Amber

The Wujcik Connection and the GenCon Amber Campaign

It was at a GenCon in 1986 (MECCA in Milwaukee) when I noticed a hand-printed sign that stated someone was looking for people to help playtest a roleplaying game based on the Amber novels. I, of course, could not resist, and that is how I met Erick Wujcik. To say that Erick was a genius at RP gaming was putting it mildly. He was massively and inventively creative, and the ground-breaking concept of an RP game without contest rolls was truly innovative. It was truly role playing at its core and was immensely fun. Through this connection I learned a great deal about role playing on both sides of the table.

That playtest campaign (Erick’s second such group) became the GenCon Amber campaign, of which much has been written in Amberzine, usually from the perspective of Bronwyn (Carol Dodd’s character). Needless to say, what she wrote is very much from that character’s viewpoint, and Damarian (my character) might have a few things to say about certain events from his perspective.

It was a fun romp, those times maybe once a year at GenCon or Ambercon (and, if fortunate, both) when we were all able to get together for another session. Several of the characters (including Damarian) were developing in interesting ways, especially Bronwyn, and we were all very interested in seeing what would develop and what Erick had in mind for us. But, alas, there was never a resolution to the many and varied plot lines. Erick found a job teaching game design in China for several years, not returning to the US, then, upon his return, was told he had cancer. He turned his projected six weeks into six months, that being the person Erick was, but eventually he was lost to the gaming community.