The One Power and Character Generation

The Channeling ability is quantified by several Statistics and one Skill. Only those who have selected a Channeling Asset go through the magic section of chargen. Talents and other Channeling abilities are also selected through Asset Purchase. You cannot role-play Channeling ability until your background has been approved. Channelers are Restricted characters.


One Power Statistics

There are six Statistics related to the One Power - the five Elements (Earth Air, Water, Fire and Spirit), and Power. Their values can range from 1-10. The Fatigue Statistic, which all players have, also has special relevance for Channelers. Type 'cg ' to read about any of the following topics: 

Power          Elements          Magic Fatigue

The Power score is a measurement of overall strength with the One Power. The Elements ratings compare a channeler's facility with each of the Five Powers.

It's a bit like a figure skater who rates a 5 for style, a 6 for interpretation and an 8 for technical performance. Her overall score (Power) is 7, but she's better at some individual aspects of skating than others.

The mechanics of using the One Power system are discussed in more depth in 'cg _________', but it may be helpful to have a brief idea of how it works while going through character generation.

Each weave has a difficulty rating. When you Channel, the system considers your Power score, your score in the Elements used in that weave, your current Fatigue, Your Finesse Skill level and a random factor. If the result is equal or greater than the difficulty of the weave, you cast it successfully.

In this way two characters with the same Power score but different figures in the Elements Stats and Finesse Skill may not be able to cast the same weaves. One that's strong in Fire can create a fireball that the character strong in Water cannot, but the Water character might be able to create a weather effect the Fire character can't.


Statistical Data

This section is an explanation of the numbers behind the One Power Statistics, for those who are interested.

The most powerful Channeler in existence under this system would have 60 total Statistic points. No player character could have this many points, however. Excluding Asset and Flaw purchases, player characters range between 27 to 45 points. The majority of characters have between 33 to 39 total Stat points, which is above average (30 points), so we think that's quite fair.

If you include Asset and Flaw purchases (selected by the player), characters could have a minimum of 11 or a maximum of 55 total points.

Each player has a 60% chance of obtaining a Power score above 5, assuming they choose to place 5 points into their Power score. That's a 60\% chance of being above average in strength, which seems very fair to us. 

                     THE FATIGUE ATTRIBUTE AND CHANNELING
  
All players have a Fatigue rating, which applies to physically strenuous
activities. Fatigue is also used by the Channeling system. Casting weaves costs
Fatigue points, so the strength of the weaves a Channeler can perform decreases
as she becomes more fatigued. For example, a Channeler who has the overall
strength to weave lightning when fully rested might not be able to handle
enough power to do so if she is fatigued. Lost Fatigue points are gained back
with time (representing rest).
  
See 'cg fatigue' for general information on Fatigue, and 'cg attributes' for
information on Attributes in general.
   

                             THE POWER STATISTIC
  
A Channeler's Power rating represents how much of the One Power s/he can
handle - in general, how strong a Channeler she is. It ranges from 1-10,
although players cannot have a Power rating higher than 8. Power cannot be
increased after chargen. Only Channelers have this Statistic.
  
This chart lists characters from the novels according to the 1-10 Power rating.
Thematically, there is probably a greater range of variation in Power
strengths, but we feel that is an unnecessary level of complication for a game.
  
Power Rating	Effect
    0: 		can't channel
    1: 		can't go past Novice/put out of Tower after Novice
    2: 		can't go past Accepted
    3: 		weakest Aes Sedai
    4: 		moderate strength Channeler
    5: 		average strength Channeler
    6: 		above average Channeler
    7: 		Suian, Moiraine, Elaida
    8: 		Elayne, Egwene
    9: 		Nynaeve, most Forsaken
   10: 		the most powerful - Rand, Ishamael, Lanfear
   

                           THE ELEMENTS STATISTICS
  
Channelers have five Element Statistics - Air, Earth, Fire, Water and Spirit.
Their values can range from 1-10. The Elements cannot be raised after chargen.
Only Channelers have these Statistics. (Channelers also have a Power Stat, see
'cg power' for more information.)
  
