GAINING LEVELS

Experience is the measure of a character’s ability in his or her chosen profession, the character’s class. Each player character begins the campaign at 1st level with no experience points accumulated. Thereafter, as he or she completes adventures and returns to an established base of operations, the Game Master will award experience points to the character for treasure gained and opponents captured or slain and for solving or overcoming problems through professional means. When a sufficient number of experience points have been gained, the character will be ready to gain an experience level.

It is important to keep in mind that most humans and demi-humans are “zero-level”. They do not have a character class or the ability to gain experience levels. Player characters are unusual and superior.

HOW YOU GAIN LEVELS

1. Participate in an encounter and defeat your opponents.

2. Take their stuff (“treasure”).

3. Go to the next encounter or head back to a “base of operation” (where the PCs can recuperate and sell or spend treasure obtained).

4. Get the treasure properly appraised and determine the properties of any magic items obtained.

5. Determine which magic items will be sold and which will be kept and by whom.

6. The GM assigns shares of the group experience points to each individual and confirms any individual XP awards for magic item possession or role playing awards.

7. Characters with experience adjustments for high ability scores adjust gained experience.

8. If anyone has enough XP to advance to the next character level, they are ready to train.

9. The GM assigns a “performance rating” (scaled from 1 to 5, with 1 being exceptional) made up of ratings assigned after each encounter. This rating is equal to the required number of training weeks before the level is gained.

10. Unless very high level, training normally must be done under the tutelage of a mentor (of the same class). Thus, a mentor must be sought out and must be available to concentrate on training the character.

11. Such training which includes living expenses, taxes, materials, and other fees, is extremely expensive. The character purchasing the training must negotiate this payment to the mentor and his or her associates if applicable. Because the price is per trainee level per week, the performance rating adjusts the expense in a material way.

12. Multi-class characters able to train in more than one class must train during consecutive periods (unless the GM rules otherwise).

13. Once your training is complete, you gain your character class level along with all abilities, any saving throw adjustments, and added hit points.

Defining an Encounter. In this context, an “encounter” is defined as all of the events that occur between a period of “downtime” taken at the group’s base of operations. This period is also called a “between adventures” time. Thus, an “encounter” can actually be a series of encounters or even an entire adventure or campaign arc. The definition is up to the player characters as events and circumstances will define when and for how long they decide to rest, recuperate, buy and sell items, and/or train.

Non-player Characters with Character Classes. All NPCs must gain twice the listed experience to gain a character class level. All NPCs ready to train automatically are awarded a “Good” performance rating (“3”).