Leveling Up

Leveling up is a term that refers to the act of a PC reaching a certain threshold in their adventuring career that sees them gain more power and expertise in their chosen method of adventuring. Higher level characters are quantifiably stronger and more durable than lower-level ones, with more Health, abilities, and skills at their disposal.

Methods of Level-Up

There are two methods of leveling up given here, though if a group agrees that neither of these methods work best for their playstyle, then they are encouraged to come up with their own. Regardless of what method your group chooses, PCs should ideally level up once every 3-4 sessions: long enough to enjoy and get used to the powers they gain at each level, but not so long as for gameplay to become stale and stagnant.

Advancing Beyond Level 20

Some players may wish to continue playing with their characters even after reaching level 20, even though there are no longer any class features to gain from doing so. If your party agrees to do this, it is important to consider methods of rewarding characters for their continued advancement: they may gain things like lands and titles from governments they’ve served, continue to increase their ability scores, learn extra feats, take levels in other classes, or something else entirely.

Multi-Classing

Any time a character gains a level – so long as they are not already level 20 (unless the GM says otherwise; see “Advancing Beyond Level 20” above) – they can take a level in any class other than the one they started in. When doing this, they gain the 1st-level features in that class described in the class table, but they do not gain the Health or skills that class gains at 1st level; instead, use the Health and Skills Beyond 1st Level that are given.

Minutia

When a character levels up, there are a handful of things the player needs to remember to do. The first and simplest task is to increase their Health; this can be done using the die referred to in the Health Beyond 1st Level section of the class description of that character’s class. If you are taking or have taken a level in a different class than the one you started with, then use the die for the class you are increasing your level in. For example, if your character has 3 levels in Rogue and you wish to take a level in Warrior at your next level up, then you would roll 1d10 + your CON score to determine the Health you gain from leveling up. If, at the next level after that, you decide to take another level in Rogue, then you would increase your Health by 1d8 + your CON score. It is highly recommended that GMs allow their players to reroll Health rolls of 1 at least once per level up.

Secondly, each class gains 1 SP at every level, and every 4 levels a character's PWS (Proficient Weapon Skills) proficiency increases by 1.

Third and lastly, each class gains the features described in their class table appropriate to the level they have reached.

The Tiers of Play

As characters grow, learn, and gain experience adventuring, the challenges they face should scale proportionately. These challenges are referred to as Tiers, and are measured from 0 – 6, with 0 being small and insignificant threats and 6 being extremely major and catastrophic threats. Each Tier has a suitable level range, which assumes that the party is composed of a well-rounded and equally-leveled 4-character party with no enchanted or arcane equipment.