56• advanCement
CharaCter adVanCement
When characters accumulate enough experience points,
they advance a character level. New PCs start out at lev-
el one and the most experienced, capable heroes in the
sector might reach level ten. Advancing beyond level
ten is usually prohibitively difficult, though possible at
the GM’s discretion.
Gaining Experience Points
To advance in capability, PCs need to earn experience
points. Once they accumulate enough experience, they
can advance to the next character level, representing
the sharpening of their skills and the heroic veterancy
that comes of surviving perils and dire challenges.
There are many different things that can earn a
hero experience points, and the kind of activities and
goals that reward them will vary with the kind of cam-
paign you’re playing. The GM should make clear to the
whole group what kind of things earn the PCs experi-
ence in their game.
For some games, success might lie in plundering
alien hoards or clawing wealth from the hands of des-
perate patrons. Other games might reward the PCs
for achieving personal goals, whether or not there
was any money in it. Some might even award XP only
for spending credits, requiring every PC to recklessly
waste their wealth before gaining a level. It’s up to the
GM to pick a method that fits the group’s tastes.
The table below indicates how many experience
points need to be earned before a PC can advance to
that level. Once the requisite number of XP are earned,
the hero gains their new level and all the benefits.
Note that this table makes for a relatively fast
progression through the early levels of an adventur-
er’s career, before slowing drastically at higher levels.
A group that prefers a different pacing might alter the
chart to suit their own tastes.
In general, you can assume that one “successful”
gaming session should usually earn you about 3 XP.
Character Level Total Experience Required
1 0
2 3
3 6
4 12
5 18
6 27
7 39
8 54
9 72
10 93
11+ +24 points for each level more
Benefits of Gaining a Level
Once a PC has been awarded enough experience points
to reach the next level, they immediately gain the ben-
efits of advancement. No special training or practice
is required as their abilities are assumed to have been
honed by their past adventures.
Roll Additional Hit Points
First, they become harder to overcome in combat. To
determine their new maximum hit points, they roll a
number of six-sided dice equal to their new level, add-
ing their Constitution modifier to each one. A nega-
tive modifier can’t lower a die’s result below 1. If the
total is greater than their current hit points, they take
this new total. Otherwise, their current maximum hit
points increase by one.
Thus, if a character with a Constitution score of
14 and four hit points reached second level, they’d roll
2d6+2. If the total was five or greater, they’d keep it.
If they managed to roll snake eyes and get only a four,
they’d still increase their maximum hit points to five.
Warriors and Adventurers with the Partial War-
rior class option get a further two hit points each time
they advance a level. Thus, a third level Warrior would
roll 3d6+6 for their hit point total, plus three times
their Constitution modifier.
Improve Attack Bonus
A PC’s base attack bonus becomes equal to half their
new character level, rounded down. Warriors may
instead use their full character level for the bonus. Ad-
venturers with the Partial Warrior class option may
add a cumulative +1 to their attack bonus at levels one
and five, thus having a total +1 attack bonus at level
one and +4 at level five.
Improve Saving Throws
The PC becomes more capable of evading chance
harms and perils. Their saving throw scores decrease
by one, making it easier to succeed on saving throws
by rolling equal or over it. As a first level character has
saving throw scores of 15, reaching second level would
lower them to 14, modified by attributes.

Gain and Spend Skill Points
They become more capable with their skills. A PC gains
three skill points they can spend on improving their
skills or save to spend later. Experts and Adventurers
with the Partial Expert class option gain an extra bonus
point to spend on a non-combat, non-psychic skill.
If the PC is a Psychic or Partial Psychic, they must
spend at least one of these points on improving psychic
skills or gaining new psychic techniques. They can save
these points to spend later if they wish, but they cannot
spend them on more mundane talents. Restricted psy-
chics can only ever improve or learn techniques from
the psychic discipline they selected when they picked
the Psychic primary focus. Unrestricted psychics can
improve or learn any discipline. PCs with the Psychic
character class are all unrestricted, while Partial Psychic
Adventurers are restricted in their talents.
Skills that are gained or improved immediately on
gaining a level are assumed to have been perfected over
the past level and require no training time or teaching.
If you save your skill points to spend them later then
you’ll need to find some teacher or other explanation
for developing them. It doesn’t take more than a week
to refine your new ability, but you can’t usually spend
your points mid-scene to develop a heretofore-unmen-
tioned expertise with flamethrowers.
The cost for improving a skill is listed below. Ev-
ery skill level must be purchased in order; to gain lev-
el-1 in a skill you need to pay one point for level-0 and
then two points for level-1. A PC must be the requi-
site minimum level to increase a skill to certain levels.
Less hardened heroes simply don’t have the focus and
real-life experience to attain such a pitch of mastery.
A PC cannot develop skills beyond level-4.
New Skill Skill Point Minimum
Level Cost Character Level
0 1 1 increasing the skill. This is enough to raise a nonexis-
1 2 1 tent skill to level-1, or boost a level-1 skill to level-2.
2 3 3 They may do this even if they aren’t high-enough level
3 4 6 If the skill points aren’t quite enough to raise the
4 5 9 skill to a new level, they remain as credit toward future
Psychic Effort and Techniques
When a Psychic gains a new level in a psychic skill, they
can immediately pick a technique from that discipline
of equal or lesser level. They can’t save this pick; they
must choose it as soon as they gain the new skill level.
Psychics can also spend their skill points to master
additional psychic techniques. The cost of this educa-
tion is equal to the technique’s minimum skill level re-
quirement. Thus, to master the Biopsionic technique
Metamorph would cost three skill points, because Meta-
morph requires Biopsionics-3 skill to learn.
A Psychic’s maximum Effort is equal to 1 plus their
highest psychic skill, plus the best of their Wisdom or
Constitution modifiers.
advanCement •57
Purchase Improved Attributes
A veteran adventurer may have trained or honed their
natural abilities well enough to improve one of their
six base attributes. While even the most determined
development isn’t enough to turn complete ineptitude
into gifted competence, a hard-working adventurer can
hone their existing strengths considerably.
The first time a PC improves an attribute, it costs
1 skill point and adds +1 to an attribute of their choice.
The second improvement to their attributes costs 2
skill points, the third 3, and so forth. Each improve-
ment adds +1 to the attribute, potentially improving
its modifier.
PCs must be a certain level before purchasing the
third, fourth, or fifth attribute boost. No more than five
attribute boosts can ever be purchased by a PC.
Attribute Skill Point Minimum
Boost Cost Character Level
First 1 1
Second 2 1
Third 3 3
Fourth 4 6
Final 5 9
Choose New Foci
Finally, the PC might be eligible to pick an additional
level in a focus. At levels 2, 5, 7, and 10 a PC can add
a level to an existing focus or pick up the first level in
a new focus.
If this is the first level they’ve taken in the focus,
they might be granted a skill as a free bonus pick, de-
pending on the focus’ benefits. During character cre-
ation, this bonus skill pick is treated like any other skill
pick. If the focus is taken as part of advancement, how-
ever, it instead counts as three skill points spent toward
to normally qualify for a skill level that high.
advances. If applied to a skill that is already at level-4,
the PC can spend the three skill points on any other
skill of their choice.