This is the system that will be used as a guide to roleplaying the One Power. If you have a channeling character, it is essential that you familiarize yourself with it. It may seem complicated at first, but it is really quite simple. The purpose of the system is to bring about a greater degree of order and certainty to roleplaying with the Power, so that everyone is clear on what they can do. It is also intended to reduce the amount of abuse, by clarifying what is not possible. A final aim is to actually improve roleplaying by giving firm guidelines on how channeling characters can be developed. It's important to note however, that the scores assigned to your character are not the be-all end-all of every situation. Despite a character being exceptionally strong in the Power and especially skilled in their use of it, they can still be beaten in the right situation.
The Five Powers (Note that the words affinities and elements are interchangeable with references to the Five Powers)
The Five Powers are natural affinities for each of the five elements, Air, Earth, Fire, Spirit and Water. All five Powers added together give overall strength in the Power. Overall strength is rated out of 50, with each of the Five Powers rated out of 10. Average affinity for any given one of the Five Powers varies dependent on gender, with men having greater relative affinity for Earth and Fire, women for Air and Water, and the affinity for Spirit fairly equal between the two (relatively considering males are stronger than females to start with). Upon approval of your character biography, you will be randomly assigned your Strength score. As you should be aware, women are generally speaking weaker than men in the One Power. To account for this, the average (mean) One Power Strength score for women is set at 28. The average Strength score for men is set at 32. The random generation of statistics means that most Strength scores will be centered around the averages for each particular gender, with fewer and fewer people having scores that are further and further away from that average (thus, extremely weak and extremely strong channelers are less common than “average” channelers). Male scores range from 26-38, Females from 22-34. See Buy Chart below once you get your points to choose your element scores.
Skill Skill is as important as Strength and thus is rated, like Strength, on a scale of 1-50. The average male level of skill is 28, female 32. As with Strength, your Skill score is assigned to you when your biography is approved. Female scores range from 26-38, Males from 22-34.
Potency Potency is a measure of your character’s overall potential with the One Power, taking both Strength and Skill into account. Potency is measured out of 100, and consists of the sum of your Strength and Skill scores. Potency may never exceed 100 unless via the use of an angreal/sa’angreal, or in the special circumstances of linking.
Linking Linking, or forming a circle is intended to increase the amount of strength available, when the raw potential of one channeler is not enough. Women can link up to thirteen, but any more requires a man. Men have no ability to link without a woman. In a link, one person has control of all the flows, and they are called the leader, or focus. Though not necessarily the most powerful person in the circle, they are almost always the most skilful. The role-playing effect of linking is to create effectively one channeler with greater strength. Skill of a circle is that of the leader. The effective Strength of the circle is not, however, as strong as the sum Strength of all the channelers involved in the circle. The equation for linked strength is as follows:
(Average Strength of the members of the circle) x (modifier)
The modifiers will be set on a base 1.5 with 0.1 added for each channeler that is added to the circle. A circle of 2 channelers would have a modifier of 1.5, a circle of 3 channelers would have a modifier of 1.6, and so on.
For example, if Nurien (Strength 29), Daedral (Strength 34) and Meritin (Strength 29) link, here is how to work out the overall strength of the circle:
Average Strength (92/3 = 31)
Multiply the result by the modifier for 3 channelers (31 x 1.6 = 50).
If Meritin is leading the circle, with a skill of 33, then the overall Potency of the circle would be 50 + 33 = 88.
Large circles are one of the few situations where potency can exceed the 100 limit normally placed upon it. Here is an example:
A circle of 13 Aes Sedai with a hypothetical average Strength of 28, using the appropriate modifier of 2.2 would have the following result:
Average Strength (28) x modifier (2.6) = 73
If Meritin is again leading this circle, with her Skill of 33, then the overall potency would be 73 + 33 = 106
If the result comes out as a decimal (for example, 109.84657) round to the nearest whole number where possible (previous example would become 110). If the decimal is an exact half (109.5) round the result down (to 109).
Angreal and Sa'angreal Each angreal or sa’angreal is individual and unique. All angreal work in the same way – they boost overall strength, so that a channeler is not tired as quickly as if they were channeling unaided. They also have a buffer which prevents drawing too much of the Source.
Each angreal has a Multiplication Factor of the channeller’s own Strength. Multiples can include decimals, however the result produced should be rounded in the same way as results for linking. Some angreal/sa’angreal may also have a limiting factor to them, which can take any whole numerical value. A limiting factor represents the absolute maximum that can be drawn through an angreal (thus, the maximum addition to a character’s base Strength score), regardless of the Multiplication factor.
Angreal: Multiple Factor of channeller’s own strength (1-3)
Sa’angreal: Multiple Factor of channeller’s own strength (4-6)
Male Channelers |
Elemental Score | Earth Cost | Fire Cost | Spirit Cost | Air Cost | Water Cost |
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 |
9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 |
10 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 |
Female Channelers |
Elemental Score | Air Cost | Water Cost | Spirit Cost | Fire Cost | Earth Cost |
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 |
9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 |
10 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 |
Average Elemental Scores |
Element | Male | Female |
Earth | 8 | 4 |
Fire | 8 | 4 |
Air | 5 | 7 |
Water | 5 | 7 |
Spirit | 6 | 6 |
Total | 32 | 28 |