Part of any story is character development. There are lots of ways that characters can change; they can come to new realizations about themselves (the alcoholic who narrowly avoids a terrible accident and vows to stop drinking; the libertine who discovers that they really did love one person after all), they can make new friends or enemies, they can gain new capabilities or hone those they already have. Not all of these changes require changes to a character sheet, but quite a lot of them do.
Gaining XP
There are three primary ways to gain XP on TowersMUX:
- Being IC (that is, on the IC grid) rewards characters with a small amount of XP, even if they’re not actively RPing with someone, as long as they are not excessively idle.
- Getting +votes from other characters with whom you have RPed awards XP. You will not usually see an immediate gain from votes.
- Running or participating in plot-advancing scenes awards XP to the players in either role.
Votes
The vote system is intended to reward players for RPing in small groups, for varying their choice of RP partners, and for playing throughout the day. However, it is also designed to provide diminishing returns for all of these aspects: someone who plays 12 hours a day day will not earn twice as much XP as someone who plays for 6, someone who regularly plays with 10 different people will not earn 5 times more XP than someone who regularly plays with 2, and someone who RPs in scenes involving 20+ people or more will not earn 10 times more XP than someone who plays with two.
XP for Scenes
A “plot-advancing scene” is one that contributes to moving a plotline forward, or starting a new one. Scenes that don’t involve any significant risk of failure are not plot-advancing within this meaning of the term — having a long talk among the members of your coterie may well advance some or all of the plotlines you’re collectively involved in, but it is not usually a scene that warrants an XP award. Similarly, a friendly paintball match among friends is something that a character can be at risk of failure from without that risk being significant — that is, winning or losing has little effect on any ongoing storyline.
On the other hand, if your coterie has a paintball match with a rival coterie to settle a dispute over rights to a coveted feeding ground — that probably counts as a plot-advancing scene! As a rule of thumb, if you’re going to get extra XP (beyond the +votes) for a scene, you should probably expect there to be some long-term consequences from it.
XP Scaling
If you play for long enough and are closely attentive to your rate of XP gain, you may notice that eventually — probably not for a year or two — it may begin to slow down. This is not a bug; it’s deliberate and intentional on our part, and is intended to keep older characters from advancing past the point where they need assistance to solve problems, while also allowing newer characters to advance quickly enough that they aren’t left behind completely.
The degree of decrease is not constant; as your XP total continues to rise, the amount you gain from +votes and from being on-grid will continue to go down. You will always gain some XP — but if your total is extremely high, it will take significant RL time to accumulate the XP for major purchases.
It’s entirely possible that you may never get to the point where your XP gain slows down. That’s fine! The point when it begins to happen is well above the amount of XP a player in a tabletop game can expect to see in all but the most generous and long-running games.
XP Costs
General
- Attributes: Current rating * 4
- New Ability: 3
- Abilities: Current rating * 2
- Backgrounds: 5 per dot
- Willpower: 10 per dot
- Merit: Dots of Merit * 5
- Flaw (removing): Dots of Flaw * 5
Vampire
- New Discipline: 10
- Clan Discipline: Current rating * 5
- Non-Clan Discipline: Current rating * 6
- New Path (Necromancy or Thaumaturgy): 7
- Secondary Path (Necromancy or Thaumaturgy): Current rating * 4
- Virtue: Current rating * 2
- Humanity: Current rating * 2
Ghouls
- New Discipline: 20
- New Thaumaturgy or Necromancy Path: 20
- Virtue: Current rating * 2
- Humanity: Current rating *2
Because there are no PC vampires above 8th Generation, PC ghouls may not learn more than the first dot of a Discipline.
Shifter
- Gift: Level of Gift * 3
- Gift from a different Breed/Auspice/Tribe/etc.: Level of Gift * 5
- Rage: Current rating * 1
- Gnosis: Current rating * 2
Kinfolk
- Gift: 15
- Gift from a different Breed/Tribe: 20
- Gift learned from a Garou rather than a spirit: +5 to the above costs.
Mage
- New Sphere: 10
- Affinity Sphere: Current rating * 7
- Other Sphere: Current rating * 8
- Arete: Current rating * 8
Changeling
- New Art: 7
- Art: Current rating * 4
- New Realm: 5
- Realm: Current rating * 3
- Glamour: Current rating * 3
Kinain
- New Art: 7
- Art: Current rating * 4
- New Realm: 5
- Realm: Current rating * 3
Spending XP
For the most part, how you choose to spend XP is up to you — within a few basic limits.
