Levelling Up

Level Tiers represent the different stages a Character’s story may go through, including their Prologue, Light Fantasy, Fantasy, High Fantasy and Epic Fantasy stages.

While it is possible for a much longer Story to be told over the full 20 levels covered by these Level Tiers, this is not considered a reasonable expectation for most groups.

The rules of the Game instead assume that a story of more manageable duration is told within the confines of each Level Tier, such that a satisfying beginning, middle and end to a self-contained Story may be explored.

Groups wishing to tell longer running sagas may of course then link the Stories within different Tiers, in the same manner such stories may be told across multiple books.

We also anticipate the scale of threat within the Story, and the level of suspension of disbelief of the abilities of Characters, will be described well by each Level Tier. The Higher the level, the more Fantastical the Story becomes.

Prologue Tier (Level 0)

Each Role includes a description of what a Character gains at Level 0.

Only a Character who begins their Story with that Role gains access to the features granted at Level 0. Players interested in Diversifying a Character should be mindful of which Role they begin with.

While in theory a Character may be played with only the features granted at Level 0, we anticipate Players are more likely to begin from Level 1, hence we describe Level 0 as the “Prologue Tier”, representing the Character before their Story begins, such as when they are a Child.

Level 0 can also serve as a useful level for Players who are very new to Roleplay Gaming and could become overwhelmed by the number of features even a Level 1 Character may require them to understand and keep track of.

Stories told within the Prologue Tier are expected to be very short and have low stakes, although may add some important context to stories.

Light Fantasy Tier (Levels 1-5)

The Light Fantasy Tier represents a Character progressing from Levels 1-5.

The suspension of disbelief demanded by this tier is at it’s lowest, consequently we find this Tier is well suited for telling stories within relatively believable settings.

Stories told within Light Fantasy settings are generally expected to have lower stakes, with threats which may be significant to the fate of a small populace or group of cities.

Fantasy Tier (Levels 6-10)

The Fantasy Tier represents a Character progressing from Levels 6-10.

These Levels are well suited for telling stories within Fantastical settings with some grounding.

Stories told within Fantasy settings are generally expected to have medium to high stakes, with threats which may be significant to the fate of larger populaces, or even whole countries.

High Fantasy Tier (Levels 11-15)

The High Fantasy Tier represents a Character progressing from Levels 11-15.

These Levels are well suited for telling stories within highly Fantastical settings, and where the capabilities of Characters have grown to extraordinary heights.

Stories told within High Fantasy settings are generally expected to have extremely high stakes, with threats which may be a significant to the world as a whole.

Epic Fantasy Tier (Level 16-20)

The Epic Fantasy Tier represents a Character progressing from Levels 16-20.

These Levels are well suited for telling stories within extraordinarily Fantastical Settings, and where the capabilities of Characters have grown to extraordinary heights.

Stories told within High Fantasy settings are generally expected to have extremely high stakes, with threats which may be a significant to the world as a whole.

Themes (Levels 3, 6, 10 and 14)

The thematic aspects of a Role (i.e. flavorful features which may tie a Character more closely to the themes of a Setting or Fantasy) are introduced in the forms of “Themes” which all Characters may acquire as they gain more Levels from a Role.

Many of these Themes are only available to certain Roles, as they are designed to interact with and enhance the features of that Role, while some Themes (Generic Themes) are available to multiple Roles, allowing many more Characters to utilize the flavor that Theme offers.

Themes are gained at Level 3 of each Roles, and additional benefits are granted by those Themes when you reach 6th Level, 10th Level and 14th Level.

Themes are discussed further on the Choosing your Theme Page.

When your Character reaches Level 1, you will have a Skill Bonus of +2.

For every two Levels you Character gains after this, your Skill Bonus is Trained, leading to the following progression:

Levels	Skill Bonus
0	+1
1-2	+2
3-4	+2*
5-6	+3
7-8	+3*
9-10	+4
11-12	+4*
13-14	+5
15-16	+5*
17-18	+6
19-20	+6*

• It is possible for a value to have a “Double Edge” or “**”, i.e. an Edge from two different sources such as both an Ability and a Skill Bonus. In such cases, the value is treated as two points higher when you are Pushing your Limits. In even rarer cases a Triple Edge may be possible, which would result in the value being treated as three points higher.

Whenever you Level Up, your Character’s Damage Limit will increase. The amount it is increased by is described in the Level 1 features of your Role, and also the Role features table will describe the total Damage Limit a Character with that Role alone has at each Level.

Note that some other features may increase your Damage Limit by a certain amount each time your Level increases also.

