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experience and heroic abilities
Posted: Wed 01 Apr 2026, 17:16
by Ale_taurisano
Hi guys!
Two questions:
1) The manual, in the experience section, says
"At the end of the game session, the GM will ask you the following questions about the session you just finished. For each question you answer "yes," justifying your answer, you may place another advancement marker next to an unmarked skill of your choice."
Does the justification he's talking about refer to the answer you gave to get the roll or to the "why" you chose the skill to roll (like... did you use it or not)?
I was restricting the skills you roll based on the session you've completed, but perhaps I misunderstood!
2) We're noticing a small growth imbalance, tied to luck, resulting in some players immediately gaining a heroic ability while others still haven't!
To prevent someone from falling too far behind, do you think it's a bad idea to grant an ability to someone who doesn't yet have one? Perhaps not granting it when they reach 18?
Re: experience and heroic abilities
Posted: Wed 01 Apr 2026, 17:44
by Fenhorn
1) The manual, in the experience section, says
"At the end of the game session, the GM will ask you the following questions about the session you just finished. For each question you answer "yes," justifying your answer, you may place another advancement marker next to an unmarked skill of your choice."
Does the justification he's talking about refer to the answer you gave to get the roll or to the "why" you chose the skill to roll (like... did you use it or not)?
I was restricting the skills you roll based on the session you've completed, but perhaps I misunderstood!
Since I have a bit difficult to understand this question so I will give you a more generic answer about experience and hope that it answer the question.
After each session the GM asks the players five questions. Any question that the players answer is 'yes' they mark a skill (that hasn't been marked during the session). The players may of course need to justify their answers.
This means that after each session, the players will earn 1-5 bonus Advancement Marks (again, only one mark per skill).
2) We're noticing a small growth imbalance, tied to luck, resulting in some players immediately gaining a heroic ability while others still haven't!
To prevent someone from falling too far behind, do you think it's a bad idea to grant an ability to someone who doesn't yet have one? Perhaps not granting it when they reach 18?
It is true that a knight that use a sword in fights will most likely hit a SL of 18 much faster (if the sessions are combat oriented) than a character with a more diverse spread of skill uses. But after said knight have reached SL18 in Swords and earned his first HA, he will most likely still use swords in combat and characters with a more even spread will eventually catch up.
Re: experience and heroic abilities
Posted: Wed 01 Apr 2026, 17:52
by Ale_taurisano
I'll rephrase the first question:
If a player gets 3 experience rolls by answering yes to 3 questions, can they use these rolls on any skill they haven't already marked with a 20 or a 1?
I was limiting the choice of skills to mark with the rolls because I was asking for the skill to be "justified" so that it was appropriate for the session being played!
...but the paragraph probably asks for the "justification" of the yes given as the answer to the roll questions...and not for the choice of skills!?!
Re: experience and heroic abilities
Posted: Wed 01 Apr 2026, 18:56
by Fenhorn
Ah.
Yes, a skill can only have one Advancement Mark, regardless if the Advancement Mark was earned during the game (with a Demon or a Dragon roll) or put there with one of the (up to five) free Advancement Marks.
It is this answer that needs to be justified. On what skill the player uses his free Advancement Marks on is up to them but should be done within reason. I, for example, would never allow a player to put an Advancement Mark on Swimming if they haven't been near somewhere where they can swim during the session.
Re: experience and heroic abilities
Posted: Sat 04 Apr 2026, 02:09
by paladin2019
Player gets to put the mark on any skill they want, assuming they get the mark. Unlike the progenitor RuneQuest (and BRP in general), you get marks through Dragons, Demons, and player choice from experience questions, not through using a particular skill.
Regarding HAs, all PCs start with at least two HAs. If you want to award more, that is explicitly a GM prerogative and is mentioned as a possible adventuring reward.
Re: experience and heroic abilities
Posted: Sat 04 Apr 2026, 02:32
by Fenhorn
Player gets to put the mark on any skill they want, assuming they get the mark. Unlike the progenitor RuneQuest (and BRP in general), you get marks through Dragons, Demons, and player choice from experience questions, not through using a particular skill.
Regarding HAs, all PCs start with at least two HAs. If you want to award more, that is explicitly a GM prerogative and is mentioned as a possible adventuring reward.
Technically, you do get an Advancement Mark for using a particular skill, if you roll a Dragon or a Demon when using that skill (unless the skill is already marked).
After the session each PC is awarded 1-5 bonus Advancement Marks that they can put on any skill they want (that isn't already marked)
You start the game with one heroic ability, determined by your profession.
Re: experience and heroic abilities
Posted: Mon 06 Apr 2026, 03:47
by paladin2019
Yep, I mentioned Dragons and Demons for advancement.
I was also counting racial abilities as heroic ones, as they are very similar, in the two starting ones.