3.10 Character Advancement and Gaining Levels

When you gain a level, the following things happen:

• Your hit points increase (see Hit Points).
• You gain an additional archetype rank (see Archetypes).
• Your accuracy may increase (see Accuracy).
• At even levels, magical power and mundane power each increase by 1 (see Power).
• At even levels, your bonus with trained skills increases (see Trained Skills).
• At even levels, all of your defenses increase by 1 (see Defenses).

In addition, some irregular advancements happen at specific levels:

• At 3rd level, and every 6 levels thereafter, you increase any two of your attributes by 1 (see Attributes).
• At 4th level, and every 3 levels thereafter, your character rank increases (see Character Rank).
• At 6th level, you gain a legacy item (see Legacy Items). Every 6 levels thereafter, your legacy item improves, as shown in Table 3.7: Character Advancement and Gaining Levels.

These effects are summarized in Table 3.7: Character Advancement and Gaining Levels, which also defines the experience required to gain each level. The special effects from gaining levels are also listed in the base class table for each class as a reminder.

At your GM’s discretion, you may also change some of the choices you have made about your character when you level up. For example, you could change one of your trained skills for a different skill, decrease one attribute to increase another, or change the mystic spheres you have access to (and corresponding spells). The GM may ask for a specific narrative justification for the change, require spending in-game time to retrain, or disallow changing some fundamental aspects of your character.

3.10.1 Character Rank

Your character has a character rank, which is a general indication of their overall power. It is determined by your level, as shown in Table 3.7: Character Advancement and Gaining Levels. Your maximum rank in any individual archetype is equal to your character rank (see Archetypes). It has no other universal effects, though some abilities reference your character rank to determine their effects.

3.10.2 Legacy Items

Over time, items associated with places and people of great power gain magical properties. This process takes place for you as you gain levels in addition to in the world as a whole.

At 6th level, you choose a weapon, body armor, shield, apparel item, or implement you own. That item becomes a legacy item. You choose a single magic item property of rank 3 or lower, and your legacy item gains that property. You do not have to attune to your legacy item to gain its benefits. However, if your legacy item requires a deep attunement, you reduce your maximum attunement points by one.

Being a legacy item does not interfere with an item’s normal properties, including magical ones. If it was already a magic item or made of a special material, it still has those properties in addition to being your legacy item. Otherwise, you can imbue it with magic or reforge it to be made of a special material just you could with a mundane item of the same type.

The property must be appropriate for the category of item you chose: weapon, armor, apparel, or implement. You do not have to precisely match the location of an apparel item, just the category. For example, you can choose an amulet as your legacy item and give it the effect of the boots of translocation, or apply the effects of a shield of arrow catching to your body armor.

Legacy Item Scaling: Your legacy item increases in power as you gain levels, as described below.

• 6th level: You gain a property with a maximum rank of 3.
• 12th level: You can change its property, up to a maximum rank of 5.
• 18th level: You can change its property, up to a maximum rank of 7.

Losing Your Legacy Item: If you lose your legacy item, you must retrieve it to regain its power. There are rituals to facilitate this retrieval such as seek legacy and retrieve legacy. If your legacy item is destroyed, you can designate a new item of the same type to be your legacy item, causing it to gain the effect of your legacy item. Designating a new item in this way requires taking a long rest while holding or wearing the replacement item.

Unique Legacy Items: Legacy items are fundamentally a reflection of the character who wields them. Their effects can be more unusual and complex than abilities on normal magic items, and they can have a larger effect on the way that character interacts with the world. As a player, you can work with your GM to create custom magical effects of an appropriate power that are a better reflection of your character’s personality and powers than the magic item abilities that exist.