WISH- Game Systems (continued)
These game system are ones that I feel are OK but could be a lot better.

Storyteller- (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, Wraith, Changeling, Hunter, Mummy, Exalted) There are things that I like about White Wolf's Storyteller system. Character creation is a painless process. Basic skill checks are really simple to do and I have always liked the idea of "the level of your skill=the number of dice you roll", but it falls horribly on its face when you get in to combat. White Wolf has tried hard over the years to fix the flaws in the system but in my Changeling game I figured out what the system really needed: a complete overhaul. In Changeling I had to throw out a lot of the rules for cantrip casting (both Mage and Changeling have magic systems that are far more complicated than they needed to be) and change the dice rolling system to someting more streamlined. Another option I have found that improves White Wolf immensely is to play it diceless. If you want to use dice, be ready to tinker with the rules.

Amber- Amber got one thing right, but it was a biggie. "We don't need dice." Dice are nice, but sometimes they can get in the way. I had run several game systems diceless (GURPS, Storyteller and Palladium) before Amber came out, but it was nice to see a game come out tell me people to put their dice away occassionally. Unfortunately, Amber has a lot of flaws. The powers and how they are bought could use a complete overhaul allowing for variations in how characters can use the powers such as Caine's "Trump Tricks" in Shadow Knight which allows him to listen in on Trump Conversations (like he did in the Corwin books) without being a trump artist. In general, I don't think the diceless system is perfect for the Amber setting but it works. If I were to start up an Amber campaign next week, I would probably use GURPS. GURPS works just as well as a diceless game as any other game system and allows for a lot more detail on what a character is good at and how good he or she is.