PATTERN



     Mainly based upon an original work by Doyce Testerman & Randy Trimmer.

     Pierce through the Veil of Time: Credits to La Fouine, based upon "Bleak Seasons" by Glen Cook.
     The original "Basic Pattern" as described in the Amber DRPG was comprised of: Blood of Amber, Pattern Imprint, Shadowalk, Pattern Search, Hellriding/Use Royal Way, Manipulate Probability, Mindwalk the Summoned Sign/Pattern Sight, Pattern Defense (internalize Sign), and Track Shadowalker.
     The "Advanced Pattern" abilities were Mindwalk the Summoned Sign/Pattern Sight, Scrying Lens, Teleport, Shadow Pockets, and Mold/Erase Shadow.


PREREQUISITES:
          -One cannot have Blood of Amber if, at creation, he gains more than 40 points from lowered attributes.
          -To acquire Pattern Imprint without dying in the process requires at least Amber Rank in Endurance. You can only have Chaos Strength or Psyche if you're ranked in one of these two attributes. You cannot have Human Strength or Psyche. .

     B: Basic Power; A: Advanced Power; E: Exalted Power.


B-[05] Blood of Amber
B-------[10] Pattern Imprint (10 pts per Pattern imprinted)
B-------------[05] Shadowalk
B-------------------[05] Pattern Search
B-------------------[05] Hellriding/Use Royal Way
A-------------------------[10] Ride Pattern Waves
B-------------[05] Manipulate Probability
B-------------------[Shadowalk + 05] Shadowshift items
B-------------[05] Mindwalk the Summoned Sign/Pattern Sight
B-------------------[05] Pattern Defense (internalize Sign)
A-------------------------[05] Temporary Pattern Swell
E-------------------------------[10] Encompass Pattern
E-------------------------------------[05] Radiate Pattern Field
E-------------------------------[05] Extended Pattern Swell
B-------------------[05] Track Shadowalker
A-------------------[05] Pattern Cloaking
A-------------------[05] Improved Sight
A-------------------[05] Pattern Tendrils
E-------------------------[05] Pattern Magic
E-------------------------[05] Create Pattern Artifacts
E-------------------------------[Temporary Pattern Swell + 05] Exorcise Pattern Ghost
E-------------------------------------[05] Summon Forth Pattern Ghost
E-------------------------------------------[10] Pattern Ghost Editing
A-------------------[05] Scrying Lens
E-------------------------[05] Pierce through the Veil of Time
A-------------------------[05] Teleport
E-------------------------------[05] Advanced Teleport
A-------------------------[Manipulate Probability + 05 for the fist use, 03 for the second, and 02 for the third] Shadow Pockets
A-------------------------[Manipulate Probability + 05] Mold/Erase Shadow
E-------------------------------[05] Gate Shadow
E-------------------------------[05] Meta-Shadow Manipulation
E-------------------------------[05] Create Shadow Loop



Blood of Amber (05 points)
     You possess the blood of amber, which means one of your parents is an Amberite, and gives you the possibility to walk the Pattern. Blood of Amber also ensures that you’ve got the Human form as one of your Basic forms for Shape shifting purposes.

Pattern Imprint (10 points)
     Walk one of the Elemental Patterns (worth 3h30 of Heavy Exertion or half your Collapsing time, whichever is higher). This activates the Blood of Amber, so now the Blood Curse of an Amberite can be invoked. The rarest used, yet most feared, of all the powers of those of the Blood of Amber is their ability to deliver a Blood Curse. Usually delivered when dying, the curse is an evoking of a character's personal relationship with the Pattern, a directing of their life energies towards some terrible goal. It is also, theoretically, possible to perform a "Blessing", such as that bestowed by Oberon at the end of the Chronicles of Amber. Once performed, there is NO KNOWN WAY of removing a Blood Curse.

