The Stat Information Page

This page offers an overview of the eight stats, arranged in four pairs. You can also look at the Advanced Stat Concepts page for a better idea on how they interact and how the GM handles things, but it isn't needed to play.

Quick-Find Table

• Psyche
• Psychic Power
• Psychic Finesse
• Strength
• Physical Strength
• Martial Arts
• Endurance
• Physical Endurance
• Mental Endurance
• Warfare
• Weapons Skills
• Tactics

Psyche - The two Psyche stats are Psychic Power and Psychic Finesse.

Psychic Power

This determines how much psychic whoopass you can unleash. It is the raw power of your brain. Psychic Power is used for the straightforward, force-related applications of Psyche, from direct psychic combat to clashing powers to trying to influence other people by sheer force of personality and will. It acts as a sort of armor over your Mental Endurance, as well.

High Psychic Power helps you:

• Force Trump contacts
• Avoid being forced to take a Trump contact
• Invade and crush people's minds
• Fend off Psychic attack by being too macho to be affected
• Impose your will on others by sheer force of determination
• Use powers which require brute psychic strength (quickly resetting the laws of an entire shadow, crushing people to death with Logrus Tendrils, whacking hostile powers with the Sign of the Pattern, etc.)
• Put more punch in your powers, such as making your spells harder to dispel
• Influence people with your charisma and personality

The scale for Psychic Power is:

• Human (-25): You have the will of an average human, which means that in the Amber scheme of things, you're feeble. The average Amberite can crush you like a bug in psychic combat, and anyone above Amber rank can peel your mind like a grape in seconds. You can't even initiate psychic combat.
• Chaos (-10): Your will is on a level with that of major world leaders on Earth. You can initiate psychic combat, although this is more or less limited to making people do what you want by dominating their will. This is the average rank in Chaos, while in Amber someone at this rank is considered somewhat weak willed. Anyone with 1 or more points can still squish your mind like a grape, but it may take a little time if they don't have too many points.
• Amber (0): On Earth, you'd be the next Adolf Hitler, able to hold entire nations spellbound by your force of will and magnetism. In Amber, you're just a Joe on the street. You can initiate psychic combat, easily beating those of Human rank and defeating those of Chaos rank with effort. Only those with 76 or more points of Psyche can beat you with a single psychic blow if you're ready for them.
• 1-10: Ward bosses, con men, and clergymen in Amber generally have this much Psychic Power.
• 11-20: Professional sorcerors and the top clergy and political elite generally have Psychic Power in this area.
• 21-50: The most powerful of sorcerors have Psychic Power in this area, people who even the Royal Family respect. This is about as high as you can get outside of the Royal Family.
• 51-75: The rest of the family is wary about getting into psychic contact with you, as they know you have an overpoweringly strong will. You're one of the psychic top guns of Amber.
• 76-125: This is nigh-unbelievable strength of will. People at this level can crush others psychically incredibly quickly. Indeed, sometimes, you may mold others to your will without realizing it if their psyche is substantially lower than yours. Anyone with Amber psyche or lower is basically your puppet with no real chance of saving themselves.
• 126+: You have a god-like will, capable of vastly impressive feats. You can channel energies that would rip apart most members of the family, and warp entire Shadows at unbelievable speeds. Your psychic blows are nigh-unstoppable. Anyone with ten or less points of Psyche will pretty much collapse in the face of your psychic might.

Psychic Finesse

This measures your psychic agility and fine-control. This is used to do things like direct your Logrus tendrils or do psychic surgery... or sneak into someone's brain through the back door in psychic combat.

High Psychic Finesse lets you:

• Sense the use of powers if you have some means to detect them (With really high amounts of Finesse, you may begin to sense Power usages even if you lack the skills to detect them in theory.)
• Analyze the use of powers around you
• Detect other minds
• Sense the physical health of those around you
• Sense the mental state of those around you and their attitude towards you, even if they try to hide it.
• Sense objects of power
• Use powers which require fine control (molding shadow on a small scale, shadow travel, psychic surgery, logrus juggling, etc)
• Establish psychic contact with people
• Fend off psychic attack by skill and mental nimbleness
• Talk people into things by cunning argument.

