Character Growth

He who goes through life without learning is a life wasted. Knowledge is power, without it mankind is nothing more than just another animal…

In this section we will discuss how to level up your character and how to acquire new skills and abilities for your character. 

1) Leveling Up

Leveling up your character is done as you might expect. You gain experience points (EXP) and when you reach a certain amount of EXP, your level increases. For example, to get to level 2 you need to get 200 EXP. Once you get that amount you are at level 2. Your EXP does not reset to 0. Instead, you strive to reach the next level, at 400 EXP needing to gain another 200.  When you level up your character, you will be able to gain various benefits. Some benefits you will gain regardless of your profession, however some benefits depend upon your profession.

1.1) Leveling Benefits

Everyone will get the following benefits when they level up. These benefits are the same regardless of what your profession is.

• Each level up you get your secondary gen dice rolls for Vitality, Soul, and Power.
• Each level up you get 1d4 stat points
• Each level up you get 1d6 trait points
• You can acquire 1 skill of choice in or out of profession.
• At level 1 you have an initial 1d6 trait points that you can assign as desired
• Your profession will also provide bonuses when you level up
• You can start with 1 spell, and gain a new spell on every odd number level whether you are a runic mage or not.

1.2) Gaining Experience

The primary method of gaining experience (EXP) is by defeating enemies in combat. However, you can also gain EXP by things you do in the roleplay. It is really up to your GM on how to award your characters EXP. 

2) Character Growth with Professions

Your character's profession greatly affects your character's growth. Through your character's profession your character can access skills and abilities. You can gain skills from within your profession and even from outside of your profession when you level up. You can however only gain abilities from within your profession. A warrior cannot learn a mages abilities after all. 

3) The Importance of Acquiring Skills

While it is possible to go throughout the game without acquiring a single skill, skills are the best way to improve your character. Skills improve your attacks by increasing the damage you can do, causing status effects, and giving you more attacks. Skills improve your ability to survive attacks by increasing your defense, allowing you to wear armor your profession normally doesn't allow, and allowing you to better handle status effects. Skills improve your use of magic, and allow you to craft items and the like. While skills don't tell you how you can attack or what you can do they improve on your abilities. 

4) Acquiring Skills, Abilities, and Spells

You acquire skills, abilities, and spells by leveling up. Your profession shows you how many you can gain with each level increase, including how many you can pick to start with.

To acquire a new skill, spell, or ability you simply need to increase your level. The level rewards for your profession will tell you if you get any additional skills or abilites for that level. You also get 1 skill each level, and 1 spell every odd level.

Once you have acquired a skill, you will fill in the first bubble on the skill block on your character sheet for that skill. 

5) Using Skills & Spells

In order to use a skill, you must meet their required check roll. The check roll shows you what check is performed to perform that skill or spell. Check rolls are always listed as Difficulty, Check, and bonuses or penalties. For example, the skill Aiming has a check roll that is Easy Perceive. Easy is the difficulty showing you what you have to roll on the dice, and Perceive is the trait check. So in this case you will look at your character's Perceive, roll the d20 and add what ever is listed for Perceive to that d20 roll. If you beat the difficulty, you perform the skill. Otherwise you fail the skill. You will still spend any stat costs for doing so. 

6) How to Use Abilities

Abilities are more akin to talents or feats than skills. You typically do not have to do anything to use them. Their effects simply apply to your character. 

7) How to Perform Checks

As noted in Using Skills & Spells, you have to perform the check roll to use them. You may also have to perform check rolls when roleplaying, for example making a perceive check to spot a trip wire. But how do you make these checks? It is simple, all checks are 1d20 rolls. YOu roll your 1d20 and add the number of the trait to what you rolled. That's it. So if you are making a perceive check and have a 2 perceive, and you rolled a 12 on the d20, your perceive check was 14. If you had nothing for perceive, the check would have been a 12. It is the difficulties that determine if a check is successful or not.

8) Check Difficulty

Difficulties show you how hard or easy it will be to successfully perform that check. Difficulties are Easy, Normal, Hard, and Impossible. The difficulty shows you what you must beat on your check roll. 

• Easy Difficulty: must roll 5 or greater
• Normal Difficulty: must roll 10 or greater
• Hard Difficulty: must roll 15 or greater
• Impossible Difficulty: must roll 20 or greater

What you roll plus any bonuses or penalties and what is in the trait you are checking give you your total. If the total beats the difficulty, you succeed. If the total is less than the difficulty, you fail. 

9) Critical Success & Critical Fails

Critical Success is rolling a 20 on the 1d20. This is also called a natural 20. If you roll this without any modifier, bonuses, or penalties, you succeed automatically. A 20 on the dice is instant success. Depending upon what you are doing, the effects or damage may be doubled as well. If this is a check to use a healing spell, for example, the healing spell will do double what is listed. 

Critical Fail, also known as crit fail, is rolling a 1 on the d20. If you roll this, if a 1 is on your d20, you fail instantly. Your GM may then add in other effects of your failure depending on what is going on. Your GM may also have you make a luck check to see if your failure will still benefit you. 

10) Chapters