THE POWER OF TRUMP


The power of Trump, while definitely Real (in that it works across and between shadows), is of the second rank of Real powers as it is negated by sufficiently strong Pattern emanations and is also affected by the properties of shadow.

My take on the power of Trump is that there are essentially two parts to it - the knowledge of how to create them, and the ability to sense, block and tamper with their energies, which does not, necessarily, require knowledge of how to create them. For this reason, I have divided Trump Artistry as it is given in the Amber rulebook into Trump Tricks (which comes in basic and advanced forms) with covers sensing and meddling with Trump energy, and Trump Artistry (also in basic and advanced forms) which concerns itself with the actual creation of Trumps and Trump-related items. Note that all Trump-related abilities can be used only by those with power over shadow - Amberites or Chaosites.

Note that accepting a Trump call while having a long-term magical effect (such as Invisibility or a Personal Shield spell) in place causes the spell to be instantly dissipated. Making a Trump call does not have this effect; this is because in making a call the Trump energy is in the Trump card, but in receiving a Trump call ones entire body is filled with Trump energy, which has bad effects on any magic present.


Trump Tricks

Cost : 15 points

PRE-REQUISITES : Pattern or Logrus.

This is a power which can be self-taught, as demonstrated by Caine, though in this case it is a much longer and slower process.

PERSONAL TRUMP DECK (2 points) - as the 2 point item; that is, the power includes a Trump deck as part of it. This is basically incorporating the Trump Deck into ones own personal reality.
SENSE TRUMP ENERGIES (3 points) - the only way to sense whether something is a Trump other than concentrating on it (when it goes cold). It should be noted that this occurs regardless of whether the Trump is making contact with anything, or if there is even anything alive at the other end of whatever 'link' Trump uses. This ability also allows one to sense whether someone within a yard or so is carrying a Trump deck or Trump artefact, or whether someone within that range is in a Trump link. It should be noted that some Trumps and artefacts 'radiate' enough Trump energy that even those without this ability can sense them; many of the creations of Dworkin are of this kind.
Note that this ability is not a form of sight; if anything it is most analogous to hearing in nature, giving the ability to sense things all around one, and their rough direction and distance, but hardly something one could use to navigate around by.
IDENTIFY TRUMP (5 points) - by fanning out ones Trumps and feeling for those which are active, one can identify callers and the like.
TRUMP DEFENCE (5 points) - by concentrating on a Trump (usually of oneself) this protects the mind. This provides better defence against mental intrusion for the same effort than Pattern or Logrus defence (though anything is better than nothing). Pattern and Logrus defence is somewhat better against physical intrusion (magic, other powers, etc.).

Trump Artistry

Cost : 15 points

PRE-REQUISITES : Trump Tricks; Psyche of over Amber level.

The most important statistic for drawing Trumps is Psyche. Though once they are drawn all Trumps are essentially identical as far as ease of use and the like are concerned, the Psyche of the artist determines both how much study of the subject is required to draw a Trump of them (the higher the psyche of the artist relative to the subject, the shorter the time needed; this can range from minutes to days; the willingness of the subject is also an issue here, so it takes longer to draw Trumps of an unknowing or unwilling subject, especially if they have a higher Psyche than the artist) and how long it takes to create the Trump itself (a day or so for Fiona, anything up to ten days or so for lesser Psyches). Trumps can only be of people/places/things the artist has a psychic imprint/feel of. It is possible to draw Trumps of things and creatures once they have been studied. It takes considerably longer to create Trumps of places and un-real than Trumps of real people.

The standard Trump Deck includes a version of the shadow Earth tarot deck, with the family Trumps in addition to the cards of the tarot.

Personal Trump Decks can be brought by anyone who can justify it. However, Trump decks cannot be found in Shadow.

Although Trumps can only be drawn by those with Pattern or Logrus who have been so trained, they can be used by anyone. However average shadow dwellers so not have enough Psyche or Endurance to initiate a Trump contact over much more than a few miles in the same shadow.

Trumps are harder to use in (and to or from) Amber and Chaos than out in shadow. They can be used (with some effort) to contact people who are within or close to any of the Patterns, but Trumps of the Patterns themselves or their surroundings simply do not work. It is entirely possible (again, with some effort) to Trump out from by or within a Pattern.