The scale for Psychic Finesse is:

• Human (-25): You have the mind of an average human, which means that in the Amber scheme of things, you're feeble. The average Amberite can crush you like a bug in psychic combat, and anyone above Amber rank can peel your mind like a grape in seconds.
• Chaos (-10): Your mind is on a level with that of famous scientists on Earth. This is the average rank in Chaos, while in Amber someone at this rank is considered somewhat mentally stunted. Anyone with 1 or more points can still run mental circles around you, but it may take a little time if they don't have too many points.
• Amber (0): On Earth, you'd be the next Einstein, capable of difficult mental exercises. In Amber, you're just a Joe on the street.
• 1-10: In the city of Amber, this level of Psychic Finesse tends to be possessed by those whose careers touch on mental disciplines, like alchemists and psychiatrists.
• 11-20: Professional sorcerors in Amber tend to be in this range, as cunning manipulation of powers on a regular basis requires it if you want to live for long.
• 21-50: The most powerful of sorcerors have Psychic Finesse in this area, people who even the Royal Family respect. This is about as high as you can get outside of the Royal Family.
• 51-75: The rest of the family is wary about letting you influence them, as they know that a simple conversation with you can lead to you steering them in directions of your choosing. You're one of the psychic top guns of Amber.
• 76-125: This is nigh-unbelievable subtlety of mind. People at this level can humble even those with strong minds by slipping in the back way and rebuilding their brain without them even knowing they're under attack. Indeed, sometimes, you may mold others to your will without realizing it if their psyche is substantially lower than yours. You can manipulate Shadow like a master musician can manipulate a well-known song, and those powers involving fine control are your forte. Anyone with Amber Finesse or lower is basically your puppet with no real chance of saving themselves.
• 126+: You have a god-like mind, capable of vastly impressive feats. You can make the powers sit up, beg, roll over, and do tricks. You can hide your manipulations of reality from prying eyes, and spot anything anyone else is doing. In fact, your psychic senses are so finely tuned that you can sense the ripples through Shadow caused by Hellriding or Shadow manipulation, often from many, many Shadows away. Your psychic blows will dodge through any defense, striking the target mind with unerring precision in its weakest spots. Anyone with ten or less points of Psyche will pretty much collapse in the face of your psychic craft.

Strength - The two Strength stats are Physical Strength and Martial Arts.

Physical Strength

This measures your physical strength and athleticism. It also determines how badly blows which don't puncture your flesh hurt you (fists, clubs, rocks, blast waves, etc). Your Physical Strength gives both Martial Arts and most Weapon Skills attacks more power.

High Physical Strength lets you:

• Climb
• Swim
• Run
• Jump
• Hurt people once you've grabbed them.
• Bend or break things
• Smash through things
• Take a beating and keep going
• Not be moved if you don't want to move
• Survive falls and being hit by cars
• Succeed in yanking a weapon away once you grab it.
• Break a grabbed weapon
• Punch through armor and barriers

The Physical Strength scale looks like this:

