-Placeholder page.
+# The Track Not Taken
+
+## Setting Info
+
+Amethyst is a trading principality at the head of a small trade
+league. It's ruled by Prince Martin, who's been around for most of
+your life, and various other members of royalty visit from time to
+time (King Luke & Queen Coral, Duke Merlin, Viscountess Julia..).
+It's all the universe you've grown up in; a little bubble of shadow
+about a day's hellride in any direction from Amethyst itself (once you
+get past the sight of Amethyst Spire and you can move into shadow with
+any ease). You've all grown up with Martin's stories of Amber and the
+Shadowfall war; but they seem at a distance that makes them seem like
+either ancient history or Just So story. Perhaps Amber was what
+Amethyst was before Martin came to power; but that must be at least
+300 years ago and none of you are older than a century.
+
+Amethyst Spire is a great glass construction about 600 feet tall,
+built on the top of a mountain. Public rooms ring the outside and
+private rooms are towards the middle with windows opening onto a
+central atrium that runs nearly the height of the building and which
+forms the throne room and communications centre. Airships and packet
+steamers trade with neighbouring states and steam trains connect the
+Spire and the city that sprawls up the lower reaches of the mountain.
+
+The Underspire is just as impressive, some curiosity of geology has
+made the rock for at least 4 stories down shiny, and mostly shades
+of purple/black (perhaps this is where the name for the principality
+comes from?). However it was originally carved out hundreds of
+years of servants have polished the walls and floor until you can
+see your reflection in most of them. Off to one side lies the
+Pattern; a kind of family secret an apparently the prime mover of
+the multiverse; and also amongst the various store rooms and the
+inevitable dungeon is an underground railway station.
+
+A shadowy city does appear in the sky on nights of the full moon;
+but you can't get into it.
+
+Anyone of any consequence in the principality has some kind of
+device, be it a pocket computer, an enchanted mirror, or a
+personal familiar that's capable of opening a short range trump
+connection to facilitate communication. Some of these are also
+capable of facilitating sorcery and those who have innate
+abilities with the powers of the universe are capable of using
+them from shadow as well.
+
+As the game opens the Spire is in the hands of the current Prime
+Minister as Prince Martin is off on one of his regular trade
+missions; but that doesn't really concern you except that there's
+no authority figures around who can complain if you spend all
+week in the public houses and dens of iniquity near the harbour
+and that is your goal when you board the train under the Spire.
+
+
+## Character Generation
+
+* You are the descendent of one of the younger members of the Merlin
+Saga; and have the blood of Amber in your veins. You've been brought
+up by Prince Martin (or rather mostly nursemaids with him overseeing)
+with probably occasional visits from at least one parent whom you know
+who they are. Feel free to pick.
+* You all have Pattern Initiation and have had at least a decade to get
+used to it. You have some kind of trump communication device (this
+can be a deck of cards if you want) and can be assumed to have trumps
+of anyone you've ever met; although outside of the party and possibly
+your ancestors; these are unlikely to be very useful. If you have
+Sorcery, Conjuration or Power Words then this device is a device of
+power that helps you use your magic.
+* You can have any items / creatures that (a) are less than 15 points
+each (b) you'd reasonably carry with you on a week long bender.
+* You have 75 points on top of your Pattern Imprint. No more than one
+stat sold down, If you sell a stat down to Human I will put you in
+situations where this is a problem. No more than 5 points of stuff
+either way.
+* You can have Shapeshift.
+* You can't have Logrus; chaos is just a myth to you.
+
+### Modifications to normal abilities:
+
+* You can have Advanced Pattern for an extra 10 points. You are
+*really* shit at anything in it because you've had to figure it all
+out for yourself, have only recently got any of it to work, and
+haven't had a chance to look at any Patterns than Amethyst's.
+* Sorcery costs 20 points but so long as you have your device of power
+with you:
+ + it works reasonably well near the Pattern
+ + you can have up to 4 simple effects that you can use at whim
+ (e.g. "fireball", about as effective as hitting someone with a
+ sword, "teleport 10m foward" etc)
+ + you can come up with arbitrary effects on actually useful
+ timescales (not on the scale of falling, combat, or geology unless
+ they're very simple modifications of one of your known effects; but
+ on the order of 15 minutes or so).
+* Don't expect to lose your device of power unless you do so
+deliberately or really deserve it.
~jdamery / PlayersGuide.git / blobdiff