Cmacis recently suggested that we should organize a Lojbanic RPG, using the Amber Diceless RPG system. I used to use that system many years ago & I'm a huge fan of the game and the world, so I've volunteered to be the game master. We've decided to structure it so that people with all different degrees of skill in Lojban will be able to play: Lojban will have a central role in-game, standing in for Thari, the language of Amber-- but because of the situation of the player characters, they will have varying degrees of knowledge in Thari, and some may know only a few words. Players will thus be able to choose characters whose in-game Thari ability matches their real-world Lojban ability. (We might even be able to interest some Amber folks in Lojban!)

The unique nature of the Amber world also makes it unusually suited to playing by email amongst people with different schedules and different amounts of time to participate. Different places in the world have vastly different timescales, so it's possible that if you are less engaged in the game your character could be somewhere where time is slower. The characters will all be relatives, siblings who grew up together and are now engaged in a grand drama over many worlds-- if any two players want to play a scene together, when they happen to be talking, they can do a scene from their characters' childhood (and forward it to me so that I can weave all the details people come up with about their characters' histories into what I describe about the present). Characters in Amber are often separated by great distances, pursuing individual quests & goals, but also have ways of coming into instant contact with each other. So there's a lot of ways to arrange roleplaying that's convenient for everyone.

Amber is a game of secrets. It's alright if you don't know anything about it; your character could be as ignorant about the true nature of this strange world as you are, and it would be a fun world to find out about in-game. Amber at its heart is a family drama. The characters are usually a family who have grown up together, and rivaled with each other. Their relative ability in four qualities, Psyche, Endurance, Strength & Warfare, is determined first by a point auction, and then by secret adjustments. You cannot win a fight by luck alone; a character with a higher score will almost always win in the end, so you must be sure to plan your encounters carefully, so that they fall upon your strengths. You also choose in secret what powers your character will have, and certain items with unique properties that could make the difference in critical moments. Amber is a game where you must hold some secrets, because surprise is often your only effective weapon.

Write me a note at mungojelly@gmail.com if you're interested in playing. The first thing we'll do is probably a practice auction (it's possible to get carried away at the auction and get an unbalanced character, so I find it's usually best to do a practice round first). It's best to get in at the beginning if you want to play, since the more people in the auction the merrier. If later it turns out you don't want to participate as much, we can find a way to get your character out of the way for a while-- it's our game, and we'll do whatever's convenient for us.

.i mi gleki lo nu ba dracyselkei
.i ko ko kurji
mu'o mi'e .selkik.