Advice to the GM
Role playing on Amar begins with the Player Characters washed up on the beach. They do not know where they are, who they are or where they are heading. They are very confused. The only stable data they have are their own skills and proficiencies, and that the other PCs on the beach are their friends.
This is all the knowledge the players will get when they start. They should not be given any background information on Amar at all before they start! This is very important, as it would otherwise ruin much of the game for them. All new player characters that enter the game in the future will also start off on the beach with a complete memory loss. They would have to travel to the other PCs to join them. You as the GM should make that happen.
All the information they will get about Amar, its places, personalities, gossip, cabals, plots, politics and history will be revealed to them during the course of playing. Do not give them much at a time. Try to keep as many secrets about Amar as possible for as long as you can. This will give the game zest and pizazz!
Only give them the information that is logical from the NPCs they encounter. Make them work hard for the scraps of information they receive.
You should not for any reason let a player read the background story on Amar!
Keep the game fast and furious, mystical and magical while still keeping it realistic.
This means you must play the NPCs in a realistic way and make sure that all plots are consistent and well thought out. Also, keep the game local. By this is meant that you do not let the PCs travel all over the island at once. Let the PCs settle down and really create on the local environment. Make the local area the PCs “home,” and the local NPCs come to life. This will make the game a lot more stable and fun. Make a lot of adventures happening in their local area or just outside.
Do not give the PCs a lot of magick and treasure without a lot of struggle. If you dish out the goodies rapidly from all directions, it will make the game boring. It is not the treasure that makes the game fun, it is the way towards it.
Have fun!
