The True Source is made up of two halves, saidar and saidin. Saidar is the female half of the One Power, saidin the male half. Only two to three percent of people have the ability to touch the One Power. When a person draws from the One Power and controlling its flow from the True Source it is called channeling.
Channeling takes threads of the One Power and weaves them to perform various tasks. The five threads of the One Power are Earth, Fire, Air, Water, and Spirit. People who have the ability to channel typically have a greater natural ability to deal with one or two of the different threads.
In general, men are stronger than women with the One Power. To balance this perhaps, women tended to have more dexterity in weaving the threads of the One Power. Typically, men were more adept with Fire and Earth, while women were more talented with Air and Water.
Use of the One Power is addictive. The act of channeling makes the person feel more alive, such that life without touching either saidin or saidar seems only a pale shade of what life should be. It is this reason that channeling is dangerous - drawing too much of the One Power can at the least sear the ability to channel out of a person, at the worst it can kill.
One way to prevent the accidental burning out which can result from
drawing too much of the One Power is the use of angreal or sa’angreal.
While angreal and sa’angreal increase the amount of the Power one
can channel, the artifacts known as ter’angreal are created to use the
Power in a specific manner. The uses of ter’angreal range from extremely
important to somewhat frivolous.
The most important feature of
a channeler is that they have channeling
points. These points are expended to power attempts at weaving the One
Power. Each weave has a cost listed with it - this represents the number of
channeling points used to cast the weave. A warrior may continue to cast weaves
in their shooting phase until he or she has run out of channeling points.
When a warrior who is able to channel (such as an Aes Sedai or Asha'man) is recruited, you will need to determine how many channeling points they have available. In effect, this is a measure of the warrior's power - a strong wielder of the One Power will have a large number of channeling points, whereas a weak user will have very few.
Male channelers are typically stronger than their female counterparts, and so gain 3D6 channeling points. Females receive only 2D6. Make this dice roll when the warrior is recruited - this is the fixed number of channeling points he or she can use per shooting phase.
Weaves are broken up into two separate sections - Standard Weaves and Special Weaves (also called Talents). Standard Weaves represent the most common ways of utilising the One Power, but the exact number of these weaves known by a newly recruited channeler will vary. See individual warbands’ rules for which weaves are known by which channelers. A channeler may use any weave that he or she knows during a game.
Special Weaves are much more advanced, and are not known by everyone. Some people exhibit the ability to form some of them, whereas other people are completely unable to do so. The perfect example of such a talent is healing - some channelers are able to do it quite well, whereas others are all but incapable of it.
Special Weaves are treated differently to Standard Weaves. Most channelers will begin with one Special Weave, and at no point may they take another one. It is impossible to teach a channeler these Talents - they either have the Talent, or they don't. Warriors who do not begin with a Special Weave may gain one (the particular warband’s rules will describe how this works), but no channeler may ever have more than one Special Weave (unless noted).
Note that some Special Weaves will not be available to
everyone - for example, no Tower Aes Sedai (at least during the time in which
this game is based) know how to Travel. If you do roll a weave that you are not
permitted to take, simply make another roll on the table.
Weaves may be cast during a player's own shooting phase. Channelers may cast most weaves in combat (exceptions are noted in the weaves rules section) but in this type of situation all channeling must be directed towards either the channeler him/herself or the opponent(s) in base-to-base contact with them. A three-step method is used to determine whether or not a weave has been successfully cast. This is as follows:
1.
Channeling Points - Subtract the cost of the weave from the channeler's current channeling
points. Note that these points are subtracted regardless of whether or not the
weave is successfully cast.
2.
Weave Test - Make the roll to see whether or not the weave was successful.
3.
Determine Weave Effects - If it was successful, determine the effects of the weave. If the
channeler has remaining channeling points, he or she may then attempt to cast
another weave.
1.
Channeling Points
Each weave has a cost listed in its description. This is the number of channeling points that must be expended to attempt that weave. Subtract this number from the channeler's current channeling points, and then move on to step 2.
Bob the Asha'man wishes to weave a Shield of Air. This particular weave has a cost of 4. Bob deducts 4 from his channeling points total of 12, and then rolls to see whether the weave was successfully cast. After its effects have been worked out, Bob has 8 channeling points remaining, and may continue to cast weaves until he runs out (or chooses to stop).
Note that between shooting phases, a warrior's channeling points are replenished. For example, if a warrior used 8 of his 12 channeling points in turn one, he would again have 12 points available at the start of turn two. Any remaining channeling points from the previous turn are lost - they cannot be stockpiled between turns.
2.
Weave Test
Once the cost has been paid
to attempt the weave, the channeler must roll equal to or greater than the
weave's difficulty on 2D6 (this is known as a Weave Test). If this dice roll is
successful, go on to step 3. Otherwise, the channeler may attempt to cast
another weave if he or she has channeling points available.
3.
Determine the Weave Effects
If the Weave Test is successful, work out the effects of the weave as explained in its description. This could take the form of working out damage from a fireball, or determining whether or not a shielding attempt has been successful.
It is possible to 'cut' the weaves of an enemy channeler - in effect dispelling the weave and stopping it from having any effect. In order to attempt this, the cutting channeler must have line of sight to the caster, and be within 12" of him or her. If these criteria are met, you may attempt to cut the enemy's weave (including weaves being maintained).
