Experience
Living is a process of growing and learning. As they seek enlightenment and magical power, mages delve into self-discovery just as much as, if not more than, anyone else. From the revelations of everyday life or magical practice, mages improve themselves and hope to move toward Ascension — or, at least, toward surviving another day. Experience reflects the tangible rewards of such growth.
Although mages can and do learn many things that aren't modeled directly in the game system, some Traits can be developed to new levels of usefulness. The experience system allows you to improve your mage in areas like her Abilities and Spheres. Delving into the mage's personality and learning about her place in the world, in terms not reflected by Traits, is a job solely for you, though.
At the conclusion of each story (or part of a story for long sessions), the Storyteller may award experience points. These points go toward developing better or new capabilities. Players can track these points on their character records and then use them between stories. Of course, experience points are not mandatory; the Storyteller doesn't have to award them. On the other hand, who wants to come back to the table if the characters aren't going anywhere or learning from their mistakes?
However, although experience points can be used for many improvements, the Storyteller always gets to step in and determine what's appropriate. A player cannot decide that his mage simply gains more Arete just by spending experience; nothing's that simple. Instead, the player may suggest improvements in his character, and the Storyteller determines whether the character truly would have improved in such areas. The Storyteller decides when the character has learned enough, fought and suffered enough to develop. This limit isn't a mandate to keep characters from improving, but rather a requirement that you as a player must make sure that your character acts and works in a manner consistent with the improvements of experience.
In no case should a character's Trait improve by more than one dot in a session (or between sessions, unless there's a particularly long time between games). It takes a lot of work to show real improvement especially in difficult endeavors like magic.
New TraitsMages studying to gain new Traits, like a new skill or Sphere, should have an appropriate teacher. In some cases, this teacher could be another player's character; in others, a mentor or library might be appropriate. As always, the Storyteller is the final arbiter of what qualifies for such teachings.
As talented as they are, mages don't pick up new capabilities overnight. Learning a new trick can take some time, both for student and teacher. A student who's interrupted constantly might have to spend Willpower to justify the purchase of a new ability, or he may simply fail to grasp it. Conversely, a character who goes out of his way to try new things in the course of a story may find it easier to develop those nascent skills.
New Abilities are simple to develop as long as the mage gets some practice, often with an instructor or a good set of books, This developmental period takes anywhere from a couple of days to a few months, depending on the Ability . Learning to navigate Windows is probably marginally easier than learning Cantonese if you're an English speaker, after all.
New Spheres, on the other hand, are difficult propositions at best. A mage must undertake quite a bit of study, often with a more advanced member of his own Tradition, in order to unlock Spheres that he hasn't yet learned. A mage might be able to garner some insights from members of other Traditions , but their practices are so far apart that it can be hard to turn such knowledge into tangible lessons. Unlucky mages or loners may have no choice but to study through practice or through old books. In such cases, it may take months or years for the mage to develop the most rudimentary proficiency in a Sphere. As always, the Storyteller is the final arbiter of when a mage can develop a Sphere.
Awarding Experience PointsExperience awards are great incentive for the players, but they are also a balancing act. Too much experience will cause the mages to progress rapidly through any problem, becoming invincible demigods. Too little experience will make sure that the mages never develop; the players will feel hampered by the stagnation of the characters. The Storyteller must balance these extremes to find a happy level of experience that lets the players improve their characters, but keeps them hungering for more.
Experience awards should come at the end of a game session or story. Thus, it's easier to truck them and to have an opportunity to gather around and discuss experience expenditures.
End of Each ChapterA chapter is a part of a story, often told in one session, or even with several chapters to a session. Chapters are natural breaks, so it's good, to award a couple of points here.
One Point — Automatic: Each mage learns in spite of herself and gains a little experience just for surviving.
One Point — Learning Curve: For those mages who truly learned something shocking, inspiring or new, award an additional
point to reflect the new vistas opening in their minds. The player should explain what the mage has grasped.
One Point — Roleplaying: A player who went above and beyond the call of normal roleplaying to portray a particular role, especially delving into the quirks and hindrances of the character, may gain a bonus point as a reward for enhancing everyone's game experience. The standards for such a reward should get successively higher!
One Point — Heroism: A player whose character bravely and selflessly puts life and enlightenment on the line may come out stronger from the experience. That which does not kill us, is worth extra experience points.
Experience Costs
Trait|
CostNew Ability|3
New Sphere|10
Willpower|new rating
Ability|new rating x2
Attribute|new rating x4
Specialty Sphere|new rating x 7
Other Sphere|new rating x8
Arete|new rating x8
Background|new rating x3
End of the StoryA story concludes after several chapters and game sessions. At the close of the story, award a few extra points to those characters that made it all the way from beginning to end, on top of the reward for the last chapter.
One Point — Success: If the characters achieved all or at least some of their goals, they should get a point for advancing their agendas and carrying out their tasks successfully.
One Point — Danger: If the story was particularly harrowing
and the characters were forced to stay on their toes constantly, they may learn quicker just by surviving.
One Point — Wisdom: If a player came up with a brilliant plan that saved the day in mid-story, adapted to the circumstances,
adjusted for a new and clever use of the characters' capabilities or just plain rocked, give a bonus point to that character for sudden insight.
Of course, the Storyteller can always award more or less points, as dictated by the needs of the chronicle and the group.
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