Shadowalk (05 points)
     In Shadow, if you stand unmoving, you are in the middle of a vast universe. However, each step forward is an opportunity to visit another "next door" universe, another of the infinite number of possible variations on a world. In Shadow, so long as an Amberite can move, walking, riding, sailing, swimming, flying, driving, or crawling, it is possible to move through Shadow. This is done by changing minor things that lay in your path. The character decides that over the next hill will be a patch of blue flowers, around the next corner is a jagged rock face, and in the next village is a country fair. Down that alley is a shop dealing in obscure weapons. By such minor changes you move closer to what you seek in Shadow. Shadow Walking is relatively easy since you are changing very subtle, very small details. So, for example, in a ride through the woods of Shadow Earth, around the corner you might expect to see a greenjay instead of a bluejay. That one detail is an easy change. Since the changes are so minor Shadow Walking is fairly slow. As long as someone can see you, they can follow you through Shadow. A person of the Blood Of Amber can lead any amount of people through Shadow as long as there is a visual link, even if indirect (i.e. The Amberite can be seen by Troop A, Troop A can be seen by Troop B, and so on). All parties involved move through Shadow simultaneously. However, to lead many people, such as an army, in Shadow, requires using the Royal Way.
     Skipping Forward In Time: The character goes to a place where time moves slowly. While the character is spending a few minutes in the "slow time" Shadow, time is speeding hour by hour along in Amber. So a character can leave, spend a few minutes out in Shadow, and return days, or weeks later. It's even possible to find a Shadow that moves so slowly that it become almost like a stasis, and where the character can wait for years to pass in Amber.
     Holding Back Time: The other handy trick of Shadow time is going out to a "fast time" Shadow, where hours pass relative to minutes ticking in Amber. A character could go to Shadow Earth, sleep 10 hours and return to Amber where only 4 hours have gone by. In faster Shadows it's possible to spend years in preparation, while only a day or so passes in Amber. Should endurance become a factor, it has an endurance cost of one-fifth the normal requirement.

Pattern Search (05 points)
     You have now sufficient knowledge and mastery over the Pattern to search efficiently for anything you desire, be it someone, something, a Shadow of Desire...
     So, you can find Creatures and Artifacts with point values. For someone of Amber Psyche, each point takes one day to find if hellriding (multiply all values by seven if Shadowalking); those with higher Psyches and more experience will need less time to find things: for each point, time is usually 24 hours - 1/2 your psyche conflict points (minimum 12 hours per point). The remaining Conflict points (that is, those over 24), if any, times two, will diminish the total searching time by one hour by point.
     Hellriding and Shadowalking involve movement with the idea of perceptual changes (usually a change in the visual aspect of the environment, but sometimes other senses). But you're also able to search for intangibles, such as setting off in search of "the Shadow of your Desire". This ability also allows the research of a specific person as long as a clear psychic impression of the subject is known and kept foremost in mind during the travel.

Hellriding/Use Royal Way (05 points)
     Hellriding is a harder and faster way to go than Shadowalking. In Shadow Walking you changed one detail, a bluejay to a greenjay. In a Hellride you focus on a detail, and change the whole world around it. Spot a bluejay and you decide to enter another Shadow completely different from Shadow Earth, but where bluejays still fly. Hellriding is hard, but fast. Another problem with Hellriding is that generally a certain level of speed must be maintained for the Hellride to progress. Since things change so quickly in a Hellride most technological means of travel (such as cars, planes, and boats) won't work at least some of the time, most Amberites tend to use a reliable mount, such as a well-trained horse. Animals that are to experience Hellrides must be specially trained or they tend to panic and cause the rider difficulties he/she doesn't want during such a stressful and concentration-intensive procedure.
     Hellriding can get you from near Amber to the Courts of Chaos in less than a week. Generally three days of Hellriding can get you to and from most places in Shadow. Hellriding is “normally” tiring (normal endurance cost).
     Slower than Shadowalking is travelling through Shadows where everything is to the character's liking. For example, one can choose to walk through the worlds where there will always be welcoming faces and rosebuds strewn on the roadway. Or, if you choose to travel in a luxurious train, you can stick to those Shadows that contain rails. This is usually known as Selective Shadow Walking or the Royal Way, and it is extremely slow but it's very comfortable (one-tenth the normal endurance cost). Normal Shadow Walking from near Amber to the Courts of Chaos would take approximately six weeks, a year if Selective Shadow Walking is being used.

