Levels and Advancement in Dungeon Hero In order to simulate the AD&D advancement, and the various oddities associated with it, it was decided that Aid was best suited to the task at hand. This allows for dual characteristics; that is, a character will have two listings for many characteristics. More on this later. The concept of level advancement in dungeon hero is split up into two parts: the ability to advance, and the actual amount of advancement. In order to be able to advance in level, all characters must have the following power, referred to as Level Gain Ability. 2d6 Aid split to all level based characteristics and powers, invisible (+1), uncontrolled (+1/2), continuous (+1), always on (-1/2), only to raise amount (-1), self only (-1/2), does not pass on limitations (-1/2) 30 active point power, 10 real As seen above, this ability only "powers" the actual level ability (represented by each classes cost, which goes to the max on the Aid). Each partitioning of these points is done differently, and since the point split is predetermined, no special advantage is required. As part of a package deal with this is the following disadvantage: Class restricted purchasing of skill levels/powers Physical, infrequently, slightly impairing 5 pts So, not everyone can go up in level; its something that only a few (ie those that spent the net 5 points) can do. If a GM wishes to, they may consider this to be just one net cost of 5 points. Provided as an option to the GM for monster & such creation is the following disadvantage (to be taken instead of the 5pt version): Class & Level restricted purchase of skill levels/powers Physical, frequently, slightly impairing 10 pts This allows for the creation of a creature that cannot normally increase in level, but may have some initial levels (most monsters). This too may be considered to be taken with the level-gaining ability, making it a net 0 points. Please note, this version is NOT meant for player characters. One version of the above abilities is absolutely required in order to acquire the AD&D level simulation of Dungeon Hero. All characters must have this, or they will be 0 level characters. Note that characters are free to start off as 0th level characters if they wish, and apprentice themselves out to learn a trade. What a level gets you This is told under the section for each character; however, certain generalizations can be made. For every character, spending enough points to go up a level gets you CON, BODY, REC, STUN, and points towards skill levels. Certain characters will get additional abilites appropriate to their class. In order to actually advance in level, points must be spent based on the cost of going up per each class; the price per level advancement is given later. Broken down for those who wish to see the mechanics be- hind the system, the power looks like this: 2*x pts to max, continuous (+1), uncontrolled (+1/2), requires training period of up to a week with some interruptions (-1), self only (-1/2), does not pass on limitations (-1/2), limited uses of certain stats/powers (-1), always on (-1/2), not to heal or replace characteristics (-1/2) => cost of x/2, visible to the mental, magical and unusual sense groups The above is the total points of Aid to a given character class, which sums up points in attributes, special abilities, and spell capabilities. Characters that get little in the way of physical attributes and special abilities, like Magicians, will be cheaper than those with a plentiful amount of the first two categories. The cost of this balances out, however, as the Magicians et al need to spend points on spells in order to be useful (cf. Spells). The characteristics gained per level are fairly obvious; a fighter who gets +6 STUN per level will have 18 additional STUN at 3rd level. Certain characters will get special abilities and/or spell capability. The Aid to abilities and spell powers is also cumulative; a second level will have twice the spell potential, and stat bonus, of a first level character. This is generally true of special abilites as well; one exception is the druid, who first gains the ability to change shape, and then the ability to simulate the abilities of these animals. The Aid to levels is not quite so obvious, and needs a little explanation. This part of the Aid goes to combat and skill levels; once a character has at least 8 pts of Aid'ed skill or combat levels, s/he has level of the appropriate type. However, if a character has less than 8 pts in levels, or has points in levels not evenly divisible by 8, she or he may spend the points in levels as appropriate, as long as a) the levels are not additive, and b) there are no more than two of these "intermediate" levels assigned. Note that these points are not modifiable until the character has again gone up in level. This is to simulate a characters specialization in certain things as time and training progresses. Example: Uralahn the 2nd level druid has 6 pts Aid'ed to combat levels. He's been working on sword skills a lot, and wants to get three 2 pt levels with his short sword. After his player has recovered from the beating received from the GM for incorrect allocation (for more than one level adding together on the same thing), Uralahn realizes that he has been working on