Experience points are a way to measure the improvement of your character as it travels thru life. Experience in Elisar can be acquired in numerous ways. The experience level advancement chart in the Player’s Handbook is used for experience points needed to advance to the next level. I will call this the XP threshold in this document.
COMBAT – the most common way to earn experience is in
defeating another being in combat. Defeating does not necessarily
mean killing said being, you could capture them or drive them off.
Doing any of those are worth the same number of experience points.
As an example, you are fighting an Ancient, Huge White
Dragon named Old White Death. Your party chips away at her using
spells, bows, and anything at you disposal. As Old White Death wears
down, she realizes she is in trouble, and dives into a pool in the
ice cave, swims under the glacier to the other side, and flies away.
Your party is unable to chase her. You drove her off, so she is
worth the same number of XP as she was defeated, just as if you had
killed her.
Challenge levels are used based on the monster, and
split evenly among the party on the adventure. As an example, 5
party members kill a ¼ challenge Kenku, worth 25pts. Each party
member would get 5xp, even if some of the party did no damage. Every
party member contributes in some way with healing, tracking, and
shares in the danger of being a target. I do however, upgrade
challenge levels based on higher levels of the threat. You are
fighting 10 Kenku, one is a sergeant that is the equivalent of a
challenge 3 creature, he is worth challenge 3 experience.
Other ways to earn experience would be to complete a
task, mission, quest or goal.
TASK – One example of task would be building a roadside
shrine to Eldar in a village with no temple or shrine. Another might
be to pick a pocket. Or to consecrate ground for a new druid grove,
or to aid a traveler who has a broken wagon wheel or is injured.
Tasks are almost unlimited.
MISSION – A mission might be to drive off a band of
horrid Bullywugs, to open diplomatic relations with a pack of
Kobolds, or to solve the mystery of a haunted cornfield. A mission
might also be to thoroughly map an area for a commission for a large
peat harvesting company. Missions are usually given or assigned to
you by another party, and usually require more than one player
character.
QUEST – Quests are usually given by a church or the government, and could be a lifelong journey to find the Holy Grail, or to find the homeland of the Golden Unicorn. These are uncommon.
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GOAL – Goals are usually something your player
character chooses themselves to achieve, such as build a dam on
Whitewater Creek to aid in irrigation. Another could be to learn the
Goblinoid language. Goals, by nature, are not easily done or simple.
Lets say you have a weakness for ale, and you usually get drunk
whenever in a village, or you have ale available. Not getting drunk
in The Great Walled City of Agincourt tonight, while a worthwhile
goal, would not be a goal in this sense. To rid your self of your
weakness for the demon ale would be a goal, and completing it might
be going a year without a drink.
All of the above would be worth experience points, which
are assigned by the DM.
As with everything in D&D, these should be discussed
with the DM.
Another way to earn experience is to complete a job or
complete skill training.
JOB – Many jobs you take during our down time between
games are basic jobs that earn you coin and develop an attribute. As
an example, you dig irrigation ditches for three days for pay. You
would get money, and some small benefit in strength, but no
experience. (more on the benefit to strength on the paper, Jobs,
Skill Building and Reading in the World of Elisar to be published
soon.)
But, lets say you have the tinkering skill and you take
a job to repair a turnip press that has broken down, paying you 50gp
when the press is repaired. You use your tinkering skill, clean,
lubricate and replace broken parts on the press. Completion of this
task would give you three benefits: the 50gp for completion of the
job, a small increase in the tinkering skill, and a handful of
experience points.
SKILL TRAINING – Each town offers some number of skill
classes available for cost to enroll in. You take the class,
complete the classroom/hands on, complete the practice, and are
certified in the skill. The benefits are twofold once earning
certification. First, you gain a skill that gives you some benefit,
and you gain experience points for completing the certification. More
on Skill Training in the upcoming paper, Jobs, Skill Building, and
Reading in the World of Elisar.
THE DM’s DISCRETION – things happen from time to time
that the DM may feel warrants awarding experience points. You
complete a selfless act, possibly in the service of your religion or
belief system. You do something so off the wall the DM feels it
warrants experience. Something bad happens to you, life lesson
learned, thus experience. You do something bad, repent and make
restitution, lesson learned and experience awarded.
