Character Advancement

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Learning New Skills

Career Skills

Career Skills are those that are listed under a Character’s current Career. The Player does not have to take all of the listed skills (except where this is specifically noted), but can pick and choose which his/her Character learns.

The Player can list all chosen Skills on his Character Sheet when the new Career is entered.

Each Skill is noted down, together with an Experience value of 100. This value is used as a modifier and is added to all dice rolls made against the Skill.

Example:

Sing (Experience 100)

This is the required amount of Experience Points which must be put into the corresponding Skill before the Character can use it to it’s full potential.

Non-Career Skills

A Player can request that his/her Character begins to learn a non-Career Skill (that is, a Skill that is not listed under the Character’s current Career) at any time during the Campaign.

The Player must convince the GM of a good reason as to why the Character will be learning the Skill, and how it is to be learned (i.e. finding a teacher, etc).

If the GM agrees, the Non-Career Skill is noted on the Character Sheet together with an Experience value of 200. This value is used as a modifier and is added to all dice rolls made against the Skill.

Example:

Secret Language – Classical (Experience 200)

Studying new Skills

The primary way of learning a new Skill is to study. This is done by using Study Periods.

Study Periods represent the amount of study time and physical practice that must be expended in order to become proficient in a Skill.

Procedure for a Study Period

1.        The Player states which Skill the Character will be studying.

2.        For each Full Hour of game time that the Character spends studying, the Character must take an INT Test.

·         If the INT Test is passed, the Player may deduct 10 Experience Points from the Experience value of the Skill that was specified at the start.

·         If the INT Test is failed, the Player may only deduct 5 Experience Points from the Experience value of the Skill that was specified at the start.

3.        If the Character is interrupted before finishing a full hour of study (i.e: he is attacked, or some other very distracting event happens nearby), an INT Test must be taken immediately.

·         If it is passed the Player may deduct only 5 Experience Points from the Experience value of the specified Skill, and must restart another Study Period.

·         If failed, no Experience Points may be deducted from the specified Skill’s Experience value, and another Study Period must be started.

Example:

·         Mr C Haracter has just started out as an Entertainer – Singer and has the Sing skill with an Experience value of 100. This is noted as Sing (Experience 100). He also has an INT of 30.

·         His Player decides that he need to spend a few hours practicing, so he declares a Study Period for the Sing Skill. Mr C Haracter therefore spends a full hour practicing his musical scales.

·         At the end of the hour’s practice, the Player rolls for the INT Test. A 16 is rolled against C Haracter’s INT 30. This is a success, and the Player takes 10 Experience points from the Sing skill’s Experience value of 100, to reduce it to 90.

·         The Skill is now noted as Sing (Experience 90)

·         The Player is not satisfied, and declares another hour’s Study Period for the Sing Skill.

·         However this time, a tenant in the inn room next door bangs on the door loudly and shouts to complain about the noise, and Mr C Haracter’s concentration is interrupted.

·         The Player tests Mr C Haracter’s INT 30, and rolls a 29, only just successful. The Player then deducts a further 5 Experience points from the Sing skill.

·         The skill is now noted as Sing (Experience 85).

·         Yet again, the Player decides C Haracter requires further practice, and declares another Study Period.

·         This time, the tenant next-door complains to the landlord, who barges into the room after 43 minutes.

·         The Player takes another INT test against C Haracter’s INT 30, and rolls 87 resulting in failure.

·         The Player cannot deduct any Experience points from the Sing skill’s Experience value of 85, and the last 43 minutes of practice have been a waste of time.

‘On the Job’

Another way of learning a Skill is to learn it ‘on the job’.

Each time the Character uses a Skill successfully; the Character may take an INT Test.

If this INT Test is successful, the Player may deduct D6 Experience Points from the Experience value of the Skill in question.

Example:

Many months later, Mr C Haracter, the Entertainer, finds himself short of money and goes busking.

He successfully uses his Sing skill to obtain money and the Player tests his INT 30, rolling a 23. Since this is successful, he is allowed to deduct D6 Experience points from the Sing skill’s Experience value.

The Player rolls a 4, reducing the Sing (Experience 85) to Sing (Experience 81)

Acquiring the Skill

Once a Skill’s Experience value is reduced to zero (0), the Skill is acquired and will confer any bonuses specified in the Skill description.

Example:

Once Mr C Haracter has Sing (Experience 0) the +10 Busk Test and +10 Employment (as Entertainer only) modifiers come into force whenever the Skill is used.

Over the Top

Eventually, with enough studying, the Experience value of a given Skill should reach zero. In game terms, the Character will no longer suffer a negative modifier for any Tests against this Skill.

