Character Progression

Characters aren’t limited to the 20 experience points worth of skills they start with. Over time, they gain new skills or improve on the ones they know, learn new recipes, rites and techniques, and grow in power through blessings and enchantments.

Progression in the Renewal campaign is by three routes: with experience, through training and research, and by becoming a special character.

Experience

Every character gains fresh insight or learns from their errors, simply through having adventures and surviving battles. This growth is represented by an award of experience points granted after each event.

These points may be spent on general and archetype skills just as they would at character creation, with similar need to meet any prerequisites and follow any stated limitations.

Experience is awarded as follows.

• Main Events Only: Experience is only awarded for attending the main events run by Curious Pastimes.
• First Event Per Year: After the first event a character attends in a year, they receive 5 experience points.
• Subsequent Events: For each of the next three events the character attends in a year, they receive 1 experience point per event, for a maximum of 8 experience points for a character in any one year.

Experience points may be spent immediately after the event in which they’re earned, or saved up for later use, along with any unspent points from character creation. Any unspent experience points, whether earned or left over from character creation, are lost when the character dies or retires.

Note: The above rules apply to the character, not the player – it’s possible, for example, for a player to receive 5 points four times in a year, if their characters died every event.

Training and Research

Characters can also learn new abilities in play, through in character effort. This occurs in one of two ways.

• Training: In character organisations such as the Bastion offer training in all the standard general and archetype skills appearing in this rulebook, as well as some unique skills, and some improvements of archetype skills. Different organisations may offer different abilities, but characters may only train in the abilities on offer, never invent their own.
• Research: Characters may research new abilities or techniques (such as new alchemical recipes or magical rites), or improve on abilities they already know, through independent investigation and experimentation. This may include following established rites and recipes already available in game, or forging wholly new paths – characters are limited only by the laws of the world.

Training and research are overseen by dedicated training and research referees. Every project must in the first instance be registered with one of these dedicated referee, although daily progress may be logged with any staff member.

Study Units

Training and research are both tracked by a resource called study units. Every character may spend up to 5 study units per day, split any way they wish between projects (e.g. 5 study units on one project, or 2 on one project and 3 on another). Any character may spend a maximum of 70 study units on all projects per year.

Study requires at least 30 minutes of relevant roleplay per project each day, regardless of the number of study units spent. A character focusing on one project need spend only 30 minutes a day on it, while a character splitting their study units on five different projects will need to devote half an hour to each project, for a total of two and a half hours a day.

Unlike experience points, study units cannot be saved up. If a character doesn’t do any research or training roleplay on a particular day, they spend no study units that day. If a player completes the required roleplay but is unable to find a referee to log study units on the day, the relevant staff member can (if they can confirm the roleplay took place) log the progress retroactively.

Study Paths

Any Training beyond the standard Skills List, and all Research, advances the character along a study path, a loosely-defined area of knowledge and expertise. All study paths build on archetype skills; some suggested paths are offered within each archetype’s description.

Progress along a study path is measured in a character’s skill level, from novice to master; masters are generally non player characters (although see Blaze of Glory, below).

Characters may pursue a maximum of three study paths, which don’t all have to belong to their archetype. They may pursue one study path beyond novice level.

Complexity and Skill Level

All rites, recipes and improvements to archetype skills have a complexity level. Research can unlock novice, adept, expert or master abilities, while training is limited to novice or adept abilities. The training referee or research referee will advise the player of the complexity of the ability they’re attempting to learn.

A character’s own skill level reflects the number of abilities they know:

• Novice: One novice ability.
• Adept: Five novice abilities and one adept ability.
• Expert: Five novice abilities, five adept abilities and one expert ability.
• Master: Five novice abilities, five adept abilities, five expert abilities and one master ability.

Any character can begin learning any ability at any time, but learning more complex abilities than your skill is harder and takes longer. This is reflected in a higher cost in study units.

Player characters may only proceed to adept or greater skill level in at most one study path. They are not normally expected to achieve master level at all, but may do so if they agree to retire their character as part of achieving this feat.

