Character Points
Earning Points Through Adventure
This is the most reliable way to gain points, and points earned this way are the only points that count towards your thresholds. All characters in the party will recieve points for any of these actions unless they are actively trying to sabotage the party (in-character reasons for sabotage are on the GM to allow) or the player is not participating at all (again, in-character reasons for lack of participation are on the GM to allow).
Points Gained Through Adventure
From Combat
- Dealing with Minion enemies: 0 character points
- Dealing with Worthy monsters, about equal to PCs in level: 1 character point
- Dealing with a Boss Monster, clearly more powerful than the PCs: 2 character points
- Dealing with an absolute horde of Minions: +1 character points (modifies any of the above)
From Impressive Feats
- Bypassing an obstical or trap in an impressive or creative way that the GM hadn't thought of: 1 character point
- Finding and entering a secret area that the GM has designated a "bonus area": 1 character point
- Successfully avoiding a deadly foe (Boss level or higher) through Negotiation or Trickery: 1 character point
From Completion
This is a bulk amount upon completing a mission. Each bullet could be added multiple times depending on the scenerio. This bulk amount will never be lower than 1 character point.
- Completion of the mission, whether a success or a failure (there is much to learn from failure: 1 character point
- Cleared a dungeon: +1 character point/dungeon
- A PC died: -1 character point/death
- Insufficient loot to meet your needs: -1 character point
- If this mission is completion of a larger story arc: +5 character points (if this is in the pot, the total cannot be less than 6 points)
Unlocks
As you earn points through adventure, you will hit certain thresholds. Every threshold gives your character the ability to spend points on something they could not purchase before.
Untrained (150 Character Points
If your story starts before your character's first run of combat, start here. Most NPCs will be at this stage. If you character starts here, after the first adventure is done, you are given 100 points and may purchase a Class Template after a couple months have passed. You will not gain any points through adventuring until you have completed your first adventure.
- ST can be 3 levels higher than Racial Average.
- IQ, DX, and HT cannot be higher than Racial Average.
- Secondary Attributes (HP, Will, Per, FP, BS) cannot be more than 30% higher than your ST, IQ, DX, or HT would normally allow. (add any racial modifiers after determining your Max Limit)
- Basic Move cannot be raised or lowered by more than 1. (add any racial modifiers after determining your Max Limit)
- You may put a maximum of 12 points into a skill
- You may buy up to 2 ranks of Charisma, Talents, Incantion Gift, and Power Investiture (You may buy any amount of unique Talents or Power Investitures so long as the highest rank is 3 or less. Example: You may purchase PI 2 in Artificer, Gala, and Shroud, but you may not buy PI 4 in any of them).
Most adventures will start here.
- ST can be 5 levels higher than Racial Average.
- IQ, DX, and HT can be 2 levels higher than Racial Average.
- Secondary Attributes (HP, Will, Per, FP, BS) cannot be more than 30% higher than your ST, IQ, DX, or HT would normally allow. (add any racial modifiers after determining your Max Limit)
- Basic Move cannot be raised or lowered by more than 1. (add any racial modifiers after determining your Max Limit)
- You may put a maximum of 20 points into a skill
- You may buy up to 3 ranks of Charisma, Talents, Incantion Gift, and Power Investiture (You may buy any amount of unique Talents or Power Investitures so long as the highest rank is 3 or less. Example: You may purchase PI 2 in Artificer, Gala, and Shroud, but you may not buy PI 4 in any of them).
- You may buy 1 (or 2) Cinematic Ability Cinematic Ability. Any race that has one already may purchase another or buy another level of their current ability if that is an option.
- You may only have 1 Planar Summon or Active Power prepared at a time.
- ST can be 6 levels higher than Racial Average.
- IQ, DX, and HT can be 3 levels higher than Racial Average.
- ST can be 7 levels higher than Racial Average.
- IQ, DX, and HT can be 4 levels higher than Racial Average.
