Cast - Attribute Auction

• All players start with 125 points.
• Every bid is permanent. It will never be reduced or refunded.
• No Attribute can be 'sold down' after it has been bid.
• Players can only bid for themselves.
• The winner of an Attribute in the auction is unbeatable.
• All Ranks (Attribute levels) are based on the auction.
• Bad Stuff = spending an excess of points = losing control of your character.
• Good Stuff = points leftover = good luck everywhere.
• Zero Stuff = zero points left = neutrality towards your character.
• Budget for what you really want. You'll truly never be satisfied with what you get. That's life.

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HUMAN (- 25 points, sell down)
Equal to an ordinary person from Shadow Earth. This level is dangerous because it makes the character vulnerable.

CHAOS (- 10 points, sell down)
Equal to the high end of the human spectrum. The common level of those born in the Courts of Chaos.

AMBER (free)
So very much better than all those wimps out in Shadow and Chaos. Unless you sell the attribute down to gain more points, all characters start here.

RANKED (+ points bid)
Bid points to increase your level (ranking) in an attribute. Any kind of ranking, even just a point, puts you way ahead of Amber level.

DOMINANT (largest bid in auction)
First place is superior. No one can conquer you in this attribute. At least no one in the immediate family.

SECRET (adjust points up after auction)
A secret advancement, one that other players will not know about. However, you must match the official bid for a rank and will always be ranked just a bit below the auction rank.

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"This is the rating of the character's mental strength. Psyche also shows the character's force of will, and their agility in manipulating Pattern, Logrus, Magic or Trump. In addition, a character with a high Psyche will be sensitive to danger and to other things.

Most important, the relative Ranking in Psyche will determine all contests of the mind. These Psychic battles, often fought through Trump contacts, or by touch, but also through mystic connections, will be always judged by a character's Psyche. The loser in a Psychic battle can, if overwhelmed, be killed by the power of the mind alone.

Why Bid on Psyche? Mental power, no matter what your power base, is the battery that runs things. Whether it be Pattern, Logrus, Trump, or Magic, it's the character with the highest Rank in Psyche who will be most feared.

Potentials: (Constant practice will eventually yield these.)

• Using the Pattern, can sense others moving through Shadow and follow them.
• A basic feel for Shadow paths, and know when one has been altered or artificially barred.
• Sense the gathering of magical energies accompanying use of a Sorcerer's spells, warning her of their imminent usage. Even if the Sorcerer is unseen, she/he can detect the magical aura and have some indication of its intended target.
• Detect the location of any other Psychic presence in the immediate area, including the minds of those invisible or hidden.
• Pattern users can detect the use of Logrus. Logrus users can detect the use of Pattern.
• Pick up on the physical condition of those in range of Psyche, seeing their hidden weaknesses, pain, and injury; whether they've reached the limits of their Endurance, and whether they are tired, hungry, thirsty or otherwise in need.
• Sense the presence of objects of power, whether the personal artifacts or creatures of another Amberite, or items powered by Pattern, Logrus, Trump, or other strong energies.
• Knows when someone is touching your Trump.
• Transfer of knowledge from another during mind to mind communication, unless the other character takes steps to block out the data.
• Read a Shadows composition and resonance, making it possible to identify much about the place, including time differential and the degree of Pattern and Logrus.
• Can identify someone with the blood of Amber who has not yet walked the Pattern, or telling whether someone has recently walked the Pattern. The potential for Logrus, Trump Artistry, Shape Shifting, and Magic are also noticeable.
• A feel for the truth. Can tell when one is telling the truth, lying, or skipping around the truth and evading a question.
• With mental contact, can locate and determine the identity of shape shifters."

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"Strength rates the character's muscles, and therefore the damage that a character can inflict in hand to hand combat, as well as the character's resistance to damage. Normal Strength, in an Amberite, is sufficient to heft and toss around small automobiles.

Once characters lay hands on each other, the contest, no matter what it may have been before, becomes one of sheer Strength. Unlike other forms of combat, where a character can usually run away, there is likely no escape from a wrestling match with a character of superior Strength.

Why Bid on Strength? If there's any such thing as a 'sure thing' in Amber, it's having a superior ranking in Strength. Most combat can go either way, influenced by any number of factors, but once you've got your hands around your enemy's throat, all that counts is Strength.

