Every hard-won change leaves its mark.

Characters do not remain fixed after creation. What they survive can deepen their Core Vitals. What they practise can strengthen their Skills. What they commit themselves to can advance a Class or open an entirely new one.

Story Points measure that lasting growth. This chapter explains how characters earn, save, and spend Story Points to increase Core Vitals, Skill Levels, and Class Levels after character creation.

What you endure becomes capacity. What you practise becomes skill. What you commit to becomes identity.

How Character Development Works

Character development follows the story. At Story Checkpoints and the resolution of Story Milestones, each player character earns Story Points (SP). You may spend those SP on any increase for which your character meets the requirements, or save them for later.

The three forms of development are:

• Core Vital development: increase a character's underlying capacity.
• Skill development: increase training in a particular discipline.
• Class development: deepen an existing Class or gain Level 1 in a new Class.

The chapters for Core Vitals, Character Skills, and Character Classes explain what those traits do. This chapter governs how they increase after character creation.

Story Milestones and Checkpoints

Story Milestones provide the structure for significant campaign progress. A Story Milestone is a major objective, transformation, discovery, or turning point. The Guide defines it broadly enough that play can change how it is reached or resolved.

Story Checkpoints

A Story Checkpoint is significant, non-repeatable progress toward a Story Milestone. The Guide may identify likely Story Checkpoints when planning or recognise equivalent progress that emerges during play. The players do not need to follow a planned route.

A setback, failure, or compromise can be a Story Checkpoint if it materially changes the situation and advances the story.

• Award a Story Checkpoint when the characters make significant progress toward the Story Milestone.
• Do not award the same Story Checkpoint more than once.
• Let the number of Story Checkpoints reflect the length and scope of the Story Milestone, not the number of sessions played.
• Resolve the Story Milestone when its central situation reaches a meaningful conclusion through success, failure, compromise, or an unexpected course.

Story Checkpoints and resolved Story Milestones award Story Points. See Story Points for the award values and the rules for saving and spending them.

Story Points

Story Points represent lasting character growth earned through meaningful progress in the story. They are awarded at Story Checkpoints and when Story Milestones are resolved.

See Story Milestones and Checkpoints for the complete rules for defining and resolving them.

Story Point awards recognise progress, not a judgement of player performance. Do not increase or reduce an award based on how well the players rolled, how efficiently they acted, or whether the Guide approved of their decisions.

Playtest Values:

• At each Story Checkpoint, each player character gains 3 SP.
• When the Story Milestone is resolved, each player character gains an additional 5 SP.

These values are provisional and will be tuned through playtesting.

These awards are cumulative. A Story Milestone with one Story Checkpoint awards 8 SP to each player character in total. One with two Story Checkpoints awards 11 SP to each player character in total.

Saving Story Points

You do not need to spend Story Points as soon as you earn them. Record your unspent SP on your Character Sheet and save them across Story Checkpoints and Story Milestones until you can pay the full cost of the development you want.

When Story Points are spent on character development, deduct them only when the increase is completed. You cannot make partial payments toward an increase. Other rules may allow Story Points to be spent for another purpose, such as creating Synergy.

Development Costs

The cost of an increase is based on the new Score or Level being gained. This is its Target Score or Target Level.

Core Vitals, Skills, and Classes each have a maximum Score or Level of 10. Increasing a Skill requires its Linked Vital to equal or exceed the Target SL. Increasing an existing Class has no Skill Level requirement; Class Levels and Class Power Tier access develop independently.

Training Exchange can reduce the cost of a qualifying Skill Level or Class Level increase, but never a Core Vital increase.

Scores and Levels increase one step at a time. If you increase the same trait more than once, pay separately for every new Score or Level gained.

Example: Raising Acrobatics from SL 2 to SL 4 costs 3 SP for SL 3 and another 4 SP for SL 4, for a total of 7 SP.

Resolving Development

When developing your character:

1. Choose the increase. Name the Core Vital, Skill, or Class you want to increase and the new Score or Level you are gaining.
2. Check the requirements. Confirm that the increase is within its maximum and that every prerequisite is already met.
3. Resolve enabling increases first. A Core Vital increase may make a linked Skill increase legal. A Skill increase may unlock a higher Class Power Tier before you choose the Power granted by a Class Level increase. Skill thresholds do not restrict Class Level increases themselves.
4. Calculate the cost. Use the new Score or Level to determine the full SP cost.
5. Apply Training Exchange if relevant. A qualifying Training Exchange can reduce the cost of a Skill Level or Class Level increase, but never a Core Vital increase.
6. Spend the Story Points. Deduct the complete cost from your unspent SP.
7. Record the result. Update the character's Score or Level and any affected values, access, or Class Power choices.

