What’s this? A midweek Tales of Calvenor post? Today is our first level-up day! I’m setting the prose aside momentarily to do the nerdy (but, arguably most fun) game-notes stuff for an entire post. This Saturday will return to our regularly scheduled narrative.

I’ve decided to change how I’m approaching level advancement for this campaign. Thus far, as you’ve seen from the game notes, I’ve been tracking individual xp by character. I haven’t enjoyed the xp bookkeeping, though, and it’s made me paranoid about putting each PC in situations where they can keep up with their peers. Instead, I’m switching to another option for advancement offered by the Tales of Argosa rulebook. Downtime Level Up says, “Using this method, adventurers who meaningfully participated in the last adventure advance one level during Downtime.” However, I want to make sure that levels get increasingly more difficult to attain, per the xp rules. Since it took me 10 posts for the PCs to reach Level 2 (and yes, all three will advance today), I’ll be looking for Level 3 around post 30, whenever a natural Downtime there makes sense. If I’m still writing these characters around post 60 (and wouldn’t that be great?!), they’ll achieve Level 4. Etcetera. If a character dies, I’ll decide whether to press on with two PCs or introduce a new one, and that character will start at Level 1 unless the story dictates otherwise, leveling up after 10 or so posts. That’s my current plan, subject to change through more play!

Before we jump into it, you may have noticed some new art from the extremely talented Anaislalovi. She has generously agreed to contribute once again to character portraits now that the three PCs are into their second level (and story). As you can see, she’s amazing. All of the artwork in these Calvenor posts is © anaislalovi, used with permission, all rights reserved.

Vessa Velthorn

Let’s get to that juicy advancement and Downtime, tackling Vessa first. What happens at level-up? First, the PC gets +1 to an attribute of their choice, excluding Luck and Initiative, up to max 16. I’m going to say that the experience in Thornmere Hold increased Vessa’s self-confidence and mental fortitude, bringing her Willpower to 13. Doing so also increases her Death Save to 11. Next, Vessa’s hit points increase from 12 to 14 (yes, Tales is a brutal, deadly game). She also gains an extra Reroll.

Finally, Vessa’s class skills increase. Her Attack Bonus goes up by 1 (she now has a +4 to hit with her shortbow!). She gains a new skill, and Wilderness Lore makes the most sense given her romp in the woods. At Level 2, she also gains the ability Skirmisher, giving opponents’ free attacks due to movement disadvantage. She also now can use her Tricks 2 times / level and gains a new one: Smoke Bomb, which I’ll explain in play. I really need to use these Tricks more.

Now let’s talk Downtime. I love the Tales Downtime rules, which are designed around “activities for PCs to spend their silver on, to keep them hungry for coin.” First, I roll how much time passes before “something interesting” happens, which will constitute this Downtime period. I roll nine weeks.

Seven days of predominantly low-key activity in a safe location is called a Long Rest, and Vessa thus regains all hit points, class abilities, Rerolls, and attribute loss (minus Luck), plus recovers 1 Luck point. That leaves her at full strength, but at 10 of 11 possible Luck. “Wait a gosh-darned minute!” you might be saying, “but Downtime is nine weeks! Wouldn’t she be able to recover that other point in eight extra weeks?” Maybe. But she’s doing other things during that time, having her own mini adventures and peril. The sum total is that she’ll be down 1 Luck when the next adventure begins. Unless something happens during Downtime to diminish it further.

Speaking of which, for Vessa a big question is how much of the party’s gold she can pay back to the Latchkey Circle versus how much she spends on carousing and gambling. First, let’s decide how much she and Maelen need to pay off their debts. I’m going to roll 2d6x100 gold, an impossibly big sum for people in Oakton. I roll 80 gold of debt. Whew. Combining gold and silver from Thornmere Hold, they have 105 total gold, so theoretically they have enough. But while Maelen is in a coma, Vessa may be getting herself into trouble…

Let’s combine these two subsystems and see how it goes. Vessa will use 100 sp (or 10 gp) on gambling/carousing. How does the weeks worth of gambling go? Vessa must make a Luck save. She rolls a 14 and fails, losing the money. The only “good” news is that Vessa won’t lose a Luck point for failing.

