The Problem:
There are only four stats in Amber, and as such, they have a tendency, in my mind, to be stretched too far. Warfare, surely a useful skill, governs everything from chess, fencing, tactics, grand stratagems, and even martial arts techniques by some people's definitions. And that's just one of the stats.
The rule I use (influenced by the interaction of the four stats in the diceless system Everway) is that no stat exists in a vacuum. Every activity has one major stat that influences the outcome, and one stat that influences it to a lesser degree. I'm going to try to give an example of all the possible (or at least likely) interactions:
Swordplay | Warfare + (Str/2) | Makes Gerard (with, say, a warfare of 50 but a Str of 200) much more formidable, as he comes out a with a very respectable point total (50 + 200/2 = 150). |
Tactics | Warfare + (Psyche/2) | Makes Brand a serious threat to everyone, except maybe Benedict, and still gives old Benny a run for the money. |
Psyche Finesse | Psyche + (Warfare/2) | Used for determining success of psyche/power/spell attacks. -*OR*- Chess/etc -- As anyone who spars/duels/plays RPG's can attest, the Chess environment does take a different mindset than the battlefield. |
Brute Psyche | Psyche + (Str/2) OR + (End/2) (GM's choice) | Put that huge battery of endurance/body fitness to use! I use this as a basis for how much damage spells and other blasts of offensive energy will do to the target, as well as for tests of willpower once psychic contact is established. |
Hand-to-Hand | Strength + (Warfare/2) | Put some oomf into arguments that high Warfare gives good hand-to-hand techniques, but still lets Gerard remain the (very) Big-Dog at the top of the heap. |
Strength Finesse | Strength + (Psyche/2) | I've heard some good suggestions for this, most notably in tasks like rock climbing, hang-gliding, and other situations where a person's physical power needs to be applied with a little control. |
If you have any suggestions, write me with
ideas on what else combinations might govern.
I put together an Excel spreadsheet to track all my
NPC's and PC's using this system.
There are a few rules or statements outlined in the ADRPG book, as well as what I would call 'standard house rules' that a great number of people use that I wanted to provide easy 'conversion' for in the Holistic system. They follow below:
Combat Resolution:
First laid out by Randy Trimmer, this is a system to give the Amber GM a quick idea of the outcome of a battle between two opponents whose skill levels are not closely matched. (Applies to contests of Swordplay, Psyche Finesse, or Hand-to-Hand.)
Character 1 (C1) |
Aggressiveness |
Result |
C1's skill is generally equal to C2's skill |
Normal |
Fight could go on for days. |
C1 is not twice as good as C2, but is still somewhat superior. |
Normal |
Fight turns in C1's favor in 20 minutes to several hours. |
C1 is at least twice good as C2. |
Normal |
Fight turns in C1's favor in 2 - 15 minutes. |
C1 is at least three times as good as C2. |
Normal |
Fight turns in C1's favor in 30 seconds to 2 minutes |
C1 is at least four times as good as C2. |
Normal |
Fight turns in C1's favor in 2-15 seconds -- get the body bag. |
Notes:
The system does not, of course, take roleplay and general sneakiness into account, and as such is only really useful in 'automatic' fights, 'clean' sparring, and NPC to NPC fights.
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