Just like an attempt to cast a weave, cutting weaves costs channeling points. Since it is easier to cut a weave being formed by someone of the same sex, this will cost 3 points (for example, and man cutting another man's weave). Opposite sexes, however, cannot physically see each other's weaves. This raises the channeling points cost to 4 points (for example, and woman cutting a man's weaves). Note that these channeling points are deducted from your total for your next turn, and the cost must be paid regardless of whether the attempt is successful. Obviously, this means that you can only attempt to cut weaves until you have used up all of next turn's channeling points.
Once the channeling points have been paid, roll a D6. On a 4+,
the weave is cut and does not take effect. On a 1-3, the weave is still
successful, and its effects are worked out as usual.
Women who are able to channel can form 'circles', linking channelers together and dramatically increasing the accuracy of their weaves. When such a circle is formed, one woman must be declared the 'leader' - in effect, she is the only one who can cast weaves, but she can use the strength of her companions to aid her.
Any Aes Sedai who are within 2" of each other at the start of their shooting phase, and who were not knocked down or stunned at the start of the turn, can form a circle. One Aes Sedai must be designated the 'leader' of the circle. All weaves are cast by this model (important for LOS, range, etc) and so only weaves known by the leader can be cast by the circle. This circle lasts for the duration of the current Aes Sedai turn, and all of their opponents turn. As long as the circle lasts no Aes Sedai can drop out and cast weaves individually - their channeling points are contributed to the whole.
When a circle is formed, add all the channeling points of the Aes Sedai in the circle into a single channeling pool. The cost of weaves is taken from this pool, rather than from individual Aes Sedai. All weaves cast by the circle cost 50% more than usual (round fractions up). For example, a weave normally costing 4 channeling points will cost 6 when cast by a circle. In addition, the leader of the circle gains +1 to her Weave Test (the 2D6 roll to determine if the weave is successful) for each person other than herself in the circle.
If any member of a circle is stunned or taken out of action while the circle still holds (remember that a circle lasts all of your turn, as well as all of your opponents), all other members must immediately take an Initiative test. If the test is failed, the Aes Sedai is knocked down. If the test is passed, they are able to shield themselves appropriately and suffer no ill affects.
It is possible to transfer leadership of a circle between its members. This can be done at any stage for a cost of 2 channeling points. Simply declare who will be the new leader, reduce the channeling pool total by 2, and then continue as normal, with the new leader in charge of the circle.
Note: men are able to join circles, but a woman must be present to form it. In small circles, like the ones you are likely to find in this game, if a woman brings a man into a circle, the man must lead it. Since there are no warbands containing channelers of both sexes, rules for this are unnecessary, but the information is provided in case of special scenarios or other events.
STRONG
AND WEAK POWERS (OPTIONAL RULE)
The One Power is itself
divided into five separate powers, known as Fire, Earth, Air, Water and Spirit.
Individual channelers are often strong in one of these powers, usually to the
detriment of another. In order to represent this, a channeler may be strong in one power, but must also be weak in another.
Note that if you are using the optional rules for strong and weak powers, channelers must select all of their weaves before determining which powers they are strong or weak in. This is to stop people from engineering their channelers by choosing only weaves that compliment their strengths and weaknesses.
To determine which power a channeler is strong in, and which he or she is weak in, roll a D6 on each of the following tables. Men will determine which power they are strong in using the first chart, and which power they are weak in using the second. Women will do the opposite. The tables reflect the fact that men are typically stronger with Fire and Earth, and women with Water and Air. If you roll the same power twice - once strong and once weak - then re-roll the weak power.
1-2
Fire
3-4
Earth
5 Water
6
Air
Female strong power, Male
weak power
1-2
Water
3-4
Air
5 Fire
6 Earth
Each weave has a power, or in
some cases more than one, listed in its description. If a channeler is strong
in all the powers necessary to cast the weave, he or she gains a +1 to the
Weave Test to see if the attempt is successful. If the channeler is weak in
even one of the necessary powers, he suffers a -1 to the dice roll for the
Weave Test.
RELATIVE
STRENGTH (OPTIONAL RULE)
The relative strength of channelers has a fairly dramatic effect on how easily weaves can be cut. A strong channeler will find it easier to cut the weaves of a weak channeler, and a weak channeler will have to exert much more effort to cut the weaves of a stronger channeler. Players who wish to represent this fact in the game may use the following table to determine the cost and difficulty of cutting another channeler's weave. Simply compare the difference in channeling points between the cutter and the weaver, and consult the appropriate entry on the chart on the next page. This entry will give you the cost in channeling points of the attempt, and the D6 roll required to succeed in the cutting attempt.
If you are attempting to cut the weaves of a channeler of the opposite sex (for example, a man is trying to cut a weave cast by a woman) add 1 to both the cost in channeling points and the difficulty of the attempt. For example, a man cutting a weave cast by a woman with 4 more channeling points will cost 5 channeling points and he will need a 6+ to succeed on a D6.
Note that the abbreviation 'cp' for 'Channeling Points' is used throughout the following table. 'Cutter' refers to the channeler attempting to cut the weaves, and 'Weaver' refers to the channeler attempting to cast them.
Difference in cps Cost of cutting attempt D6 roll needed to succeed
Cutter
7+ stronger 1 cp 2+
Cutter 3-6 stronger 2 cp 3+
Cutter 0-2 stronger 3 cp 4+
Weaver 0-2 stronger 3 cp 4+
Weaver 3-6 stronger 4 cp 5+
Weaver 7+ stronger 5 cp 6+
Note: the addition of this optional rule can make male channelers much better than female channelers at cutting weaves (since they, on average, get more channeling points than the women do). If you are at all concerned that this will unbalance your campaign, we recommend that you do not use this optional rule.