In the style of Zelazny's Amber...

[Ringan]

I am thinking about starting a campaign that has a feel similar to the Amber book series. I was thinking a lower magic, high heroism system would be useful. Would True20 or Grim Tales work? I have heard about Amber rpgs, are they any good? What kind of system would you recommend to emulate this?

 

[Khairn]

The "Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game" is the only Amber-based game, authorized by Zelazny. Its a great game a-if you like diceless and b- if you really want to emulate the Amber style of character interaction.

Now if you are looking for something a little less "fantastic" and a bit more heroic and D20 based, my recommendation would be Grim Tales and 2nd World Sourcebook. The 2WS really has some great tools and GM tips for running campaigns that are spread between modern and fantasy settings. Plus its lower magic and heroic feel is a great fit with Grim Tales. 2WS is also a great fit with D20 Modern.

 

[Cam Banks]

The FATE rules for FUDGE, currently seeing great use in the SPIRIT OF THE CENTURY RPG, were originally used for an Amber game run by Fred Hicks. It grew out of a series of conversations Fred and co-author Rob Donoghue had about how to use FUDGE in a more interesting manner and how to tackle Amber with dice.

I ran an Amber Diceless campaign for over 3 years back in the 1990's and it had a profound effect on my GM style. I also met my wife of 11 years on an Amber-themed MUSH, but that's another story. Even though Amber DRPG has been so influential, however, I would never run it diceless again. I like the random aspects of dice too much, and since so many games these days import ideas like narrative control, player empowerment, and story-centric mechanics without eliminating dice, it works just as well.

True20 would be a good option, but yeah - check out FATE. I think you'll be more than happy with the way it handles Amber-style gaming.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Aus_Snow]

http://average-bear.com/amber/d20/index.html ?

Amber Diceless is well worth checking out though.

Otherwise, I'd be tempted to suggest True20. d20 Modern could also work. Something also makes me want to say "M&M!" (no, not Mazes & Minotaurs ), but it's been a long while since I've read Zelazny.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

2nd World Sourcebook

Seconded 100%

Something also makes me want to say "M&M!" (no, not Mazes & Minotaurs ), but it's been a long while since I've read Zelazny.

Any good "generic" system should support an Amber-type setting, and IM(not so)HO, the best "generic" systems are or evolved from superheroic RPG systems- the nature of the genre they're designed to model is inherently broad in terms of power levels and inclusiveness reC schticks. IOW, a game like HERO or M&M (or GURPS) would be just fine for running Amber.

 

[Ringan]

Thanks for the insight, everyone! M&M hadn't occurred to me, but in a way the Amberites are superheroes. Aus_Snow, thanks for the Amber d20 link too.

 

[SteveC]

I'm going to echo what others have already said: Second World Sourcebook is an excellent resource in this area.

I ran a campaign that lasted about two years in a sort of broken pattern universe that was highly successful. The basis of the game was D20 Modern, but I used the Second World Sourcebook to tweak individual settings extensively. I basically wrote up a template and applied it to different locations the group went to, and devised some basic rules for editing the templates by powerful (amber level) characters.

It really wasn't that hard to do, but if I were going to run a full-on Amber game with those rules, I'd use some sort of alternate death mechanic, as Amberites are extremely hard to kill.

--Steve