Welcome to Mystara: Castle Amber | Dungeons and Dragons

Time to check out one of the best, and Frenchest, modules in D&D. The cousin to Ravenloft, Castle Amber introduces you to the bedlam that is the D'Amberville family and the madness that is their home. It's a murder mystery where everybody's dead and the curse doesn't care. It's a reputation for being one of the most atmospheric horror modules, but also one that is notoriously difficult to run properly.

[@GR-pv5jx]

"It's good to be the king." Tom M., like Gary G., was a great game designer. Both died way before their time. RIP sirs.

[@stevenkennedy4130]

Rest easy brothers.

[@Mogthrasir1989]

DM: Prince Etienne... Player 1: Who? DM: The Prince. Player 2: You mean Stephen Amber? DM: Yes, Prince Etienne D'Amberville. Player 3: Wait, who are the Dam-burrvilles? Player 1: oohhhh...De Amber-ville. DM: And 'Etienne' is French for 'Stephen'. Player 2: Ok, I think we got it now. DM: Cool. So, Etienne placed a curse on Maison Sylaire. Player 3: Eh? Where is that? Do we have to get through the mist to get there? DM: No, you're already there. Player 2: Already where? DM: Castle Amber, Chateau D'Amberville... Player 1: Yeah, but where's this Maze-on... DM: Maison Sylaire? It's another name for the castle you're in. Got it? Players [all]: I guess... DM: Great, so the Prince Magicien is responsible for the= Player 2: Who's the Prin...Stephen has a THIRD NAME? Awww, C'MON! And so on.

[@LangeloScuro]

I've always needed a genealogy chart that is just s detailed as my own family's just to track who is who and where.

[@ronniejdio9411]

Absolutely love this module.

[@stevenkennedy4130]

This sounds like Tegel Manor in many respects. (Judges Guild.) Thanks for the share!!

[@sharkdentures3247]

One of my absolute FAVORITE modules! (and I have a LOT of beloved modules) Heck, years ago & many years after PLAYING in this module, I went through it and compiled a List of the MAMIMUM, beneficial, permanent "changes" your character can get from this module. (Yes, I am THAT big of a nerd.) I was quite an impressive list. (And yes, I know there is a statue room which could "technically" grant INFINITE bonuses [or curses]. I just cut that down to ONCE each bonus.)

[@michaeljpatrick]

My first D&D character died here by eating the mushroom soup. I was...12? I was devastated.

[@Winterydee]

Calling it Castle Amber is very fitting, because most of the girls I've ever met named Amber seemed to be the very embodiment of crazy! ;P

[@midnightgreen8319]

Hahahahaha I dated a Amber for 8 years, and this is true!

[@AnonymousJohnAutobon]

I've never met an Amber that was all there

[@midnightgreen8319]

@@AnonymousJohnAutobon Tons of fun though lol

[@Wraithing]

Cheers for the inclusion of Whitby Abbey just before a crazy Bruce Campbell face. Makes the heart swell, or is it all the saturated fat in my diet!! lol 🤣 Great module - I knackered it as a teenage kid, Expert Set DM in the 80s. Looking through my 2020s old-man specs, I think it'd work really well using Troika.

[@SwordlordRoy]

Just got the DrivethruRPG PDF the other day (I have made it a hobby to collect Old D&D PDFs) and just came across the Helpful Pronunciation Guide/French Translator. Did you guys know Claude is French for Claude?

[@kargrym]

I ran castle amber many times. One game, a character felt safest having a tea party with an ogre in a human sized princess dress and didn’t want to leave. Then the ogre kept breaking the china cause it was human sized and started reverting to any ogre. I think it broke the player. They literally cried going no,no, no.

[@davidfitzsimmons2451]

You have any plans to do reviews on the Goodman games versions of the BECMI modules? Curious to see your take on the additions they and especially if you caught any continuity errors that I didn't catch. As well as your suggestions for fixing them. Biggest example of one such a error I caught was not only connecting the Lost city of Cynidecea with the underdark but putting a Mind flayer in there as one of the final big bads behind the scenes

[@Mr_Welch]

I looked into that a long time ago the problem is there's not a lot of material the work with. But most of it wouldn't change the module enough to make a video worth it.