Trumps are not indestructible, though they are easily tough enough to resist the effects of normal day-to-day abuse. If someone wants to destroy a Trump, then they can.

Trumps do not go warm if their subject is killed or destroyed; they just stop working, but still go cold when concentrated upon.

Group Trumping of someone is good for getting through barriers, across distance, and the like, but not for psychic attacks; in any case the Psyches in the group add to the highest in a non-linear fashion.

It is possible to physically attack someone through a Trump link. This must be done using weapons which are in physical contact with a person who is in the Trump link - projectiles 'fall out of' the link and have no effect (apart from on anything behind the Trump image). However, unless the target of this attack is held in some fashion (or mind-locked), or the attacker has a very large Warfare advantage, then the target will be able to break the Trump link before more than one or two blows have been made.

Trumps have to be at least large enough to see (about three centimetres by five centimetres at a minimum); there is no upper limit on their size apart from the work involved to produce larger images, and the impracticality of carrying them around. Trumps do not have to be pictures. Even full basic Trump Artistry can create Trump Cameos, Trump Statues and the like. As with larger than normal Trumps, this is not done too much due to the impracticality of carrying them around.

Someone wanting to use a Trump card has to able to see the image upon it. It is possible that a Trump cameo or sculpture could be used without being to see it, by concentrating on the feel of it, and recognising the subject from that.

Because Pattern is a superior, more 'balanced' power than Logrus, only Pattern users can learn Advanced Trump powers. For the same reason, Chaos Trumps are more fragile than Amber ones. Logrus users can learn Advanced Trump Tricks.

TRUMP SKETCHES (5 points) - these catch the essence of the target; shapeshifting is irrelevant, but having Pattern/Logrus/Trump defence up stops them making contact (whereas with a full Trump these merely impede contact). Trump sketches are temporary in nature. They lose their Trump power slowly over time, and this rate of loss is increased by moving them through shadow, taking them through Trump links, and simply by using them as Trumps. Also, Trump sketches have none of the increased durability of full Trumps.
TRUMP CREATION (5 points) - the basic power of drawing full Trumps.
Trumps cannot be copied and produce a functioning Trump; 'Trumps of Desire' (that is, Trumps drawn of places or things the artist has never been to, but which they wish to go to in the same way as someone with the Pattern can shift shadow to a place of their desire) are impossible. If the Trump is inaccurate and does not match the target (due to its being done by subterfuge or from memory), then it simply will not work, rather than connecting to a shadow or whatever.
The higher the Psyche of the Trump Artist, the faster they can draw a functioning Trump or Trump Sketch. However, once the Trump is drawn, its 'quality' (ease of use) is essentially the same regardless of who drew it.
It is possible to draw 'crippled' Trumps which can be used for communication, but which lack whatever quality it is which allows travel from one Trump to another; if either Trump in a link is of this kind, then travel is impossible from either end of the link.
CREATE TRUMP ARTEFACTS (5 points) - this allows the creation of other forms of Trump (e.g. Trump sculptures and the like), and also of items which are Trump Powered. This last essentially allows, among other things, the creation of items which use the power of Trump instead of a 'normal' power source, allowing technological or magical artefacts to function where they normally could not. To create an item with the Trump Powered quality takes around 1000 hours of continuous work (which equates to roughly 125 eight hour days of work) and they cannot be created anything other than individually (i.e. no Named And Numbered or higher quantity multipliers).
In the same way that Trumps become harder to use the closer to Amber or Chaos one gets, so the power created by a Trump Powered artefact drops the nearer it gets to either end of creation. This means that in Amber or Chaos it can only produce a tiny (and generally useless) trickle of power.
This works best if the Trump power source can substitute for (for example) an electrical or magical power source rather than a fuel-using power source. So, for example, take an electric-motor driven aircraft and insert a Trump-Powered power source to run it and it will work almost anywhere.

Advanced Trump Tricks

Cost : 15 points [32 points]

PRE-REQUISITES : Ranked Psyche, basic Trump Artistry and a lot of experience with Basic Trump Tricks.

This is a power which can be self-taught, as demonstrated by Caine. However, it takes much longer and is much harder to do so than to be taught it. The need for basic Trump Artistry arises from this power requiring the user to be able to manipulate Trump energy to some extent.

