Oberon:Power Level

[RPGPundit]

Just how powerful is Oberon in your game?

I know there's a school of Amber-fans out there that feel that Erick made the Amberites far too powerful compared to how they claim Zelazny wrote them.  But in light of that: what about Oberon? He does some things that are clearly pretty mind-blowing.

Do you then "de-power" him in your games? Or is your feeling that Oberon is just light-years ahead of the other Amberites?

Likewise, if you play a high-powered Amber game, how much MORE powerful than the average NPC is Oberon?

RPGPundit

[Uncle Twitchy]

I like the notion that the elder Amberites are "as powerful as the PCs perceive them to be". That is, if the majority of the PCs are terrified of their elders, then those selfsame elders tend to exploit that terror.

Much as they, themselves were of Oberon in the books.

So, ultimately, the answer to your question is that play Oberon as being inexplicable in his powers and the strength of that power.

And Dworkin as well, when it comes to that.

Stat-wise? Oberon's always ranked at the same or just higher than the known ranked NPC (so he could best Fiona in Psyche, Gérard in Strength as we saw in Hand of Oberon, Corwin in Endurance, and is probably equal to or "1.5" against Benedict in Warfare).

[gabriel_ss4u]

Luv the answer UncleTwitchy, great points I'm in agreement with.

If ya think about it, Oberon is (may be) the scion of Chaos & an elder being of mythic proportions, to our knowledge, there is no other quite like him.
IMO; His eons of experience is his greatest power, as U.T. says, his mystery is another.

Does anyone have a similar concept?
An offspring of the Serpent and an Amberite or Chaosian?

IMC I have such a thing, In House Amberlash, there is a position, within the Church of the Serpent Hung Upon the Tree of Matter, that most PCs have not discovered or have done no more than pike a curious eyebrow at; "The Keeper of the Egg". Is it as I implied above? Is it something else?

Mystery, that's the way to do it, yeah...

[Otha]

I used him as a big bugaboo in my current game.

If they hadn't acted, he would have turned into a vampire and laid waste to Chaos.

[Nihilistic Mind]

Oberon is the NPC who is unafraid to use power. In that sense alone he gets to be more powerful than other Amberites.

Otherwise, I let him awe the PCs with power that is beyond them, whether the game is high powered or not.

Stat-wise, he and Dworkin remain on top of the charts. Not necessarily first level, but usually top five ranked. I'm not saying they can't be bested (Oberon was imprisoned for a time after all), but it should definitely take more than one elder amberite to do so.
Oberon is just the guy to always have a trick up his sleeve.

The whole Benedict's Tir-na Nog'th arm as an artifact placed by Oberon has always raised some serious questions about the sort of power he has over things in general. Nobody is really surprised he did it, they just don't understand how he did it...

On the other hand, Brand's living trump powers are one of those things that prove that even Oberon and Dworkin are not the most powerful beings at 'everything', and I wouldn't put Oberon above Benedict in warfare or above Gerard in Strength...
Oberon just needs to be close enough that they wouldn't be deadly threats.

These are just my choices, I'm not trying to rebuke your own choices, Uncle Twitchy In fact, I used to do the same thing stat-wise for Oberon. I just seriously reduced stat totals for all my amberites so that PCs could potentially compete... well as a team, anyway

[Trevelyan]

I know there's a school of Amber-fans out there that feel that Erick made the Amberites far too powerful compared to how they claim Zelazny wrote them.  But in light of that: what about Oberon? He does some things that are clearly pretty mind-blowing.

I'm definitely a member of that school of thought, but it doesn't really apply here. The typical complain about overpowered Amberites runs to the utility of Attributes (parrying invisible swordsmen) rather than the powers exhibited by various characters (which are generally fairly represented by Erick).

I don't tend to use Oberon in my games since his death is one of the more certain fatalities in the oroginal series. That said, I'd have elder Amberites treat him the same way that a teenager treats a father with a nasty temper in the prime of life. There is a chance that the teenage might be able to compete in an area of particular strength, but in general the kid would be too cowed by the father to attempt it, and would harbour a mixed fear and hatred for the old man.

Much of Oberon's apparent power comes through his mastery of more esoteric arts as witnessed by Corwin. First of all, we have to accept that Corwin was far from an expert on matters magical, Fiona, Bleys and Brand all knew far more about the metaphysics of their world than Corwin and the rest of the family, and they had the same tutor as their father in Dworkin. To Corwin, Oberon was a mystery wraped in an enigma, to Fiona, and possibly a sorcerously inclined PC, Oberon probably isn't quite so impressive.

I'd suggest that the redheads would have a fair understanding of many of Oberon's powers. They didn't fear him, and indeed felt secure enough to attempt to overthrow him. The rest of the family, those with less of a mystical bent, tend to feel the same slight fear towards Oberon that they might towards any powerful and tmperamental sorcerer. The real trick that Fiona and Bleys pulled off was in keeping their knowledge hidden. Brand ultimately flaunted his power and developed it further with results that likewise frightened his siblings.

In Amber, knowledge is power and ignorance engenders fear. Oberon combines his superior knowledge and the natural advantages of being the father of the family to present an image of greater power than he actually has. But at the same time it would be a brave man who underestimated Oberon. Just because you think you know ow he perferomed his last bit of chicanary, it doesn't mean that his next trick will be easy to see coming.

[Uncle Twitchy]

I wouldn't put Oberon [...] above Gerard in Strength

Reconcile this with Oberon-as-Ganelon easily detaining Gérard in Hand of Oberon, but otherwise no rebuke seen

[Arref]

Stat-wise, he and Dworkin remain on top of the charts. Not necessarily first level, but usually top five ranked. I'm not saying they can't be bested (Oberon was imprisoned for a time after all), but it should definitely take more than one elder amberite to do so.

Oberon is just the guy to always have a trick up his sleeve.

This is how I set my games. A fair answer whether the classic Amber Diceless or homebrew is involved.

Oberon has several serious advantages that multiply his attributes:

• experience (something like ten thousand years)
• decent talents in many areas (strength, warfare, magic, shaping)
• ruthless and canny

Is he stronger than Gerard?
Faster than Fiona?
Well, no.

But he knows more shit than 98% of reality and he ain't afraid to use it.