Advancement

Experience Points (XP) are a measure of improvement and progress for Player Characters. They are the way that the game “keeps score.” However, like many other concepts in this game, XP is an abstract concept and not a literal measure of the experiences that a Character has had or what a Character has learned. Not all Character actions and successes will result in XP awards, nor will all adventures involve XP. At the end of every session of play, Experience Points will be awarded to Characters who participated in the game. These Experience awards are to be divided equally amongst the surviving participants of the adventure. Characters present for portions of the adventure should only get a share of Experience for the activities in which they participated. Experience Points are gained in two ways — Defeating Enemies and Recovering Treasure.

Defeating Enemies

Defeating enemies is a minor way of gaining experience. This is not a game about combat or slaying foes; these activities are simply frequent necessities in the harsh reality of the game. Characters who prefer to fight when it is unnecessary are lunatics, possibly psychotic, and not likely to survive long in a game run by a competent Referee. To count for XP purposes, an “enemy” must be a threat and predisposed to hostility towards the player Characters. Randomly slaying a villager, slaughtering livestock, hunting, etc., does not count towards XP rewards.

For purposes of XP, “defeating” is defined as winning a battle against a foe where force of arms is used or at least threatened. An enemy must be brought to 0hp, or lose a Morale check, or surrender in order to count as having been “defeated.” Sneaking past, tricking, or negotiating with an enemy may prevent combat and lead to other rewards, but it does not translate to XP. Using magic to neutraliize or pacify an enemy does count, so spells such as Sleep or Charm do count towards “defeating” an opponent.

Sometimes enemies surrender and are ransomed or let free, or flee an earlier battle, and return to fight again. An enemy can only count for XP once in any given game session.

Monsters with special abilities count as one Hit Die more, and classed characters count as one Hit Die more than their level.

Recovering Treasure

This is the primary method for gaining XP in the game. However, not all monetary gains are counted as “treasure.” The following will gain the Characters wealth, but they do not count for XP purposes:

• Coins looted from bodies outside of adventure locations

• Rewards

• Selling equipment stripped from foes

• Selling magical items that have been used by a player character or retainer

• Tax income

• Theft of wealth from mundane merchants, rulers, and citizens

• Trade, commerce, and other business activity (including selling of mundane items stripped from foes)

The following treasures do count for XP purposes:

• All valuable objects recovered from uncivilized or abandoned areas

• Money hoarded by creatures who have no actual use of it

Treasure is calculated for XP only after it has been returned to a secure location. One silver piece worth of treasure is worth 1 Experience Point. Experience is divided between all surviving party members involved in an adventure.

Gaining a level

When a Character earns enough Experience Points to qualify for the next level, the change will happen the next time the Character has returned to a secure location. At that point the Character’s level changes, and all benefits of that next level are immediately granted. When gaining a new level, a Character gains Stamina and possibly Wounds as shown in their Class table. Roll the Class Stamina die and add the result to both the current and maximum Stamina — a character already depleted in Stamina still gains the full roll, and remains depleted by the same amount as before.

If the class table shows a Wounds increase at this level (+1 in the Wounds column), add 1 to both the current and maximum Wounds in the same way, regardless of any injuries the Character has sustained.

Spellcasting Characters must still prepare all spells as normal. The increased number of spells available to cast does not automatically make the number of spells already prepared instantly increase as well.

Magic-Users and Elves who gain a free spell for their spellbook must still research that spell as usual and take the usual amount of time. It simply will not cost the money that researching a spell usually does.

Characters can only gain a maximum of one level per game session. Any Experience Points over half-way to the next level earned from a single session is lost.

Career Change

A Player might want a character to change their Career and even Class sometimes. In such cases, a Character gains all the first level advances in a Career and Class of choice, including Stamina dice roll, but never gains any more Wounds. They lose Status of the previous Class and all the other social benefits, retaining Skills only. Character’s further new levels may either lead to new levels in their new Career, or the first level in some other Career of choice.

The amount of Experience Points required to get to the new level only depends on total Character level and current Class. For example, a level 3 Mercenary would require as much XP to gain a 1st level of a Priest, as they need to level up as a Mercenary. However, after they become a Priest and want to gain another level in that Career, they need to gain as much XP, as a level 4 Priest would have.