Ride Pattern Waves (Hellriding/Use Royal Way + 10)
     This Ability uses the character's intimacy with the Pattern to ride the waves of probability that the Pattern radiates to greatly increase the efficiency of the character's shadow travelling abilities. What previously took days to transverse can be accomplished in a matter of hours (Travel Time is divided by four or by one-fourth your psyche conflict points rounded to the nearest half-number, that which is the greatest).

Manipulate Probability (05 points)
     Out in Shadow, if there is any reasonable chance at all of something happening, then a character with Pattern can make it happen. The main limitations are time, since using Pattern takes a few moments of concentration, and probability. A character can't make something unlikely happen, not without going into an adjacent Shadow. The shadings of one Shadow to the next are vague. That means that small changes can be made without travelling. Short of money? Imagine a loose floorboard, under which is hidden a treasure, look and it will be there. Those with the imprint of Amber's Pattern are endlessly lucky. What is possible can, with time and effort, be made probable, and what is probable can be made certain. While this power is absolute, it always involves some movement, a shifting of the variety of Shadow for a particular shade. Any Shadow manipulation is also slightly hazardous because of your involuntary movement in Shadow. With enough time it's possible to shift just about anything in Shadow. However, there are two important limitations.
     First, in order to shift Shadow you must move. Subtle changes don't require much movement, but the more drastic the change, the more you must move around. The problem here is that you can easily move right out of one Shadow and into its neighbor. Be wary that, while shifting, you don't start moving away from your objective. Second, shifting Shadow is fairly slow. Far slower than combat time. If you wish to make use of some Shadow shifting it's best if it is prepared before a battle. A minor change, such as the color of a coin, might take as much as a half a minute. Something useful, such as weakening a wall, or making a weapon brittle, could take a minute or more.

Shadowshift items (Shadowalk + 05 points)
     The ability to Shadow shift through Shadow while at the same time altering the physical objects or conveniences possessed by the character to forms appropriate to the local Shadow environment. That is, if the characters were Shadow shifting in a car, the car would change to a variety native to the current Shadow and to a stage coach when cars no longer function or are out of place.

Mindwalk the Summoned Sign/Pattern Sight (05 points)
     Now you have the concentration to be able to keep the Sign of the Pattern manifesting as you retrace your path upon it mentally. This will take several minutes (seven minutes, minus ten seconds by psyche conflict point with a minimum of one minute), but it empowers the Sign, thus allowing you to scry with your Pattern Sight and eventually learn the secrets of changing Shadow by direct manipulation of the Sign. Mindwalking the Sign is only slightly less difficult than walking the actual Pattern (usually costing Endurance as one hour of Heavy Exertion, with the time passed with it in mind costing five times the normal Endurance cost), but it can be accomplished much more quickly. You also now have the concentration to Manipulate Probability without moving, and the power to evoke the Pattern while still within Amber.

Pattern Defense (internalize Sign) (05 points)
     Picture the Pattern, Concentrate on this image, and move it into your body. This takes a few moments at best, depending on your Psyche and how well you can concentrate (usually two minutes minus two times your psyche conflict points seconds), but it strengthens your mind, and lends strength to your existence. The main use is defensive, so a character with Pattern Defense on is pretty much immune to the Logrus, and other Chaos generated forces. Likewise, it's difficult or impossible to use invasive Magic on a character who has Pattern brought up like this. On he other hand, keeping the Pattern internalized requires real concentration, so the character can't run or fight effectively. If the character's attention is broken, then the Pattern instantly flickers out. In game terms, for defensives purposes, it multiplies your conflict points (brute psyche or psyche finesse) by four against chaos, and by two against magic, for defensives purposes only.

Temporary Pattern Swell (05 points)
     The ability to temporary produce Pattern power swells in the local Shadow, thus increasing the strength of Pattern and Order in the area. This power has a limited area of effect (up to Brute Psyche kilometers), and needs concentration. It impedes any and all kind of Shadow Manipulation, doubling all the times required for such a feat. It also greatly weakens Chaos creatures, as well as the influence of Logrus.

