Experience

We've made some tweaks to the gaining and spending of Experience Points (XP) in our games, which are described below. The broad strokes are the same but the details have been altered.

Gaining XP

The standard ways to gain Experience Points are:

Juves Participation Award XP

Juves are the future of a gang, and they come in two varieties...those who learn fast and those who die fast, chewed up by the violent life of the underhive.

At the end of every campaign battle, every Juve who participated in the battle gains an additional 1 XP.

Advancements

During the Purchase Advancements step of the Pre-Battle Sequence or during the Update Roster step of the Post-Battle Sequence, fighters on a gang may take Advancements based upon their accrued XP. The process is slightly different for Heroes vs Gangers, but in either case when certain XP increments are reached, a fighter improves via gaining better characteristics or possibly a new skill.

Starting Skills

Note that fighters that start with one or more skills due to their gang list starting profiles (such as Leaders, Champions, and Mercs), are not penalized for this; they begin with their starting skill(s) and 0 Advancements.

Heroes XP

Heroes are Leaders, Champions, Prospects, Specialists, and Mercs. Unlike Henchmen who get random Advancements, Heroes can choose their Advancements. Hero Advancements are organized into four tracks, Fast, Standard, Slow, and Glacial, in that order. Heroes gain Advancements at regular XP increments based upon what Advancement track they are currently on.

• Fast Track: Fighters on the Fast Track gain an Advancement every 5 XP
• Standard Track: Fighters on the Standard Track gain an Advancement every 6 XP
• Slow Track: Fighters on the Slow Track gain an Advancement every 7 XP
• Glacial Track: Fighters on the Glacial Track gain an Advancement every 8 XP

Heroes start play on the Fast Track, and get their first Advancement after they have gained 5 XP. The fighter's XP is not spent (as in the official rules), rather the fighter's XP is a permanent record that continues to accumulate. When the fighter gains enough XP to gain another Advancement (determined by the track that they are on), they may select another Advancement.

Lesser Advancements are on the Fast track, while the better Advancements are on the slower tracks. When a Hero selects an Advancement from a slower track than they are currently on, the Hero joins that track and in the future will gain all further Advancements at a slower rate. A Hero never goes back up to a faster Advancement track, they can only stay where they are or go down to a even slower Advancement track.

A Hero can select Advancements from their own track and faster tracks without penalty. For instance a Hero on the Slow track gains a new Advancement every 7 XP and can select from the Slow, Standard, or Fast track lists without issue; but if they select an Advancement from the Glacial track list the Hero joins the Glacial track thereafter.

For example, if you were comparing two Heroes with 15 XP earned, where one has selected only Advancements from the Fast track and the other took their first Advancement from the Glacial track, the first Hero has been able to select three Advancements (at 5, 10, and 15 XP) while the other has only gained two Advancements (at 5 XP and 13 XP) and is 6 XP short of their third Advancement (at 21 XP).

Henchmen Advancement

During the Update Roster step of the Post-Battle Sequence each Ganger or other type of Henchman able to gain XP who has accrued XP that is evenly divisible by 5 (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, etc) receives a random Advancement determined by rolling on the table below.

Some of the entries in the table above offer a choice between either of two primary characteristics to improve, such as Initiative or Strength. The player may choose whichever they prefer up the fighter's Characteristic Maxima; if one of the characteristics is already maxed out the other characteristic is improved. If both characteristics are already at the Characteristic Maxima for that fighter, treat the Advancement as if a result of a 12 had been rolled instead.

Some of the entries in the table above increase two different secondary characteristics simultaneously up to the fighter's Characteristic Maxima, such as Cool and Intelligence. If either of the characteristics are already at the Characteristic Maxima for that fighter, treat the Advancement as if a result of a 12 had been rolled instead.

Promotions

Promotions are similar to Advancements, but don't cost XP. A promotion may also increase a fighter's Rating but this does not normally cost the gang any credits (the exception being when a Merc is promoted to become a Champion which costs an additional 50 credits on top of the Merc's hiring cost). Promotions only occur in the Update Roster step of the Post-Battle Sequence.

New Leader

In the subsequent Post-Battle Sequence after a Leader is killed or retires, after Experience is spent the eligible Champion with the highest Leadership becomes the new Leader. If there are no eligible Champions then an eligible Prospect with the highest Leadership becomes the Leader. If there are no eligible Prospects, then an eligible Specialist with the highest Leadership becomes the Leader. If there are no eligible Specialists, then an eligible Ganger with the highest Leadership becomes the Leader. If there are no eligible Gangers then an eligible Juve with the highest Leadership becomes the Leader. If there are no eligible Juves, the gang cannot continue and disbands.

If a Prospect, Specialist, Ganger, or Juve becomes the new Leader, the fighter is first promoted to become a Champion (they gain a Primary skill, and their rating is increased by +10), and then the mantle of Leader is placed upon them (they do not gain another skill, and their rating is not increased).

