Advancement
Experience represents lessons, relationships, training, and consequences that change the character. Spend it between scenes or during downtime with the Storyteller's approval.
Experience costs
| Improvement | Cost |
|---|---|
| New Skill dot | 3 XP |
| Skill dot | 3 × new rating XP |
| New Specialty | 3 XP |
| Attribute dot | 5 × new rating XP |
| New Discipline | 10 XP |
| Discipline dot | 5 × new rating XP |
| Discipline power | 10 XP |
| Background dot | 3 × new rating XP |
| Humanity point | 10 XP, plus a meaningful restorative story |
A power may be purchased only when the character has enough dots in its Discipline to access it. Thin-Blood Alchemy formulas use the Discipline power cost unless the formula is a major story achievement.
Earning experience
Award 1 XP per session for participation and another 1 XP for a meaningful personal choice, consequence, or unresolved hook. Award up to 2 additional XP for resolving a major objective, accepting a serious cost, or advancing the Chronicle. A typical session awards 2–4 XP.
Record both Experience (Unspent) and Experience (Spent). The difference should equal the character's lifetime earned XP unless the Chronicle uses a different accounting method.
Training and story permission
A new rating may require a teacher, practice, access to a resource, or a period of downtime. The Storyteller may allow a purchase immediately when the fiction already supports it. Backgrounds, Humanity, and Disciplines should rarely increase without changing the character's relationships or obligations.
When advancement would contradict the character's established identity, ask what changed. The answer is usually more interesting than a restriction.