Encompass Pattern (10 points)
     This ability gives the player character a reflection of the true Pattern in their form. This allows the character to strike and inflect Monstrous damage (8 points level) to Logrus based creatures or Deadly damage (4 points level) to non-chaosians, but only with his/her Body. The damage becomes Primal (16 points level) if applied directly on Logrus-charged Blood. Note that if you try to use this power while bleeding a Logrus-charged blood.... Let’s just say you won’t enjoy the experience. That is, if you survive. By the way, it also gives you a (very) visible blue aura, and, evidently, acts as a very aggressive protection against Logrus forces. Endurance cost is 45 at first, and then per minute.

Radiate Pattern Field (05 points)
     As Encompass Pattern, but on a radius: it allows the character to produce a field of pure Pattern power with up to half your Brute Psyche meters radius. Endurance cost is 30 minutes, + 15 per 2 meters radius (round up) at first, and then per minute. It will damage anything it encounters as Encompass Pattern, and will also repel them with strength equal to half your Brute Psyche (rounded to the nearest number). Inside the field they will also take damage, but only at one-half the intensity of the field’s edge, and will also be repelled with strength equal to one-fourth your Brute Psyche. It also alignates the place inside the field with the scientific laws of Amber, which can cause many drastic changes.
     This power necessitates a great deal of concentration, and only lets you walk or talk quietly.

Extended Pattern Swell (05 points)
     The ability to radiate a Pattern field to cause surrounding Shadows to more closely emulate the Shadow that houses the character. This makes the Shadow more “real”, impeding Shadow Travel and Manipulation (time is multiplied by five). Usually, this makes the shadows more like Amber, with the scientific laws of the shadow emulating those of Amber. It is nonetheless possible, while more tiring, to keep the Shadow’s laws untouched: Endurance cost becomes 15 every two minutes, instead of 05 every minute.

Track Shadowalker (05 points)
     The breaks and distortions in Shadow, caused by those who have the Power to move from one Shadow to another, can be detected through the use of Pattern Sight. The character looks for tiny disruptions in Shadow, attempting to find their source locations in the Shadow being studied, which other Shadows are involved, and what Power was used in the disruption. How long this takes depends on how old the trail and how major the disruption. If a single Hellrider passed through the Shadow just minutes before, the traces could be detected in just a minute or two. If the passage had taken place the day before, it might take an hour to find the traces. However, if the disturbance was major, as is the case if a vast army was led through, then the traces will be obvious and easy to find even days later. The effectiveness of this is limited by the age of the trail, care the pursued used in covering their trail, number of people being followed, and the psyche of the person doing the following.

Pattern cloaking (05 points)
     This power enables a character to reduce the apparent strength of the Pattern within his body, so that someone using Pattern Sight or a similar ability doesn't see your true power.

Improved Sight (05 points)
     This lets you, above and beyond Pattern-sight, detect the presence of people with either the Blood of Amber or the Courts, as in the Amber Rulebook. Quite rare. It also gives you an idea of the relative strength of this power within the character (up to 25, 50, 75 or more points).

Pattern Tendrils (05 points)
     Pattern tendrils can be extended for a short time in the local Shadow or in a Shadow you’re seeing via your Scrying Lens, to bring to a target energy from the Pattern, or to form a psychic connection to a target. They can also be used to destroy spells and things of Magic by contact (Magic being a “minor power”), unless otherwise protected against the Pattern. This disenchantment works against magical constructs (i.e. things created by Conjuration), spells, and powers acquired through Shapeshifting (unless coming from a Basic Form) if your Psyche conflicts points are higher than your opponent’s Endurance conflict points. By bringing to a creature or artifact energy from the Pattern, you can instill in them a part of the Pattern. This will make them more stable, powerful and “real” (one hour per point, with an endurance cost 30 times the usual, for a maximum number of points equal to one-half your Psyche Conflict points). This is an extremely exhausting power, each minute counting as five minutes of Heavy exertion.

Pattern Magic (05 points)
     As the other Power Magics, this lets you use the Pattern as a part of your Spells, using the “Invoque Power” Advanced Spell Component.

Create Pattern Artifacts (05 points)
     This lets you create artifacts that in some way harness the power of the Pattern.... Basic point here is that these artifacts will work about anywhere Pattern does, and can channel and hold more energy than an equivalent Shadow-powered item. In Game terms, this allows you to create artifacts up to the 8 points level, or possessing a Pattern Image on them (well, sort of...). The problem is, you must be next to a Pattern to create such items. Another thing is that such items, becomes part of their creator. Thus, they must be paid for with points, unless quickly returned to their source.