- You may put a maximum of 24 points into a skill
- Dragon Abilities and Celestial/Outsider Allies increase in power. Specifics are listed on the related articles.
- ST can be 8 levels higher than Racial Average.
- IQ, DX, and HT can be 5 levels higher than Racial Average.
- You may buy a 4th rank of Charisma, a Talent, Incantation Gift, and Power Investiture.
- You may have 2 Planar Summons, 2 Active Powers, or 1 of each prepared at a time.
- ST can be 9 levels higher than Racial Average.
- IQ, DX, and HT can be 6 levels higher than Racial Average.
- You may put a maximum of 28 points into a skill
- Dragon Abilities and Celestial/Outsider Allies increase in power. Specifics are listed on the related articles.
- ST can be 10 levels higher than Racial Average.
- IQ, DX, and HT can be 7 levels higher than Racial Average.
- ST can be 11 levels higher than Racial Average.
- IQ, DX, and HT can be 8 levels higher than Racial Average.
- You may put a maximum of 32 points into a skill
- You may buy a 5th rank of Charisma, a Talent, Incantation Gift, and Power Investiture.
- Dragon Abilities and Celestial/Outsider Allies increase in power. Specifics are listed on the related articles.
- ST can be 12 levels higher than Racial Average.
- IQ, DX, and HT can be 9 levels higher than Racial Average.
- ST can be 13 levels higher than Racial Average.
- IQ, DX, and HT can be 10 levels higher than Racial Average.
- You may put a maximum of 36 points into a skill
- Dragon Abilities and Celestial/Outsider Allies increase in power. Specifics are listed on the related articles.
- ST can be 14 levels higher than Racial Average.
- IQ, DX, and HT can be 11 levels higher than Racial Average.
- You may buy a 6th rank of Charisma, a Talent, Incantation Gift, and Power Investiture.
- ST can be 15 levels higher than Racial Average.
- IQ, DX, and HT can be 12 levels higher than Racial Average.
- You may continue to gain Character Points Through Adventure, but this is the limit of Leveling Unlocks.
- You may put a maximum of 40 points into a skill
- Dragon Abilities and Celestial/Outsider Allies increase in power. Specifics are listed on the related articles.
- You may buy a second (or third) Cinematic Ability
Spending Points Gained
Once the campaign has started in GURPS, you can't just spend points earned in play as if you were creating a character. If you've earned the points, you may place them in any skill you have used in the previous adventure. This means you can upgrade any of the skills you regularly use, or a skill you've "Hail Maryed" at any point.
You can, alternatively, spend money, a week, and character points to increase a skill without having used it in an adventure. The usual "tuition" is $20/Character Point spent on skills, but rarer and harder skills might cost more. The harder the skill, the harder it will be to find someone willing/able to teach you.
You may increase attributes at any time as long as you have the points and are not at your upper racial/level limit. Talents and Incantation Gift are the same way. To gain or increase ranks of Power Investiture, you must meet the prerequisites for that rank. You may make a Requesting Divine Aid roll, where you can adopt any disadvantages required to aquire the new/next rank of Power Investiture and, depending on the Divine Aid roll, the new/next rank of Power Investiture.
When buying new powers from Celestials, just like increasing your Power Investiture, you must make a successful Requesting Divine Aid roll. However, if you now qualify for a more powerful version of a power you currently posess, you only need to buy the point difference between the level you have and the level you want to upgrade.
Points Gained Through Events
These points do not count as "experience points" and thus will not effect your progression. These usually take form of a permanent wounds suffered like One Arm, self-imposed mental disadvantages picked up during play like Pacifism, and supernatural Curses. But they can also be rewards for specifice characters for triggering events (example: you impressed the Warlord with your recklessness so you gain the Daredevil advantage).
Strictly speaking, none of these advantages or disadvantages cost points as you are not buying them. You are given them due to circumstances that might have been beyond your control.