When a Training Exchange is used, follow its simultaneous payment and increase rules instead of applying the two increases separately.

Tip: When you develop your character, describe what changed. The numbers record the growth; the story shows how it happened.

Increasing a Core Vital

Core Vitals measure the capacities on which the rest of a character is built. Increasing one can raise linked Skill limits, affect derived traits when a rule calls for that Vital, and increase maximum Vitality when the character's combined Vital total reaches a new threshold.

To increase a Core Vital:

• Spend SP equal to twice the new Core Vital Score.
• Increase the Core Vital by 1.
• Do not increase a Core Vital above 10.
• Recalculate the character's total Core Vitals and check the Vitality table.
• Update any Linked Vital limits or derived traits affected by the increase.

Advancement Cost = Target Score × 2 SP

Training Exchange cannot reduce the cost of increasing a Core Vital.

Example: Increasing Strength

Graynor wants to increase their Strength from 3 to 4. After earning Story Points through story progress, they spend 8 SP (i.e., 4 × 2) and increase their Strength to 4.

Increasing Strength may now allow Graynor to train Strength-linked Skills to a higher level. It also raises Graynor's combined Vital total; if that total reaches a new threshold on the Vitality table, Graynor's maximum Vitality increases.

Increasing a Skill Level

Skills represent learned capability developed through instruction, practice, and experience. Every Skill has a Linked Vital that limits how far that Skill can develop.

To increase a Skill Level:

• The Skill's Linked Vital must be equal to or higher than the new Skill Level.
• Spend SP equal to the new Skill Level.
• Increase the Skill Level by 1.
• Do not increase a Skill above SL 10.

Advancement Cost = Target SL × 1 SP

Increasing a Skill may change its Readiness Score, Boost limit, proactive-use limit, and eligibility for Skill-based effects. See Character Skills for those rules.

Example: Increasing Acrobatics

Nyra wants to raise Acrobatics from SL 2 to SL 3. Her Agility (AGI) is 3, so she qualifies. She spends 3 SP and increases Acrobatics to SL 3.

Nyra may now Boost Acrobatics Skill Checks with up to 3 extra Action Dice.

Tip: Invest in Skills that define your role. Mastery shapes scenes—scattered points rarely make an impact.

Developing a Class

A Class is a structured training tradition that grants access to exclusive Class Powers. Class Level represents a character's depth of commitment to that Class.

Class development can deepen a Class the character already has or grant Level 1 in a new Class.

Class Level and Class Power Tier access are independent. Class Levels determine how many Class Powers a character has. Total Skill Levels across the Class's three core Skills determine which Tiers those Powers may be chosen from.

Increasing an Existing Class Level

To increase an existing Class Level:

• Spend SP equal to the new Class Level.
• Increase the Class Level by 1.
• Choose 1 additional Class Power from any Tier currently unlocked for that Class.
• Do not increase a Class above Level 10.

Advancement Cost = Target Class Level × 1 SP

Increasing a Class Level never requires a particular total of Skill Levels. Each Class Level gained grants 1 additional Class Power, but the Power must be chosen from a Tier the character has already unlocked.

Example: Advancing Without Unlocking a Higher Tier

Kale is a Level 4 Fighter with only 3 total Skill Levels across the Fighter's three core Skills. He has unlocked Tier 1 but not Tier 2. Kale spends 5 SP to gain Fighter Level 5 and chooses a fifth Tier 1 Fighter Power.

Kale does not need 6 total core Skill Levels to gain Fighter Level 5. Until he reaches that Skill threshold, however, he cannot choose Tier 2 Fighter Powers.

Unlocking Class Power Tiers

Class Power Tiers are unlocked solely by the character's total Skill Levels across that Class's three core Skills. Class Level does not contribute to Tier access and does not limit which Tier can be unlocked.

At character creation, a character's starting Class grants 3 Skill Levels across its three core Skills, unlocking Tier 1. After character creation, each higher Tier unlocks as soon as the required Skill total is reached.

Unlocking a Tier grants access to its Class Powers. It does not grant a Class Level or a new Class Power.

When a Class Level grants a new Power, choose from any Tier currently unlocked for that Class. If a Skill increase unlocks a Tier before that Power is chosen, the newly unlocked Tier is available for the choice.