• Human (-25): You have the strength of an average human, which means that in the Amber scheme of things, you're feeble. The average Amberite can lift you AND what you're trying to lift at the same time.
• Chaos (-10): You're ready to do professional weight lifting or professional athletics on Earth. This is the average rank in Chaos, while in Amber someone at this rank is considered somewhat weak.
• Amber (0): You're ready to win the Olympics multiple times. You are a skilled athlete, easily beating those of Human rank and defeating those of Chaos rank with effort. On the streets of Amber, though, you're normal. Only those with 76 or more points of Physical Strength can one-punch you if you're ready for them.
• 1-10: Citizens of Amber who do a lot of hard physical labor will generally be found in this range of points. Only those with 126 or more points of Physical Strength can one-punch you if you're ready for them.
• 11-20: People at this level are regulars at the gyms and playing fields of Amber, and are generally either professional athletes, professional bruisers, or wealthy enough to be able to spend a lot of time working out..
• 21-50: The legendary athletes and boxers of Amber are in this range, people who will still be talked about years after their death. This is about as high as you get outside of the Royal Family.
• 51-75: You're one of the strongest people in the family. The others may not think highly of you, but they all know that if you get your hands on them just once, it's all over. You're strong enough to break through 1 point armor with your fists.
• 76-125: You knock down trees, kill dragons with a blow to the head, and juggle members of the Royal Family for fun. They can't stop you, after all. You can be hit by a moving train without serious harm. You can break through 2 point armor with your fists, and given enough time, shatter things with 4 point armor. You can one-punch just about anyone with Amber strength or less, unless they have goatloads of Endurance.
• 126+: You can stop a speeding train by bracing yourself and extending one hand. You have been known to lift and carry entire buildings, and kick holes in castle walls. You can punch through 4 point armor, and given enough time, you can break through 8 point armor. You can one-punch anyone with 15 or less points of Strength, unless they have goatloads of Endurance.

Martial Arts

This is measures your skill in unarmed combat and with combat acrobatics. If you want to bounce around like a movie ninja and crush people with your flaming fists of fury, this is the way to go.

High Martial Arts is:

• Used to hit people when unarmed, from punches to kicks to judo throws.
• Used to avoid being carved up by people with weapons when you don't have one (Weapon Skills users gain an advantage against Martial Artists in such things)
• Can be used to dodge missile weapons (though WS is superior for this purpose) or to grab missile weapons out of the air.
• Used to grab a foe's weapons
• Used to assess people's unarmed fighting styles and how good they are and who trained them
• Used to do things like jump around like a mexican jumping bean in combat, balance on a flagpole with one toe, vault out of the way of falling boulders, and generally be mobile.

The Martial Arts scale looks like this:

• Human (-25): You have the martial arts skills of an average human, which means that in the Amber scheme of things, you're pathetic. The average citizen of Amber can crush you like a bug in hand to hand combat, and anyone above Amber rank will run wild over you without even noticing.
• Chaos (-10): You're ready to do pro gymnastics or professional martial arts here on Earth. This is the average rank in Chaos, while in Amber someone at this rank is considered somewhat uncoordinated. Anyone with 1 or more points can still beat you down, but it may take a little time if they don't have too many points.
• Amber (0): You're ready to trade tips with Bruce Lee. You are a skilled unarmed combatant, easily beating those of Human rank and defeating those of Chaos rank with effort. Only those with 76 or more points of Martial Arts can one-punch you if you're ready for them.
• 1-10: Citizens of Amber who do a lot of tavern brawling will generally be found in this range of points. Only those with 126 or more points of Strength can one-punch you if you're ready for them.
• 11-20: The advanced students of Amber's dojos and elite commandos and bodyguards tend to fall into this range.
• 21-50: This level of skill is posessed by only a few of Amber's more respected masters, typically hundred-year-old senseis with several reverent disciples. This is about the upper limit of skill you can reach without being a member of the Royal Family.
• 51-75: You always beat your brothers and sisters at wrestling as a child. Everyone knows that you're more deadly with your bare hands than most of the family is with a weapon.
• 76-125: You can pull stunts like watching someone eat breakfast and tell how good they are at unarmed combat and what style they practice. You beat down entire ninja armies with your left big toe for fun. You can violate the laws of nature mildly with your combat moves. You can take down anyone of Amber Martial Arts or less with one blow, unless they have goat loads of Endurance.
• 126+: Two words: The Matrix. You can now pull stunts like changing direction in mid-flying kick, or catching bullets, or causing low-endurance people to explode into bloody pulp by tapping them with your finger. You can get more air time in one jump than Jordan got total in his entire career. You can take down anyone of Martial Arts 15 or less with one blow, unless they have goatloads of Physical Endurance.

