September 6, 2006: 9:00 pm: MichaelGame systems
I’ve been thinking about how well some of the most recent crop of indie games might work for Amber roleplaying, and the one that seems to have the most promise is Hero’s Banner, which I previously mentioned in this post. I mean, a game about royal-born characters in a fantasy setting who are making important life choices just seems like it’d be a natural match. Maybe if I buy a copy I’ll plan on running an version set in Amber at the next TBR….
September 7th, 2006 at 7:03 am
Hello Michael,
Hero’s Banner does seem pretty cool. I’m all about choices and consequences in roleplaying so it sounds like my kind of game. Right now I’m doing an interview on my blog with the author, so come on by if you’re interested. After my first five questions you can ask him stuff too.
September 7th, 2006 at 8:52 am
Yes, that was much my reaction as well. In particular because the game, in some ways, forces you to chose among three goals one of which is “Blood” which, in an Amber setting, could be somewhat redefined as “what someone else in the family wants you to do/be” (a narrowing of the original definition, but probably appropriate).
I kinda summed up the game in conversation to you last weekend as “Hamlet the RPG”, which is a bit trite, I’ll admit, but I think appropriate. The game is designed for the protagonists to dither around about their hard choice, and then once the choice is made to pretty much immediately die in service of their final goal (perhaps in success, perhaps in failure). So, to stay in play, you have to dither and equivocate and accept failure (because it is re-rolling failures that forces you toward decision).
Not everyone’s game, given its focus on dark fate and harrowing choices, but it seems to do what it set out to do very well, and could do some of the darker flavors of Amber quite nicely.
September 7th, 2006 at 9:08 am
I guess how well it’ll work will depend in part on the how people prefer their Amberites. This game seems more suited to those who like them imperfect than those who see them as bold and decisive demigods. I’m more in the former camp most of the time, so the idea appeals to me.