Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game

[3]: 111–112 The original 256-page game book[4] was published in 1991 by Phage Press, covering material from the first five novels (the "Corwin Cycle") and some details – sorcery and the Logrus – from the remaining five novels (the "Merlin Cycle"), in order to allow players to roleplay characters from the Courts of Chaos.

Wujcik also expressed a desire to create a book giving greater detail to the Courts of Chaos.

[8] In June 2007 a new publishing company, headed by Edwin Voskamp and Eleanor Todd, was formed with the express purpose of bringing Amber DRPG back into print.

[10] In Sept 2013 the project was completed, and on in Nov 2013 Lords of Gossamer and Shadow (Diceless) [11] was released publicly in full-color Print and PDF, along with additional supplements and continued support.

The Amber multiverse consists of Amber, a city at one pole of the universe wherein is found the Pattern, the symbol of Order; The Courts of Chaos, an assembly of worlds at the other pole where can be found the Logrus, the manifestation of Chaos, and the Abyss, the source or end of all reality; and Shadow, the collection of all possible universes (shadows) between and around them.

It is assumed that players will portray the children of the main characters from the books – the ruling family of Amber, known as the Elder Amberites – or a resident of the Courts.

However, since some feel that being the children of the main characters is too limiting, it is fairly common to either start with King Oberon's death before the book begins and roleplay the Elder Amberites as they vie for the throne; or to populate Amber from scratch with a different set of Elder Amberites.

The auction serves to introduce some unpredictability into character creation without the need to resort to dice, cards, or other randomizing devices.

In a hotly contested auction, such as for the important attribute of warfare, the most valuable skill is the ability to force one's opponents to back down.

With two or more equally determined players, this can result in a "bidding war," in which the attribute is driven up by increments to large sums.

A high enough opening bid could signal a player's determination to be first ranked in that attribute, thereby dissuading others from competing.

This is likely due to three scenes in the Chronicles: first, when Eric paralyzes Corwin with an attack across the Trump and refuses to desist because one or the other would be dominated; second, when Corwin faces the demon Strygalldwir, it is able to wrestle mentally with him when their gazes meet; and third, when Fiona is able to keep Brand immobile in the final battle at the Courts of Chaos.

Amber DRPG advises gamemasters to change rules as they see fit, even to the point of adding or removing powers or attributes.

"[13] In the June 1992 edition of Dragon (Issue 182), both Lester Smith and Allen Varney published reviews of this game.

In Issue 65 of Challenge, Dirk DeJong had a good first impression of the game, especially the information provided about the Amber family members and their various flaws and strengths.

"I thought the entire idea of using rules and random results was to prevent the type of arguments that I can see arising from this setup."

For gamers who have an aspiring actor or actress lurking within their breast, or for someone running a campaign via electronic mail or message base, Amber should be given serious consideration.

They've been doing it for thousands of years and a significant part of the appeal of RPGs is giving dice, often in sparkly colours, a toss.

[18] Amber conventions, known as Ambercons, are held yearly in Massachusetts, Michigan, Portland (United States), Milton Keynes (England), Belfast (Northern Ireland) and Modena, Italy.

Additionally, Phage Press published 12 volumes of a dedicated Amber DRPG magazine called Amberzine.

Cover of Shadow Knight