Exorcise Pattern Ghost (Temporary Pattern Swell + 05 points)
     This ability gives the player character the ability to dismiss Pattern ghosts of themselves or others (at - 05 psyche ranks) created by the Pattern in which they have their imprint or weaken Pattern ghosts of other Patterns (giving to their attributes a penalty of one-third your psyche conflict points).

Summon Forth Pattern Ghost (05 points)
     This ability gives the player the power to summon forth from the Pattern the Pattern ghost of another personage. The summoned Pattern ghost will be an earlier version of the entity taken from the Pattern's recording keeping ability, and is NOT bound to obey your every command. In fact, the GM should play them as NPCs. Another problem is that the Pattern can block you, or select a particular version of the Ghost, if she’s got more than one. Finally, the Ghost will soon dissipate, unless constantly fuelled by Pattern energy or Amber Blood, and will be rather easily dismissed by Pattern or Logrus Forces, just as Merlin did with the Ghosts of Dworkin and Oberon: consider that any Pattern or Logrus attack with a Brute Psyche at least equal to the Ghost’s will put an end to its existence and, if not, will severely drain him of energy.

Pattern Ghost Editing (10 points)
     This lets you “edit” the personality of a Pattern Ghost you’re summoning, just as the Pattern and the Logrus do in Merlin’s Saga. The only Problem with it is that, the more changes you make, the more confused and dulled the Ghost will be. And, then again, the Pattern can impede your efforts.

Scrying Lens (05 points)
     Once the Pattern is summoned to your mind you can use it as a great lens to peer into Shadow. Anyone, anything can be observed in this way. Of course, you receive not only visual, but also audio inputs. And, having found them, you may cast your Pattern Tendrils through the lens to touch mind to mind.
     Finding a particular item, or person, is, however, not as easy as it might sound. Frankly, there's a lot of ground to cover. Just scanning all of Castle Amber could take hours, especially if you include the myriad of dungeon tunnels. On the other hand, if your Psyche is sharp, and if the object of your search is not disguised, then things can go much more quickly. Likewise, if Pattern is being disturbed, by a Hellride, or by any manipulation of Shadow, or even the drawing of a Trump, then the source of the disturbance should be easy to locate.
     Searching out in Shadow is usually a lot easier. If the character knew about Corwin's long-time residence on Shadow Earth, and knew how to locate the place, then a search of that entire Shadow would take just a couple of minutes. Why so fast? Because the character wouldn't have to do any kind of place by place searching. Instead the entire Shadow would be observed, and any “real” things, stuff originating from Amber or Chaos, would show up in contrast with the rest of the Shadow.

Pierce through the Veil of Time (05 pts)
     The Pattern is Order, and Order is law. By using your Scrying Lens, you can look back in time. Without effort, you can look up to your Psyche Conflict Points hours back in time. With more effort (10 minutes of your precious time and 30 minutes worth of Heavy exertion), this becomes Psyche CPs days. And, finally, with a great dedication (half an hour of concentration, 2 hours of Heavy Exertion), you can make it months. Of course, this works better in Pattern-controlled places: Time is multiplied by 4 in Amber, 2 in the Golden Circle, 1 in most shadows, 1/2 near Chaos, 1/4 in the Courts.

Teleport (05 points)
     A character with this power brings up the Pattern Lens, scry upon an area, and then, through sheer force of will and Pattern Mastery, displaces himself from his current location and into the area looked upon. This requires a massive effort of endurance (5 hours of exertion), and will tire even a high-ranked individual. The character may choose any place in Shadow, though he must be able to scry upon it and places that are blocked or warded against Pattern or Psyche will be off-limits to the character via this power. A greater problem is that your image of the Pattern will be broken and inactive after such a feat, requiring from you to walk again the Pattern.

Advanced teleport (05 points)
     Just as Teleport, with the difference that it doesn’t break your Pattern image.

