Chapter Nine

9. Advancement.

Advancing.

In the beginning of the session, or mission if that seems more appropriate, find which character you have the highest Hx with. Ask that player to highlight one of your six Traits for this session. Then ask the GM to do the same. Whenever you FAIL a roll using one of those Traits, you mark an experience point.

After you get FIVE experience points (note: 5 is just a number, if you want faster progression chose a lower number etc), you erase them all and pick an Advancement (Move) from your Playbook. Once you have at least 5 of your Playbook Moves you may optionally select from Advanced options listed below. You start with 2 Playbook Moves so you will only need 3 more to access Advanced options. Again 5 is just a number, if you want to keep Advanced moves from your players for a time then simply increase the number to suit your needs.

You also gain an experience point each time you get your History score with another character to +4 or -3, which resets the value back to 0.

There are a few other ways to gain experience, as will be detailed in those areas.

If you roll 13+ on a Move you may optionally elect to gain 1 experience point instead of the bonus effect (if you are eligible).
Some Moves may offer you the option of gaining experience as part of their result.

Advanced options.

When a character has 5 of their Playbook Moves they can start taking Advanced improvements.

After you pick one, cross it off; you can't pick it again unless it says so.

+1 to Alert (max 2).
+1 to Calm (max 2).
+1 to Mind (max 2).
+1 to Body (max 2).
+1 to Resolve (max 2).
+1 to Presence (max 2).
Create a Second Character to Play (check with your GM).
Cross train (take a Move, once from each other Playbook)
Retrain, change your Playbook, but keep your current moves.
Choose Your Own Exit
Bonded Alien (repeatable).
Gain a permanent tag, repeatable.
Gain a permanent Contact.
Gain a point of Hope, repeatable.
Gain an advanced Move (repeatable)
Go under the knife...

+1 to a trait:

You get +1 to any trait of your choice. The maximum for any Trait is +2 (by default). Each Trait can be improved only once.

Create a Second Character to Play:

Choose this to bring in a second character. They can be from any of the Playbooks that is not already in play, and you can write them up just as you would normally. If all 8 Playbooks are in use you can pick any. They have just left the Academy and joined the Team. Depending on your GM’s wishes you may play one of them per session, or you can play both of them, depends on the numbers in your game. If you are already running 2 characters each, like in a 4 person game, then this option probably isn’t applicable.

Cross Train (repeatable):

Take a Move from another Playbook. You may do this for each other Playbook, one Move from each, by taking this option again. Be sure you have any pre-requisites for the Move.

Retrain:

You change your base Playbook. You get to keep all the Moves you gained from your last Playbook, but can now freely buy Moves from your new Playbook. Its sort of a dual class thing.

Choose Your Own Exit:

Come people get to a point where they've just had enough. Enough with the struggles, enough with the drama, enough running from and fighting with the Alien. They're tired, they're done, and they want out. You may make up your final climatic scene in co-operation with the GM. You don’t have to die but at the end of it you have left. Your legend will grow, you gain +3 Hope. You may enter a new character at this time, or it maybe that you are leaving the game. Thanks for all the fish.

Bonded Alien (repeatable):

You may gain a Bonded Alien. This happens when you kill an Alien, instead of draining its MIASMA from it. The Alien will be dying and you present it with a piece of equipment and gently push it to possess that piece of equipment.

The Alien will bond with the item and as is its way, will begin to improve it. The first ability you gain from this is that the Alien will be able to use the Reboot Move and the Repair Move (Technician) on that piece of equipment.

With time the Alien will begin customising the item with further improvements. Following is a list of suggestions, but you are free to come up with your own suggestions with your GM. Each of these improvements are an advanced move selection using this same move.

Does +1 Harm, +1 Stress, noJamming tag, +1 Forward on condition, etc.

Gain a Tag

Select one of the following tags permanently.