Endurance - The two Endurance stats are Physical Endurance and Mental Endurance.

Physical Endurance

This determines how long you can take a physical beating, how long you can keep using your body, and how fast you heal physical damage. It also determines your immunity to the various things that can cause the human body to malfunction or die.

High Physical Endurance measures:

• How much punishment you can take before you collapse or die
• How long you can exert yourself at top form
• How long you can go without rest
• How fast you heal
• How fast you regenerate lost body parts
• How well you resist poisons, acids, radiation, etc.
• It is the power battery for Shapeshifting and Power Words

The scale for Physical Endurance is:

• Human (-25): You have the health and constitution of an average human, capable of fifteen or so minutes of sustained exertion before you need a rest. Serious wounds take a month or more to heal.
• Chaos (-10): On our earth, you'd be one of the healthiest people around. You can heal serious wounds in about two weeks, and given enough time, you can even regrow lost body parts, although even something as small as a finger would take you a century. You can last two or three hours of heavy exertion before you tire.
• Amber (0): The best real world human who ever was, an above average Chaosian, or an an average Amberite. You can chug weak poisons for breakfast, fall in a Russian river in mid-winter, get shot three times, and still be alive when you crawl out. You can heal burnt out eyes in 50 years or so, regenerate limbs over longer spans of time, and fight for a good twenty four hours before you collapse, assuming you take no injuries. It takes at least two blows to knock you out, unless the person doing it has 76+ in the attacking attribute.
• 1-10: Average citizens of Amber who have to do a lot of physical labor will generally be found in this range of points. It takes at least two blows to knock you out, unless the person doing it has 126+ in the attacking attribute.
• 11-20: In Amber, people at this level are generally employed in a job that calls for great stamina, like long-distance running, wilderness scouting, or military courier. You can manage 2 days of continuous exertion, such as combat or hauling relatives across the desert. It takes at least two blows to knock you out.
• 21-50: You outlast the Energizer bunny. Citizens of Amber with this level of Endurance are renowned for being nearly unkillable and unstoppable; this is about as high as you can get outside of the Royal Family. You can manage 3 days of continuous exertion, such as combat or hauling relatives across the desert. It takes at least two blows to knock you out.
• 51-75: Your family knows that any attempt to kill you will have to be very, very thorough, and probably include burning the body. You think they're rather weak for having to do things like get regular sleep. You can manage 4 days of continuous exertion, such as combat or hauling relatives across the desert. It takes at least two blows to knock you out.
• 76-125: You are one of the healthiest beings of all time. You can breathe corrosive gases like oxygen, chug cobra venom by the barrel, and ignore minor setbacks like being stabbed through the heart until combat is over. You could fight for five days straight, regrow eyes in four years, heal major wounds in under a day, and carry half your family on your back across the desert without breaking a sweat. It takes at least three blows to knock you out.
• 126+: You are just scary. You can survive taking a nuclear weapon at point-blank range. You only sleep when you've been badly injured. You can breathe any sort of liquid or gas just as well as oxygen, and your skin is largely flameproof and heat resistant. You can be shot in every single major organ multiple times and still keep fighting. About the only way to kill you is to cut you to bits, burn the bits, and then scatter the ashes just to be on the safe side. You probably poke out your eyes for fun, just to show you can heal them quickly. You can probably exert yourself strenuously for a week or more. It takes at least four blows to knock you out.

Mental Endurance

This measures how much of a mental beating you can take and how long you can keep using your brain before it gives out, and how fast you heal mental damage. It also measures things like your internal will and self-control.

