Leveling Up

Core Rules v2 p. 21

The GM may allow you to gain a level (LVL) while Safe Resting after you complete an appropriately challenging quest or adventure. At level 1, this may be as simple as clearing some angry rats out of a basement or rescuing someone from the woods. Each subsequent level will generally take more effort (and therefore more time). When you gain a level:

  • HP Increase. Roll your Hit Die with advantage and increase your max HP by that much, or take the average instead: d4: +3 HP; d6: +4 HP; d8: +5 HP; d10: +7 HP; d12: +8 HP.
  • More Endurance. Your Hit Die max increases by 1 (it is typically equal to your level).
  • More Skilled. Gain 1 skill point. Additionally, you may move 1 point from one skill to another (as long as the skill doesn’t become negative), reflecting your hero’s evolving expertise and priorities.
  • Class Features. Gain new class features for your level. This may mean increasing your mana pool, new spells, or even selecting a subclass!
  • Other Adjustments. If any of your base stats increase, remember to adjust other elements of your character sheet as needed (skills, damage, Initiative, Defense, Mana, languages, etc.).

Note The maximum bonus a skill can have is +12.

Official Variants

2

Dramatic Leveling

Variant

Core Rules v2 p. 55

Leveling up mid-combat or in another dramatic scene occasionally can make for a very memorable moment! Just make sure everyone already knows their level up choices beforehand to avoid slowing the game down.

Multiclassing

Variant

Core Rules v2 p. 54

If your GM wants to allow for additional creativity for experienced players (and potentially broken combos!), when heroes level up, they may choose ANY class. For example, when a level 4 Berserker levels up, he could pick Commander, and take the level 1 Commander features instead of the level 5 Berserker features. He would have 4 d12 Hit Dice and a single d10 Hit Die. A hero gains the equipment proficiencies of all their classes but should use the advantaged/disadvantaged saves of whichever class has the highest level.

"Broken" Can Be Fun! Planning, building, optimizing, and “breaking” a class build IS the fun for many people. The GM may need to make the game substantially more challenging if multiclassing is allowed. The GM also may veto any particularly overpowered, unfun, or implausible combo for the sake of the story and overall fun of the table. If this happens, well done! Your hero was too powerful for reality.

Related Rules

4
Complex CharactersCharacters & Equipment / Creating & Advancing a Hero
Hit DiceFundamentals / Health
MulticlassingCharacters & Equipment / Creating & Advancing a Hero
The Character SheetCharacters & Equipment / Creating & Advancing a Hero