Character Advancement

Ok, folks... I want to be clear here. I love to GM as much as I love to play. And if this were GURPS (a system I've run for nine years), I would be able to rules lawyer or judge with the best of them. This, however, is not the case.

It is Numenera, based on the Cypher System (coming out in June or July). I have read the rules and have built a world scenario for you to explore and grow in. The rules, the system, they are still new to me.

This said, this is not like the "demo" games that I've run. In those, there are fudges or things that are ignored. One of those "fudges" was character advancement and it has been brought to my attention that not everyone is on the same page with it and how XP is earned or used.

In a demo game, there is little reason to talk about advancement as your characters are just there for the single game. I do know that when I speak of XP in the demos, I thought I did mention the uses. But since there is not enough XP awarded in a single game, I do not emphasize it.

However in a campaign, the characters should want to grow, from tier 1 to tier 6. I want to clarify how this is done.

To advance from one tier to the next, you add character benefits. Each tier requires four benefits to be completed before the next tier is awarded.

Those four steps are:
(1) Increasing Capabilities (gives you four points to add to your stat pools as you choose)
(2) moving toward perfection (adding 1 point of edge to one of your stat pools)
(3) extra effort (your effort score increases by 1)
(4) Skill (train in one skill of your choice).

Now, these steps are not free. They cost XP points. So, moving from one tier to the next is going to cost a total of 16 XP. This means that to get from tier 1 to tier 2 costs the same as getting from tier 5 to tier 6. All told, you will be spending 80 XP points (5 * 16). This is covered on page 12-13 of the Players guide (or Page 23-24 in the Corebook).

Now, that does not sound like a lot of XP, but XP is also spent in other ways. For example, a reroll of the die costs an XP. You can do this for as many XP as you have in your pool (and the why these dice roll....well, maybe I should be giving more XP).

You can spend XP to gain insight from the GM (if you or your party is stuck and want a nudge), or it can be used to refuse a GM intrusion (I give you two XP for the intrusion (one for you, one to give away), or you pay me one XP to refuse it).

And, there is another way to spend XP. On page 13 (PG) and 24 (Core), it states:
I hope this clarifies any confusion I may have caused. This system is still relatively new to me. I make mistakes or interpret things different, or in some cases make house rules (Identifying Cyphers, for example).

Thanks GM. In your quote box, if you spend XP on a special option does it still count as one of the 4 steps towards tier advancement?

That is correct. Also, in my sheet, I have four columns for each. I just put an 'X' in it (there is a LOT on the spreadsheets), and a comment of when and what skill you did. It would be good to put it in your character sheet in the notes section.... just in case something happens to the sheet.

(Posts and PM are not deleted, so we MIGHT find it there..... but until the search is available, this might be easier.)

When can the XP be spent for advancement? Just taking a quick read of the section in the core book I'm not sure it makes that clear. Is a rest required or can someone spend them when they've collected enough?

Spend it when you want. I look at it as you were in-experienced and gained enough to pass the test and now you know it (unlike leveling up in other games where all of a sudden, you know more).

Time to spend some XP!!