Now, the fateful Carousing roll, the same roll that last time had Vessa lose her hair, a tooth, and create a complication that has yet to rear its head (but is on the Mythic Threads list!). Here goes the d100 roll… 04, which is Crime, “Your drunken endeavors lead you to commit a crime, roll 1d6.” Vessa rolls affray, a word I had to look up and means “an instance of fighting in a public place that disturbs the peace.” She is wanted for questioning for the next 4 (rolled on 1d6) months after Downtime ends for questioning. Well, this all fits perfectly into Vessa’s character flaws so far. The big question: How much money does she spend? Carousing from levels 1-3 can take anywhere from 20-100 silver. I’ll roll and get 80 silver. Dangit, Vessa!

Subtracting the 70 silver that Alric took with him, that’s 80 gold exactly left. Sometimes the dice just tell the story, don’t they? Vessa and Maelen will be dead broke after this downtime.

Here is Vessa’s Level 2 character sheet:

Alric Mistsong

Next up is Alric. He fully heals, and his Luck is now 10 of 11. Like Vessa, he will use his +1 attribute increase on Willpower, increasing it also to 13, giving him a +1 modifier and increasing his Death Save to 11. His hit points increase by a whopping 1, to 14 (brutal!). He gains a Reroll.

Next are his class bonuses. His Attack Bonus becomes +1 (all that staff-bashing he’s been doing paying off). He gains a new skill, and already has both Arcane Lore and Divine Lore. Hm. As squeamish as it makes me, I’ll give him Deception since he’s dabbling in dark forces, and it’s a skill he showed some aptitude for at the Root Gate in Chapter 2. As a Magic User, he also can construct a Mental Apparatus, which is “a circlet, cap, high rimmed collar, or other headgear that strengthens your mind against mental attacks.” He’ll gain advantage when resisting things like charm, fear, etc. But lo, it costs 50 silver to create, which means he can’t pay back his family! Again, this all feels very in-character.

Of course, the most exciting thing is Alric’s spellcraft. He can now cast 2 spells / level (regained with rest). Interestingly, Tales is the first game I’ve played that doesn’t just let spellcasters learn random new spells for free when they level up. Instead, Alric is allowed to learn one new spell this level, but only based on scrolls, spellbooks, etc. he’s acquired as loot. Thankfully, the vault in Thornmere Hold provided two scrolls. Though the idea of flying is cool, by far the most useful of the two is Mend Flesh, which Alric will spend a good chunk of his Downtime learning. He’s dabbling in dark magics, but at least the party now has a healer.

Studying his magic, learning new spells, and creating his Mental Apparatus seem like more than enough for Alric to be doing during his nine weeks of Downtime. That said, he’s likely the most transformed of the party, and will start the next adventure as much less a scribe and much more a full-blown magic user. Here is his Level 2 character sheet:

Maelen Marroson

Last but not least, let’s turn to the fallen Maelen. Most importantly, her Long Rest will allow her to recover from Sarin’s draining touch. If the party had gold left, I might say that the recovery took some of their money. Since I was harsh on Vessa’s Downtime and the party is starting effectively poor, I’ll handwave the healing this time. Again, one of the main goals of these nine weeks is to make the trio desperate enough to risk their lives for more wealth, and it’s “mission accomplished” there.

For Level 2, Maelen will use her attribute increase on Constitution, increasing it to 14 (which doesn’t change the modifier but will do so next increase). As a Fighter, her hit points increase from 16 to 20. She also gains an additional Reroll.

Class-wise, her attack bonus increases to +2. For her new skill, it’s a little boring but I do think Wilderness Lore makes sense, especially since she and Vessa are intent on going after Sarin’s treasure at some point. As a Level 2 Fighter, Maelen also gains Supplies, which means at any time during an adventure she can add 1d4 mundane items that she retroactively decided to pack. Pretty cool! Her Adaptable uses also go up to 2 uses / level. I misunderstood this ability last level… her default is Opportunist (which she used twice), and she has access to this ability as a default. The uses of Adaptable, then, are to switch to a different style (Two-Hander). Maelen also gains a new potential style: Charger, which allows her to knock foes prone with a successful Charge.

Here is her Level 2 sheet:

How does Maelen spend her Downtime? Recovering and getting her strength back, mostly, leaving Vessa to pay off the Circle, and then flit away their remaining wealth. I will say, just for fun, that Maelen is with her towards the end, maybe even starting the brawl that Vessa is now wanted for.

Level up complete! When we pick up the story this weekend, it will be nine weeks from the end of the Thornmere Hold story and kicking off the party’s next adventure (which will again be determined by random rolls… yeehaw!). See you then and there!

As always, if you have comments on either the story or game notes, feel free to post a comment below or email me at jaycms@yahoo.com.

Next: A Message For Alric [with game notes]