TRUMP JAMMING (5 points) - as per the rulebook, this ability allows the initiate to block the Trumps of other people (or themselves). If the person being blocked also has Trump Tricks or more they will usually notice that jamming is taking place (whether they can do anything about it is another matter); those without Trump will only know that they are not getting through (one way or the other). It allows more than one Trump to be jammed at the same time, but the more Trumps the person jamming tries to affect, the less effect they will have on each one and the more effort it takes.
The ability can also be reversed, to allow the person using it to Trump many people at once; how many depends on Psyche. In this case the 'broadcaster' will see all of the Trump images of those they are calling overlaid on one another (though those being Trumped will only see the 'broadcaster').
This ability also renders Trump readings involving the subject meaningless for as long as the jamming occurs (so it can be used by someone on themselves, if they wish, for this purpose). The reader will know that the reading is meaningless, but not why.
TRUMP SPYING (5 points) - as per the rulebook. The initiate touches the Trump(s) in question and lightly concentrates on it. They will then hear the conversation of those in the call whose Trumps they have as it takes place. No Psyche advantage is needed against non-Trump artists; if a person being spied on or in a Trump link with someone who is being spied upon has at least Trump Tricks then the spy will need a Psyche advantage to avoid detection. With a sufficiently high Psyche advantage (regardless of whether the target has any Trump skill or not), this can also allow the reading of the surface thoughts of the people in the link.
If one attempts to Trump someone or some place but is unsuccessful, Trump Spying also allows one to have an idea why the call did not get through. For example, whether the person being Trumped is too far away, or is being blocked, or is in a Trump-barred location, or whatever.
TRUMP SCRYING (5 points) - an extension of Trump Spying (and suffering the same limitations as it in that no Psyche advantage is needed against non-Trump artists; if a person being spied on or in a Trump link with someone who is being spied upon has at least Trump Tricks then the spy will need a Psyche advantage to avoid detection), this ability allows the user to get an impression of the location of the person being spied upon, its appearance, general environment (including the magical environment if one is a Sorcerer or Empowerer), and nearby sources of power. With enough of a Psyche advantage it will allow the spy to see the images being projected over the Trump link in either direction.
Depending on the relative Psyches of the spy and the person being spied upon, this ability may also give enough information to allow the spy to look through a place Trump and draw another Trump (or a sketch) of a location which is visible through the link. However, without the Sensitivity to Shadow part of Advanced Pattern this cannot be done with Trumps of people. This is because with a place Trump one already has a psychic imprint of the shadow into which one is looking, so that creating a Trump of somewhere else in that shadow by looking through the link is fairly simple. However, with the Trump of a person, the Trump links to that person themselves, not the shadow, and so does not tell one anything about the place where that person happens to be at present if one does not have the extra Sensitivity to Shadow power to allow one to sense the properties of shadow through the link.
[TRUMP BRIDGING (2 points) - The Trump Trickster can use a Trump as a 'bridge' to another Trump, opening a link to it and then, without going through the link, using that location as the starting point for the next Trump link. This allows the Trump artist to reach out across shadows in a series of steps with the effort required being that of each short link rather than the distance as a whole. This is still more effort than using an Improved Trump, and does not have any real advantage over using each Trump normally and 'bridging' from the intermediate locations in that way, but there may be circumstances under which it would be useful. It is for this reason that this ability has such a relatively low point cost.]
[REMOTE CONNECTION (5 points) - The Trump Trickster can, with careful concentration, open a Trump link without themselves being at the far end of it as far as the person or place called is concerned. This leaves a 'hanging' Trump contact. The Trump Trickster can then do the same thing with a second Trump and link the two Trumps together into a full Trump contact without being in it themselves. This is quite useful for this such as offensive Trump gates, linking a hostile location to a target without the Trump Artist having to physically present between them.]
[SENSITIVITY TO PSYCHE (10 points) - The initiate can gain the psychic impressions of people much faster than his Psyche alone would allow, even of people whose Psyches exceed that of the initiate. This applies both to willing subjects and particularly to those who are unwilling subjects. Those who are also Trump artists may notice that this ability is being used on them; this depends on the relative Psyches of the artist and the subject. This ability does not allow the Trump Artist to draw Trumps any faster - that ability is covered elsewhere - but it does allow them to gain enough Psychic information to draw a Trump that much faster.]
[IDENTIFY TRUMPS (5 points) - The Trump Trickster can, with careful concentration, not just sense the presence of things imbued with the power of Trump close to them, but also identify them in detail. This allows someone with this ability to tell what Trumps are in someone else's Trump deck, as long as they are already familiar with them (for example, a Trump of someone they know). If they do not know the subject of a Trump they can still gain its 'signature', but will not know what it is of until they have a chance to otherwise examine the Trump or its subject.]