What High Mental Endurance is good for:

• This is your battery for psychic combat and the use of Pattern/Logrus/Trump/Sorcery/Conjuration
• This is your ability to take hits in psychic combat and keep fighting
• This is your mental resillience; how fast you bounce back from a psychic beating
• If you do lose a psychic battle, and get turned into someone's mental slave or have your mind rewritten, this measures how much of a chance you have of shaking it off over time
• This is your ability to concentrate on something, ignoring distractions like agonizing pain or getting thrown through the air by explosions
• This keeps your mind from falling into gibbering insanity for whatever reason
• You resist torture with this; after all, it's your will which torture is trying to break

The scale for Mental Endurance is:

• Human (-25): You have the mental endurance of an average human, capable of fifteen or so minutes of sustained psychic exertion before you need a rest.
• Chaos (-10): You are one of the most mentally resillient people around on our Earth. You can last two or three hours of heavy exertion before you tire.
• Amber (0): The best real world human who ever was, an above average Chaosian, or an an average citizen of Amber. You can use powers for up to 24 hours before you collapse. It takes at least two psychic blows to knock you out, unless the person doing it has 76+ in the attacking attribute.
• 1-10: Citizens of Amber with a reputation for cool self-control are at this level. It takes at least two psychic blows to knock you out, unless the person doing it has 126+ in the attacking attribute.
• 11-20: In Amber, this level of Mental Endurance generally means you're a wizard or a monk, or some other profession revolving around mental discipline. You can manage two days of strenuous effort with powers before you collapse. It takes at least two psychic blows to knock you out.
• 21-50: Wizards who regularly do great feats of magic have this much Mental Endurance, which is about the limit outside of the Royal Family. You can manage three days of strenuous effort with powers before you collapse. It takes at least two psychic blows to knock you out.
• 51-75: The family knows and respects your iron will and unshakable calm; attacking you psyhically is generally deemed an uphill battle. You can manage four days of strenuous effort with powers before you collapse. It takes at least two psychic blows to knock you out.
• 76-125: You are one of the most mentally resillient beings of all time. Only the strongest and most repeated of mental attacks can damage your mind, and you are always in perfect control of yourself. You can manage five days of strenuous effort with powers before you collapse. It takes at least three psychic blows to knock you out.
• 126+: You have utter control of your emotions, and can turn things like fear and joy on and off at will like water from a tap. Pain is only information to you; just one more bit of data, and certainly nothing that bothers you.Trying to attack your mind is generally like trying to dry up the Colorado River with a hairdryer. You can keep up the powers for a week or more without much trouble. It takes at least four psychic blows to knock you out, and unless they're backed by over 100 points of psyche it's going to take a lot more than four.

Warfare - The two Warfare stats are Weapon Skills and Tactics.

Weapon Skills

This determines how well you chop people into giblets with hand weapons or shoot them to death with ranged weapons. It covers both weapons-oriented reflexes and your ability to feint and spot openings, as well as your knowledge of armed combat styles.

High Weapon Skills let you:

• Win any sort of fight with weapons
• Anticipate a foe's likely weapons-related actions if you're aware of their presence
• Watch someone fight and assess how good they are and who trained them.
• Feint with a weapon
• Quickly deduce the best uses of any weapon
• Avoid getting shot by people you're aware of
• Do fancy weapon tricks
• Beat people to death with improvised weapons
• Improvise weapons
• Maintain, repair, build, and identify weapons
• Drive vehicles
• Fly planes and spacecraft
• Ride horses

The Weapon Skills scale looks like this:

