RPG Design: Character Advancement

This week, I wanted to discussed an issue that is important in almost all tabletop role-playing games with campaign play, Character Advancement:

By "Character Advancement," I mean the mechanical advancement of a character rather than narrative or other development of a character (e.g., becoming a landed noble in a fantasy game, gaining magic items, etc.).  Traveller (1977) is a role-playing game that famously originally didn't have any Character Advancement system (i.e., the PCs were rewarded with, among other things, information about the setting).  In addition, RPGs not intended for campaign play (e.g., Fiasco) also lack any Character Advancement system.

However, almost every other RPG incorporates some system for Character Advancement, of which there are many different types, including:

• Leveling (e.g., D&D)

In D&D and similar games, once a PC has accumulated a sufficient number of Experience Points, their Level increases (i.e., they level up), resulting in mechanically defined increases in some of the PC’s capabilities.

Some games, such as older iterations of D&D, try to use Character Advancement as a balancing mechanism by having different Experience Point requirements for different classes.  However, the success of this balancing mechanism is questionable.

Leveling is the most common type of Character Advancement.

• Ongoing Point Buy (e.g., GURPS, WoD)

A continuation of Point Buy from Chargen, once a PC has accumulated a sufficient number of Experience Points, they receive a mechanically defined number of Points to further improve the character.

Ongoing Point Buy is probably the second most common type of Character Advancement.

• Advancement through Use (e.g., Call of Cthulhu)

Like it says on the tin, a PC advances through successful use of skills (e.g., Call of Cthulhu) or what have you.  While this may be a realistic approach, it can also result in players trying to squeeze in skill checks even in such are not appropriate.


Of course, there are also other possible Character Advancement systems, including non-mechanical advancement, such as Milestones in Fate Core:

"A milestone is a moment during the game where you have the chance to change or advance your character. We call them milestones because they usually happen at significant “break points” in the action of a game—the end of a session, the end of a scenario, and the end of a story arc, respectively."

Basically, the above is advancement through narrative fiat.


While not every role-playing game features Character Advancement, for those that do, it is a key method to maintaining player interest in the game and to increase player investment in their character.  "The Hero's Journey" is a part of humanity's collective unconscious and most people love feeling more powerful and seeing numbers go up.

Character Advancement in RPGs was a key innovation of Dave Arneson, as leveling was one of the key differences between Blackmoor and the earlier Braunsteins of the Midwest Military Simulation Association (MMSA).  So, many thanks to the Cheeky Wizard!