TRACKING EXPERIENCE – The DM handles all of the
tracking of experience. I have sheets for each character, in which I
keep track of experience, skills, jobs etc. When you achieve a
level, I will tell you, either at the end of the night at Geek Boom,
or possibly, if you take advantage of the Jobs/Skills/Reading
available on the Wednesday Facebook page, when you complete one of
the above jobs, skills, reading, and you obtain XP, reach an XP
threshold and go up a level. I would tell you on Facebook, usually
by Facebook Messenger. You are free to ask where you are at on
experience, at any time. I will tell you where you are relatively
to the next level, but not the number. Such as, about half way,
almost there etc.
GOING UP A LEVEL – When your character goes up a
level, you have 4 options:
Go up a level in your current class
Add a new character class
Advance another level in an additional character class
Add a new subclass
GO UP A LEVEL IN YOUR CURRENT CLASS – When you reach the
experience level threshold for the next level, you attain that level
and all benefits that go with it. Example, you are a 1st
level fighter, you reach 300 or more XP, you go to 2nd
level fighter.
ADD A NEW CHARACTER CLASS – You reach the experience
level threshold for the next level, instead of going up in your
current class, . You choose to add a new character class, you add
that character class, at 1st level, if you have a high
enough score in the prerequisite ability. Example, you are a 1st
level fighter, earn enough XP to attain 2nd level, instead of going
to 2nd level fighter, you decide to become a Bard in
addition to being a fighter, provided you have at least a 13 Charisma
attribute, You become a 1st level Bard, gain all of the
abilities of a first level Bard, and still retain all of the
abilities of a 1st level fighter. In this situation, you
character would be considered second level for the purposes of hit
points and XP. In order to advance one or the other of these
classes, you would have to reach the XP threshold of 3rd
level then ONE of the two classes would advance to SECOND level. And
yes it is possible to be 12th level in XP and hit points
and be a 1st level
Barbarian/Bard/Cleric/Druid/Fighter/Monk/Paladin/Ranger/Rogue/Sorcerer/Warlock/Wizard
Never seen it, but it could be done. Three classes is
the most I have seen.
ADVANCE ANOTHER LEVEL IN AN ADDITIONAL CHARACTER CLASS –
You are a 1st level Fighter/1nd level Bard, you
reach the threshold for 3rd level XP, you choose to go up
in the Bard class. You become a 1st Fighter/2nd
Bard, and gain all abilities of a second level Bard while retaining
all abilities of a 1st Fighter. Upon reaching the XP
threshold for 4th level, you could advance in either
class, or choose a third class.
ADD A NEW SUBCLASS – Instead of going up a level in a
certain class, you choose a 2nd subclass FROM THAT CLASS.
You must be at the combined levels to get the second subclass, and
gain the abilities for that 2nd subclass, and that levels
hit die, but no other abilities for that level.
As you advance in levels, you would be 1 level behind
for benefits of achieving that level. And you would have to choose
which subclass to benefit for the subclass advancement if there is
any.
Example. Your dream is to be a horseback fighting,
arrow shooting terror, (you always liked the Mongols). You choose to
be a fighter, and you want to gain the benefits of cavalier and
arcane archer. At 3rd level, you get to choose a
subclass, and you choose Cavalier, and gain all benefits of Cavalier
and any other benefits gained for reaching 3rd level
fighter. You reach 6th level, and want to add the
subclass Arcane Archer. Since it takes 3 levels to gain a subclass,
you may add an additional subclass at 6th level. You gain
the benefits of arcane archer, and the normal hit die, but forgo the
other benefits of reaching 6th level, which in this case
would be Ability Score Improvement. When you reached 7th
level XP threshold, you would gain a hit die, and the Ability Score
Improvement from 6th level, as you are one level behind
for benefits. When you reached the 8th XP threshold, your
character would gain the 7th level benefit, gaining a hit
die and gaining a martial archetype (subclass) feature. You would
only gain the benefit for ONE of the archetypes (sub classes) not
both, your choice. This choice does take more attention to detail in
record keeping.
MAXIMUM LEVELS
While we are not anywhere near this, and the campaign
may end before we get here, 5e only supports characters up to 20th
level. If you were to attain that level, or combined levels, you
stop advancing in the game. However, I allow you to continue attain
levels in a second or third class.
In other words, 20th level is currently the
highest you can go in a single class, but once reached, you could
continue to attain levels in other classes.
There are NPC’s and opponents out there who are 20th
rogue/13 druid, 20th fighter arcane archer cavalier/20th
wizard, etc.
We will discuss this more if and when we reach this
situation. Or you face an opponent who, unfortunately for you, has
attained such lofty levels.
