8 - Advancement

There are no levels in this game system for characters, and experience is measured by improvements to stats and skills. At the end of each game session players discuss what stats and skills they used throughout the adventure and the GM assigns advancement checks to each one, with the following limitations (per session):

1. No stat or skill may improve by more than +1 of its current value.

2. Only one of either one stat or one specialty skill may be improved.

3. No more than two trained skills may be improved.

    The higher a stat or skill is, the harder they are to improve. A typical 3d6 roll is made for each advancement check. The target number for stats is the next higher value, while for skill ranks the target is the new value plus 12. In this manner, stats approaching 18 and skills approaching Rank 6 are very hard to come by, and advanced characters will see their improvements diminish as they approach perfection.
During a session, players are encouraged to keep track of Hits - earned by making checks in the game (failures are worth half as much as successes). At the end of the game session, each player takes a turn at advancing their character using these Hits. They choose each stat or skill they wish to improve and the GM gives them a number of advancement checks determined by these Hits. As each skill is linked to one or more stats, hits on a skill check also count as hits for every linked stat, while stat checks count for that stat only. 

Number of Advancement Checks
(2 failures = 1 Hit, 1 success = 1 Hit, Success of Zero = 1 Hit)
1+ Hits=  1 advancement
5+ Hits = 2 advancements
10+ Hits = 3 advancements
30+ Hits = 4 advancements

For skills (particularly defensive, such as block, dodge, parry, etc.) that use a static target opposed by an attack check, treat failures to hit as successes for that defense skill and vice versa. So a Failure of 3 to hit dodge would be treated as +3 Hits for the dodge skill, while a Success of 3 (treated as a Failure of 3 ), would be treated as +1 Hit on that defensive skill (as failures equal half successes, rounded down). 

Training and Practice

Another way to improve skills and stats is through practice and training. Not as effective as "trail by fire" (learning on the job, sorta speak), practicing skills and training stats would be the equivalent of working out (for physical stats), playing games (such as logic puzzles, mental exercises, etc., for mental stats), and mock combat sessions while sparring alone or with a partner (for offensive/defensive skills). In this manner, players can choose to focus on one stat OR one skill during a game session that they wish to improve, but may or may not get a chance to use otherwise that session.
During the game session, the player informs the GM that they are practicing the targeted skill or stat. At the end of the session, the GM can award the player 1-4 Hits (depending on how much the GM thinks they practiced) for the targeted skill/stat for their advancement checks. This may bump them up to an additional advancement check by adding to the overall hits, or even allow them one advancement check on a given stat/skill that they didn't otherwise use that session.
The GM might allow more than one stat/skill to be practiced in this way, but once a player successfully advances such a skill or stat, they lose any bonus Hits for the remaining ones.

Learning New Skills

As common skills come naturally without training, players are free to list them as skills at Rank 0. As trained and specialty skills are harder to come by, use the following guidelines. When characters begin training in advanced skills, list that skill on the character sheet with an "X" where the skill rank should be. Trained skills can be learned independently, though times are tripled without a trainer. Specialty skills would take years to master unaided, so assume they could not be learned between adventures without a trainer.
Trainers must have the skill the character seeks to learn (though it may have alternate linked stats): use the trainer's Skill Rank to divide the base time to attempt to learn the skill - if the trainer has a skill rank of zero, double the base time (rather than triple for self-training). So, for instance, a trainer with a Rank 3 skill would reduce training times to a third of its base value. For trained skills, assume a day's worth of training requires a few hours (one per linked stat) at the beginning or end of each day. For specialty skills, assume a month's worth of training requires a few hours per day (one per linked stat) for thirty days. The GM may allow players to devote additional time each day to shorten the overall time, but a certain amount of rest/recovery/reflection is needed (GM's choice). At the end of each training period, the character makes a skill check as an advancement check, with the trainer's rank as a bonus, versus the number in brackets below.  If a tool or weapon is needed for the skill, one must be used while training, but its bonus will be added (or subtracted) from this check. If successful, they have learned the fundamentals and can now list that skill at Rank 0. 

Trained skills[14]: one day for each linked stat .
Specialty skills[16]: one month for each linked stat.

Note that trainers with one version of a skill can train someone working on a different version, for example if the trainer has a FIN/INS trained skill, and the pupil is learning a FIN/MEN version, this is okay - the trainer relies on their instinct, while the pupil prefers to rely on their mentality, but the fundamentals of the skill itself remain the same.