The Two-Thirds Rule
The primary such limit is that at most two-thirds of your XP expenditure should go towards things that are supernatural powers (if you have some!), or are directly related to them. That includes raising Disciplines, blood magic Paths, or Rituals (for vampires); buying Gifts and Rites (for shifters); raising Arete and Spheres (for mages); or buying Arts and Realms (for changelings).
Buying Attributes and Abilities, even if they’re sphere-specific (e.g. Primal-Urge, Gremayre, or Cosmology), never counts toward the two-thirds limit. Buying Backgrounds usually does not, with the exception of Backgrounds that provide additional supernatural powers (i.e., Fetish, Wonder, Treasures, etc. — see Magical Items).
The Two-Thirds Rule is not an absolutely hard and fast limit; staff are not going to reject an XP spend request solely because it would leave your character with 70% of their XP in supernatural things, especially not if you’re below 66% before submitting it. If you’re significantly above the line, however, or if you’ve been above the line for some time, we expect that you will focus your next few spends on mundane things.
Our Expectations
The overwhelming majority of things you can spend XP on do not require anything other than IC effort commensurate with whatever you’re trying to buy — if you’re buying Melee 5, of course you’ll have to show more effort than you would to buy Melee 1.
For things that are high on the Approval Scale, however — some things that require at least two approvals, and most or all things that require majority or unanimous approval — we want to see more than just IC effort; we want to see OOC effort to include, support, and assist other players as well. Are you running scenes that move storylines forward? Are you reaching out to new players in your sphere (and in the game as a whole) to make them feel like a part of things? Are you making sure that everyone gets time in the spotlight, and not just your character? Are you helping other characters put together justifications for things they want to raise?
No one’s perfect; we don’t expect sainthood, and we don’t expect everyone to meet every one of these standards in order to (for example) raise Arete to 4. But we do expect that other players will, for the most part, think of characters with unusual abilities as an asset to the sphere and to the game. High levels of supernatural powers, in particular, allow characters to have more significant effects on the game world. That’s an OOC responsibility that their players should be cognizant of, and should be able to demonstrate a record of living up to.
Levels of XP Spend
The following are general guidelines that outline classifications for different types of XP spend and what we as staff expect from each:
Level 0
No justification is required. It’s assumed that anyone with a reasonable amount of interest can learn how to do this without any fuss. While logs showing the learning process are welcomed, they are not required.
Level I
Narrative justification of the learning process is sufficient: tell us something about how the character’s learning, about their successes or failures, and about how it’s affected their interactions with other characters. Logs showing the process are welcomed but not required.
Level II
At this level the learning process is becoming a significant part of the character’s life. You should be able to post logs or summaries of 2-4 scenes in which active efforts to learn, understand, and/or practice the Ability in question are a key part of play — not just a dice roll or a passing reference. The +request should also discuss things like how the character is fitting the time needed into their schedule, how they’re learning the elements that can’t be grasped solely by practice and experimentation, and so forth.
Level III
You should be able to post logs of at least 3-6 scenes of the sort described in the requirements for Level II, and at least half of those logs should involve the character taking a significant risk (where failure, or even lack of spectacular success, would represent a setback to their ambitions) or working under difficult circumstances.
Level IV
4-8 logs of the process are required, most or all of which should involve both significant risk to the character and challenging or unusual circumstances. Spends of this type and above normally require the approval of two staff members.
Level V
The justification process requires 6-10 scene logs that revolve around the improvement process, and nearly all of them should involve both significant risk to the character and unusual or deleterious circumstances. At least two should be run by a Sanctioned Storyteller or staff member. As with Level IV, the approval of two staff members is required.
Level VI
8-12 scene logs of the kind cited for Level V are required, at least two of which should be run by a Sanctioned Storyteller or staff member. Majority staff approval is normally required for spends of this level.
Level VII
As for Level VII, but the unanimous approval of active staff is required.
Attributes
- If you’re buying to the second dot of an Attribute, that means, by definition, that the character previously had only 1, and were notably below average in this area. That level of incapability is a big part of someone’s life, and there are usually good reasons for it — whether because the character with low Charisma had severe social anxiety, because the character with low Strength suffered from some form of disability, and so forth. As a result, staff will expect to see discussion of how this has affected the character’s life, and how they were able to take this kind of major step forward from something that’s been so significant to them thus far, as well as the ways in which they’ve been working to improve. Going from 1 to 2 is, in staff’s eyes, much more like going from 3 to 4 than it is like going from 2 to 3, and hence this is considered a Level IV spend.