However, through further study this can be turned in to a positive modifier. That is to say: instead of the Experience value being added to the dice roll, it is subtracted.

A Character can continue studying the Skill, and may reduce the Skill’s Experience Value by an additional amount equal to the Character’s INT score.

When this limit is reached, no more Experience points will be gained through study as the Character is deemed to have exhausted the number of new things that can be learned.

If a Character reaches the INT limit but then increases their INT, this is taken as a new limit and the Character can study the Skill again until the new INT limit is reached.

Example:

·         Many years later, Mr C Haracter has INT 75, and the Sing skill with an Experience value of 0.

(Sing (Experience 0))

·         He may continue to practise until he has reduced this to Sing (Experience –75)

·         When this target is reached it can go down no further, until his INT increases.

·         Two months later and Mr C Haracter gains a +30 INT advance that takes him to INT 85.

·         He begins to practice his Singing again and eventually ends up with Sing (Experience –85).

A Skill’s Experience value and Using Skills

When a Character is using a Skill, the Experience value of the Skill is used as a modifier to the Test that the Player will have to take.

The following procedure is taken:

1.        The Player rolls the dice.

2.        The Experience value of the Skill being used is added to, or subtracted from this result

3.        This total is then compared to the Statistic being Tested.

Skills are not particularly useful until they have been studied and practiced intensively, as a new Skill with an Experience value of 100 practically guarantees a failure until the value is reduced.

Non-Career Skills require much more study, as they are frequently outside the Character’s sphere of specialty.

Also, Skills will not yield much in the way of results until their Experience value is reduced to less than the value of the statistic that it uses for Testing. (E.g. The Sing Skill will not be too useful until it’s Experience value approaches the value of the Character’s FEL statistic.)

Example:

·         Mr C Haracter has INT 30 and FEL 40, he also has Sing (Experience 85)

·         He decides to busk for money.

·         Since the Sing skill has not been acquired yet (it still has an Experience value of more than 0) it does not confer the +10 Busk Test modifier.

·         The Player rolls D100 and returns a 31.

·         31 plus the Sing skill’s Experience value of 85 equals 116 – a clear failure since C Haracter’s FEL is 40

·         After much practice, C Haracter’s Sing skill is reduced to Sing (Experience 35)

·         The Player decides that he needs to go Busking again, and makes another Busk Test.

·         Since the Sing skill has still not yet been acquired (it still has an Experience value of more than 0) it still does not confer the +10 Busk Test modifier.

·         The Player rolls 04 on D100.

·         04 plus the Sing skill’s Experience value of 35 equals 39. This is only just a success.

·         C Haracter manages to earn a very small amount of money.

·         Since the use of the Skill was a success, the Player is entitled to an INT Test to increase the Sing Skill.

·         The Player rolls a 26, and passes, and is able to reduce the Sing (Experience 35) by a D6 roll of 5 to Sing (Experience 29)

·         After a few months of practise and travel C Haracter finally achieves Sing (Experience 0) and acquires the skill. The next time he goes Busking he will be entitled to the +10 modifier.

·         The Player decides to go Busking again.

·         Since the Sing skill has now been properly acquired, the +10 Busk Test modifier can be used.

·         The Player rolls 28 on D100.

·         28 plus the Sing skill’s Experience value of 0 equals 28.

·         The +10 Busk Test modifier increases C Haracter’s FEL 40 to FEL 50.

·         28 is less than 50, and therefore C Haracter manages to rake in a considerable amount of small change.

·         Since the use of the Skill was a success, the Player is entitled to an INT Test to increase the Sing Skill.

·         The Player rolls a 15, and passes, and is able to reduce the Sing (Experience 0) by a D6 roll of 2 to Sing (Experience -2).

·         Next time it is used, the Sing skill will allow C Haracter’s Player to reduce the D100 Busk Test roll by 2 (Experience –2) before it is compared to his +10 modified FEL, resulting in a greater chance of success.

Profile Advances

Each Profile Advance increases in Experience Point cost as more are taken.

 

1st Adv

2nd Adv

3rd Adv

4th Adv

5th Adv

6th Adv

7th Adv +

1 to 10 Stat

100

200

300

350

-

-

-

1 to 100 Stat

100

150

200

250

250

250

250

W (each +1)

100

100

150

150

200

200

250

PER (each +10)

400

-

-

-

-

-

-

Changing Career

The Experience Point costs for changing Careers are listed below.

Listed Career Exit

100EP

Career in Character's Career Class

100EP

Career in other Career Class

200EP