I have read a few of Zelazny's books and really enjoyed them (Lord of Light and Donnerjack).  I don't have time to get into the Amber series right now, but it intrigues me.  Is Amber worth checking out?  Will it show me some cool new gaming techniques (what with the no dice and all)?  Or is it too connected to the setting that I know nothing about and am not ready to commit to knowing?

Thanks!

Yes. You should snatch it up in a heartbeat for $6. Even if you never use the setting you'll still have an excellent read with great gaming advice.

I've has Amber since it came out - simply for the idea of how a diceless came could work.  I hadn't even read the books.

I will say that reading the books, subsequently, helped me understand the game.  Which, I suppose, is a testament to how well the game reflects the feel of the books.

I've read and re-read it, without ever playing a game, just for the sheer interesting nature of the product.

But that's just me.

And I bought it for full price lo those many years ago...worth every penny...

Ah, fark. I wish you guys hadn't said that.  Now I'm going to ride back to the store and it will be gone.  

Thanks for the advice!  I'm still listening.

You should buy it ans send it to ME!  

(I don't have Amber, but at that price I would snag it in a minute.)

Honestly, I don't think I'll ever play it.  But it's interesting and I don't regret paying $8 for it.

Amber is absolutely brilliant. My favourite RPG, and like others have said, its value as a sourcebook if you're a fan of the novels, and its worth for the GM advice alone makes it totally worth the purchase.

RPGPundit

Yet I'll have to say that without reading the novels, you'll miss a lot. And if you read the game before, it might spoil the book series...

ADRPG at any price up to and included MSRP is a bargain.  It's a terrific tome, full of a spectacularly successful game-style with broad appeal.

I get the "I don't have time to read the however-many-books of the entire Amber universe."  Personally, I have always run what I loosely call "Nine Princes-style Amber."  In that style, the only stuff that pre-exists the start of the game is the stuff described in the first book, Nine Princes in Amber.  That includes most of the family, and most of their dysfunction, but not a lot of the (frankly) over-the-top abilities in regards to Pattern, Trump, Magic, Shape-Shifting, Fig-Newtons, Broken Patterns and the Courts of Chaos.

Now I do that because I prefer my cosmos-shaking drama as a result of human fuck-ups rather than abstruse cosmology and arcane interactions.  But it's also a damn fine excuse for getting people up to speed with only a single, quickly-read paperback.

I'll take a chance on posting a dissenting opinion here, but I didn't think much of the game.  I bought it back around 1995 primarily for the (then) novel ideas it contained, but found it very much amixed bag.  As others have already stated, some of the play style and GM advice was really quite good, but I found at least as much of it to be quirky or antagonistic.  The mechanics themselves seemed like a "non-game", as I've referred to them elsewhere, though this is a complaint levelled at Nobilis, which I happen to like (rather a matter of taste, I suppose).  I also had a good laugh at the expense of the attribute auction, which many people consider pivotal to the game.

A couple of years back I sold my copy for $5.  I wouldn't pay more than that to buy it back.  I'm not sure what its availability is these days, but see if you can get it cheaper.*

!i!

[*Edit: For some reason I had mentally inflated the price.  $6 isn't bad, but don't get soaked for shipping.]

The cheapest used copy on amazon.com is listed for $38, and it usually goes for at least $25 on ebay.com ... so six bucks is a very good buy.

Buying the source books, the Amber novels by Roger Zelazny, is simple. Just pick up a copy of The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, which includes all 10 volumes, new for under $17, or used for less than $7:

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Book-Amber-Complete-Chronicles/dp/0380809060/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-9491265-9671318?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181601105&sr=1-1

Erick

Erick:  I didn't get the vibe that he didn't have the ability to get the books ... more finding the time and energy to read the books that was at issue.

As a person with an ever growing list of home-repairs and kid-care errands cluttering my backburners, I've gotta admit to a fair degree of sympathy on that count.  Oh, for the care-free days of being a single, childless rentor

You read that correctly, TonyLB!  The desert island (with a huge crate of books) is getting more and more attractive these days.  Still, I appreciate the reference.  I think, as another poster suggested, that I might just put the first one on my list.

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaThe mechanics themselves seemed like a "non-game", as I've referred to them elsewhere, though this is a complaint levelled at Nobilis, which I happen to like (rather a matter of taste, I suppose).

That's the kind of criticism that all diceless RPGs inevitably face from time to time, though.

Quote from: GrimGentThat's the kind of criticism that all diceless RPGs inevitably face from time to time, though.

And it's an entirely valid criticism, regardless of your favorite flavor of diceless.  It really tries the definition of "game", which I think is a good thing. It's worth bearing in mind that a critique shouldn't be equated (or conflated) with a condemnation.

!i!