STEP VI: Invest Experience Points

Experience is the primary means by which players customize their characters. The things a character has learned on the job, so to speak, are often what differentiate them from their peers, and mark them as a truly effective part of the team. Each player starts with a beginning pool of experience points that can be used to improve aspects of their character. Players also receive additional experience points as they play Age of Rebellion, and these can be spent to improve their characters.

STARTING EXPERIENCE POINTS

Characters begin with a budget of experience points based on their species. The experience points used during character creation are the same as experience points during play. If a player chooses to spend fewer experience points than budgeted during character creation, those points carry over into the game, and the Player Character starts with more experience points to spend once their adventures begin.

Players may spend experience in the following primary ways to improve their characters. This information is also detailed in the table on page 102 in the Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook, and will be featured later in this section.

IMPROVING CHARACTERISTICS

During character creation, raising a characteristic to the next highest rating costs ten times the value it is being rased to. For example, raising a PC's Brawn from 3 to 4 would require 40 experience points.

Each improvement must be purchased separately. This means that raising a PC's Brawn from 3 to 5 would cost 90 experience points (40 for raising it from 3 to 4, then 50 more for raising it from 4 to 5).

During character creation, no characteristic can be increased higher than 5. During the course of play, no characteristic can be increased higher than 6. Characteristics may only be purchased with experience points during character creation, not at any later time. (During gameplay, however, characteristics can be increased by purchasing specific talents, such as Dedication.)

SKILL TRAINING

Each skill has five ranks of training available. A Player Character might have already acquired several ranks of skill training from their starting career and specialization for free. PC's may train additional skills and gain additional ranks during character creation. However, it is important to note that, regardless of any species or career bonuses, no skill can be raised higher than rank 2 during character creation.

The cost for training skills falls into one of two categories: career skills and non-career skills. The player should have check marks next to a number of skills based on their character's starting career and specialization.

Training a career skill to the next highest rank costs five times the rank it is being raised to. For example, training a career skill from rank 0 (untrained) to rank 1 requires 5 experience points. Improving a rank 1 career skill to rank 2 requires 10 experience points. Each rank must be purchased separately. This means that acquiring a rank 2 career skill during character creation costs 15 experience points (5 for raising it from 0 to rank 1, then 10 more for raising it from rank 1 to rank 2).

A Player Character can also purchase ranks of non-career skills. Each rank of a non-career skill costs 5 times the rank it is being raised to, plus 5 additional experience points. For example, training a non-career skill from rank 0 (untrained) to rank 1 requires requires experience points. Improving a rank 1 non-career skill to rank 2 requires experience points. Each rank must be purchased separately. This means that acquiring a rank 2 non-career skill during creation costs 25 experience points (10 for raising it from 0 to rank 1, then 15 more for raising it from rank 1 to rank 2).

Player Characters may purchase ranks in skills during character creation or later during gameplay.

ACQUIRING TALENTS

Talents are acquired form a Player Character's available talent trees, generally provided by their specialization choices. Talent trees provide a unique format for purchasing talents that comes with several special rules and restrictions.

Each specialization talent tree has four columns and five rows. This means each talent tree has a total of twenty talents that PC's can purchase. The cost of each talent depends on the row it occupies. The talents in the topmost row are the cheapest, costing 5 experience points each. The next row's choices cost 10 experience points each, the third row's cost 15, the fourth row's cost 20, and the fifth and final row's choices cost 25 experience points each.

Note that the choices on each tree are connected by a series of lines that link some talent choices with others. Player Characters may only purchase talents for which they are eligible. PCs are eligible to select any talents in the first, topmost row, plus any talents that are connect via one of the aforementioned links to a talent the PC has already acquired.

When selecting talents on a specialization tree, remember that each selection on the tree may only be purchased once. In the case of ranked talents (talents that may be purchased multiple times and have effects that stack the more times they are purchased), the only way to purchase them multiple times is if there are multiple selections of the same talent on the available specialization trees. In some cases, a PC may have already acquired a talent in one specialization, but will need to purchase it again in another specialization in order to continue further into the tree. If it is a ranked talent, they must purchase it again (gaining another rank in the talent). If it is not a ranked talent, they count as already having purchased it, and may proceed through the second specialization tree.

Player Characters may purchase talents during character creation or later during gameplay.

ACQUIRING NEW SPECIALIZATIONS

Each Player Character starts with a single specialization within their chosen career. However, they may purchase additional specializations.

Purchasing a specialization basically means that the PC is buying the ability to purchase talents within that specialization. In addition, each specialization has its own career skills. These skills now count as career skills for the PC (although they do not gain free advances in them, as they did with their first specialization). Player Characters may purchase any specialization in any career.

Purchasing an additional specialization within a character's career costs 10 times the total number of specializations they would possess after adding this new specialization. So, a PC with one specialization could purchase purchase a second career specialization for 20 experience. If they wished to purchase a third career specialization, it would cost 30 experience.

Player Characters may also purchase additional specializations outside of their career. Purchasing non-career specializations costs 10 times the total number of specializations the PC would possess after adding the new specialization, plus an additional 10 experience. So, a PC with one specialization could purchase a second non-career specialization for 30 experience. If they had two specializations already, a third specialization that was also a non-career specialization would cost 40 experience.