- Three dots in an Attribute is above average, but — especially in the World of Darkness — not all that unusual, and is considered a Level III spend.
- Four dots is the highest that most characters will achieve; someone with this level of Attribute is likely to be one of the most capable people (in that area) that their friends and family know of. A Strength of 4 has a good chance of winning the arm-wrestling contest in their local pub; an Intelligence of 4 has a good chance of being the smartest person in their Organic Chemistry class. Whether they came by this naturally or had to work at it, it’s likely that their life has been shaped by and around that talent. As with going from 1 to 2, this is a Level IV spend. Please be aware when seeking to raise a character’s fourth (or more) Attribute to this point that the request will be subject to close scrutiny, and may be asked for more than the above minimum requirements.
- Five dots is a truly exceptional level of talent. A Strength 5 character has a good chance of winning a borough-wide arm-wrestling contest; an Intelligence 5 character has a good chance of being the smartest person at their whole school. They’re a one-in-ten-thousand level, not just the most gifted that their friends and family know, but the most gifted that anyone their friends and family know knows. This is considered a Level V spend. Please be aware that requests to raise more than two Attributes to 5 dots will be subject to extremely close scrutiny and are likely to require more than the minimum requirements above.
Abilities
- Buying the first dot of a new Ability is a Level 0 spend; unless something is really off the rails, such a request will always be approved.
- The second dot is a Level I spend.
- The third dot is a Level II spend.
- A fourth dot is the mark of exceptional natural talent, a lot of hard work, or, most likely, both. Most people IRL will never attain this level of expertise in any subject, so the impact on the life of someone working to do so should be considerable. This is a Level III spend, and, for Abilities that are directly related to combat (Brawl, Melee, Firearms, etc.), the risk in associated scenes should involve actual combat against an enemy who presents a serious challenge — not sparring under controlled circumstances or defeating someone who’s far inferior. Combat scenes run by a Sanctioned Storyteller are recommended.
- Someone with five dots in an Ability is one of the best in London, perhaps one of the best in England. Attaining and maintaining this level of skill is an enormous amount of work, and should have a profound effect on the character’s life and relationships. Five dots is the province of people who are prepared to sacrifice a “normal life” in order to follow their passion. This is a Level IV spend, and scenes used to justify raising combat-related Abilities to five dots should involve actual combat against foes equal or superior to the character, at least two of which should be run by a Sanctioned Storyteller or staff member.
Backgrounds
For the purposes of Backgrounds that can be raised above 5, the guidelines below should be considered to apply only when a single element of that Background matches the limits. That is, if you’re raising Allies to 10, but doing so for the purpose of adding a new 1-dot Ally, that counts as raising the Background to 1, not to 10.
- For most general (non-supernatural) Backgrounds, the first, second and third dots are Level I spends, and require only a short writeup on how the character is acquiring them. Did they get a new, better-paying job to allow them to raise Resources to 2? Has their friend gotten a promotion that upgrades them from a 2-dot to a 3-dot Contact? Did their performance at open mic night get them talked about enough for them to buy Fame 1? Logs are not required, just give us a bit of story as to the how and why.
- Four dots in a Background is a significant investment — a four-dot Ally or four dots in Fame can have a pretty sizeable impact on the game world. This is a Level II spend; tell us what they’ve been doing to get to this point, and how their efforts have affected their lives.
- The fifth dot is the province of characters who are major forces in a particular area, and the roleplay surrounding the process of buying it should reflect that; this is a Level III spend.
Backgrounds that are specific to supernatural spheres are generally treated as above, so long as:
- They are not directly related to the acquisition or use of supernatural abilities, and
- Their purchase is not restricted by IC circumstances.
For instance, a Ventrue can buy Herd according to the standard guidelines — the supply of potential human vessels is pretty broad. Buying Domain, on the other hand, requires recognition from a controlling authority, especially at higher levels — there’re only so many Domains available to be held. Buying Generation up happens only if the character has committed Diablerie. In both cases, it’s appropriate to talk with staff about what you want to buy in advance.
Pure Breed cannot normally be raised. Avatar can normally only be raised as part of a Seeking. For both, we’ll listen if you have a compelling rationale for why it should be allowed, but be aware that the answer will very likely be “no”; unanimous approval of active staff is required.
Backgrounds that are directly related to, or are in themselves, a supernatural ability (e.g., Fetish, Totem, Arcane, Legend, and others of a similar sort) are treated as if they were powers (q.v.) for the purpose of XP spend justification.