Stoic: you gain +1 to all I’m a Teapot Moves.
Tolerant: you gain +1 to Withdrawal Moves.
Robust: you gain -1 to Harm&Heal Moves with regard to Heal.
Stout: you gain -1 to Harm&Heal Moves with regard to Harm.
Centred: you gain +1 to Freak Out Moves.
Predictor: you gain +1 to Setting a Device (fence) and when using Rift Salt.
Rapport: you gain +1 to Help/Hinder Moves with one member of your team.
Trustworthy: you gain +1 to Convince Moves
Cool: you gain an extra one use Stress box every session.
Keen: you gain +1 to Read a Site.
Observant: you gain +1 to Read a Face.
Spotter: you gain +1 to Salvage Move.
Searcher: you gain +1 Salvage if you find any salvage.
Hardened: you gain +1 to Hardway Move.
Fast: you never suffer a reload effect.
Empathic: you gain +1 to First Aid.
Defender: reduce damage by 1 of any attack doing over 3 final damage (after armour).
Trader: you gain +1 to the Market Move.
Finisher: if your blow puts a creature within 1 damage of defeat you add 1 damage.
Leader: you gain +1 to Command Move.
Forensic: you also generate a Salvage roll if you roll 10+.
Hoarder: ??
Thrifty: once per session you may provide a Resource that is needed, for free.
Jinxed: once per session you may cancel a GM Move against you, or part of a Move that affects you.
Expert: you gain +1 Forward in a specific area of expertise (a Move), once per session.
Demolitionist: ??
Assault: ??
Wired: you gain +1 Ongoing to rolls to recover comms once you are OoC.

Gain a Contact:

You gain a new Market Contact of your choice permanently, no costs. This person is a good friend.

Gain a point of Hope:

You may add a point of Hope to the Future Bag.

Gain an advanced Move (repeatable):

You may select one of the following advanced Moves.

Go under the knife:

You may elect to have advanced surgery performed on your body, along with MIASMA injections. You gain a mutation of your choice or some Bioware, Cyberware or Alienware that your GM agrees to.

Advanced Moves.

Form a Squad (roll+History)

You may attempt to form a small squad with one or more of your team mates. The advantage of this is that you will count as a Small Team for giving and taking damage.

10+ You form the team successfully, they act under your control.

7-9 Things are still being decided between you, gain +1 Forward for the next attempt. Gain tag Busy.

6- GM option.

Create an Opportunity (roll+Rift)

Your character is better than normal and can find a way where others cannot, sometimes. If you are successful with this Move you can bring something into the scene that wasn’t there before, or was but nobody realised it till they got desperate enough.

10+ You get to be creative, you control the narrative.

7-9 You notice something new, but it is not near you, it is … over there near ? … You suffer 1 Stress, but what you want is over near another. You can use 10 words to tell them what it is, what to do with it, what you had in mind etc. They MUST take the next action and do something, anything, with what you told them about. They can free form the narrative for one action, then the opportunity is lost. Lets hope they got the right idea.

6- GM option.

Headshot (roll+Alert).

You may instantly slay any non-major npc (less than 5 damage). If they are a member of a group the group is broken up.

The Rift.

Characters will gain Rift radiation from various things in the game. Every time the character passes a multiple of 10 Rift they may burn it and elect to take a Rift Power, which is like a psychic power. At the same time, regardless of whether they burnt it, they must roll on the mutation table to see what kind of mutation they will gain.

The mutation table is as follows:

1-200 Body: form/look

201-400 Body: function

401-500 Mind: behaviours

500-600 Mind: cognition.

601-700 Psychic Powers

701-1000 Inhuman Attributes

I suggest that the player be allowed to suggest possible mutations based on the broad area defined above. Get everyone involved in the discussion and come to a consensus on what happens. The mutation should be minor, not a super power level one. If it has a positive effect their needs to be a matching negative effect, and vice versa.

I recommend “The Metamorphica”, a book of mutations by Johnstone Metzger. Available through Lulu or from RPGNow. This has a huge number of options to choose from.

Rift Powers.

Rift Powers are gained when you have suffered sufficient Rift Radiation. It is a two edged sword however, and there is a chance of suffering a mutation as well, which can be good and bad.

A listing of some Rift Powers you may attain.

More details of this to be inserted!!!! What do they cost? Stress? Effects of failing? Mutations.

The Undiscovered Country (roll+Rift/10)

You use your powers to see into the near future, this will give you glimpses that you can take as Hold points and convert to advantages as needed.

All O marked boxes are healed, then you may recover one box of damage from each wound inflicted (an X changes to an O).

10+ It works

7-9 It works but you suffer a disability.

6- GM option

Blink (roll+Rift/10)

Limited teleport. Use the Rift to move between places, exposure to +Rift.

10+ You may move yourself to any block on the grid.

7-9 You may move yourself to any adjacent block on the grid, but suffer 1Stress or 1RiftRad.

6- GM option.