Diceless role-playing is seen by some to be the holy grail of role-playing. Given the war gaming roots of most role-playing games, many people thought diceless role-playing to be little more than free-form acting, or playing "cops and robbers" with no method to settle disputes or take dumb luck into account. All in all, diceless role-playing seems to be an enigma for many role-players who have grown up playing games that fall into the end of the spectrum closest to war gaming.

Of all the possible settings for diceless role-playing, Roger Zelazny's Amber is probably the most perfect to begin with. Still, there are people who approach Amber Diceless with underserved hesitancy or downright anger. I would like to dispel some common misconceptions for those who are intrigued at the possibilities of diceless role-playing, but who find the prospects of actually beginning a bit intimidating. Following are some tips to help yen enjoy your Amber campaign to the fullest.

First of all get he most from diceless play, you need to understand how such a system can hope to represent "real life" actions. In the gaming community we have so fully bought into the idea that we need to represent "random" results in our role-playing that some people hear the word "diceless" and launch into tirades reminiscent of folks who would mock Benjamin Franklin for flying kites during thunderstorms. In the world of Amber, PCs and NPCs are characters so vastly powerful, randomness no longer comes into play in the way it does for normal humans. In the same way that a small child just learning chess could never expect to beat a grand master, normal humans could never hope to defeat (or even match) an Amber PC or NPC even with all the "luck" in the world. This is the advantage of playing your diceless game in the Amber world.

When speaking of "skill" in Amber, it helps to keep in mind the progression of skills. Let's say you are watching a grade school gymnastics team. You can usually spot one child who actually has some talent. Watch that team long enough, and that child may start to look really good! But if you were to pit that grade school team against a high school team, that same child would look just as awful as the rest of the grade schoolers. And any of those part-time, amateur gymnasts pale in comparison to members of the Olympic team. Take the best human gymnasts in the world and have them compete against each other, and it comes down to the slightest edge, bending the knees too much, wobbling ever so slightly. They are so incredibly good that there is little "chance" involved in their successes any more. "Luck" is not what would enable them to beat that grade school gymnast time and time again. Throwing an Amberites into this equation is like pitting the best gymnast in the whole world against a toddler who has just learned to walk. There is no longer any chance that Amberites would lose through a simple stroke of bad luck when competing against normal humans, and there is no need to amount for "chance" in those situations.

The fact that Amber remains diceless even in competitions between Amberites, is often the most troublesome idea for traditional gamers to embrace. In an ordinary game, we would compare our skills, roll our dice and see if my Swordmaster Knight bashes your head in, or (whoops) misses and impales himself instead. In Amber, the thought of any Amberite accidentally impaling himself under anything less than incredible and extraordinary circumstances is down right laughable.

Let's say that Bleys and Corwin (both Amberites) are having a dispute and want to settle it in a non-lethal, but spirited manner so they decide to have a sword fight. They are characters of the same "level" although they have skills spread out in different ways. Bleys is slightly better than Corwin when it comes to swordfighting, but they are closely matched. Since there are no die rolls, would that mean that Bleys automatically beats Corwin every time? Oh, not so! While they are matched quite evenly in warfare, Cor- win has a far quicker wit and greater endurance than poor Bleys. Corwin can use this to his advantage, using his brains to "psyche out" Bleys, working to undermine his confidence, or tricking him into believing that Corwin has been studying with a legendary swordmaster recently. (Maybe Benedict?)

Additionally, Corwin can try to draw the battle out in order to wear down Bleys, who has less stamina for the long fight. Through role-playing and by taking various conditions into account, there is still the possibility that Corwin can win in a sword fight. and the ludicrous chance that he would accidentally impale himself is removed from the contest.

In diceless conflict resolution, it is the players' advantage to approach with caution and awareness of the situation. Players will be successful by keeping in mind their own strengths and weaknesses, the perceived advantages and faults of their opponents, and by employing strategy and role-playing.

Another hurdle to overcome in order to begin an Amber game is that it's based on novels - works of popular fiction that you may or may not be familiar with. This doesn't have to be a problem (although some may again find a convenient excuse in saying, "But I don't know the novels!"). The game starts out by giving you all the information you would need to play a game in Amber. One need not go out and read all the novels in order to understand what is going on in the setting or with the characters. The very fact that it's Amber makes it possible for you to have read all the novels from cover to cover, and still have fun playing the game. Because the setting revolves around a world that contains many realities (or Shadows), what is true in one place is certainly not true in another place. The world of the novels is not necessarily more true than any of the realities that the GM might come up with.

Yet another misconception about Amber Diceless is that it takes very experienced role-players in order to play, or that beginning role-players will find this manner of play too difficult to start. I am not sure what brings out this argument, but I can tell you confidently and from personal experience that this is simply not true. In fact, Amber is possibly one of the best ways to introduce new people to role-playing games. Instead of having to contend with various charts and statistics, oddly shaped dice to roll, and ill suited definitions of skills and abilities which leave beginners more confused about their imaginary character than they were when they began, Amber does away with all that. The character creation process is the only part of the game that is even moderately complex, and once you get the new player through that there is nothing to stand in the way of their role-playing. Skilled and unskilled alike can find themselves on relatively even footing in the Amber system, since, for example, there are no opportunities for the "rules lawyers" to turn to the new player and explain in baffling detail why such-and-such happened.

On the other hand,, in order to get the most from Amber, the GM needs to be strong. Unlike other games which can carry the GM if he is lazy, Amber requires the GM to be well prepared and ready to play. Because of the open nature of the game and because the players literally have the power to do just about any thing, planning a detailed and linear adventure is not going to be very rewording for you or your players. It is better to enter into an Amber session with a definite understanding of the characters involved, as well as which events will unfold order which specific circumstances. If, for example, I knew that Bastengrath the Terrible is a greedy, vindictive man who hates men who are more handsome than himself; a man who will take revenge upon anyone who dares beat him at anything, but who has a secret soft spot for vulnerable and innocent young girls, this will help me react better to the perhaps unexpected actions of the players than if I plan an elaborate scene which relies on a PC committing some act or finding some clue in order to further the plot. Since the PCs in Amber can move from reality to reality at will, it takes more work on the part of the GM to make each place the PCs encounter come to life, offering them excitement and intrigue.

My final tip for getting the most out of Amber would be to have fun with the variety of settings in which you can play. Of all the multi-genre games out there, the Amber universe offers such potential to explore anything you and your players can imagine, it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. While the game is called Amber, it certainly isn't limited to lands described in the books, or even to the Amber family. Do what's fun for you, go where your heart desires. You don't need dice to take you there!