is a very good reason for this and it is very heavily tied into the background. To put it very simply if you were known of in Amber and/or had a Pattern Imprint, and were not one of a set of specific Elder Amberites, you'd be dead!

You do not need to know anything about Amber to play. The initial part of the campaign is designed to introduce all the background you need and teach you all about the skills and powers that exist in the Amber Universe. All you need to be able to do is to play a character who has had everything they thought they knew about reality and their place in it turned completely on its head and shattered.

Still have the characters as per message #12 available..

Any new characters, when we get to the point I can introduce them will effectively 'start from scratch' in terms of acquiring Pattern abilities.
There is a very good reason for this and it is very heavily tied into the background.

To put it very simply if you were known of in Amber and/or had a Pattern Imprint, and were not one of a set of specific Elder Amberites, you'd be dead!

You do not need to know anything about Amber to play. The initial part of the campaign is designed to introduce all the background you need and teach you all about the skills and powers that exist in the Amber Universe. All you need to be able to do is to play a character who has had everything they thought they knew about reality and their place in it turned completely on its head and shattered.

The following characters are available to be taken over. You will need to play catchup on all the background...
At the current point most of the characters have a Pattern Imprint and are in the process of learning how to use it.

Any new characters, when we get to the point I can introduce them will effectively 'start from scratch' in terms of acquiring Pattern abilities.
There is a very good reason for this and it is very heavily tied into the background.

To put it very simply if you were known of in Amber and/or had a Pattern Imprint, and were not one of a set of specific Elder Amberites, you'd be dead!

You do not need to know anything about Amber to play.
The initial part of the campaign is designed to introduce all the background you need and teach you all about the skills and powers that exist in the Amber Universe.
All you need to be able to do is to play a character who has had everything they thought they knew about reality and their place in it turned completely on its head and shattered.

Still looking for players willing to take on a character as per above (Msg#20).

Still looking for players willing to take on a character as per above (Msg#20).

Still looking for players willing to take on a character (except Edward) as per above (Msg#20).

Still looking for players willing to take on a character as per above (Msg#20).

Still looking for players willing to take on a character as per above (Msg#20).

Additionally at this time I have the capacity to introduce 2 new characters (*** but ensure you read the first post in this thread ***).
The first character I can introduce almost immediately, the second at a specific point that will occur in the near future.

Character 1 is the 'left field' character indicated previously.  You were born sometime between 31/07/4701 and 31/10/4713 (local world time) making you between 53 ( + up to 6 months) and 41 (+ up to a couple of months) - I still need to sort out exact date points in relation to when the Rodian War occurred although it would have had little to no impact to your world - possibly some freak weather, may be the odd minor earth quake, but nothing serious.
Your World has a equivalent tech to the late 17th Century/very early 18th century (circa 1690-1710) Earth. You need to pick somewhere on Earth from a historical perspective and define your culture in terms of that place.
Given it's position in Shadow there would be no reason why magic wouldn't be real, although I would suggest it's uncommon to rare. Your world has a Magic Factor of 0.8 (see the latest version of the rules 1.9.3 as per the website suffices) and a time rate equal to 2xAmber. Your would exists out in Shadow near Elysium.

Character 2 is 'new' from the campaign perspective. Your original world can be any Earth like world with a time ratio of 1.5 to 2.0. Like this Earth we all live on Magic is to all intents and purposes not real, so you would have never seen or experienced it. Your age at the end of the Rodian War would have been between 11 years and 7.5 years old (mostly dependant on the time ratio of the world. The higher the time rate the younger you would have been). The end of the Rodian war is significant because this is when you were picked up by a shadow storm and flung across shadow. The world that has been your home for the last 21.5 years is equivalent to early 14th Century (circa 1310-1330) England. Magic is known but its rare. The world has a below average magic environment and has a Magic Factor of 2.5. There is a lot more besides, but I will only reveal that as part of the character background.

Bump .. as per msg#25

Bump .. as per msg#25(msg#20)

The characters are all about to learn Shadow Walking which is where life gets very much more interesting ..

Bump .. as per msg#25(msg#20)

The characters are all about to learn Shadow Walking which is where life gets very much more interesting ..

Bump .. as per msg#25(msg#20). Note the 'Left Field' Character slot has been taken.

And so it begins.. out into shadow..

Bump .. as per msg#25(msg#20). Note the 'Left Field' Character slot has been taken.

First 'into Shadow' scenario is down.. where next?

Bump .. as per msg#25(msg#20). Note the 'Left Field' Character slot has been taken. The '2nd' slot will likely disappear shortly.

The first excursion in to Shadow to learn to Shadow Walk has exposed all those used to the comfort and luxury of the 21st Century to the reality of Shadow, where it's not the 21st, 20th, 19th, or 18th century in the vast majority of places.
Life is hard, and even worse where things go very wrong...

The only new characters from this point on will be those that the characters are in a position to discover whilst out in shadow, and all new characters will start from scratch.

Bump .. as per msg#25(msg#20).

Wow, it’s been literal years since I’ve played Amber.  Are there any openings?