If there are multiple eligible candidates with equal Leadership values the controlling player may choose which of them becomes the new Leader. Note that Hired Guns are not eligible to become the gang's new Leader; however a fighter who was originally a Merc but was upgraded to become a Champion is eligible.

The new Leader keeps their existing profile, but gains any special abilities (such as Group Activation or Command Aura), Skill Category access, and Equipment access a Leader of that type of gang would normally have. Any rules text that refers to a Leader is applicable to the new Leader henceforth.

Specialist

Gangers and Juves can be promoted to become Specialists via Henchmen Advancement. Specialists still count as a Gang fighter for Gang Composition purposes and as a Hero for all other purposes. When promoted, a new Specialist must choose a free Primary Skill from the Skill Categories available to them.

New Champion

If a Champion slot is available, such as when a gang gains more Reputation or a Champion dies or if the position is vacant, a Prospect or Specialist can be promoted to become a Champion and take the available slot. The promoted fighter loses the Equipment and Skill Category access of their previous fighter type and gains the Equipment and Skill Category access appropriate to a Champion of their type of gang. The promoted Prospect or Specialist must choose a free Primary Skill at this time from the Skill Categories now available to them as a Champion of their gang.

Some types of gangs have multiple kinds of Champions. The specific Specialist and Prospect write ups for such gangs indicates what kind of Champion they each may be promoted to become. For instance, an Escher Specialist may only be promoted to become an Escher Matriarch while a Delaque Specialist may be promoted to become either a Delaque Cellchief or a Delaque Sharpshooter.

Escher Specialist

Delaque Specialist

Merc Champion

If a Champion slot is available, a gang may permanently hire on a Merc to take the available slot. The Merc must first be on the gang's roster (and thus their normal hiring cost has been paid either in the past or now), and then an additional 50 credits must be paid to promote them to become a Champion for the gang.

The Merc retains their previously selected Skill Categories and does not gain the Skill Categories appropriate to Champions of the gang's type. The promoted Merc does not gain Group Activation or a Command Aura, and does not get to choose a free Primary Skill at this time as they started play with a chosen Skill when first added to the campaign.

The promoted Merc may keep any Equipment they already have, and may be equipped to and from the gang's Stash and from the Trading Post.

While on the gang's roster as a Champion the Merc is considered to be a Champion for all purposes; any rules text that refers to a Champion applies to them. Similarly, while on the gang's roster as a Champion the Merc is not considered to be a Merc or a Hired Gun; rules text that refers to a Merc or Hired Gun does not apply to them. However, if the promoted Merc is retired from the gang's roster, they revert to being a Merc and return to the pool of Mercs available for hire. If this occurs the retired Merc must be equipped with any equipment the fighter's model is carrying, and if this is not possible the gang loses credits equal to the credit value of the gear the Merc is missing from their fighter card. Thus it is not practical to hire a Merc as a Champion to strip them of their gear and then fire them.

Applying An Advancement or Promotion

When an Advancement or Promotion is selected several things happen. First, in the case of a Hero, if the Advancement selected is from a higher track than the fighter is currently on, the fighter's XP track is updated on their fighter card to their new track. Second, the benefits of the selected Advancement are applied to the fighter card. Finally the number in the fighter card's Advancements (Adv) box is increased by 1, and the number in the fighter card's Rating box is increased by the amount shown in the Advancement table for the selected Advancement.

In the case of a Promotion, the fighter retains their current Characteristics profile and selected skills. Their Primary and Secondary Skill Category access may change to those of the new fighter type they have become as indicated, but the fighter retains any skills they already have even if they lose access to Skill Categories they previously had as part of a promotion.

Fighter Card Rating Increases

Advancements and Promotions applied to a fighter card often increase the fighter card's Rating by varying amounts. This measures the increase in capability of the fighter and their impact on Gang Rating. The gang does not pay this amount in credits from the Stash for fighters that are already on the gang's roster. However if the fighter is retired and later rehired, their current Rating at that time is paid for in credits.

For example, if a fighter takes the +1 Toughness Advancement, their Rating is increased by 10 points, but the gang does not have to spend 10 credits to cover the difference between the fighter's previous Rating and their new Rating as the fighter is already on the roster. However, if the fighter is eventually retired and then later rehired again, or is hired on to a new Offshoot Gang, their hiring cost will be equal to whatever the fighter's Rating currently is at that time.

The one exception is when a Merc is promoted to become a Champion; in this case an additional 50 credits must be paid from the gang's Stash to allow the promotion.

Characteristic Maxmimums

The following maximums are in effect for Characteristics in our games. A hero cannot choose an Advancement that would cause a Characteristic to exceed their maximim possible value for that Characteristic. If a Ganger or Juve rolls a random Advancement that would cause a Characteristic to exceed their maximim possible value for that Characteristic they instead become a Specialist and may select one Advancement from the Hero XP chart, exactly as if a 12 had been rolled for their random Advancement.

The Normal Human Characteristics Maxima is assumed to be the default for fighters if a different Characteristics Maxima is not specified.