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Character Advancement

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Character advancement has been adjusted. You begin with 150 XP. You will spend XP to buy your character's race based on its point value, buy your attributes using the normal point buy, and then buy your level with the remaining points.

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STEP 1: RACE

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Envision the character concept you want to play. You'll buy one of the Aether Spira^TM races by spending an amount of starting points equal to the race's point value. Note that your class and race give you a few starting feats, features, traits, and possibly even spells to begin with at no cost.

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STEP 2: ATTRIBUTES

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You'll then use your remaining points to buy your ability scores using the normal point buy for attribute scores.

Ability Score	Point Cost
7	+3
8	+2
9	+1
10	0
11	1
12	2
13	3
14	5
15	7
16	10
17	13
18	17

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STEP 3: CLASS

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There is no multiclassing, prestige classing, or racial hit dice. You select one of the four Aether Spira^TM classes: Mage, Rogue, Seer, and Warrior.

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STEP 5: LEVELING UP

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You increase in level by 1 for every 100 XP you gain. You gain roughly 1-15 XP per encounter depending on challenge rating.

You also have an Automatic Bonus Progression rating that is separate from your level. This fluctuates up and down based on your motivations.

Advancement and Rewards

Source	XP Gained	Surges Gained	Notes
Show up less than 1 hour after session start	+1 XP	-	Attendance bonus
Leave no earlier than 1 hour before session end	+1 XP	-	Attendance bonus
Contribute food/drink	+1 XP	-	Attendance bonus
Easy Encounter	+1 XP	-	APL -1
Average Encounter	+3 XP	-	APL
Challenging Encounter	+6 XP	-	APL +1
Hard Encounter	+10 XP	+1 Surge*	APL +2
Epic Encounter	+15 XP	+1 Surge*	APL +3
Overwhelming Encounter	+21 XP	+1 Surge*	APL +4+
Difficult Fight (GM declared)	-	+1 Surge	Not all fights qualify
Motivation/Aspiration Hit	+1 XP	+1 Surge	Once per scene/encounter
Motivation/Aspiration Completion	+3 XP	+3 Surges	Once per session

*These rewards are for normal encounters, side quests might award only half these amounts while main story quests might award up to double.

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CHALLENGE RATING

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All monsters adjust their hit dice to equal their challenge rating +4. This is their "level". Player characters and NPCs have a CR equal to level -4.

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BACK-TO-BACK CHALLENGES

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Sometimes you may face multiple dangers before getting to rest, but not all the dangers at once. In such cases, you treat each challenge as separate but add a cumulative +1 to the effective CR for calculating XP per challenge after the first until characters are able to take a short rest.

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EARNING XP

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XP is only awarded based on Intrigues, Quests, and Pivotal Events.


INTRIGUES
Fulfilling one's motivation, achieving aspirations, and adhering to complications can all grant surges as well as XP.

QUESTS
Be it a side quest or primary mission, the GM often makes it clear whether an objective counts as a quest or not. You gain XP upon the quest being completed.

PIVOTAL EVENTS
A scene is pivotal if it genuinely threatens the life and limb of the player characters or their immediate allies (influences), or threatens to foil their aspirations and motivations in a way that would make them impossible to accomplish. When a scene becomes pivotal, overcoming the threat or risk is essentially a quest.

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