Michael S. Miller, designer of With Great Power… and other games, had these thoughts about the Amber Diceless RPG:
It seems to me that ADRP is so very perfect for this *because* it is a dysfunctional game, as written. The attribute auction is there to promote competion and rivalry from the very beginning. The fact that scores are rated primarily by comparative value enhances this. The fact that the comparison value can be re-evaluated by the GM based on the real world players making appeals to “This is also a Strength contest because…” is aimed at making each game session into a series of squabbles and begging for GM indulgence. How beautifully dysfunctional! It even encourages you to suck up the the GM in the form of character portraits, journals, etc.
ADRP, Sorcerer and My Life with Master are games about dysfunctional relationships. Sorcerer & MLwM seek to set up a functional dynamic among the *players & GM* so that they can all explore the dysfunction of the *characters* from a better perspective. It seems that, as written, ADRP seeks to replicate the dysfunction of the *characters* in the relations of the *players & GM.* No wonder so few people play it as written, and so many drift it into something functional and fun.
I think this is an interesting insight, and one I pretty much agree with. Even if you ignore the flaws in the ADRPG that its GMs and players have long since pointed out, there’s still a general theme of competition between players (rather than between characters) that the rules seem to encourage. That hardly seems like a recipe for a fun gaming group.