[@bobkaminski3782]

I thought that that this was the module with the tunnel that leads to the land of ghouls?

[@EvilDoresh]

It _is_ , but that's just a tiny paragraph in the module, in case the party wants a more sane dungeon or something.

[@paladinebahamut]

Gothic Vampires From Hell is a good album to play for stuff like this

[@EvilDoresh]

For those not familiar with gothic horror, I'd say a good other comparison would be "Like _Alice in Wonderland_ , except everything is confined to a single mansion".

[@Daleksaresupreme1]

Bit of an audio glitch around 4:45 - 4:50

[@Mr_Welch]

Weird, it's duplicating deleted dialogue.

[@Mr_Welch]

Well if something was going to be plagued by an unexplained voice, it would be Castle Amber.

[@lawfulstupid643]

@@Mr_Welch I kinda like it. It's like the video is in on the tone of the topic.

[@docnecrotic]

I figured that was an attempt at messing with us

[@docnecrotic]

Oh god, this video has sanity effects.

[@TheLordUrban]

Clark Ashton Smith :)

[@Myurridthaekish]

Hon hon hon

[@midnightgreen8319]

Clark Ashton Smith.

[@ianedmonds9191]

I wonder if it is meant to have any connection the Roger Zelazny books. 12 princes in amber that are wild Psychedelic masterpieces of multi dimensional fiction. Honestly about the trippiest sequence of books I've ever read. (Maybe the Eternal Champion stuff from Moorcock is as weird) Time is meaningless, Different Universes are sliceable. Characters remember different histories. The characters argue to set time as they saw it and it's an argument between the two of them. LOads more weirdness I can;t remember but they are truly weird books. Primarily because when the princes meet they are not at all freaked out and seem to have an functional understanding of this multi-reality Hyperverse they traverse. Just the weirdest sequence of books I ever read. It has very strong ALice through the looking glass vibes. LUv and PEace.

[@Mr_Welch]

@@ianedmonds9191 per word of God no. The original title was Amberville, they just share the name of the color with the anglicized take that TSR put on it

[@fullovstars9447]

Hello, apologies if this has been asked before (or is a stupid question) BUT..... after watching a number of your videos I have decided to revisit Mystara and have been re-reading the B and X series. (So this is all your fault :-) ) In Castle Amber on page 7 right column, top - Richard has Plate Mail +2, A sword +3, NSA. What does NSA mean in this context? I've googled for Errata and can't seem to find any? Cheers.

[@Mr_Welch]

That's a damned good question, it also appears in Mary's list of magic items in the wandering monster section. I will ask my friends from TSR if they can answer this mystery.

[@Mr_Welch]

Got the answer from Frank Mentzer himself. No Special Abilities, the reason why they have a lower XP value than normal.

[@fullovstars9447]

@@Mr_Welch Brilliant. Thanks.

[@Mogthrasir1989]

@@fullovstars9447 Of course, even though it has No Special Abilities, it is THE sword possessed by Richard (Ricard) Amber - and would be very recognizable by his kinsmen (Goodman Games expanded the description but not the powers, naming the sword 'Amberglass'). DItto for the shield in area (30), the sword in area (2), and the hidden items in area (34). Also, I've run X2 three times, the Goodman Games we just finished a few weeks ago, and I've run Mark of Amber. Feel free to ask if you need to know anything else.

[@fullovstars9447]

@@Mogthrasir1989 Cheers. Thanks for the info.

[@ianedmonds9191]

I played this in 89 and it was epic. I don't think we made it through.

[@leorblumenthal5239]

So you aren't upset the Brain Collector got converted to 5E in the new Spelljammer boxed set?

[@Mr_Welch]

I converted it two years ago. Haven't looked at the new one yet

[@manarayofhope2374]

Cursed to eat twice as much ? Already way ahead of you pal