Growth and Breakthroughs

Growth Marks record earned advances in capability. The default threshold is four. You can earn a mark by overcoming or surviving a challenge at your Tier or higher with real stakes, paying a serious cost to push a limit, completing progression-focused training, or gaining an insight that changes your Path or a Technique.

You do not gain Growth for every roll, miss, message, or scene. The same event grants at most one mark.

Reaching the threshold makes you Breakthrough Ready. It does not raise your Tier by itself. Your Path states what the next stage requires: a trial, discovery, transformation, oath, perfected technique, resource, revelation, or another setting-specific change. Fulfill that requirement and your Tier advances by one; Growth Marks reset to zero.

If the breakthrough process is dangerous, resolve that danger normally. A Costly Hit can attach one consequence but cannot revoke a breakthrough whose requirement was fulfilled. A Setback never deletes Growth Marks already earned.