Most Channelers are not equally expert with all of the Elements. They tend to
be strong in one or two, and weaker with one or two. Thematically, men are on
average stronger in Fire and Earth, and women in Air and Water, but there are
exceptions.
   

                              THE AIR STATISTIC
  
Air is one of the six Statistics that measure a Channeler's ability. Its value
ranges from 1-10. Female Channelers are on average stronger with Air than male
Channelers, but there are exceptions.
  

                             THE EARTH STATISTIC
  
Earth is one of the six Statistics that measure a Channeler's ability. Its
value ranges from 1-10. Male Channelers are on average stronger with Earth than
female Channelers, but there are exceptions.
  

                              THE FIRE STATISTIC
  
Fire is one of the six Statistics that measure a Channeler's ability. Its value
ranges from 1-10. Male Channelers are on average stronger with Fire than female
Channelers, but there are exceptions.
  

                             THE WATER STATISTIC
  
Water is one of the six Statistics that measure a Channeler's ability. Its
value ranges from 1-10. Female Channelers are on average stronger with Water
than male Channelers, but there are exceptions.

 
                              THE SPIRIT STATISTIC
  
Spirit is one of the six Statistics that measure a Channeler's ability. Its
value ranges from 1-10. Strength in Spirit appears equally in male and female
Channelers.


Guidelines For Selecting One Power Statistics

When Channelers enter the magic section of chargen, they are given some random points to each of their One Power Statistics as follows:

Females: When a female Channeler enters the magic section, her Air and Water stats are randomly set to values between 1-4, and her Spirit, Earth and Fire stats are randomly set to values between 0-3. Her Power stat is randomly set to a value between 0-2.

Males: When a male Channeler enters the magic section, his Earth and Fire stats are randomly set to values between 1-4, and his Spirit, Air and Water stats are randomly set to values between 0-3. His Power stat is randomly set to a value between 0-2.

Players of Channelers are given 25 magic points to spend as desired on raising the six Statistics. (That pool of points can be increased or decreased with Asset and Flaw purchases.) There are four simple rules for setting One Power Stats:

  1. No One Power Statistic may be raised above 10.

  2. You can put no more than 5 of your magic points into the Power Statistic. You can place up to 10 points in each of the Elements (Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Spirit).

  3. The final value of the Power Stat cannot be above 7 without the Stronger Channeler Asset and then can only go as high as 8. The final value of the Elements cannot be above 10, including magic points you've spent, and bonuses from Asset selections.

  4. You do not need to spend all of your magic points. Any unspent points are converted to Experience Points that can be used to increase your Skills after chargen.

The purchase of certain Assets and Flaws allows for more customization and variation. There are Assets that raise and lower the Power Stat, and grant fewer or more magic points. 

                    Example of One Power Stats selection:
  
      Random Roll to Start              After Spending 25 Optional Points
      --------------------              ---------------------------------
      Power:  0                         Power:  5
      Air:    2                         Air:    7
      Water:  1                         Water:  4
      Fire:   1                         Fire    6
      Earth:  0                         Earth:  3
      Spirit: 3                         Spirit: 7


Skills Related to Channeling

There are two Skills related to use of and information about Channeling. 

Finesse
-------
The Finesse Skill is only available to Channelers. As with any other Skill, it
ranges from Levels 0-10, and cannot be raised above 5 in chargen. It can be
increased by spending Experience Points. Many non-Tower Channelers have a limit
to the maximum Finesse Level they can obtain, as they do not receive the same
level of training in the use of their ability.
  
Finesse represents a Channeler's training and skill in handling the One Power,
as well as his or her general knowledge about Channeling and the Power. Men can
maintain a number of split weaves equal to their Finesse. Women can maintain a
number of split weaves equal to their Finesse divided by two.
  
Esoteric Lore
-------------
The Esoteric Lore Skill includes knowledge of artifacts from the Age of
Legends, the Forsaken and legendary creatures, etc. It also includes general
knowledge about Channeling that a non-Channeler might know. An example would be
a Warder who knows that a lot of Channeling will fatigue his Aes Sedai. This
Skill is open to all character types.


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