Character Advancement

Character Advancement
The heart of a Role Playing Game is exploring a new world with friends, but the spirit of a Role Playing Game is character advancement. We love to see our avatars grow into more mature versions of themselves. We enjoy watching them rise to the task of facing more difficult trials.

Leveling up represents the mechanical side of character growth. It models characters becoming stronger as they grow in experience. This manifests as an increase in skill levels and the expansion of abilities. A character’s level is determined by how many stunts they’ve learned since character creation. A level one character has three stunts (the starting amount), a level two character has four stunts, and so on.
 * At the end of every session, all participating characters gain one Skill Point.
 * At the end of an arc (defeating a big boss, solving a big problem, etc.) all involved characters gain a new Stunt.

Skill Points
Skill points are used to increase a character’s skills. To increase a skill, a player needs to spend an equal number of skill points to that skill’s new level. A +0 skill needs 1 skill point to become +1, a +1 skill needs 2 skill points to become +2, and so on. Player’s cannot jump levels. So a +0 skill cannot become a +2 skill without first becoming a +1 skill.

Player’s should pay special attention to the Physique and Will skills, which can change the number of stress boxes they have.

(Optional) Creating Custom Permissions and Stunts
Players with a very specific idea for a character may need to tailor their own Permissions and Stunts. This is how FATE works by default, but it can be overwhelming. There are a few things to keep in mind when building a Permission or a Stunt:
 * Abilities should match the character. A Navy Sharpshooter might have “Point Blank Shot”, but she probably won’t have “Expert Shadow Mage” (unless there’s a very cool backstory to justify it).


 * Abilities should be reasonably powered. Benefits must be weighed with costs. Some abilities can only be activated by spending a Fate Point. Others are limited to a few uses per session, or only apply in specific circumstances. The GM will likely have something to say about this.


 * Abilities should help. This one seems obvious, but it gets missed fairly often. Players should create abilities that they can see themselves using at least once a session.

Keep in mind the differences between Permissions and Stunts. Permissions expand what’s physically possible, while stunts improve what a character is already capable of. As always, GM approval is needed for any new abilities.