AMBER : STATISTICS
In the backgrounds I intend to use, all statistics are rated on a scale of 0 (i.e. Amber level) to 100. Thus Benedict has Warfare 100; Gerard has Strength 100, and the like. There are levels at -10 (Chaos) and -25 (Human) as well, but PC's and other Amberites statistics cannot go down that far.
Non-Royal inhabitants of Amber City mostly have statistics which are between Chaos and Amber level. Amber Castle guards, and Amber troops will have Strength and Warfare at the Amber level. A few exceptional inhabitants of the city will have statistics which are of over Amber level; the highest are roughly 10-15.
Psyche
- The driving force behind all powers which require mental exertion of any kind (e.g. Pattern, Logrus, Trump, Sorcery and the like), roughly equivalent to the power output of the mind.
- Psyche also determines ones resistance to psychic-type powers of all kinds.
- A general indicator of mental strength and sensitivity to ones surroundings. This includes a sensitivity to danger and threats in ones vicinity (a few tens of feet at most) whose minds are significantly weaker than ones own. This allows also beings with a high Psyche to tell when they are being observed.
- With a particularly high Psyche, one will be aware of particularly strong emotions in ones vicinity (a few tens of feet at most); the weaker the mind producing the emotion, the more obvious this will be.
- Psychic contact, greater concentration, and a Psyche advantage also allows one to 'mind-lock' a target in place, greatly reducing what they can do. Again, the greater the Psyche advantage, the faster the 'lock' takes effect, the less the target can do while mind-locked, and the more the attacker can do while maintaining the lock.
- With a Psyche advantage, and concentration, a person can feel the general emotional state of another, on touch, by eye contact (with an effective range of a few feet), or via a ranged psychic link (Trump or magic, generally). The greater the Psyche advantage, the more detail will be gained. With a particularly great Psyche advantage surface thoughts (mental sub-vocalisation) can be read, but no-one can read more deeply into a persons mind than that.
- Psyche does not allow reading of actual thoughts. However, given much time, effect, and Psyche advantage a target can be hypnotised, even against their will, and information gained from them in that fashion. This hypnosis can also be used to implant suggestions and the like in a targets mind.
- A Psyche advantage can also be used to project ones own emotional state onto another in a similar way to mind-locking someone. This can be pleasant or unpleasant for the target, depending on the attackers state of mind. How long the imposed mental lasts for depends on the difference in Psyche ranks. This can be done while a target is mind-locked.
Strength
- Physical power and resistance to damage.
- Amber rank Strength is quite capable of (with some effort) tying knots in the average fire poker and killing people of Human ranked Strength with a single punch. Gerard could kill someone of low-ranked Strength with a single punch, and of Chaos ranked or lesser Strength with a slap.
- Strength also determines how effective ones blows will be in combat (though Warfare mainly determines ones chances to hit). The only exception to Warfare primarily determining whether one hits or not is in grappling-type combat. Even against a foe with superior Warfare, if a person with a Strength advantage can grab them (even if this involves taking some damage in the process) then they are in trouble.
Endurance
- With psychic effort, Psyche determines the 'power output' of the mind, while Endurance determines how long that power output can be sustained.
- It also determines how long physical effort can be sustained, and how fast one heals from physical damage. At the Amber level and above it means that healing always occurs without scarring.
- Someone of Amber rank Endurance can fight in melee combat for a few hours or more before being exhausted. They can sprint at full speed for even longer, and jog for days. Walking the Pattern will still leave them exhausted nearly to death, taking days to recover. Corwin, on the other hand, has never exerted himself at mundane activities for so long that anyone has seen him become tired, even so, walking the Pattern tires him greatly, too much to be able to fight.
Warfare
- Primarily physical finesse and co-ordination, plus observational skill. To a lesser extent it includes some tactical ability, but no strategic ability.
- While Warfare does cover accuracy, in ranged combat with muscle-powered weapons (thrown blades, bows and crossbows) it requires a great advantage in Warfare to hit an aware opponent. This arises because, although the accuracy of the attacker may be very high, the defender will usually (with Amber rank or above Warfare) be aware that the projectile has been launched, and because the projectile travels relatively slowly, it can be dodged more easily then a hand-to-hand blow by the same attacker would be.
- Warfare alone will not allow you to sense opponents which you cannot otherwise detect (e.g. invisible and inaudible foes; snipers far away), regardless of how high it is. However, if there is some way to detect them (foes well behind cover, but moving and making some kind of sounds) then a high Warfare will pick them up.
- Raw Warfare will not substitute for training in many cases. Lock-picking, Strategy, Climbing and Prestidigitation are examples of this. Someone of high Warfare but no training will always lose out to someone of lower (usually much lower) Warfare who has been trained by someone competent, because the knowledge of how to do the given thing is more important than the physical skill behind it.
In combat Warfare primarily determines how successful one will be. However, someone with slightly inferior Warfare will be more effective than the higher Warfare person if they have superior Strength to them. After Strength, Endurance determines the outcome of physical combat, by determining who will tire first.
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