• Whenever your Damage Limit increases, change the Damage Limit Section of your Character Sheet to account for this.

For more information about your Damage Limit, see the Damage, Wounds and Healing Page.

Often features will grant you a Skill, Tool Skill or a Language.

Whenever a feature instructs you to gain one of these, add this to the Experience section of your Character Sheet.

Sometimes a feature may grant you a Skill, Tool Skill or Language you already have.

When this is the case, you are free to choose any other Skill, Tool Skill or Language available in your Fantasy or Setting in place of gaining that Skill, Tool Skill or Language.

If you are presented with multiple options for a given Skill, Tool Skill or Language, you may not choose a Skill, Tool Skill or Language you already possess. If there are no available choices left, you may choose a Skill, Tool Skill or Language of your choice in place of those Skills, Tool Skills or Languages.

Note that it is possible for a Character to become Skilled in all Skills available in the Setting by making certain choices. There is no benefit to gaining a Skill after this point.

Often features will describe that you are Trained in the use of certain Weapons, Armor or Shields.

When a features does so, add a note of it to the Experience Section of your Character Sheet.

You can be Trained in either Simple, Advanced or Complex Weapons.

All Player Characters are considered Trained in Simple Weapons.

Being Trained in a Weapon allows you to add your Skill Bonus to courses of action using that Weapon, including making Attack Rolls with them. Some other features may also require you be Trained in a Weapon to use that Weapon as part of that feature.

You can be Trained in either Simple, Advanced or Complex Armor. You may also be Trained in Shields.

All Player Characters are considered Trained in Simple Armor.

You must be Trained in an Armor to be able to use it effectively.

If you wear Armor or Shields you are not Trained in, ignore any Benefits you would gain from wearing that Armor, including any changes to your Armor Class.

Many Roles will grant your Character resources which they may expend to fuel powerful abilities. In the core rules of the game these resources include Stamina, Mana, Will and Favors.

When you first gain a feature which requires a Resource, you will gain two Points of that Resource.

• When you gain a Resource, add the maximum value of Resource Points you gain to the Resources Section of your Character Sheet. We recommend tracking how much of that Resource you have expended on the Tracking Section of your Character Sheet, rather than repeatedly altering the Resources Section.

Stamina, Will and Favors are all regained when your Character takes a Short or Long Rest. You may only gain the benefits of two Short Rests. You may take an additional two Short Rests after you have taken a Long Rest. A Short Rest consists of 10 minutes of relative inactivity, meanwhile a Long Rest consist of 8 hours of relative inactivity.

Mana meanwhile is regained when you use the Recharge Action (which you may use in or out of Combat) or take a Long Rest. You may only gain the benefits of two Recharges. You may use the Recharge Action an additional two times after you have taken a Long Rest.

If Diversifying and you gain a Resource pool again, your total Resource points do NOT increase. A Resource may only be increased by the “Additional Resource” feature. For Example, a Hero with 2 Stamina taking a single level in Brute will not have their total Stamina increased. It would only increase if they took enough Levels of Brute that they gained the Additional Stamina feature.

For more information about Resources and regaining Resources, see the Resources Page.

As you gain Levels in an Role with a given Resource, you will gain the “Additional <Resource>” feature. This feature will increase the total amount of uses of that feature you may use.

• Whenever you gain the Additional <Resource> feature, increase the maximum amount of that Resource you may have on your Character Sheet.

The Total Amount of a Resource you are expected to have from a single Role is shown in the Role features Table. However keep in mind that some features may increase your Resources beyond what are shown on that Table.

Roles will often grant you features as you Level Up. These may be regarded as Perks which are specific to your Role.

• Whenever a new feature is gained, add a note of it in your Perks section.

Some specific interactions to keep in mind when obtaining similar features from multiple sources are covered in the Additional Rules Relating to Feature Section.

Many Role grant your Character the Spellcasting feature, representing their ability to utilize a range of fantastical powers.

Each Role has specific rules which affect how they Cast Spells, including what Spells they may learn, how quickly they are able to learn higher level Spells, their ability to replace Spells they currently know and what they may use as a Spellcasting Focus.

Critically their Spellcasting Ability for Spells they have learned through that Role is also described here. This will define their Spellcasting Attack Bonus and Save DC for that Class:

Spell Attack Bonus = Skill Bonus + Spellcasting Ability Bonus

Spell Save DC = 8 + Skill Bonus + Spellcasting Ability Bonus

• Note any special rules for Spellcasting from your Role in the Features Section
• Add your Spell Ability Bonus, Spell Attack Bonus and Spell Save DC to the Spellcasting Section of your Character Sheet.

