ACUS report
Slot 1: "Agents of the Argent Rose: "City of Swords"" by R.F. McCaughey
Elegance! Poise! My character burned down a little bit of Paris and got punched in the face, and fed poodles to his unSeelie pet. Good times! Arref does the best job of casting all ten Amber novels into a consitent setting that I have seen, and the Argent Rose setting tkaes that and expands on it marvelously. I've been trying to get into this game for a while now.
Slot 2: "God War" by Sean McCabe
Nar Xauk, Devourer or Worlds! I think this might have been my most fun character to play for the con. I was a god, who ate everything. About half the game ended up being the rest of the PCs trying to keep me from eating the multiverse; they stranded me in the world of the god of Romantic Heroism with a doorway into a version of Arden by blocking off the gate in the other direction (which led to Flying Spaghetti Monster's world).
Slot 3: "Brave New Gotham" by James Arnoldi
I got my superhero fix! I've never managed to get into one of James' games before. Clearly, I've been missing out. I had a great time, and there was a decent chance both for my character to shine, and to work with/support other characters. the GM said that he felt the game suffered from being in a shorter slot than it was designed for, but while there were some subplots that could have been resolved had we more time, I was still pretty happy with how it went. Given another two hours, I think we could have annihilated all vampires in the game world in one fell swoop (except possibly Michael Morbius the Living Vampire and Blade).
Slot 4: "Reservoir Hellhounds" by Joe Saul
Violence! A pinch of LARP! My "team" "won" by virtue of having the luckiest *players*; we happened to stumble on the right info at the right time and place, and have our opposition distracted at key points.
Slot 5: "Clandestine Chronicles of the Cobalt Charter" by R.F. McCaughey
Proof positive that you can run a low-powered Amber game with non-omnipotent portagonists. I love games where the PCs have a lot of influence over the story. I find it really helps deepen the level of investment that I have in my character, and that my character has in the story. Arref gives good game as always.
Slot 6: "Volatile" by Madeline Ferwerda
SCIENCE! An excuse to wear GOGGLES! The first time I played the full-out Pit of Vipers system, which went quite well. I'm afraid that we the players went a bit more haywire than Madeline was expecting, but I still had a hell of a good time. SCIENCE!
Slot 7: "Force 10 from Avalon: "The Eregnor Sanction"" by Kit Kindred
The Green Knight found out that sometimes, getting stabbed in the chest isn't very funny at all! As tlatoani remarked, he moved up a level on Maslow's hierarchy. On the plus side, he now has a set of clothes made out of an Amber flag. his new secret identity, Captain Amber! All he needs is a shield with the pattern painted on it.
Slot 8: "Dude: The Pattern Score" by Sean McCabe
BEEEEEEEES! Aieee! Dude. A game in which the genre punishes characters who are too smart, by way of the other characters being so stupid. As always, MUCH silliness. Sweet!