Play the Game: Level advancement

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As characters gain experience, they increase in ability, competence, and power.

Character Archetype Archetypal Ability Archetypal Reaction Verve Contributor Fighting Art Bonus
Warrior: Strength Fortitude Intelligence Every level
Thief: Agility Evasion Wisdom Every even level
Sorceror: Intelligence Reason Charisma Every third level
Prophet: Wisdom Willpower Strength Every even level
Monk: Charisma Perception Endurance Every even level

Characters start at first level with zero experience points. It takes 1,000 experience to go from first to second level, and another 2,000 to go from second to third level. Level advancement requires current level times 1,000 experience beyond the previous requirements.

Level Total Experience Specialty Normal Reactions Survival Verve Mojo Fighting (Thief, Monk, Prophet) Fighting (Sorceror)
1 1 5 5 12+
2 1,000 +1 +d10 +12 +1
3 3,000 +1 +d10 +13 +1
4 6,000 +1 +d10 +14 +1
5 10,000 +1 +d10 +15
6 15,000 +1 +d10 +16 +1 +1
7 21,000 +1 +d10 +17
8 28,000 +1 +d10 +18 +1
9 36,000 +1 +d10 +19 +1
10 45,000 +1 +d10 +20 +1

If the character has multiple archetypes through a specialty, use their overall level for everything except Reactions and the Fighting Arts. Fighting Arts field bonuses and reaction bonuses increase according to archetype level.

What does advancement mean?

When characters advance in level, they can do more things, and some of the things they used to be able to do, they can now do better. What does this mean? In some cases, it means that they learned something new they didn’t know before. In other cases, it means the character could always have done these things, it just wasn’t relevant. It may mean that the character has gained new knowledge, or that knowledge once secret has been made public.

How do I gain experience points?

Your character gains experience for using mojo on archetypal die rolls, for engaging creatures and people within the adventure, for defeating opponents in conflicts, and for donating or losing treasure acquired as part of the adventure.

Experience points for engaging encounters and for defeating opponents will be handled by the Adventure Guide. The more encounters you take part in, and the more opponents you defeat in conflicts, the more experience you will gain from those sources.

Experience points from engagements, conflicts, and loot are shared among every member of the group, and are awarded only after your characters complete the adventure. Loot experience is gained between adventures: at the end of an adventure or the beginning of one.

Experience from mojo is under your control. When you use mojo to affect an archetypal die roll, your character will gain fifty experience points per mojo used, immediately.

Loot experience is also under your control once your group acquires loot. Things looted during the adventure can be donated or lost with no expectation of tangible benefit after the adventure is completed. One silver coin of loot is worth two experience points.

For example, donating to a village will give the group experience even though this increases the goodwill toward the characters. “Good will” is not a tangible benefit. On the other hand, a donation that is really a bribe to get something from a church official is not experience-worthy. A loss in a gambling casino is not experience-worthy: there was an expectation—or hope—of an immediate benefit.

However, if you stipulate that your character will lose, and the Adventure Guide agrees, this then counts as a loss worthy of experience. For example, you might decide to lose your previous adventure’s loot at the beginning of the next adventure to provide your character an incentive for adventuring.

If you choose to have your characters lose loot, this is an opportunity for you to exercise more control over the narration than normal. You might decide, for example, that your characters were forced to jettison some of their loot in order to escape pursuers, or leave a dungeon, or cross a bridge. If the Adventure Guide agrees, you can (and should) role-play or jointly describe your characters’ loss.

Survival and verve

At second level and every even level, your character gains another d10 verve, modified by your character’s archetypal ability and verve contributor as minor contributors. At third level and every odd level, the character gains another d10 survival, modified by endurance as a major contributor.

Fighting Art field bonus

Warriors gain a bonus of one to their Fighting Art field bonus every level. Thieves, prophets, and monks gain a bonus of 1 at second level, and every two levels thereafter. Sorcerors gain a bonus of 1 at third level and every three levels thereafter.

Level advancement: Reactions

Characters receive a bonus of one each level to their archetypal reaction. Thus, their archetypal reaction is at a bonus of level. For other reactions there is a bonus of one each even level.

Specialties

The character gains one new specialty at the third level and every odd level thereafter.

Level advancement: Mojo

For everything else, the character gains or can acquire mojo. Mojo may be applied to learning skills, researching spells, increasing abilities, or gaining new weapon skills. Multiple characters can join to apply mojo to the same project as long as each character has applicable mojo. In this way, several sorcerors can pool their mojo to research a spell. If different characters in the group have different mojo costs for the task, the most expensive mojo cost is used.

At each new level, the character gains ten plus level mojo. For example, at second level, a character gains twelve mojo.

Moral codes

Players must play their characters according to their moral code if the character has one. If they end up playing a different moral code, they should change it to a more appropriate one at their next level advancement. At each level advancement, the player and Adventure Guide should consider whether the character’s moral code has changed. If it has, then mark the change. A good question to ask is “do you think your character has made or avoided any moral questions during this level?”

This also applies to characters who do not have a moral code. If they start making moral choices, they have chosen their code.

Player characters who become evil become non-player characters. Prophets who change their moral code without assistance from their deity or pantheon can no longer call spirits, nor use any specialty that has the requirement of “prophet”.

Depending on the character’s prominence and the nature of the change, the world may impose other consequences as well.

Multiple archetypes

If your character has a specialty that allows multiple archetypes, use their archetype levels rather than character level to determine reaction bonuses and the fighting arts field bonus. Use character level for determining whether to roll survival or verve. For the character’s verve modifiers, use the archetype that the character has the highest level in after advancement (or the new level’s archetype if the character’s archetype levels are tied).

Archetype advancement

Archetype advancement: Prophets

Prophets can call more spirits as they advance. At each level, a prophet gains level new calling points.

Once during each level after the character’s first level, the player can change one of their character’s available spirit types. From then on, the character can call spirits of the new spirit type, and not of the old one.

Archetype advancement: Sorcerors

Sorcerors gain new spell slots for memorization. At each level, the sorceror gains that many new slots. A 3rd level sorceror gains three new slots, for example. Sorcerors can acquire spells by looting them from dungeons, stealing them from other sorcerors, trading formulas with other sorcerors, or by spending mojo.

Acquiring spells with mojo

Acquiring new spells costs three mojo per spell level.

The character must also have ten times the basic spell components on hand for experimentation. Experimentation costs aren’t necessary if the character spent at least spell level archetypal mojo, though the sorceror will need to acquire components for current or future castings.

Inscribing mnemonic Spells

However a sorceror acquires a spell formula, the spell must be inscribed into the sorceror’s spell book using the inscription spell.

If at least spell level archetypal mojo was used to acquire it, the spell is assumed to already be inscribed in the sorceror’s spell book at no cost to the character. If the character has any uncast spells of the appropriate level memorized, they can choose to have memorized their new spell instead of one of the uncast spells, if appropriate.

Spell compatibility

Before inscribing or learning any new spell that is not paid for with at least spell level archetypal mojo, the sorceror must make a reason roll at a bonus of six and a penalty equal to the level of the spell. On a successful roll, that spell is compatible with the sorceror and the roll need not be made again. If the roll fails, the spell is not compatible with the sorceror and the sorceror cannot impress or learn that spell.

If the character and spell are not compatible, any practical mojo and experimentation moneys are spent. However, the character may try again at a later level at a cost of only two mojo and five times the spell components on hand.

Archetype advancement: Thieves

At each level after first, the thief gains a bonus of 1 to one thief field or an extra skill in one of their existing thief fields.

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