Customer Reviews

Amber Diceless Role-Playing: Diceless Role-Playing System

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

So you play AD&D. Ever get upset when you tell the DM exactly, to the letter, how you want your character to perform an action, that should have worked, then got screwed on the die roll?

Play Amber.

Amber's diceless system emphasizes roleplaying above all else. Even if you should lose, sometimes you can still win. It's all in how you play the game. Character development is stressed above all else. There's just no place for power-gaming in this system. There is no limit to what your character can do..he or she is effectively a god. Consider:

GM: Okay, you're standing on a hill in Shadow. What would you like to do?

Power Gamer: I want to destroy the planet!

GM: Okay, it happens. What now?

Power Gamer: Err...what?

This kind of play obviously gets old. When nothing is beyond your character's power( except, of course, his siblings ) character relationships and development become foremost. In Amber there are no sure things: It's all how you play the game. Develop your character or get out.

After playing in a few games and running one myself, I find this system to be a great one. The setting is also one of the best out there. Zelazny wrote an incredible series, and Amber DRPG translates that world very well. The best thing is, if you don't like something, just change it. For the reviewers that complained about no dice... I've even seen dice variants using GURPS out there on the net. If you need ideas for your game, The Golden Circle Webring has many excellent sites made by dedicated Amber players and GMs. Although I found the system did not work for me in a couple ways, I just made my own house rules for those situations. Amber, IMO, is a game for people who are looking for a mature game - if you want a hack and slash dungeon crawl, go elsewhere. If you want to roleplay, and play some of the most memorable characters you have ever had, this is for you.

A book worth having even if you don't spend hours playing it like my friends and I did. I played this game before I ever read the Amber books and it got me interested in them. It does a good job of catching the spirit of the novels. For those who haven't read the novels the story deals with a family of dimension travelling imortals and their kingdom Amber. For Zelazny fans it offers an overview and in depth information about the books. For RPG fans it gives an interesting new take on character creation and conflict resolution. Yes the system does have some bugs but I think the innovation otuweighs some of the tehcnical misteps. As is billed there's no dice. Connflict is resolved by the GM looking at your ranking and assesing the situation. So if you're an Amberite and you're fighting some normal human off in shadow you'll win. If you're fighting another Amberite then, evertyhing else being equal, the guy with the better fighting ability will win every time. This means that you need a good GM who knows how to be fair and keep the story going. But the book has some nice hints on how to run a good session. Character creation is one of the most interesting parts of the game. Instead of simply rolling for, or purchasing attributes the attributes are settled in an auction wiith all players participating. Players are competing for ranks in one of four attributes (Warfare, Strength, Stamina, and Psyche). Whoever bids the most in an attribute is ranked 1st and they can automatically beat the other players in a straight up, contest in that attribute. layers can spend as littlle or as much as they like on these auctions (we had one guy once who spent 90 points out of 100 on the Warfare attribute). But make sure to leave points left over to buy powers (logrus, pattern, sorcery), objects (maical horses or armor, or even demon skateboards, you purchase the qualities you want for them), and extras (allies, family members, personal shadow realities to design to your taste). Any points left over after all this become "good stuff". Any extra points you spend beyond 100 (there's no limit) become "bad stuff". These are this games version of luck and can effect everything from combat, to personal interaction to your own perceptions. Some of this is a bit heady. Your average Amberite (unranked in any attribute) is superhumanly strong and better at combat than the best martial artist on earth. Magic items that you might salivate over in another game can come ridiculously cheap. Sorcery, a versatile if troublesome ability, is one of the cheapest of powers. The only catch is that there's always someone more powerufl than you out there. And the Amber game encourages the GM to through nasty tricks your way. The conflict resolution system leaves a lot of power in the GMs hands and somewhat forces people to think more about story and strategy than about the percentages. Since you don't now how the monster you're fighting compares to you there's a bit more drama. He could be a pushover or he could be able to kill you instantly. This is hardly the perfect game and it won't be to everyones taste. It does take a fairly skilled GM and players who are flexible and interested more in playing through a story than just hacking and slashing their way through stat books of monsters. But I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to try something different in RPGs or even someone who just enjoys a good RPG book.

