Rating: 
Summary: A must for Zelazny or Roleplaying fans.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A must for Zelazny or Roleplaying fans.
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: The best _______ RPG ever!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A great RPG for good roleplayers
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The best _______ RPG ever!
Review: Amber Diceless RPG is _______ awesome! The best fun you can have as a gamer. However, everybody playing the game must read at least the first chronicles (1-5) of Amber. And if you decide on being a Chaosite, you must read all 10.Amber is a great world, and this is a great game. For everybody who hasn't read the books, doesn't want to read the books, or is helpless without dice -- I suggest you play Warhammer Fantasy Role-play, it kicks AD&D & Role Master anyday. But Amber Diceless Role-Play is definitely the best _______ game ever!
Rating:
Summary: The best gaming book I have ever bought.
Review: For all of you that feel you are missing something in your games, this is the game you have been looking for. The background is wonderfully entertaining and the potential for character development is delightful. There is nothing that I like to see in a game you can not find in this product; excitement, danger, intrigue and so much more are all there. Feel free to contact me if you would like to talk about the game.
Rating: 
Summary: A decent reference but a poor RPG
Review: I first bought this several years ago and have used it off and on since then. It is full of reasonable reference material but it is very sloppy as far as Role-Playing Games go. First of all, dice are a game aid and so by not incorporating rules for determining questionable outcomes, the writer "cops out". Any RPG can be as diceless as the players want it to be. The game says that the player who stake a clain to a given specialty should be regarded as the best in that area, yet the existing NPCs(the original characters from the books) are far more powerful than the players can hope to be, even in a long period of play. I found the rules to be generally disorganized and contradictory. In any RPG the players often can feel free to disregard some rules that are inconvenient or tangent to the game tone. I suspect many people will be disregarding most of these rules.
Rating:
Summary: A decent reference but a poor RPG
Review: I first bought this several years ago and have used it off and on since then. It is full of reasonable reference material but it is very sloppy as far as Role-Playing Games go. First of all, dice are a game aid and so by not incorporating rules for determining questionable outcomes, the writer "cops out". Any RPG can be as diceless as the players want it to be. The game says that the player who stake a clain to a given specialty should be regarded as the best in that area, yet the existing NPCs(the original characters from the books) are far more powerful than the players can hope to be, even in a long period of play. I found the rules to be generally disorganized and contradictory. In any RPG the players often can feel free to disregard some rules that are inconvenient or tangent to the game tone. I suspect many people will be disregarding most of these rules.
Rating:
Summary: IMHO The best Role Playing Game Ever
Review: If you have ever dreamt of becoming one of Roger Zelazny's Amber
Prince, then buy this call some of your friends and have fun.
This is, I think, the first Diceless RP-System and I can tell you
that it really works...
By the way, if you want to get opinions from people using the
Game : subscribe to the Amber mailing list: a high bandwith
mailing list dedicated to the Amber Diceless Role-Playing and
Roger Zelazny's Amber (send an e-mail message to Majordomo@logrus.org
with in the message body: subscribe amber <your e-mail @>)
It's way too bad Roger Zelazny died on 14 June 1995... :-(
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST RPG in the martket today.
Review: 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.
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