Hindsight is 20/20 and Amber-ranked

Counting off the top of my head, I've run 5 Amber Campaigns and 1 Amber-Everway CrossOver Campaign (and 5 one-shot ThroneWars) since first being exposed to the game in '92. Campaign #2 of 6 was pretty much the best campaign I've ever been involved in, or even heard of - and, with 5 years of gamestore retail under my belt, I've heard the details of more campaigns than you can shake a big glass dice cabinet at! That one had intense long-term plotlines, intricate mysteries, and character-development that transformed how individuals approached familial relationships in the real world.

Interestingly enough, the two most recent of those 6 Amber-related campaigns were the weakest. I've run excellent campaigns on either side of them, so I'm not sure why I'm having the issues I've been hitting recently. Perhaps I'm all-Ambered-out?

The Amber Campaign I ran in Albuquerque in early- to mid- 2007 was a major let-down after the Continuum campaign that went before it, and in hind-sight not at all the style of game I should have run just before moving away from that group of friends. I also did a very bad job of controlling the pacing. It was intended as a 6-session mini-campaign, but bogged down into 13 or 14 sessions and never wrapped up the major plot point. But, apparently it wasn't all bad, all the time. What Silence posted this list of memorable quotes from the game. Follow that link to read a few of the better moments.

In more upbeat news, all the throne wars have been immensely enjoyable, including 3 that had a dozen or more players. (If I recall correctly, participation was 12, 17 and 24 players at those three events, with 1, 3 and 4-and-a-half GMs respectively, myself being Head GM each time) I handled the crowd control and pacing elements just great those times.

I'd planned on running another large Throne War at the store before I moved, but I was so burned out from beating my head against that campaign (and in denial about moving until it was too late) that I just missed the opportunity. I really regret that. I was the biggest fish in Albuquerque's very small pond - here in Seattle, I have yet to establish myself outside a very select (and thus: small) group of friends.