AMBER ZONE: A Walk Through the Valley

Library Bob July 11, 2014November 10, 20151 Comment

Player’s Information:

Planet Melpomene (C-5437B7-9, Red Zone) is entering its second year of a civil war between the repressive central government and a coalition of rebel groups, which has some foreign backing.

The Melpomenian government is a non-charismatic dictatorship, under Premier Alcazar, that is somewhat efficient, repressive but not brutal, and indifferent to religion as long as they pay the taxes.

The rising rebellion (the Freedom and Justice Party) claims to be democratic, having several ideological camps under its umbrella. The rebel leaders claim to be neutral towards religion, but several of the sub-groups are accusing the Church of endorsing and collaborating with the old regime. They are targeting Christian parishes for ransom, seizure and destruction.

Government forces are too tied up with fighting a war to protect the Christians, which they never cared about in the first place. Some government forces are reportedly claiming the Church is supporting the rebellion and carrying out punitive strikes.

The Archbishop of Longmire, a neighboring world, has learned that the PCs are an honest and honorable crew, and seeks to charter their ship. He asks that they go to Melpomene and find the local Archbishop, Konstantin. The situation has gotten dangerous enough to warrant withdrawing him from the planet until the war is over. Most of the world’s Christians have gone into hiding, and Bp Konstantin knows where the sanctuaries are. The Archbishop of Longmire is able to offer a success-only contract for Cr 20,000 to each crew member who participates in the rescue mission. Part of the contract stipulates that the crew must avoid the use of deadly force, even when protecting the Archbishop.

The Valley – Image from pixabay. Public Domain

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Top-10 Classic Amber Zones

Amber June 30, 2014February 6, 2017Leave a comment

This is my list of the Top-10 Amber Zones from the (first 24) Classic JTAS. This ranking is based on how much fun we had playing these. It should also be said that an Amber Zone is never a full adventure, so you’ll always have to fill in lots of bits on your own and then also fit it into your campaign. I wanted to post this so that you can see what one of the members of the Jury will look for in the contest.

Aces & Eights, by John M. Ford from JTAS #14
Roadshow, by John M. Ford from JTAS #23
Foxhound, by J.D. Webster from JTAS #14
Chariots of Fire, by Anders Blixt from JTAS #18
Thoughtwaves, by John Ford from JTAS #13
Small Package, by J. Andrew Keith from JTAS #19
Royal Hunt, by J. Andrew Keith from JTAS #12
Lockbox, by J. Andrew Keith from JTAS #13
Embassy in Arms, by John Marshal from JTAS #24
Homesteaders’ Stand, by William H. Keith, Jr from JTAS #21

In a league of its own are (in my opinion) the first two. Other than that I like some action, mystery, horror and Striker scenarios. The Amber Zones from the later issues was generally better than in the first issues. No Amber Zone scenario from the first 11 issues is on this list.

I know that there are some circumstances that may seem strange in Aces & Eights, but once you sort that out, Aces & Eights is a fantastic adventure that can easily be followed by more adventure trying to find the treasure.

In Roadshow the PCs will work for a rock band (Veedback). You can make this Amber Zone very similar to the adventure Cirque (that is one of the prizes in the opening contest) where the PCs work for a circus.

Amber Zone Format

Amber June 9, 2014February 18, 2021Leave a comment

The format of an Amber Zone scenario is quite simple. There is one part with Players’ Information and one part with Referee’s Information. Below is an example.

You can also have a look at the previous contest entries.

AMBER ZONE: Name of your scenario

Players’ Information

Here goes information about the location, the situation and what the Player Characters can, should or must do and the reward for doing this. This is the part that is presented to the players.

Referee’s Information

Here goes all complications (about the situation and the reward and other things that may complicate things for the Player Characters) that the Player Characters don’t know anything about.

There are no D6 options or D6 possible outcomes.

Designs, blueprints and tables may be added if needed. A picture is always nice. Wikimedia Commons is a good place to find an image that You can use.

Out of the Dust : image from wikimedia

Amber Zone Filk

Nils June 2, 2014June 2, 2014Leave a comment

Amber Zone by Nils from Contact Light based on Kenny Loggins – Danger Zone

Spooling up your jump drive
Listen to the fusion’s roar
The one-bis comes alive
Telling you it’s ready to go

Jumping to the Amber Zone
Jump into the Amber Zone

Headin’ to adventure
You will get the goods today
And it is a win for sure
When you finally get your pay

Jumping to the Amber Zone
I’ll take you
Right into the Amber Zone

They never say hello to you
Until you get them into point blank laser range
You’ll never know what you can do
Until you hear them cry “pirates ho”

On the system’s edge
Is where I jump in or out
There are fewer patrols
Out here in the oort cloud

Jumping to the Amber Zone
I’m gonna take you
Right into the Amber Zone
Jumping to the Amber Zone
Jump into the Amber Zone

Amber Zone Opening Contest

Amber May 23, 2014February 6, 20176 Comments

Welcome to The Amber Zone Opening Contest!

We have 13 Prizes. All participants will get something. A big THANKS to our Sponsors.

The style of the entries should be in the style of the Amber Zones in the old JTAS. (First Players’ Information. Then Referee’s Information.)

The contest starts now and ends 6 July 2014. Write as many entries as You like.

After the 6:st of July 2014, all entries will be posted at the Amber Zone. The winner will be chosen by the Jury.

The Members of the Jury are BeRKA, Anders, Dylan, Mike and Eric.

By entering the contest You allow your entry to be posted at the Amber Zone. All entries might also be posted in PDF format as a free down-loadable file at the Amber Zone.

All entrants will be given credit for their work and will retain the copyright on their entries.

Amber Zone Opening Contest

Some general guidelines:

1, Each entry should be less than 2000 words.

2, One image may be used in each entry. You must either own the rights to the image, or it must be used under some sort of free license. Wikimedia Commons is a good place to find an image that You can use. Please provide information about the image. (Is it Yours? If not, where have You found it? What license is used?) Note: You don’t need to use an image. You can also generate an image using the Pulp-o-Mizer or similar services.

3, Please don’t force the PCs to sign up for (what they think are) illegal activities. It is better if they find that out later, or in some way are forced to take illegal action… Library Bob at Ancient Faith explains it better. 😈

4, Please be a bit vague about the planet and types of star ships and weapons, so your adventure can be useful for many ATUs. (Unless there is a good reason for not being vague about these things.)

5, Please use a spell checker! 🙄

Send Your entries by e-mail. Please use plain text format and attach (or link to) the image, if You select to use one. Word files will not be accepted! Send your entries to:

Everyone that sends me an entry will get a reply. If you have sent me something and didn’t get a reply within a few days, then contact me again.

Please include a preferred nickname (that may be your real name) to show on the Amber Zone.

Please include your address if you want to win physical items and your e-mail address (that you use on DriveThruRPG) for the PDFs. If you are not yet using DriveThruRPG, then any of your e-mail addresses will work fine. Please also tell us if there is any Prize that you for some reason doesn’t need. (Maybe you already have it.)