Numenera 2.5 - Experience Points

Experience Points

There are two types of earned experience points (XP).

XP earned throughout the game can be spent on:

  1. Reroll any d20 roll.
  2. Refuse a GM intrusion.
  3. Augment a Power, Cypher, Artifact or Device in a fantastical nature.
  4. Use Player Intrusion.
      5. A player intrusion is the player choosing to alter something in the campaign, making things easier for a player character. Conceptually, it is the reverse of a GM intrusion: instead of the GM giving the player XP and introducing an unexpected complication for a character, the player spends 1 XP and presents a solution to a problem or complication. What a player intrusion can do depends on the PC’s type, and it usually introduces a change to the world or current circumstances rather than directly changing the character. If a player has no XP to spend, they can’t use a player intrusion. Type-specific player intrusions are written in the first tier of the character Type. The GM may allow players to come up with other intrusion suggestions. A player intrusion should always involve a small aspect of the world beyond the character. They should not end an encounter, should not have a wide-reaching or long-term effect. Player intrusions can affect a single object (a floorboard snaps), feature (there's a hidden shallow spot in the stream to ford), or NPC (the vendor is an old friend of mine). But not more than that. The GM is the final arbiter about whether the suggested intrusion is appropriate for the character's type and suitable for the situation. If the GM refuses the intrusion, the player doesn’t spend the 1 XP, and the intrusion doesn’t occur. Using an intrusion does not require a character to use an action to trigger it. A player intrusion just happens.

  5. [2xp] Gain a skill that provides a short-term benefit. This is story-based.
      6. For example, a character can spend 2 XP while climbing through mountains and say that she has experience with climbing in regions like these, or perhaps she spends the XP after she’s been in the mountains for a while and says that she’s picked up the feel for climbing there. Either way, from now on, she is trained in climbing in those mountains. This helps her now and any time she returns to the area, but she’s not trained in climbing everywhere. Another example is that a character notices that all the locks in the Citadel of the Iron Saint are similar. She spends 2 XP and says that she is trained in picking locks in the Citadel of the Iron Saint.

  6. [2xp] Gain a new ability (device, esotery, mental power) that provides a short-term benefit, usually no longer that the course of one scenario. This is story-based.
      7. For example, a character who wants to explore a submerged location has several numenera components, and they spend 2 XP to cobble together a device for breathing underwater. This gives them the ability for a considerable length of time, but not permanently—the device might work for only eight hours.

XP earned between games (for exploration and achieved goals) are spent on character advancement.

Progressing to the next tier involves five steps. Each step costs 5 XP. Steps can be purchased in any order, but each can be purchased only once per tier. When a character has spent XP on each of the five steps, they advance to the next tier.

  1. You Effort score increases by 1.
    • This step is taken only on 1, 4, and 6 tiers. On 2 and 3 tiers Type ability is taken instead.
  2. You gain 4 new points to add to your stat Pools. You can allocate the points among your Pools however you wish.
  3. You add 1 to your Might Edge, your Speed Edge, or your Intellect Edge (your choice).
  4. One of:
    • Skills: Chose one skill other than attacks or defense. You become trained in that skill. You can even choose a skill based on your character’s special abilities. For example, if your character can make an Intellect roll to blast an enemy with mental force, you can become trained in using that ability, easing the task of using it. If you choose a skill that you are already trained in, you become specialized in that skill, easing the task by two steps instead of one. If you choose a skill that you have an inability in, the training and the inability cancel each other out (you aren’t eased or hindered in that task).
    • Add 2 to your recovery rolls.
    • Reduce the cost for wearing armor. This option lowers the Speed Effort cost by 1.
  5. One of:
    • Type ability. The type ability esotery must be from your tier or a lower tier. 
    • Select another focus ability available to you at tier 3. (You must be tier 3 or higher to do this. Characters advancing beyond tier 6 can use this option to select their other tier 6 focus option.)
    • Special story ability if applicable (cost varies).