Potentials:

• Hand-to Hand Skill: Aside from sheer physical brawn, you can learn a wide range of hand-to-hand combat skills fast.
• Exertion: The pure muscle end of things; bend iron bars, break hardwood boards and individual concrete blocks, snap light chains and ropes; tear open car doors, conventional door locks, snap armor plate bindings; topple stone walls, turn a well-constructed building over on its side; punch through walls, break bones, rupture internal organs; uproot any tree small enough to grasp around the trunk.
• Resistance: Covered with a layer of muscle, just as a prize fighter is conditioned to absorb punches, your character can withstand an awful lot of damage."

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"Where normal mortals tire after a few minutes of fierce combat, Amberites can keep fighting, fencing, or partying for days on end. In addition, Amberite Endurance includes the ability to heal all wounds rapidly, even to the extent of (eventually) regenerating lost limbs and organs. In a fight of any kind, whether Warfare, Strength, or Psyche, the character with the greatest Endurance always has a chance of holding out longer than an opponent with lesser Endurance, and winning by default. In addition, anyone with less than Amber level Endurance will not be able to walk the Pattern unassisted.

Endurance is the only Attribute that comes into play in every situation, involving either physical combat or the use of arcane powers.

Why Bid on Endurance? You need it for everything. And, even if you are somehwhat inferior in some battle, a higher rank in Endurance, combined with a little patience, virtually guarantees victory. Endurance is the ultimate Amber tie-breaker.

Potentials:

• Healing (serious wounds): Dominant = less than 24 hours. Amber = five days. Chaos = two weeks. Human = bed rest for a month or more.
• Healing (minor wounds): Dominant = less than one hour. Amber = five hours. Chaos = two days. Human = a week or more.
• Full exertion and fatigue: Dominant = able to keep going for days without rest. Amber = can fight for 24 hours straight. Chaos = perhaps two or three hours. Human = wear out in 10 or 15 minutes.
• Regeneration: Dominant = any body part in less than four years, even eyes. Amber = 20 years to heal anything as delicate as the eyes. Chaos = might heal in a century or two. Human = never regenerate body parts."

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"All Amberites are trained in Warfare. Use of any weapons, from daggers to machineguns, requires Warfare. All duels of swordplay, the most common way of settling disputes, are judged according to the relative Warfare of the participants. Warfare also determines a character's 'knack' for tactics and strategy, for everything from the placement and leadership of troops on a battlefield, to a quiet game of chess.

Weakness in Warfare is more dangerous than in any other Attribute. That's because the relative Rank in Warfare determines how long the combat will last. If the Rank is too low, either Chaos or Human, the character can be hurt or killed before having a chance to flee.

Why Bid on Warfare? Face it, most conflict boils down to Warfare. There's nothing faster, nothing more decisive. Powers are too slow, compared with the flash of a blade. In Amber, the most feared character is th one with the fastest blade, the one with the highest Warfare Rank.

Potentials:

• Tactical Vision: resistant to surprise; react, without surprise or pause, to any and all threats, no matter how well hidden; anticipate even invisible and intangible opponents; can spot a familiar person or recognize an opponent's style of combat from a stance or outline of someone standing still; can instantly size up a stranger, figuring out movements and reactions, their attitude, along with any hidden weapons or secret abilities; based on scouting, troop placement, or even the arrangement of supplies, can recognize familiar opponents, see the strengths and weaknesses in any army and make accurate 'guesses' about what they will do and how they will react.
• Leadership: Your character knows how to lead soldiers. Can at least triple the effectiveness of any force using group psychology and loyalty; can subvert an enemy force using the same abilities; raising and training an army are second nature.
• Weapon Skills: Recognizes and uses every weapon that has, does, or ever will exist; anything can be used as a deadly weapon; visualizes all possible new weapons so is never surprised by any new technology.
• Reaction Time: Can become too fast for any spell casting that takes more than a moment; unless restrained, trapped or hit with an inescapable barrage, can dodge all incoming long-range fire.
• Strategy: Can master any strategic game; can cheat the 'fog of war' collecting superior information, flanking any enemy, surprising any enemy, and always outdoing the enemy in the battle of will or morale."