Further Rules for Spellcasting are described on the Spellcasting Page.

en you gain the Additional Cantrip feature, you learn an additional Cantrip from a defined list of Cantrips you may learn from.

• Whenever you learn a new Cantrip, add a note of it to the Spellcasting Section of your Character Sheet

When you gain the Additional Spell Known feature, the total number of Spells you may know at a time increases. The Spells you may learn are described by the Spellcasting feature gained by from the Role which granted you this Spell.

• Whenever you learn a new Spell, add a note of it to the Spellcasting Section of your Character Sheet

Most Spellcasting Role are able to change all their Spells Known and Cantrips learn for other Cantrips for which they qualify.

Some features in the game may grant you specific Spells. Whenever a feature does so, that Spell will not count against the total number of Spells you may know at a time.

Features frequently grant allow a Character to Train an Ability, increase an Ability by 1, or gain a Perk.

• When you Train an Ability, give that Ability an Edge (indicated by an Asterisk symbol “*”).
• If the Ability already has an Edge, remove the Edge and increase the Ability by one.
• If a Feature allows you to increase an Ability Bonus by one, increase the Ability and retain the Edge if that Ability has one
• When an Ability Bonus increases or gains an Edge, make sure you update all other values dependent on that Ability, including Attack Bonuses, Saving Throws and Save DCs dependent on that Ability. Note that Edges apply to these values also!
• If you choose a Perk, make a note of that Perk in the Features Section of your Character Sheet.

In some cases such features do not allow you to increase an Ability Bonus above +3, and unless otherwise stated they cannot increase an Ability Bonus above +5. Note you can Train such Abilities to give them an Edge (e.g. change +3 to a +3*) but you cannot Train those Abilities further to increase their numerical value to any value higher.

In some cases, you may only pick a Perk from a specific list of Perks, such as the Basic Martial Perks list.

In some cases a Feature may grant you a specific Perk. If you already have the benefits of that Perk, and it cannot be gained multiple times, instead of gaining the benefits of that that Perk you will gain the benefits of the “Basic Training” feature i.e. you may Train one Ability (but no higher than +3) or you may gain a different Basic Perk of your choice.

Typically, when you Level Up, you may replace a Perk you have gained with another Perk. The exception to this is if other features you have from an Roles are dependent on you having that Perk. If a Perk is granted from a specific list, you may only replace it with another Perk from that list.

Characters are able to choose a Theme when they reach Level 3 in a Role, and this grants a number of features which better enable a Character to embody a particular Theme or concept.

• Make a note of your Theme in the Perks Section of your Character Sheet, and incorporate any features granted by your Theme when you reach Level 3, 6, 10 and 14 in the Role you gain that Theme from.

Some Themes are available to multiple Roles. If you Diversify a Character, you cannot pick the same Theme multiple times.

To learn more about Themes see the Choosing your Theme Page, and for a list of available Themes see the Themes Page.

Many Roles allow you to pick a feature from a list of potential features. Such examples include the Brute’s Instincts and the Warrior’s Disciplines.

Such features are more common among Roles which lack Spellcasting.

When a Character Levels Up, they are able to replace optional features for other features from the same range of options for which they qualify, provided no other features they have require them as a pre-requisite.

• Like Role features, add these Features to the Perks section of your Character Sheet.

Unless otherwise noted, all Characters begin with a Speed Bonus of +6.

• If you gain Features which increase your Speed Bonus, make a note of that increase in the Perks Section of your Character Sheet, and increase your Speed Bonus in accordance with that feature.

Often a feature causing a change in your Speed Bonus is affected by certain requirements, such as not wearing Armor or Shields with the Restrictive property.

Many features will grant you a new type of Movement you may use, such as a Climbing, Swimming or Flying Speed. These typically have a speed bonus relevant to your Movement Speed (which is equal to your Speed Bonus).

Other features may grant you additional Senses, such as Darkvision, which allows you to see better in Dark Areas.

You do not gain additional Benefits from gaining Climbing, Swimming or Flying speeds multiple times.

If you gain a sense multiple times, the total Range of that sense is equal to the sum total of Ranges granted by each feature.

For more information about Movement Types, see the Advanced Movement Page.

If you gain the Extra Attack feature, the number of times you may make a Weapon Attack or Unarmed Strike during your turn increases to two times.

Gaining this feature multiple times will not increase the number of Attack you may make.

There are variants of this Feature which will however increase the number of Attacks beyond two, such as the Hero’s Triple Attack and Quadruple Attack Features.