Character Advancement

’Verses uses a narrative character advancement approach that is both simple and satisfying for players. At certain points in the campaign narrative and as determined by the GM, players are awarded advancement in the form of one or more dice which may be allocated by the player to enhance the capabilities of their characters.

When allocating a die to an attribute or capability, if the die represents a new ability or skill, that ability or skill starts at 1. If increasing an already allocated capability or attribute, the allocation increases the value by 1.

Players can allocate the dice to enhance their characters according to their chosen archetypes or in any other way they like. While players are limited only by the maximum rated value (5), capability prerequisites, and the type of die awarded, they are encouraged to make advancement choices part of their character’s narrative arc.

There are two types of advancement dice a GM can award.

Refinement dice are the more common form of dice awarded in character advancement. Refinement dice can be applied to acquire or improve abilities and skills. These dice may be awarded at frequent intervals. It is common for characters to be awarded refinement dice on achieving key narrative milestones or after resolving major encounters.

Core Dice

Core dice are used to enhance one of the four core attributes. Because these attributes affect capabilities across multiple skills and abilities, improving core attributes requires significant investment in training and improvement. Core dice are rarely awarded and represent a huge degree of character advancement. A core die might be awarded upon completion of an entire campaign or a major narrative arc that spans multiple adventures.

In some cases, a player receiving a Core Advancement Die may choose not to increase a core attribute in favor of one or more skills or abilities. In such cases, the player rolls 1d6, counting a roll of 1 or 2 as a 3. The player may allocate the resulting number of refinement dice instead of the single core die.

Measuring Character Advancement

It can be useful occasionally to be able to compare character advancement or the overall magnitude of character capability. In the absence of “levels” or other structured hierarchy of character advancement, it is useful to record the number of Core and Refinement Dice the character has allocated. These may be recorded individually on the character sheet, and when referenced for purposes of comparison are written as:

2,3

The first value represents Core dice and the second Refinement dice. Adventure modules in particular will often list a recommendation for characters’ minimum dice allocation to avoid overwhelming player characters with challenges they are unable to meet. Such minimum recommendations are written as:

2+,*

...meaning "At least 2 core dice and any number of refinement dice," or:

2+,5+

...meaning "at least 2 core dice and 5 refinement dice."

Recommendations may also specify a range of character allocation, written as:

2–4,0–5

...meaning "between 2 and 4 core dice and up to 5 refinement dice, inclusively."