Advanced Trump Artistry

Cost : 25 points plus

PRE-REQUISITES : Ranked Psyche and a lot of experience with Basic Trump Artistry.

This cannot be learnt by Logrus users due to its status as an inferior power compared to Pattern.

TRUMP MEMORY (5 points plus) - as per the rulebook. The Trump artist visualises the Trump in their mind rather than from a card in their hand, and in so doing the mental image opens up into a full Trump contact.
The number of Trump images a person can memorise is limited by their Psyche, at the rate of one plus roughly one per five points of Psyche. It takes considerably longer to memorise a Trump image (by visualising it fully and in detail) than to draw a Trump of the same thing. It is possible to memorise more images than ones Psyche would allow by paying one point per extra memorised image; this can never more than double the number of Trumps one can memorise.
One can only memorise what are effectively full Trumps, not Trump sketches. Even so, memorised Trumps require some minor degree of maintenance to stay fully functional in the artists memory (as no-one's memory is perfect and memory fades with time). However, normal social interaction or normal visits to a location provide enough contact to allow this to be done without any intrusive studying of the subject being necessary. If this maintenance cannot be carried out for some reason then the memorised Trump becomes harder and harder to use, until it eventually fades to the point of un-usability, after which it has to be re-memorised from scratch.
TRUMP GATE (5 points) - as per the rulebook, this allows the creation of gates across shadow, through which anything can pass in either direction, limited only by the size of the gate; this essentially consists of turning the mental image of the subject of the Trump and their surroundings which one receives when in a Trump contact into a real, physical gate through which things can actually pass. Normal Trumps and Trump sketches, as well as memorised Trump images, can be used as the basis for Trump Gates.
Keeping a gate open takes considerably more effort than keeping a normal Trump link open, and also, the larger the Gate one wishes to open the greater the effort required. This will normally be drawn from the Trump artist unless they have (for example) some kind of Trump Powered power source. However, if the Gate is opened to a person, or if others are in the Trump link with the person making the Gate, then the effort can be split across all of those involved as long as the person who made the Gate remains in the link to 'direct' their energy. Note also that creating a Trump Gate with a Trump sketch will cause the sketch to lose its Trump power much faster than would be the case if one was using it as a normal Trump.
Unless the magical environment is identical on both sides of the Trump gate (which is unlikely unless both ends of the gate are in the same shadow), magic cannot travel through the gate, because it will be operating by different and incompatible rules on each side. This includes:
Non-magical items (and attacks) can pass through a gate without hindrance. This includes attacks launched by magic, but in which no magic is involved once the attack has been sent (for example, some kind of magical gun where the magic is in the firing of the projectile, not the projectile itself).
It is quite feasible to create Trump gates to places where the difference in environment across the gate can be used offensively (such as gate to hard vacuum, deep underwater, a lava pit, and so on). Of course, in this case the Trump artist has to be careful not to be caught in whatever unpleasantness is coming through the gate...
Because of the structure of shadow around Amber, Trump Gates do not work to, from or within Amber itself.
IMPROVED TRUMP (5 points) - the ability to create Trumps which are faster to activate for the same effort, easier to use, or which allow the making of contact over a longer range for the same effort. This ability allows the creation of Trumps which can reach all the way from Amber to Chaos (or Amber to Corwins Pattern). However, Trumps improved in this manner do take longer to draw than normal ones, and require greater effort to create. As a side effect of this ability, it allows one to draw normal Trumps significantly faster than with basic Trump, and also to memorise Trumps more quickly.
At this level of Trump creation the Trump artist can, by adding controlled inaccuracies, create Trumps which will connect to a shadow of the subject. By using the knowledge of the target required to create the Trump in the first place, the artist can contact shadows with specific characteristics using this method (though any other differences the shadow possesses are determined by the Stuff of the artist). Note that no extra points are charged for this ability as it is essentially the same as using (for example) the Pattern to find a shadow of the target.