See Class Powers for how Paths, Tiers, and Class Powers work after they have been selected.

Example: Unlocking Tier 2

Nira is a Level 1 Ranger with a total of 5 Skill Levels across the Ranger's three core Skills: Beastcraft 2, Athletics 1, and Survival 2. Her Linked Vital is high enough to increase Athletics.

Nira spends 2 SP to raise Athletics to SL 2. She now has 6 total core Skill Levels and unlocks Tier 2, but she does not gain another Ranger Power merely for unlocking the Tier.

When Nira next increases her Ranger Level, she may choose the additional Power granted by that Level from either Tier 1 or Tier 2. She could have increased her Ranger Level before reaching 6 total Skill Levels, but the resulting Power would then have been limited to Tier 1.

Gaining a New Class

Skills are the gateway to gaining a new Class. To gain Level 1 in a new Class after character creation, you must first:

• have at least 3 total Skill Levels across the new Class's three core Skills;
• hold at least SL 1 in two of those Skills;
• complete an in-world achievement or training scene reflecting narrative transformation; and
• spend 1 SP to gain Level 1 in the new Class.

Once these requirements are completed, gain Level 1 in the new Class and select one Tier 1 Power from any of its Paths.

Gaining a new Class after character creation does not grant another 3 Skill Levels or another 120 Dritch. Those benefits are granted only when choosing a starting Class during character creation.

Example: Gaining a New Class

Sera, a Fighter, trains with an Ember Creed priest. She raises the Cleric's core Skills until she has 3 total Skill Levels across them, with SL 1 in at least two, then defends a shrine in silence. She spends 1 SP, gains Cleric Level 1, and chooses Brand of Flame from the Devouring Flame Path. She does not gain any additional Skill Levels or Dritch.

Training Exchange

Any two different players whose characters spend time training together may agree to undertake a Training Exchange. Each player describes what their character teaches the other. Each then chooses one Skill Level or Class Level to increase and must meet all normal prerequisites for that increase.

For each chosen increase, the other character must already have a Level in that same Skill or Class equal to or higher than the new Level being gained. Both characters must qualify to train the other. A Level gained during the Training Exchange cannot be used to meet this requirement.

If both increases qualify, reduce the SP cost of each by 1 SP, to a minimum of 1 SP. Pay both costs and apply both increases together. If either character cannot complete their chosen increase, neither receives the reduction.

The characters may increase different Skills or Classes. Each Level increase can benefit from only one Training Exchange, and reductions from multiple Training Exchanges do not stack.

Training Exchange cannot reduce the cost of increasing a Core Vital.

Tip: A Training Exchange can involve different Skills or Classes. Each character teaches from expertise they already possess; neither can use the Level they are currently gaining to qualify the other.

Example: Training Exchange

Rika chooses to raise Finesse from SL 2 to SL 3, which normally costs 3 SP. Javi already has Finesse SL 3, so he qualifies to train her.

Javi chooses to raise Occult from SL 4 to SL 5, which normally costs 5 SP. Rika already has Occult SL 5, so she qualifies to train him.

Because each character qualifies to train the other, they complete the Training Exchange together. Rika pays 2 SP for Finesse SL 3, and Javi pays 4 SP for Occult SL 5.

If Rika had only Occult SL 4, the Training Exchange would not qualify. Javi could train Rika, but Rika could not train Javi to the new Level he is gaining, so neither increase would receive the reduction.

Summary

• Story Checkpoints and resolved Story Milestones award Story Points for significant progress rather than player performance.
• Unspent SP may be saved across Story Checkpoints and Story Milestones.
• Increasing a Core Vital costs twice the new Score. Core Vitals cannot exceed 10 and cannot benefit from Training Exchange.
• Increasing a Skill costs SP equal to the new SL. The Linked Vital must equal or exceed the new SL, and no Skill can exceed SL 10.
• Increasing a Class costs SP equal to the new Class Level, grants 1 additional Class Power, and cannot raise that Class above Level 10.
• Class Levels can increase regardless of the character's total Skill Levels.
• Class Power Tiers unlock at 3, 6, and 9 total Skill Levels across the Class's three core Skills. Class Level does not affect Tier access.
• Unlocking a Tier grants access to its Powers; it does not grant a Power by itself.
• Gaining a new Class requires its core-Skill prerequisites, an in-world achievement or training scene, and 1 SP.
• A qualifying Training Exchange reduces one Skill or Class Level increase for each participating character by 1 SP, to a minimum of 1 SP.