Study Skills and Experience Points

Abilities learned through study don’t cost experience points. Players earn them through in-character effort during Time In, tracked via study units. They do, however, have a value in points, which counts against the character’s points cap.

For existing general and archetype skills, this is equal to the standard point value of the skill.

For rites, recipes, special techniques and improvements to abilities, the character is awarded a block of points for unlocking a list of abilities, defined by complexity and study path (or a specific specialism within that path). Having learned one ability in that list and been assigned the points for it, the character will not have any more points added to their total until they progress to a higher level (or expand into a different specialism).

Examples

The necromancer Godfroie du Lac completes research in Untouchable Heart, an expert-level protection rite. The research referee awards him the trait Expert Protection (one of three specialisms within the Necromancy study path), worth 10 experience points. He can now research more expert-level protection rites without further raising his point total. If Godfroie researches a master-level protection rite, or an expert-level emulation or summoning rite, his point total would rise again.

The duellist Karza the Fox completes training in being able to use Piercing Blow for 1 minute, an adept-level precision technique. The training referee awards her the trait Adept Precision (the Precision study path doesn’t have specialisms), worth 5 experience points. She can now train in other adept-level precision abilities without further raising her point total. If she trains in any other paths, or researches an expert-level precision technique, her point total would rise again.

Reaching a particular level and path (or specialism) never counts as a character’s “pinnacle skill,” even if it grants more than 10 points.

Special Characters

Characters can also be empowered by external forces, rendering them a Special Character. Like experience, training and research, these abilities have a point value that counts against the character’s points cap.

Unlike those routes, they are almost always temporary or require regular upkeep. It is possible to permanently change a character this way, but the routes are difficult and costly.

Various routes to empowerment can be uncovered in play; some of the most common follow.

• Ritual Magic: A character can be enchanted in the Ritual Circle, granting them special abilities. This requires the services of a Ritual Team, and – for substantial or reliable results – may have a cost in Ether Spheres. Most enchantments are either strictly temporary, lasting a year or less, or require maintenance by a bound Ritualist.
• Blessings: The gods – or the beliefs of communities – can bestow special powers on those characters who most demonstrate the virtues the gods most cherish, sometimes known as faction specials. This entails tests and trials to prove their worth. Petitioners have to undertake further trials at regular intervals to retain their gifts. This is the sole exception to the points cap; divine blessings like this can take a character over 100 experience points.
• Bargains: Supernatural beings such as demons and undead can be persuaded to bestow special powers in exchange for some payment or service. This requires the character to seek out a patron, then to agree terms and – sooner or later – to settle the debt. Characters must make more bargains every year to hold onto their borrowed power.
• Surgery and Alchemy: Surgery can graft or transplant parts from more powerful creatures or alter the functioning of internal organs, while Alchemy can enhance, empower or modify the body in a host of ways. Without a steady supply of potions, or regular surgical interventions, the body may reject the alterations, develop disease – or simply break down.

Abilities gained by these routes have no prerequisites, even if they normally would. In turn, however, they may not serve as prerequisites for other skills, since the character has not earned a true understanding on which to build.

Points Cap

All progression via experience, training, research or magical investment increases a character’s point total, with the sole exception of abilities granted by divine blessings (faction specials).

There is a limit to this progress: No normal mortal can have more than 100 experience points total, including their initial 20 points.

Routes exist in play to forget skills or re-spend points, usually at some cost, difficulty or danger; although if you have an out of character reason for wanting to change skills (e.g. becoming a non-combatant due to health or mobility), please get in touch with the Game Organisation Desk to discuss options.

Blaze of Glory

A character may be allowed to exceed the standard points cap, or otherwise step outside normal restrictions on characters (e.g. by rising to master skill level in their study path), by consciously abandoning mortality. The routes to doing so are difficult and dangerous, but they exist.

Having taken this route, the character must either die or retire (becoming an NPC) no more than one calendar year after exceeding the cap. A member of staff will flag this decision to the player in advance and discuss options, but once made, the decision is irreversible.