• Human (-25): You have the fighting skills of an average person. You can pick up a sword by the right end, and if you're from a tech shadow, you know how to fire a gun, although you may or may not be sure how to load it. But anyone of higher rank will cut through you like a hot knife through butter.
• Chaos (-10): You have the fighting skills of a well-trained commando. This is the average rank in Chaos, while in Amber someone at this rank is considered somewhat poorly skilled. You're still going to get crushed by anyone ranked, but they might not kill you with one shot while blindfolded...
• Amber (0): You're ready to go toe to toe with Olympic Fencers. However, in Amber, this just makes you an average joe on the street. Only those with 76+ in WS can kill you with one blow unless you're extremely distracted or already unconscious.
• 1-10: Average citizens of Amber specializing in combat, such as soldiers or bodyguards, will generally be found in this range of points. Only those with 126+ in WS can kill you with one blow unless you're extremely distracted or already unconscious.
• 11-20: The Castle Guard of Amber has about this level of skill, as do small elite units in the Royal Army.
• 21-50: Famous swordsmen and bodyguards of renown have this level of skill in Amber; people so good that facing them is considered certain death. This is about as high as people go outside of the Royal Family.
• 51-75: Even Amberites consider those of this level of skill to be exceptionally good. Even if you aren't the best in the family, you're definitely one of the foremost warriors of it.
• 76-125: You are a legendary warrior of the family. At this level, you could pull stunts like fighting an army of hundreds or thousands of human level Weapon Skills people by yourself, if your Physical Endurance held out. You can one-blow slay anyone of Amber warfare or less, unless they have goatloads of Physical Endurance.
• 126+: You could probably give Benedict a few tips on how to improve his skills. You can fight every famous swordsman in the city of Amber at the same time and win. You take on the entire Imperial Navy in a single X-Wing and win. It is generally accepted in the family that facing you with a blade is certain death. You can one-blow slay anyone with 15 or less points of warfare, unless they have goatloads of Endurance.

Tactics

Tactics covers, like all attributes, a fair range of skills. It includes leadership skills, organizational skills, the manipulation of many factors at once on a field of combat (ranging from planning advertising campaigns to leading armies on the battlefield), the use of one's environment against foes, stealth, and the detection of stealth. It does NOT cover things like feinting with a sword, or exploiting a hole in someone's swordplay; that falls under Weapon Skills.

High Tactics will let you:

• Lead armies and small units of men
• Increase the morale of armies under your command
• Recruit troops
• Organize armies
• Exploit terrain in combat
• Set Ambushes
• Run a complicated organization, like a nation or business
• Avoid Ambushes
• Design DeathTraps
• Avoid DeathTraps
• Sense imminent attacks
• Avoid surprise attacks
• Win games of strategy
• Assess intelligence information more accurately
• Try to predict what an opposing army is going to do
• Stealth
• Lead someone into an ambush or into a part of the battlefield you wish them to be in.
• Coordinate assaults

The tactics scale looks like this:

• Human (-25): You have the tactical skills of an average person. You can lead a group of men into battle if you have to. But anyone of higher rank will rout your unit very quickly.
• Chaos (-10): You have the fighting skills of a well-trained officer. This is the average rank in Chaos, while in Amber someone at this rank is considered somewhat poorly skilled. You're still going to get crushed by anyone ranked, but they might not kill your entire army.
• Amber (0): You're ready to go toe to toe with Napoleon. However, in Amber, this just makes you an average joe on the street.
• 1-10: The ordinary noncoms and officers of Ambers will generally be found in this range of points.
• 11-20: People at this level are considered skillful tacticians in Amber. The staff officers of the Royal Army tend to be in this range.
• 21-50: This is the realm of the consumate professional. Famous generals and mercenary captains of reknown have this level of skill in Amber; it is generally as high as you get without being a member of the Royal Family.
• 51-75: Even Amberites consider those of this level of skill to be exceptionally good. Your siblings probably nominate you as one of the war leaders when Amber needs to smack down an army.
• 76-125: You are a legendary general of your time. You begin to anticipate things like how this would be the best time for someone invisible to attack, or get a feeling of danger from weapons disguised as something innocuous. You will rout any force led by someone of Amber Tactics or less in minutes, unless the forces involved are ridiculously disparate, and sometimes even if they are.
• 126+: Your mind is one gigantic tactical matrix, constantly assessing the situation, the various possible complications of it, and the best way to respond. You formulate contingency plans on how to deal with people before you even become aware they exist. For relaxation, you defeat 21th Century armies with a rabble of Bronze-Age charioteers. You will rout any force led by someone of Tactics 10 or less in minutes, unless the forces involved are ridiculously disparate, and frequently even if they are.