Strength
No one ever bids high in Strength, so for very few points you can get first Rank. If you can grab on to someone, they won't have a chance.
Strength rates the character's muscles, and therefore the damage that a character can inflict in hand to hand combat, well as the character's resistance to damage. Normal Strength, in an Amberite, is sufficient to heft and toss around small automobiles.
Once characters physically grapple with each other, the contest, matter what it may have been before, becomes one of sheer Strength. Unlike other forms of combat, where a character can usually run away, there is likely to be no escape from a wrestling match with a character of superior Strength.
In the Amber universe Gérard is Ranked number one in Strength. Once Gérard gets a good grip on anyone of less Strength, they are doomed. Never forget Gérard's words to Corwin, 'I can kill you, Corwin. Do not even be certain that your blade will protect you, if I can get my hands on you but once...'
Why Bid on Strength? If there's any such thing as a 'sure thing' in Amber, it's having a superior rank in Strength. Most combat can go either way, influenced by a number of factors, but once you've got your hands around your enemy's throat, all that counts is Strength.
The Potential of Strength
Gérard, the strongest Amberite, is the yardstick of Strength's possibilities.
His prowess comes in three forms, Hand-to-Hand Combat, Exertion and Resistance.
1. Hand-to-Hand skill.
Aside from sheer physical brawn, Gérard is trained in a wide range of hand-to-hand combat skills.
- It is possible that a single obscure move from some specialised form like Aikido or Atemi, might catch him unprepared. However, this will be a one-time advantage as Gérard will immediately learn it and compensate for it in all future conflicts.
2. Exertion.
This is the pure muscle end of things.
- Gérard can bend iron bars, break boards of hardwood, smash individual bricks or cinder blocks, and snap light chains and ropes.
- He is also capable of tearing open things like car doors, conventional door locks, and ripping plate armour off an opponent (snapping the bindings that hold it on).
- If Gérard shoves, taking the time to lean against a solid object, he can topple stone walls, or turn a well-constructed building on its side.
- Gérard can punch through solid brick, cinder block, or wood. His punches against flexible objects, like a living opponent, with the freedom to flex or give, are sufficient to break bones and rupture internal organs.
- Gérard can break iron manacles or handcuffs, bend thick pieces of metal, and, holding something solid (a hammer, a rock), crack solid rock with just a few blows.
- Gérard can also uproot any tree small enough for him to grasp around the trunk.
3. Resistance.
Covered with a layer of muscle just as a prize fighter conditioned to absorb punches, Gérard can withstand an awful lot of damage.
- Gérard can resist any physical blows delivered from someone of Real Rank Strength or less.
- Gérard can withstand crushing impacts, such as a fall of up to 10 metres.
- Properly braced, Gérard can withstand the collision of a fully armoured mounted knight at full gallop, without budging more than a few centimetres.
- Gérard can strike, block and parry with enough force to break steel swords and other metal weapons and armour.
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