Attribute Auction

Whilst there are several ways you can run Amber they boil down to two schools

1. Ignore Ranking and the Auction as defined in the Rules
2. Use Ranking determined by an Auction as defined in the Rules

I've played both styles and the Auction and its outcome adds an interesting perspective and edge to character interaction that is lacking in a non-auction game. Therefore my campaigns will use attribute ranking determined by an attribute auction.

The problem that an auction theoretically poses is that if you're not in the auction at the start of the campaign you're at a severe disadvantage because you're not ranked, especially if "Rank" (Your final position after the auction) has significant meaning.

I am using three options to this problem

1. There will be 5 additional characters in the auction that will be available for late comers to the campaign to play. Originally they were just going to be sets of stats, but I've since decided to flesh some of them out. As starting characters you may never meet them unless I have a specific need for one or more of them.
2. If you choose not to play one of these characters you can assign points to attributes as if you were Rank 4 in each of them.
3. Alternatively you can assign points to attributes and assign one of the following four ranks to each attribute Rank 2, Rank 4, Rank 6, Ranked

Rank has specific benefits in terms of point multipliers but at the end of the day its a points vs points contest, the higher value winning - see Attributes. There is one thing to note here specific trained skills and certain powers may give a lower pointed character the edge over a higher pointed but untrained or unaugmented character.

In a traditional Amber auction the first round is secret with subsequent rounds open and contested, the same as a conventional furniture or art auction. Whilst I'm holding an auction all rounds will be secret in that no one will know the value of anyone else's bid only in what order, from highest to lowest the current bids are ranked. If you're going to take on another character be sure you can beat them or hope they're very forgiving.

The order in which the attributes are auctioned will be randomly determined by cutting and drawing cards until three of the four attribute representaions have been drawn. Attributes will be represented as follows

Spades - Strength
Hearts - Endurance
Diamonds - Psyche
Clubs - Warfare

If you've not realized by now, the term auction is a little bit of a misnomer, since there is not one auction but four auctions, one for each attribute. Once points have been bid against an attribute they're gone, you cannot reclaim them. So if you blow 45 points in the auction of the first attribute and you're allowed a maximum of 80 points in attributes, that leaves a maximum of 35 for the remaining three attribute auctions. I suggest therefore that you determine a bid strategy before hand an stick to it. Above all else bid wisely and remember the first seven rankings are significant.
In the event of a bid tie there will be joint holders of that rank and skipped ranks for the next lowest. Thus if two people tie for first the next rank will be third and if three people tie for fourth the next rank will be seventh.

Campaign Specific Notes

The Keep of the Thirteenth Hour

The specifics of the auction for this campaign are as follows.

1. The points available are capped, you must allocate 40 points to attributes and you can allocate no more than 80 points in total to all attributes. One or two attributes may be Chaos rank allowing you to divide 90 or 100 points between the other three or two.
2. There will be a additional 6^th NPC in the auction who will remain an NPC at all times. I have my reasons for including this NPC in the auction but attacking and possibly killing this NPC may prove detrimental to your chances of future survival - assuming you live beyond the initial attack.