Advancement & Death

Read below for information on character advancement & death

As you advance in level within SCAR, you advance in "Tier". Your tier determines a few things such as what quests you can sign up for, and what rarity of magical items you can use, etc. Please note, a maximum of three magical items can be attuned to any one character, and characters can only use magic items from the tier of their character or below, as seen in the table.

Quest Types & Character Levels

We have three types of quests in SCAR. The average character on SCAR will reach the high end of Tier 2 (roughly level 9-11). This is when most Adventure or Setting content wraps up. If you are in a Story Arc, your journey will likely continue into a higher tier, but is still not guaranteed.

• Adventure

  An Adventure quest is one that is generally self-contained. These make up most of Tier 1 and Tier 2, and allows characters to find what suits them, meet new people, and learn who they are. It is a one-off session that has little or zero impact on the overall workings of the world.

• Setting

  A Setting quest is generally an area that you can return to multiple times. You might encounter the same NPCs there, establish or build working relationships with them, and work towards goals that modify the surrounding area. These sort of quests usually have some impact on the world.

• Story Arc

  Story Arc quests are all connected, and revolve around the same group of characters. Arcs continue well into Tier 3 and can even reach Tier 4. An arc follows a specific story, usually encountering the same NPCs many times, with definite impact on the world, and sometimes drastic and world-altering events.
  
  Players that are invested into their characters, the server, and roleplay, have the highest chance of getting into Arc content. Arcs are planned out by certain DMs ahead of time, in order to find groups that will mesh well with one another in order to keep the story moving for such a long time. Those DMs will contact you directly if they would like to pull you into a story arc.
  
  We have two types of story arcs: Renowned Legends and Bardsong Hero.
  Renowned Legends Arc. These arcs generally reach level 20-22 (hard 24 cap), and are considered world/planar events in the scale of their effect on our world.

  Bardsong Hero Arc. These arcs generally reach level 11-13 (hard 15 cap), and are considered regional events in the scale of their effect on our world.

Character Experience

Roleplay Experience

Renown

You are an important and influential adventurer, and have been noticed in the world via story and song. As such, you have accomplished many heroic deeds which are tracked by your Renown Score.

Renown, in addition to its other functions, gives the adventurer a Heroic Dice that can be used Once Per Adventure. This can be used after a roll has been made, but before the outcome is announced. This die can be used on an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check.

Catching Up

Sometimes the rest of your friends level up a bit before you do. Instead of watching them go on higher-level adventures while leaving you at home, you can catch up. When you're catching up, your character is assumed to be going on a small side adventure for its faction, such as guarding a caravan or patrolling the wilderness.

If you are at a certain level of renown, you can use Gold and Downtime to boost up a level to move onto the next Tier of Play. Catching up is a special activity only available at 4th, 10th, and 16th level.

A character who dies during the course of the adventure has a few options at the end of the session (or when arriving back in civilization during the adventure), assuming no one in the adventuring party has immediate access to bring them back to life.

The rules below assume that the means are available. Other Player Characters, not in the immediate session, cannot participate in the funding or raising of a dead character - unless other rules specify otherwise (such as special faction rules, etc.).

Create a New First Level Character

If the dead character is unwilling or unable to exercise any of the other options, the player creates a new character. The new character does not have any items or rewards possessed by the dead character.

If you die in T1, and choose not to be resurrected, you are unable to make a character of that same class again. Otherwise, if your character dies prior to T3, you may not create another character of the same Class as the dead character as your next character.

Feats are a fun way to bring a unique playstyle to your character, setting you apart from the rest. However, many players end up taking the straight 2 ASI in order to keep their stats on par for their level and to progress their character appropriately to the content within their tier.

We feel this is a lost opportunity to explore our amazing feat list, and so SCAR has a unique way to handle Feat/2ASI choices at specific levels. This ONLY applies to the levels listed below, and does NOT apply to other levels where some classes may have the opportunity to take additional feats, or feats gained from any other source.

Alternate Feat Rule

At levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 19, you may use the alternate feat rule below. This only applies to the levels listed, and replaces the standard choice Feat/ASI you receive.

Further Explained

This encourages players to take feats, instead of straight 2 ASI. It allows players to keep their stats progressing without giving up the chance for feats, and provides more unique and rounded characters.

Remember, there are some feats that already give 1 ASI. If you choose one of these feats, the extra ASI you gain may not be of the same ability score.

Tracking Your Feats / ASI Progression

All players are required to list their feat / asi progression on their Roll20 character sheets. This must be clearly and simply mapped out by level for what you have taken in the Details and Notes tab on your Roll20 sheet in the Feats box. It should look like the following:

Here in SCAR, you are able to own more than one character. Character slots are unlocked as you progress, as seen in the table below.

Rules for Alternate Characters

We have some rules that are associated with running multiple characters at once.

Downtime is NOT shared between all your characters.
Your allotment of downtime days is assigned to each character. It is up to you to keep track of who has how much, by inputing their days into the "Downtime Days" input on their profile on Chronica. Discord is only able to track a single total, so you must be responsible to track each character.
Alternate Character Roleplaying Rules
When roleplaying in Discord, you must make it evident which character your roleplay is specific to, by using that particular character's name in the roleplay text. You are not permitted to roleplay between your own active characters, as they cannot see one other while active. You are able to write roleplay between your active and a past or future family character, so long as no mechanical benefits are being gained by this, such as intel, items, secrets, etc. If that character is an NPC for something, please seek DM permission first. See the full Roleplay Rules page for more details.
No Mutual Benefits
Your characters cannot benefit from one another in any way. We have some players that enjoy playing characters that are connected in some way, usually from same family. While the two characters would obviously know one another, you CANNOT use one character to benefit another, such as exchanges of gold or intel between NPCs or players for the benefit of the other character.
Character Businesses
You may not transact business with yourself, under any circumstances. This means you may not sell or purchase item(s) between your characters. Nor may you use another player to facilitate such a transaction(s). There are no exceptions to this rule.
No Sharing
You may not transfer items or gold with yourself. This means you may not share gold or items between your characters. Nor may you use another player to facilitate such a transfer. You are also not permitted to share information such as faction secrets between your characters. Please keep all character knowledge separate and appropriate.

Each Real Life year on the server (counted from the date of your first quest on your first character), you earn a Veteran's Pack. This includes a bundle of items that you may reward to ONE of your current active characters (active means this character has quested within 60 days).

This cannot be "saved" for later, and must be applied to a character within 7 days of your veteran date. The bundle cannot be split between characters in any way.