Returning Characters
I would be interested to know what you have been doing in the past year, and how you have been changed by your adventure.
Those strange pendants that you picked up seem to have some odd powers that you haven't been able to work out or control, but they have been useful on several occasions. Let me know how they have been useful to you — I am thinking of very minor shadow shifting and manipulation effects.
New Characters
Pre-Design Considerations
Firstly, before you begin designing the character, please keep in mind that the school has agreed to take you on a vaction into what can be a very dangerous area. It's OK to be a rebel, but the school should have reason to expect you to keep it under control. Likewise you'll be acting as a party a lot of the time. So sociopathic loners are probably a bad idea.
Be aware of the "Gifted" in the name of the school. All the pupils at the school tend to excel in several subjects, often to a great extent, and not just on the academic side. The school regimen takes account of that, so your character may not understand just how good they are.
Age
New characters should be eleven, twelve, thirteen or fourteen years of age. Returning characters will, of course, be a year older than they were last year.
Primary Character Design
I need to know what your character looks like, (including their build,) what they like and dislike, how they are viewed by the staff and students, (that's probably at least two different things.) Then I need to know how proficient they are at the various school subjects, or at least which their best and worst subjects are, and the various skills they have picked up outside school. (Pickpocketing? Sailing?) Finally you need a shtick.
Shtick
The shtick is something you are better at than anyone you've ever met, and probably better than anyone on the planet. This can be anything you like. If your shtick is a normal human ability, then you'll be great, maybe phenomenal. If it is super-natural, then I'll probably rein it in somewhat; you're still young and still learning to control it. The more powerful the ability, the weaker it's going to be, simply for game balance reasons. I reserve the right to veto, but I don't expect to use it; I'll roll with it if I can. No shadow-walking or time travel, no Pattern or Logrus.
Secondary Character Design
I would like to know how long you have been at the Carlos Cory school, how you came to be there, and what you were doing before. How did you get to be an orphan? Who were your parents and what did they do? What do you remember of them? Do you have any other relatives? No plot-hooks please; I will ignore them.
~ o ~
Wireshark
For an open-source, world-class network protocol analyser.
Ambercon UK
Diceless role-playing in four-star luxury.
~ o ~
This game ran at Ambercon UK 2010. It is only here for nostalgic reasons.
Read Harmony Ackerman's journal here.
Game Description
Title: The Mystery of Missed Trees
Players: 6
Mode: Tabletop
Life at the Carlos Cory School for Gifted Orphans is not a bed of roses; the academic regimen is punishing and the discipline is worse. But with the summer here again it is time to put all that aside for a camping trip into the Californian forest. It is a chance to let off steam in glorious natural surroundings. Horse-riding, canoeing and all sorts of outside pursuits are a welcome escape from the blackboard's tyranny. But who are the strangely compelling women parked along the high trail? Why are they so pale, and why have they chosen to camp in the blackened devastation of last-year's fire?
A game for six players. Characters comprising teenagers of between 11 and 14 years to be created by the players before the con. For Character design requirements see the right-hand bar.
This is a continuation game; new and returning characters are welcome.
The Carlos Cory School for Gifted Orphans
![The Carlos Cory School for Gifted Orphans - view from great drive](http://www.wellho.net/pix/ccourt1.jpg")
Set in one hundred, fifty acres of idyllic Californian countryside, the Carlos Cory School for Gifted Orphans offers a chance in life to those children who are so often failed by the modern world.
Life's tragedies are harsh on all children, but how much harder is it for their intelligence to be quenched by the unfeeling and under-funded behemoth that is the state welfare system? These children, who may be tomorrow's great men and women — scientists or politicians, doctors or artists — are welcomed by the Carlos Cory School for Gifted Orphans. Whoever they are, whatever their background, we are here to see that they achieve their full potential.
The Carlos Cory School for Gifted Orphans is a private foundation, funded by private donation. None of our children pay fees of any kind, and all truly gifted children are welcome.
.JPG)
But it is not just in school-time that the Carlos Cory School for Gifted Orphans excels. All of our pupils take part in a wide-ranging programme of activities. Our founder, Carlos Cory, worked his way up from lowly ranch-hand to millionaire horse-breeder. He felt strongly that caring for horses taught many great life-lessons and determined that every pupil of his school be taught to ride. It is a tradition that we are proud to continue to this day. We own thirty horses, which are cared for by the pupils and used by them on frequent outings and vacations. Not to mention their use during lessons as varied as art, genetics and mathematics.
We accept all children who come to us. We have a good relationship with the California State Welfare Department, but many of our children come from other states and even other countries. Some are brought to us privately. Whoever the child is, whatever their background, whatever their needs, however they are gifted, bring them to us. We wont let them down.
The Sequoia National Forest
Sequoia National Forest is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The national forest is named for the majestic Giant Sequoia trees which populate 38 groves within the boundaries of the forest. Other notable features include glacier-carved landscapes and impressive granite monoliths. This year we shall be returning to our accustomed campsite along the Kern River. We could not use this site last year due to the forest fires in the region.
Last Year
One would think it was difficult to lose someone on an aeroplane, but somehow last year Miss Trees went missing while chaperoning seven pupils on a visit to the school's benefactor Miss Evelyn Flaumel in New York. They returned some days later on horseback accompanied by Miss Flaumel. Various rumours of alarming and fantastic adventures circulated the school for a while. Nobody believes any of them, although the fact remains that Miss Trees is now scared of elephants, and the smell of oil makes her sick. There is probably some perfectly rational explanation that does not involve prehistoric tar pits, saber-toothed tigers and a New York socialite wielding a longbow. And where does being burned as a witch fit into all that?
There have also been some unexplained events in the past year concerning those seven pupils. How does someone walk straight past a hall monitor without being seen, or always seem to have exactly enough money for a candy bar?
Matters Arising
This is an Amber game, set somewhere within the books' sequence, although the characters know nothing of Amber, Chaos or anything else.
The date is the 10th of July, 1981.
Copyright
The images used on this page are:
They are used without permission for private, low-volume, non-commercial use, in the hope that a little free advertising will satisfy.
