Crown of Amber was my first FUDGE Amber game concept. It was a tale of Middle Amber, in that it is pre-chronicles and before the births of some of the younger Elders, yet it is positioned more recently than many of the 'Ancient Amber' sub-genre of the game.
It used FUDGE as a system base (you can read more about that by following the links), with a focus on the vocations, skills, resources, and opportunities the character has had access to, rather than an over-simple 'stats and powers' approach. It worked out perfectly, by reports from my satisfied players.
My goal, as a GM, was to run an Amber game which is really an Amber game, which I felt most Amber DRPG games weren't. Too often the entertaining yet mundane aspects of the setting get cast aside in favor of phenomenal cosmic powers. The cosmic powers were a part of play, surely, but the characters weren't there to understand the fundamental underpinings of the universe. They were there to go on adventures, both in and out of court; politics and two-fisted heroism were as important a part of this game as the grand powers in the universe.
The above were the assumptions; I also told the players this:
Expect equal parts! The player that neglects the mundane or the supernatural in their character concepts will find that lacking more than one of the three will detract from the playability of their character.
This, above all things, was the core of the characters I received as a part of this middle amber epic, and I have to say that without this formative recommendation in effect, the game would not have gone as swimmingly well as it did.
Though the game did not have its full run -- we got to the midpoint when I found myself moving from Maryland to California -- we talked through the likely events of the second half of the game, and brought it all to conclusion. In the end, it was one of the most satisfying gaming experiences I've had, as either GM or player, and I hope -- at some point -- that I'll be able to repeat its successes.
I keep this portion of my site here as a record of the game, in hopes that others can take what they will of it.
-- Iago