An Amber-in-all-but-name Game?

[gabriel_ss4u]

hmmm, sounds like Edwin's doing his own Amber thing.

[Lawbag]

with the pundit setting the stakes up high, are they destined to fail?

[greylond]

The problem that I had back when I ran Amber, just like any other Book Setting Game(Ringworld also) was that unless you had Gamers that are big fans of the Book Series you end up spending a lot of time explaining the setting specifics to people who still don't get it. You pretty much have to hand them copies of the books and hope they like it enough to play the game. I wouldn't mind seeing Amber done by someone else but I don't really like the Diceless system. Something along the lines of Chaosium's old system or something similar would work, I think.

[jibbajibba]

The problem that I had back when I ran Amber, just like any other Book Setting Game(Ringworld also) was that unless you had Gamers that are big fans of the Book Series you end up spending a lot of time explaining the setting specifics to people who still don't get it. You pretty much have to hand them copies of the books and hope they like it enough to play the game. I wouldn't mind seeing Amber done by someone else but I don't really like the Diceless system. Something along the lines of Chaosium's old system or something similar would work, I think.

I haven't found this at all to be honest. The Amber environemnt is so unique and compelling that a 10 minute intro is usually enough to get a player hooked.
If you look at Sci-Fi or Fantasy series in general they are either so specific to environment you need to know the innermost details or so generic once you remove the main protagonists it could be anywhere. Because Amber can be literally anywhere and everywhere its kind of an in for any gamer.

[greylond]

Oh, I had people playing that had fun, but the only way it worked best was to have them make up characters with absolutely No Previous Knowledge of Amber, that way the Player and Character learned the setting as they played. Otherwise I found myself stopping to explain stuff that the Character should know that anyone who read the books would know as Basic Info... Like anything else, YMMV... Just stating what my experience with it was and why I never ran it more than 6 months or so...

[SunBoy]

Actually, in my experience, a short intro is enough, too. Maybe not for a "intrigue/courtier" guy, but for a Gerard kind of guy? Sure.

[fizzbinn]

either 2nd edition Amber is a hit, or the game is done.

I disagree.  Is anyone who enjoys Amber enough to be active in this forum going to stop playing based on what some nebulous group of "other people" think about a second edition?

Shoot, nobody I know runs an Amber game straight from the book anyway.  Anyone who says "the sorcery rules suck!" makes up their own, and when they share their ideas with others, that makes the game/community stronger.

How hard is it to break down 50 pts. of Pattern into smaller -- partial powers -- chunks?  Is there actually anyone who needs pseudo-authority of a nice print and binding job to do that?

The "game" survives because people play together and have a good time, and interact with other people who do the same.

At every Ambercon, there's always a few new people, and a few folks who drifted away for a while and have come back.  Nihilistic Mind's efforts to get Ambercon Arizona going are the kind of thing that make the long term difference (speaking of which, dude, fix your forum!  The links in your signature are totally broken.)

Of course, it would be cooler if there were more people playing, but the game isn't doomed, and its survival isn't based on the existence, success, or failure of a 2nd ed.

[greylond]

Exactly. I've kicked around running an Amber game but using a totally different system because frankly I hate Diceless Systems now. I've GM'ed Amber and Theatrix for 6 Months each back in the day and I wasn't happy with either one. Personally, I'd like to see some Amber Setting info that is effectively system neutral.

[finarvyn]

Exactly. I've kicked around running an Amber game but using a totally different system because frankly I hate Diceless Systems now. I've GM'ed Amber and Theatrix for 6 Months each back in the day and I wasn't happy with either one. Personally, I'd like to see some Amber Setting info that is effectively system neutral.

Well, others share your opinion but it does seem strange to post "I hate Diceless Systems" on a board whose focus is Erick's Amber Diceless game.

My ideal 2E Amber game would probably have some sort of suggestion for ways one could use dice along with the system, but I'd still want the main rulebook to be designed with Diceless in mind. If for no other reason, than becasue fo the long history and in honor of Erick and his system. I'd hate to have ADRP be replaced entirely with d20 Amber, for example, the way 7th Sea's "roll and keep" system was wiped out in Swashbuckling Adventures for d20.

Just my two cents, however. I'd be interested in seeing what kind of system you kicked around.

[finarvyn]

How hard is it to break down 50 pts. of Pattern into smaller -- partial powers -- chunks?  Is there actually anyone who needs pseudo-authority of a nice print and binding job to do that?

While I don't think that anyone "needs" such a thing, I do think that there is a certain slice of the gaming population who:
1) Wants to play something in-print, and
2) Wants an "official" way to do things rather than house-rule.

Having grown up on the OD&D philosophy, where the rules are a skeletal guideline and no setting is provided, I've played house-rule RPG games for years. However, a lot of my (younger) players sometimes really like the comfort that goes along with playing a game "by the book" instead of "on the fly."

[Xenon]

i dont know.... 2 players each roll a D20, you add situational modifiers as needed, then give X points advantage to the higher rank. say +1 if its a .5 difference, +2 a rank perhaps. so 9th rank in warfare means the other guy has a +16 to make with the stabbity- you could roll a 20 while he rolls a 1 and still win. but then this would put a rank of Amber in line with a 4th level fighter.

good/bad stuff in this would probably be more along the lines of a reroll(once per encounter), or access to better situational modifiers (what luck, the sun is behind you and your above him on the staircase).

of course, once they start that line of thought ranks go away, and you get a point-based system of straight bonuses. pray they dont remember rolemaster, or they may start using the CHARTS! *shudder*

[finarvyn]

Well, I'm torn on the whole thing. Part of my brain is looking for a simple way to use dice for conflict resolution, because my players really like the dice-rolling aspect of the game. The other part of me says that dice should never be used for ADRP because that's the way Erick designed it, and I hate to tred on sacred ground in that way.

[Nihilistic Mind]

Speaking of both an Amber-in-all-but-name Game and Amber with Dice, check out this little thing I experimented with.

http://amberconarizona.theiforum.com/amber-roleplaying-with-dice-t58.html

The couple of games I ran were very cool and had true Amber flavor, the Amber of the Chronicles more than the ADRPG itself.

[RPGPundit]

I meant that Amber is done in terms of having any real future as a significant part of the hobby.

As for the whole "you need to read the books, thing", 90% of everyone who's ever played in one of my games knew NOTHING about Amber going in, and had no trouble quickly adapting. After the first session or two, they're all experts.

RPGPundit

[Jason D]

It's probably an unpopular opinion, but I'd personally love to see a version of Amber with a card-based mechanic, with a set of beautiful Amberite Trumps made explicitly for use with the game, sold in tandem.