This game was hard for me to wrap my brain around - yet, it is perhaps one of the best games ever written.

Its not for everyone, though. Some people cannot get past the lack of dice, which is fine, everyone has different tastes.

Basically, the game is based around having scores in stats, your roleplaying ability, and dirty tricks up your sleeve. When, say, swordfighting someone, the better swordsman should win, barring complications like a dirty trick you have up your sleeve - and how you roleplay.

This makes the game very roleplaying-intensive - and is detrimental to hack and slash month haul games. If you like a game with a ton of possibilities, this is your game. If you need dice, or love hack and slash or monty haul, its not.

Well, if you've never heard of this game --- you're not alone.
But look around for it --- because it has never been out of print despite what you might hear (though 2007, it temporarily is, look for pdfs sold online.)

It is a small press game, but the artwork and design of the game is first rate. If you have an interest in Roger Zelazny, you might like to buy the game just to see how wonderful fiction might be transformed into a roleplaying experience.

But this game isn't hard to play.

I've tailored my Amber games for 60+ yr old roleplayers and for 10+ yr old young ladies of quality. They both have had great fun.

What is required is a GM with solid gaming experience, collaborative improvisation, and a small group of players who really just want to have fun and adventure.

You'll be amazed. You won't miss the dice...

When I first saw the Amber RPG, my eye dropped to the "Diceless" part and I immediately walked on. "How," I wondered to myself, "...can a GameMaster keep the players honest and under control without an infallibly impartial element of randomness?" (What can I say, I never thought that one could 'load' d10s or d20s...) Later, as I read more and more in-depth essays discussing the nature of role-playing and role-players, I realized that there was a way to play without dice... it involved a couple of strange concepts called 'mutual trust' and 'maturity'. If the players are more interested in having fun and telling a story with each other and the GameMaster, then the dice aren't necessary.
Anyway, about the product itself: I'm fascinated by the ideas discussed here, especially the multiple versions of the major NPCs depending on the needs of individual campaigns. With the original author's input (Roger Zelazny, regarless of what Prince Corwin the Mad may have to say on the issue), several key points were expanded into genuinely playable elements in the game.
My minor concerns are with the layout: it was first released in 1986 and Phage Press apparently hasn't been able to put together a revised edition since then.
Still, it's a great resource for fans of the original novels, for gamers who aren't afraid to tell stories without worrying about getting dice-screwed, and the like. Buy it!

And many thanks to the man who was responsible for many hours of my youth spent in some of the most fabulous and perilous worlds imaginable.

This RPG is excellent, even if you aren't familiar with the book. The material is great, and the system is really fun. I play this game every weekend, and can sincerly say it is well worth the money.

Imagine you have the power of a god. All day long you can do what ever your heart desires. Then what is left to do in your life? Why, mess with your siblings, fellow gods themselves. This game emphasizes player interaction to the point where the GM becomes unneccesary for long periods of time. Vendettas, backstabbing, and personal tragedy are the norm. Buy this book and put your D&D, Battletech, or whatever behind you. This is the game to end all games.

Amber DRPG is not for your average or novice role-players. It has very few actual rules, and even the existing rules are more guidelines. If you have not read the Amber Chronicles by Roger Zelazny, then this is not a game for you. Amber DRPG will push your imagination beyond everything. I've heard a lot of people that had problems following Inception, this game is not for them. If you've read Amber so many times you quote it without thinking, it's about time you bought a copy. For the GM, this game is even more challenging than for the players as you have to be able to adjust your style of play to match your players, and the strange ways they go about solving the problems you throw at them. Having played with many different GMs, each game takes on a life of it's own, and it's easy to forget that it's all the same game system.

With only two points of reality, Amber and Chaos, and all of the other limitless dimensions, or Shadows (game term) only your imagination will limit you, your GM, or the NPCs. Travel to a world where the 'people' are snakes, technology is unknown, and magic is common; or travel to a Shadow where the laws of physics are so radically different, that you need life support just to continue to exist.

The children of Oberon are known as the Lords and Ladies of Amber fight in a multiverse (Shadows) pitted against the Lords of Chaos, born from the pit of Primal Chaos, the source of all existence. They fight to control Shadow, to defend their home, to become the King/Queen of Amber.