all of his hand to hand skills a lot, and wants to get a DCV HTH level, worth 3 pts, leaving him 3 pts to allocate. He has also been making (or at least trying to) a lot of ranged attacks. He then decides to take the remaining three points and gets a ranged OCV level, which is ok with the GM. Later, upon reaching 4th level, Uralahn now has 12 points towards combat levels. The druid has one combat level now, and four spare points. Uralahn still likes his sword a lot, and uses two of the remaining two points to get a level with OCV for his sword only. Uralahn does have +2 OCV with his sword, counting both his 2 pt level and his combat, but the restriction on additive levels only applies to the "spare" points points spent on levels, so he's ok. Now he has to figure out what to do with the remaining two points. Note that these combat levels are just that; they can be used for anything a character has a roll for. The same process used for allocating partial combat levels can also be used with skill levels. In this way, we deal with saving throws, THAC0, and skills all rolled together. Finally, note that these combat and skill levels due to profession advancement are not to be combined with levels from other sources, such as various package deals. They will combine with other profession ad- vancements, however; 5 level points from magician will combine with 3 level points from fighter (in this case making a general combat level). How to treat level abilities One thing should be made clear; characteristics that a PC gets are not the same as straight abilities a character has. None of the extra abilites give figured characteristics, nor do they affect the normal characteristic limit. Whereas all characteristic additions are cumulative with a PC's normal characteristics, most other abilities are not additive. Each gainable characteristic is explained below: Strength: This is only for powering up a weapon to maximum damage; it cannot be used for making up the difference between a character's real strength and that required as minimum to use the weapon. It may not be used to break out of entangles, grabs, and related things. Dexterity: All normal DEX-based skills are subject to the bonuses involved, although such actions may arouse the notice of others trained in these areas (it takes a thief to spot a thief). Note also that most characters do not keep themselves in combat readiness at all times; these bonuses would not hold in complete surprise situations. Constitution: This will apply to general fatigue conditions, such as from a forced march all day, or to keep from falling asleep when keeping a late watch. It will also apply when used to check for disabling or im- paring wounds, should the character be unfortunate enough to suffer such a wound. It does not apply to disease checks. From a combat point of view, it will act to prevent a character from being stunned, assuming the character is not caught by complete surprise. Body: Applies to combat in a way similar to Constitution; if not caught caught by complete surprise, a character will have his/her level based BODY for dealing with attacks. If caught so unprepared, the defender has just his/her base BODY, and is much easier to kill/ disable/impair. Should the defender survive a surprise attack, they will be able to respond, albeit down the BODY and STUN they took from the attack. Also of note is that this extra BODY does not count for purposes of what consitutes a impair/disabling attack. Intelligence: Applies to all situations, although in certain surprise situations the character may respond with only the base intelligence. Ego: Applies to all situations, although in certain surprise situations the character may respond with only the base ego. Presence: Applies to all situations, although in certain surprise situations the character may respond with only the base presence. Recovery: Applies to all situations. Stun: Applies to combat in a way similar to Constitution; if not caught caught by complete surprise, a character will have his/her level based STUN for dealing with attacks. If caught so unprepared, the defender has just his/her base STUN, and is much easier to knock out. Should the defender be conscious after a surprise attack, they will be able to respond, albeit down the BODY and STUN they took from the attack. For purposes of clarification: a character who is completely unawares is one who is sleeping, unconscious, or bound fully and DCV 0 (unable to move). Many characteristic bonuses do not apply when a this situation is met. A guard who is lax at his/her post may fall under this description at the GM's option. A character can be surprised, but be in combat or in a combat ready position (like the above guard should be). This person is just being struck while unable to perceive, and is otherwise looking for trouble. How a level can "go away" All stats and abilities drained from characters via whatever method, undead level drain being the most common, are drained in direct ration to how they were gotten. For sake of ease, a GM may ignore the effects of a drain until they reach a full level of effect, rounded down. Also, to keep bookkeeping down, the GM may wish to prolong some, or all, of the effects until after a conflict, to prevent bogging down said conflict.