Experience & goals

Characters level up after reaching a number of goals equal to their next level. For instance, a third level character needs to accomplish four goals to get to fourth level.

Each goal is defined by players and Referee together. Some examples: clear a goblin nest, rescue a lost knight, find out who killed the innkeeper, explore a portion of wilderness, bring back enough gold to fund the next expedition, travel through a haunted forest, steal the duke’s signet ring.

Some goals may be more difficult or time consuming than others. The number of sessions required is up to the group, but one or two is a good average.

Start each session by listing the party's goals, adding new ones to the list and removing unwanted ones. It's never too late to update the list if the characters accomplish something noteworthy. A fair Referee can also grant half-goals if you came close, but couldn't entirely cross an objective off the list.

Character goals. To allow for some character driven action, you may let each player have a goal that is unique to them. I would not allow more than one of these active at any time. Only one goal can be reached during a given session.

Levelling up

Every new level, choose two (each entry only once):

• Add 1 point to a stat of your choice (to a maximum of 18).
• Gain one hit die. Roll your hit dice and record you new hit points total. If the new roll doesn't improve your hit points, add 1 to the old total. You can spend a CON point to roll again, keeping the best result.
• Research a new spell (magic training required).
• Gain one mêlée attack or missile attack (martial training required).
• Gain a new ability (1/day), and an extra daily use for an existing one (specialist training required).

At levels 4, 7, and 10, you can also take another trait or choose a new training.