Note that this ability does not have any effect on the speed of creation of Trump powered artefacts.
TRUMP TRAP (10 points) - as per the rulebook, the Trump Artist can create Trumps which in addition to being devices for communication and travel, are also weapons which can transport the unwary to any number of possibly hostile locations.
The first of the main Trump Trap abilities gives the initiate the capability to make Trumps which open very much faster than normal Trumps, or even than Trumps created using the 'Improved Trump' ability, above, to the point that the Trump link opens up essentially instantly, and with no effort on the part of the person opening the link, because the Trump Artist has placed the power to open the link within the Trump itself. All a person has to do is look at the Trump and the link will open.
The second of the main Trump Trap abilities is the power to create Trumps which can physically pull people through an open Trump link against their will. In combination with the ability to create effortlessly instantly-opening Trump links this allows the creation of true Trump Traps, which 'suck' their victims through a Trump link to a creator-defined location as soon as the victim even glances as the Trump. Exactly what is present at the destination is, of course, up to the Trump Artist...
If the person activating the Trump Trap is not a Trump Artist then there is very little they can do to defend against it; for Trump Artists, the one with the higher Psyche will win, whether that is the creator of the Trump Trap or the person activating it. Of the other powers, only an Advanced Pattern Initiate can radiate Pattern at the Trump Trap to prevent it from working.
A lesser Trump Trap ability is the power to create Trumps within other Trumps, or to create a single Trump card that actually holds the Trumps of a number of people and/or places within it. In addition to cutting down on the number of cards the Trump Artist has to carry (which can be a serious consideration when a Trump Artist has reached this level of skill!), it also allows the creation of Trumps which have a fully functioning image, but which also have another functioning 'secondary' image hidden in them (in the background of the main image, perhaps).
At this level the Trump Artist can also create 'locked' or 'mobius' Trumps, which appear to have only one side until they are manipulated in the correct fashion (possibly with the aid of Pattern), at which point the hidden Trump image is revealed.
[DETONATE TRUMP (10 points; pre-requisite of Identify Trumps) - The Trump Artist can, with careful concentration, undo a single specific identified Trump, releasing all of its energy in a single, violent, explosive burst. How far away this can be done depends on the Psyche of the Trump initiate. The amount of damage is dependant on the speed with which the Trump energy is released, which also depends on the Psyche of the person using this ability. It is possible for someone with this ability to 'super-charge' a Trump with Trump energy for a more powerful explosion, but this will be detectable to other Trump Artists. This power can be quite dangerous when used against those who have memorised Trumps. In settings where Trumps are indestructible this ability should cost 15 points rather than 10.]
[UNRAVEL TRUMP (5 points; pre-requisite of Identify Trumps) - The Trump Artist can, with careful concentration, gradually undo a single specific identified Trump at range, slowly releasing its power and turning it back into a mundane piece of pasteboard. How far away this can be done depends on the Psyche of the Trump initiate. The releases of Trump energy is easily detectable to other initiates of the Trump. In settings where Trumps are indestructible this ability should cost 10 points rather than 5.]

Trump Options

As Trump is, like many powers, given very little description in the Amber books, it is open to a great deal of interpretation. This list contains a few options (mostly on basic Trump), which I am not using, but which I think are at least worth mentioning:


In The Last Enemy game, Trump functions by literally stealing a tiny part of the soul of the subject and incorporating it into the Trump where it remains linked to the original by a silver astral cord. Because of this place Trumps and Trumps of people whose Psyche is less than Amber ranked are harder to create because their Psyches are just too 'small' and must be bolstered by the Trump artist to the level where full Trumps can be created. Living beings regenerate the soul fragments which are incorporated into Trumps (quickly for Amberites, more slowly for others). If points are paid for a Trump Deck (or one is a Trump Artist) then the soul fragments become a part of the owner of the deck.


Back to my Amber Page.

Or go to my page of notes on Trump as I see it.

Or go to the Trump Voodoo, Trump Tarot, Pattern,
Logrus, Alternatives to Logrus, Shapeshifting, or Magic Pages.