As you play the game, your character will increase in prowess and awesomeness. The GM will reward you with Experience Points (sometimes abbreviated as “XP” ) as you advance the story or show your value as a tamer of the ravaged world. You may spend XP to increase your character’s stat and skill levels.
It’s considered good form to spend your XP at the end of the session so the GM has time to collect your updated character data in case it will be needed in subsequent game sessions but there’s no hard rule on when to spend it. Just make sure the GM knows that you’re doing it.
To increase your stat by one level, spend an amount of XP equal to twice the next level for that stat. Recalculate the Stack Numbers and write the amount of XP spent on your character sheet.
You must ramp up your stats one level at a time, paying the XP cost each time. Thus, if you wish to raise your Awareness from 3 to 5, you must first raise it to 4 (costing 8 XP) and then raise it to 5 (costing another 10XP for a total of 14XP to ramp-up two levels).
If your profession benefits granted you a steed or a familiar, you can also use your own XP to increase that mook’s stats as if those stats were your own.
To ramp-up your skill will cost an amount of XP equal to the level you wish to raise it to. If you do not have a skill, it’s level is 0 and raising it to level 1 costs 1 XP. Raising it from 1 to 2 costs 2 XP.
Just as with stats, you must raise your skill levels once at a time so the cost of going from completely untrained (level 0) to novice levels (level 2) is 3 XP.
Remember that professions usually offer benefits that may adjust this cost. The adjustment applies each time you wish to increase the skill’s level.
Remember that you may only purchase spell skills if you have a benefit that explicitly states that you may.
As your character grows in ability and resources, certain talents and resources become available that weren’t before. Advanced Benefits work similarly to your profession benefits but must be purchased with XP, will have certain requirements that must be met before they may be purchased and they may only be purchased once.
You’ve never noticed it before but you’re suddenly aware of the magical forces that permeate all reality. This epiphany wildly reshapes your view of everything. Things that confounded you now make perfect sense and things that you took for granted seem incredibly alien to you.
The pistol, though not endowed with the best terminal ballistics, is a very handy weapon and you’ve come to love the subtle ways that it can be made highly effective on the battlefield.
One of the most upsetting things you ever have to put up with is the attempt to out-perform you. Anybody who tries needs to be taught a lesson and you’re going to teach it to them.
There really are very few things in life that are more beautiful than a big, loud, hot, earth-shaking explosion. The more flame and concussive force, the better. Your intimate knowledge of how explosions work is both a source of joy and tactical prowess.
The injuries that would cripple normal people are mostly just annoying to you. You’ve learned to put up with the brutality of life and don’t think twice about it.
You can not be stopped because you know your cause is just. Your foes will eventually get accustomed to being controlled by their betters and they should be thankful that, for now, the controller is you.
It may have been defending your home against The Fouled or defending your company against bandits but you’ve learned to stand your ground and make anybody suffer for getting near you. Your presence is always strategically significant.
It’s a terrible idea to turn one’s back on you. Unfortunately for them, those that make this mistake never live to learn from it. You are the next level of sneaky git and people fear you far less than they should.
Your hands are steady and your focus keen. You’re able to ignore all the distractions of the world and keep your eyes on target. When you unleash your attack, it lands true and yields profound effect.
Your every attack, whether it hits or not, will give you an advantage; helping you control the tempo and movement of the fight. You have mastered the art of turning all movement to your advantage while using a polearm weapon.
It amuses you when your enemies assume that running away would do them any good. It’s a common instinct that doesn’t pan out nearly as well as they would hope. It makes your job much easier.
When fighting merfolk, sailors found their enemies diving into the water to escape gun fire then climbing back aboard while the guns were reloading. Sailors had to learn to deal as much punishment as they could in the moments just before the enemy hopped out of sight.
You’re an unnaturally smooth talker. Some would say it’s freaky how effective you are at convincing people that violence really is not the answer to their problems. Or maybe you’re just really good at saying terrible things about peoples' mothers.
As somebody who respects the sanctity of life, you’ve come to understand that the best defense is a sure offense. You can draw a pistol in the off hand, shoot it and return it to the holster faster than most people could blink.
It’s amusing to you when people try to run from the concussive force of your grenades.
The ebb and flow of the battlefield is as natural to you as breathing. It is almost frightening how aptly you maneuver chaotic situations.
Lots of folks like to imagine themselves as having a keen tactical mind capable of executing complex maneuvers on the battlefield to defeat their enemies in some fancy way. You’ve noticed these die just as quickly as everybody else when their bodies are stuffed full of lead, arrows or crossbow bolts.
To the novice, every movement on the battlefield is a threat. To you, every person’s attack is just the creation of a vulnerability. You know how to harshly punish people for not executing their maneuvers with utter precision.