Experience Points

Experience Point Progression and Spending

Experience Points [XP] are a currency characters use to purchase new skills as well as upgrade existing skills and attributes. XP roughly represents the knowledge and training a character gains throughout the course of their story in Gothic: Age of Ashes. Characters earn experience points through attendance at game, as well as by writing journals and achieving personal victories.

Each character earns 4 XP every game that they attend, and they receive that XP at the end of the event.  If your character is able to perform a significant act which is in accordance with their Devotion during their game, they have achieved a Personal Victory.  Whenever a character accomplishes a Personal Victory, they lose any Despair they may have, and gain an extra XP.  These victories must be reported to staff after game through a ticket in order to be achieved and recorded.

Players who do not achieve a Personal Victory during their game can also get the XP they would have received from that Personal Victory by doing at least two of the following three activities: participating in event set up, participating in event tear down, or volunteering for an NPC shift.  See our Cabins page for other possible NPC shifts that may be required. Please note if the player is using these activities to achieve extra XP, they will not earn glory for those tasks.

You may also write a journal entry on our forums for one additional XP each Downtime.  This may be a copy of a private text-based roleplay (although you should only share with permission), your character’s reactions, thoughts, or reflections, or a memory that is key to your character. The entry should impart deeper understanding of your character and how they view the world. You must share a link with staff via ticket in order to receive XP.

Glory may be spent in order to achieve the 4 XP from a game that a player misses, but not the extra XP from a Personal Victory or volunteering. 

A character can gain up to a total of 200 XP from game advancement and starting XP, after which they no longer gain additional advancement XP but may continue with other advancement options.  After characters have reached their cap they may continue to generate up to 30 XP to bank for future characters, and only 30 XP may ever be carried over to a new character. This 30 XP does not increase the new character’s XP cap.  See our Death and Dying page for how XP may be carried over from characters that have passed away.

You spend XP either at character creation and/or during a characters Downtime. Certain ranks may be gated behind conditions, please refer to the respective sections for information on potential gates.

Possible Spends in Game

Item Cost
Increase Skill Rank 2 X New Rank
Increase Attribute 5 X New Rank
Buy off Flaw 2 X Cost of Flaw and Story Justification
Become a Cultist in Game 3 XP and in character ritual (comes with 3 rituals)
Cultist Ritual 1XP
Cultist Rank (no cost, must have 3 X new Rank rituals already purchased)
Become a Mage in Game 8 XP and in character story
Mage Circle 4 X New Circle and Promotion in Game
Become a Dhampir in Game 6 XP and in Game Power Use
Dhampir New Power 3 X Rank and requisite Unlock
Paladin New Gifts 5 X Tier and Completion of Quests
Ranger New Invocation 3 X Tier and requisite Unlock
Seer New Powers 3 X New Rank
New Language
(with proper skill and teacher)
Common: 2xp
Obscure: 3xp
Lost: 5xp
Purchase Perk 2 X Perk Cost and in character story

Eager for more?

We’re still in development, but you can subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on all of our latest setting and rules releases.