4. Powers

You have exactly 20 points to spend on elements, magic and powers. You will almost certainly spend the vast majority of points on elements, so choose your powers and magical abilities carefully.

A power represents a supernatural gift, an unusual natural ability or a special item. Seeing in the dark, owning a magic spear or talking to the dead would all be powers. Powers are specific in effect and limited in scope. More comprehensive and efficacious supernatural abilities fall under the magic rules. (See below.) The vast majority of powers cost from 0-3 points. In Amberway, each character may take one zero-point power along with any they pay for. It's unwise to spend more than 6 points on all your powers.

Power Costs - Ask three questions about your power and you will know the cost. Is it frequent - will I be using this power a lot? Is its effect major - does it do big things like, oh, causing serious bodily harm to others? Is it versatile - can you do a lot of things with it or not so many? Each yes answer costs you a point. That means if you get three nos, your power is free. Make sure you get those Nos from the GM! It's possible that a power could be rated, say, double major, or super-versatile, in which case it could end up costing 4+ points.

Note: The Amber power of "Pattern" is treated as a kind of Magic in Amberway -- actually two kinds of Magic. So see the Magic page for more info on Shadow-Walking and Pattern Manipulation.

We've compiled a list of all the powers actually chosen by Amberway PCs so far. Take a look.

5. Elements

The four alchemical elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water, are the four attributes of Everway characters. You have up to 20 points to spend on Elements, if you spend no points on powers or magic. That means a beginning PC would average 5 points in each element. Since the average human scores 3 in each element and each point represents a doubling of effect, the Amberway PC tends to be four times as powerful as any random mortal. This is a lot. But some elder Amberites would have 9 points in the appropriate element, and almost certainly have at least one 7. The Everway System Page goes into detail about the elements and their applications. The next thing to worry about is

Specialties - The elements cover very broad areas of endeavor. To aid in differentiation, a character gets to begin with one specialty for each element. Specialties should be appropriate to the element and be relatively narrow in focus. "Swordfighting" would be an acceptable Fire specialty; "Combat" would not. Specialties are free! When using an appropriate specialty you function as if your element score were one point higher than it is. Example: Fisher has 5 earth with a specialty of "resisting magic." When resisting a magical assault from a trap in the Grand Tunnel his earth score is considered to be 6 rather than 5.

In the event of a tie, the advantage goes to the character with the specialty. Example: Corwin (8 Fire with a specialty in "swashbuckling") finally gets into that knife fight with Caine (7 Fire with a specialty in "knife-fighting"). Corwin is not using his specialty, so he functions at 8 Fire. Caine is using his specialty, so he too functions at 8 Fire. But since Caine does have a specialty, he has the advantage. How much of one? Ask your mom. Or the GM.

6. The Magic Stage

Magic lets you make systematic, disciplined use of supernatural forces. Magic tends to be more versatile than even a versatile power. One character may have the power of flight, but a character with magic may be able to fly or move freely under water or send someone else winging through the air or knifing through the sea. (The very versatile and variable Amber power of Pattern is treated as two different magical abilities in Amberway.)

Magic, um, also tends to cost more than powers do. And the more you spend, the more effective you are.

Most player characters will not have magic. It's rare in the mythos and it requires real PC/GM cooperation because the rules are subjective - moreso even than the rest of Everway. If you feel you and the GM will not be able to agree on the scope of your magic, better to drop it.

Nevertheless, a well-designed school of magic can enrich play. For more details, including elemental linkage, power levels and sample disciplines, including the Amber Pattern writeups, see the Magic page.

7. Possessions

Hey, Everway is not about crass materialism! Hence you can start with whatever items or valuables seem appropriate for your character. (Mind you, any magical items need to be bought as powers.) The aboriginal exile Walks-with-Puma is unlikely to own a stagecoach, but almost certainly has a good spear. The warrior Archer may well own a fine set of armor and several weapons. The itinerant Fisher surely possesses a bedroll and cooking gear, and a nice collection of spice pouches because of his culinary skills.

8. You're done! Go play now!

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