Powers
For any sphere with access to them, supernatural powers are usually among the most popular things to purchase with XP, and that’s not surprising. Doing things that are impossible in the real world is awesome, and characters being awesome is great! We don’t want to discourage that, but we also want to make sure that — especially at the higher levels — powers are treated with the seriousness and respect that the setting demands.
These guidelines apply to most types of supernatural power (vampiric Disciplines, Thaumaturgical Paths, and Rituals; shifter Gifts and Rites; mage Spheres; changeling Arts and Realms), and also to Backgrounds that are themselves or give access to similar abilities (purchase of Magical Items; Ancestors, Totem, Arcane, Legend, and so on).
Powers that are specific to your particular character type (your specialty Sphere, or a clan Discipline, for instance) are treated as one level below what’s listed (i.e., the first dot of a specialty Sphere is a Level II, rather than a Level III). Powers that are not normally available to you (a rare Discipline, for instance) are treated as one dot higher than listed (e.g., the first dot of Protean for anyone but a Gangrel is Level IV). A power in this category generally requires that you have a PC teacher in order to learn it at all.
- The first dot of a power is a Level III spend, modified as above if appropriate.
- The second dot is a Level IV spend.
- The third dot is a Level V spend.
- The fourth dot is a Level VI spend. The more powers of this level and above a character has, the more staff will expect when buying additional such powers.
- The fifth dot is a Level VII spend.
Merits and Flaws
Merits and Flaws can be gained or lost, but doing so is generally a more involved process than spending XP on other things, and some are particularly difficult to gain or lose. It’s possible to come up with a justification for buying Huge Size after character generation, but staff will scrutinize such a request much more closely than they will one to buy Expert Driver, for instance. It’s probably a good idea to check in with staff before you get too far into this process, to make sure that your justification is plausible — however, please note that staff saying your justification is plausible is not a commitment to approve the request. You’ll still need to put in the work!
As a general rule, after character generation, Flaws are normally bought off or exchanged for other Flaws; you generally do not add additional dots in Flaws. In cases where the character earns additional flaws organically in play, they do not provide additional XP.
1-2 dot Merits and Flaws are treated as Level III spends.
3-4 dot Merits and Flaws are treated as Level IV spends — this is a big part of the character’s life, whether positive or negative.
5+ dot Merits and Flaws are treated as Level V spends — getting (or losing) these is a really big deal.
Other Stats
Some stats don’t fit neatly into any of the above categories.
Willpower
- For Vampires, Garou, and Fera other than Kitsune, the level of a Willpower raise is equal to their current Willpower, before the raise (that is, raising from 3 to 4 is a Level III, and so forth).
- For Mages and Kitsune, the level is equal to their current Willpower minus 2 (that is, going from 5 to 6 is a Level III).
- For Changelings, the level is equal to their current Willpower minus 1 (that is, going from 4 to 5 is a Level III).
These modifiers are based on the average base Willpower for each sphere; the design intent here is that characters who start at the average level for their sphere will all have roughly equal requirements to raise Willpower vis-a-vis other spheres, even if the raw scores differ. Mages (who start at 5) should logically have an easier time reaching 6 than Garou (who most likely start at 3).
Virtues
The level of a Virtue raise is that of the new Virtue (after raising — e.g., raising from 3 to 4 is a Level IV.)
Gnosis and Rage
Gnosis and Rage are treated as if they were Attributes, but with the base value for a particular Breed and Auspice counting as an Attribute of 2 (that is, a Ragabash raising Rage from 1 to 2 and an Ahroun raising it from 5 to 6 both treat that request like raising an Attribute from 2 to 3, i.e., a Level III spemd.)
Rank
The exact requirements for increases in Rank are still under discussion, but be aware that rank 2 requires approval from two staff members; rank 3 requires majority approval; and rank 4 requires unanimous approval. It is unlikely that any PC will ever achieve rank 5, and even rank 4 is extraordinarily unlikely.
Arete
Arete raises all require a Seeking run by another player. Arete 4 requires that the Seeking be run either by staff or by a Sanctioned Storyteller, and approval from a majority of active staff (see Approval Scale). Arete 5 requires unanimous approval from active staff.
Glamour
Glamour is treated as an Attribute, but with Glamour 4 -> 5 counting as if it were raising an Attribute from 2 to 3 (i.e., a Level III), and so on for higher values.
Banality
Raises in Banality are most likely to be imposed by staff, rather than voluntary. For those times when the increase is intentional on the part of the player, treat it as an Attribute, without any modification.