Shadow Pockets (Manipulate Probability + 05 points for the fist use + 03 and 02 points for the second and third)
     On a small scale, it is possible to create personal Pocket Shadows that can be used for various purposes. A Shadow Pocket would then be an artificial Shadow, with just a sliver of Amber’s image, brought into existence by a character’s minute warping of the Sign of the Pattern brought to mind.
     Shadow Pockets can be fixed to a particular location or can be moved around by their creator. The environment inside the Shadow Pocket is also entirely up to its creator. One drawback to Shadow Pockets is their fragility. As artificial constructs, others easily destroy them with the strong touch of either the Pattern or the Logrus. There are three main uses of Shadows Pockets: the Hidey-Hole, the Portable Hole and the Personal retreat. At first, the Pattern Master can use efficiently only one of these techniques. The second can be bought for three points, the third for two points.
     When used as a Hidey-Hole, the character creates an immobile Shadow Pocket in some area and then stores something there to prevent its discovery. While immobile, the Shadow Pocket is difficult to locate with Pattern or Logrus Sight, and impossible to detect by other means. It is also more stable, and can withstand all but direct confrontation with such Powers.
     The second usage of the Shadow Pocket as a portable hole is similar to the Hidey-Hole except it is mobile and travels with the character. S/He needs not to concentrate on this movement, and the Pocket will travel with him/her even through Shadow. It can be used to store things too large to conveniently carry, or to store things temporarily. Since it is mobile, it is more noticeable, but can be reinforced and protected since it’s travelling with its creator.
     The third common usage of the Shadow Pocket is the personal retreat. Since the character can design and alter the Shadow Pocket at will, using the Pattern, it is a perfect area to quickly get away to as a personal sanctuary. While being within such a construct isn’t inherently dangerous, if the construct were attacked from outside and was destroyed, that which is contained within would suffer varying consequences. Those things that are real, such as the Pocket’s creator, would merely be thrust into an adjacent Shadow, or perhaps several Shadows distant (depending on the Power which destroyed the Pocket). Those things that are of Shadow would likely be destroyed, though highly magical items and creatures have a small chance of survival.

Mold/Erase Shadow (Manipulate Probability + 05 points)
     By bringing the Pattern to mind and walking it, you can change Shadows wholesale, altering it to fit your wishes: the basic idea is that all Shadow exists as a reflection of Amber, distorted by the distant Logrus. With this method, you can alter time flow, and with time more profound changes (such as the civilization) can be enacted: the character can radically alter the structure of the Shadow, or even erase it altogether. Erasing Shadows is not something you would do lightly as it seems to have a detrimental effect on the overall arrangement of Pattern waves and Shadow: Doing away with a Shadow, either on purpose, or by accident, will upset things in the Larger system of Shadow. Shadow Storms, shifting of Shadow barriers, and the displacement of established pathways through Shadow can all result from a Shadow being wiped out. An even bigger problem is that elder Amberites and Lords of Chaos will likely notice this kind of large-scale interference in the order of things.
     It is possible to affect a real place, like Amber, but it is VERY tiring (up to forty five times the normal endurance cost).

Gate Shadow (05 points)
     By using the summoned Scrying Lens to look through Shadow to another place, and then editing the Pattern lens to bridge the gap between where the character is and the place viewed, temporary gates through Shadow can be created. Of course, these gates last only as long as your concentration.

Meta-Shadow Manipulation (05 points)
     This lets you use Pattern to manipulate the relationships between Shadows, and to manipulate several Shadows at once. This is good for making Shadows appear in someone's path, as witness Oberon’s actions in Lorraine, affecting multiple close Shadows, and opening paths through Shadow, although Logrus is better at this application, or to fusion shadows or make them inaccessible. This power allows you to open Shadow to others, putting the changes of an Hellride in the way of those who know nothing of it. Those already Hellriding can be obstructed and/or sidetracked as long as you devote your attention to it: shift the Shadow that lies in their path, and you can make passage smooth or rough, as you see fit.

Create Shadow Loop (05 points)
     This ability allows the character to take a Shadow and loop that Shadow onto itself into a Shadow Klein bottle. This Shadow when entered cannot be left by Pattern based Shadow shifting or by Black Paths or by any kind of Shadow shifting or Shadow walk. Shadow paths may terminate in the Shadow Loop but will not lead out. This ability doesn't stop those trapped inside the loop from utilizing trump or advanced Pattern imprint to leave the Shadow.