Experience
Experience Points (XP) are awarded for Conspicuous Consumption, the spending of treasure that elevates a PC above their current station. This may take the form of debaucherous benders, showing off their lavish wealth, investing in public works and risky ventures, holding a reverent funeral, building mighty fortresses, and founding new settlements in the untamed wilderness.
Every 1 Gold Guilder spent on Conspicuous Consumption is worth 1 XP.
Spending that does not award XP includes living expenses, essential equipment and supplies, required property maintenance, and hiring laborers, specialists, and mercenaries.
Furthermore, no XP is awarded for spending money earned from mere commerce, including speculative trading, taxes, pawning mundane equipment, and selling magical items. Treasure must be reclaimed from dangerous places to earn XP.
The Base Adventurer
| XP | Flesh | Grit | Violence | Templates | Mastery | |
| Level 0 | — | 1d6+MIG | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Level 1 | 100* | — | +1d6 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Level 2 | 250 | — | +1d6 | 2 | 2 | — |
| Level 3 | 500 | — | +1d6 | 3 | 3 | — |
| Level 4 | 1000 | — | +1d6 | 4 | 4 | — |
| +1 Level | x2 | — | — | — | — | +1 Mastery |
*Only Level 0 characters and hirelings need XP to reach Level 1
Templates
Classes have 4 Templates, ordered A through D. At Level 1, players choose a class and gain its Template A. Each time they Level Up, they may take the subsequent Templates, in order from B to D. Alternatively, a player may multi-class by taking another class’s Template A.
A character can only have a maximum of 4 Templates, but can begin swapping them out once they reach Level 5. A character can never have a class’s later Templates without all its prior Templates.
Violence
Violence is a measure of a character’s combat prowess and killer instinct. Test Violence when a character attacks another in combat. It improves as a character levels from 0 at Level 0 to a maximum of 4 at Level 4. Only Fighters can improve their Violence score above 4.
Mastery Points
Experienced characters gain Mastery Points to help keep newbies alive. At Level 5, a character gains 1 Mastery Point, and another at every Level beyond that. Players spend Mastery Points to alter any Tests, Saves or damage rolls affecting a nearby ally. Mastery Points cannot be used to affect criticals or a player’s own rolls.
Each Mastery Point spent shifts the result of a roll by 1 in either direction. Mastery Points fully replenish each day.
Attributes
Each time they level up, a player should choose an attribute, then roll 3d6. If they roll over their score, that attribute improves by 1. This method cannot improve any attribute beyond 18.
Retirement
At Level 5, and any Level after that, a character may be safely Retired. The specific form of retirement depends on what the character can afford, from a quiet plot of land in the country, to a prodigious business where they ply their trade, to the ruler of a local fiefdom.
Typically, characters will retire into Institutions or Domains they have built over their adventuring career. However, it is possible for a character with a large enough bankroll to fund a simple retirement as their final act. Retired characters are generally safe from the dangers of the world and may be able to offer the party assistance in the future.