 Taking the modern-world-meets-mythical-world premise to extraordinary depths, DEM and lead writer Chris Dias have lovingly envisioned a setting that pits high tech against high fantasy in a way that avoids every cliché that ever mucked up the previous attempts of others to create a similar genre-melding setting. After a devastating pseudo-natural disaster, the world of fantasy literally slams into our modern day existence leaving the empire of man in ruins and opening Ixindar, the gate to a dark realm of corruption. The effect is cataclysmic, not whimsical…intrusive, not inviting. Even when Attricana, the white gate of creation, appears in the sky as some mysterious counter to the dark gate, the situation only becomes more complicated. Attricana promotes creation through chaos and random mutations, while Ixindar corrupts by subverting individuality and imposing conformity and order. Magical fey races and creatures related to Attricana and Ixindar appear with their own competing philosophies and behaviors, and, soon, Earth’s newest battles concern the unsettling complexity of multi-layered moralities rather than the more familiar and comfy conflict of good versus evil. What’s left of humanity is stuck in the middle of it all. Man has either embraced the new magical world by becoming saturated in its enchantment, or has retreated into walled bastions of technology, capitalism, and paranoia. Neither way of life is perfect in itself. That absence of a “perfect” solution for man or fey is what drives the storytelling elements of Amethyst Foundations and the continent of Canam, a land that is simultaneously fascinating, frightful, and undeniably fantastic. At the start of the book, the writers ask, “Would we welcome the world of fantasy into our lives or would we fear its very presence?” If you, the player, TRULY think hard about that question, you might be surprised by the answer. Seriously. Think about it.  Great artists like Nick Greenwood help to bring the world to life!
Genuine soul-searching like the kind provoked by the world of Amethyst Foundations is priceless; it is always the starting point or the end product of the best kinds of storytelling. World vs. Hero games will soar with the deep characterization, moral ambiguities, and competing philosophies that can be engendered from Amethyst Foundations.
“Winning” and “losing” are secondary to “understanding” – choose heroes
who believe they are certain of the way the world ought to be, mix them
up in a plot filled with adversaries who feel the same way, and the end
result will be thrilling on so many levels. Humans embracing the old world have their big guns and their cool tech, but, often, their machines fail them in the presence of the fey. As heroes, the fey pose a number of interesting possibilities. The xenophobic Chaparrans prefer the tribal realms of the woods and the honesty of nature, though their warrior spirits may convey otherwise. The elf-like Damaskans, lovers of history and adventure, freely move about the land, seeking truths with quiet dignity and noble persuasion. The dwarf-like Narros, whose commitment to a cause borders on the obsessive, are as disciplined in their pursuits as they are excessive in their pleasures. The Gimfen love tech, the Laudenians love themselves, and the Tilen behave suspiciously like vampires. But, like man, the fey are imperfect. Signs point toward de-evolution in all but the Tilen, a regression into something more primitive and uncivilized – sometimes overnight! There is an unmistakable bleakness on the fey horizon. DEM dishes out the opposition in all forms, fey and human, enchanted and technological, but there are monsters that roam the land and play their roles in this unique mélange as both physical and metaphysical threats. The fearsome Dojenn, aquatic monstrosities, mock the nature-loving Chaparrans with their very existence – and, even more so, with their continued spread. The Thornshroud, lover of torture, is a mysterious and powerful bringer of death with apparently no clear agenda but pain itself. The Pagus are the demon-like fully-conformed fey of Ixindar. And there are dragons…some of the most twisted you’ll ever see. The world of Amethyst Foundations is rife with dynamic stories to tell. At the heart of every one of them is the question that begins the book: Would you abandon your current life and embrace the world of fantasy? In many ways, that is what we lovers of storytelling games and RPGs do, but only temporarily. Would we go further if given the chance? The creators of Amethyst Foundations challenge us to consider that very personal question and explore it through the heroes and conflicts derived from their creativity. Amid everything, Amethyst Foundations seems to hint at a possible solution to the problems that plague his world. When a human and fey mate, their children are immune to the de-evolution that destroys other fey civilizations. The result is a biological and philosophical harmony. Is there a message in that? Should we, in our real lives, balance reality and fantasy? Visiting the world of Amethyst Foundations might just be the way to make that happen! Preview Chapter One of Amethyst Foundations. Learn more at Dias Ex Machina's site. Check out "Biohazard" and "Hearts of Chaos," free Amethyst Foundations adventures! Here's the most recent Amethyst Errata. |