Character Advancement in Phantom's Bane

Earning XP

If you've played any role-playing games, you're probably familiar with the concept of earning experience points, and XP in Phantom's Bane aren't much different.

You earn XP in Phantom's Bane by defeating foes. That's the only way to earn XP in the game. If the combat is terminated prematurely (such as by one of the combatants running away), no XP are earned for the fight. Your character must defeat the foe to get XP for the foe.

The amount of XP earned is dependent on how many points are added to the foe's generated attributes. The generated value of each attribute is the roll of one die. Thus, two foes might have wildly different attributes and attribute totals, yet still be worth the same amount of XP if defeated.

The number of points added to a foe's generated attributes is based on your character's attribute values, and your character's current location. If you defeat a foe of a given type in a given location, it is likely that defeating another foe of the same type in the same location will earn your character the same number of XP as the first foe—until your character trains, which can cause the points added to a foe's attributes to increase.

In any case, when you defeat a foe, you will earn XP, and you'll be told how many XP you earned. If you pay attention to the number of XP you're earning in various locations and situations, you may well see a few patterns emerge.

Spending XP

After you've earned enough XP, you can spend XP to increase your character's maximum attribute values. The expenditure of XP must also be accompanied by an expenditure of a sufficient amount of Gold. Expending the correct amount of XP and Gold raises an attribute by 1 point. The number of XP required is equal to the current attribute value mulitplied by itself. Thus, if your character has a Health of 2, raising it to 3 will require 2 x 2 = 4 XP. The number of Gold required is equal to 5 times the current attribute value. Thus, if your character has a Health of 2, raising it to 3 will require 2 x 5 = 10 Gold.

You don't need to remember these formulas. The current required amounts of XP and Gold needed to raise each attribute by 1 point are always on display at the Training Hall.

Acquiring Equipment

Another and just as important form of character advancement is the acquisition of better and better equipment. Items are sold in the various towns. You'll need ever increasing amounts of Gold to buy more powerful items. It always helps to have a higher bonus on your weapon and armor than your attributes will support. True, capped bonuses aren't used to full advantage in combat, perhaps, but a penetration or counter attack can ruin weapons and armor quickly if their bonuses are not high enough to absorb the damage and still have a bonus as high as the associated attribute.

Magical Equipment

It is possible to have your character's weapon and armor enchanted, making them magical. Magical items are affected less by penetrations and counter attacks, negating one point of such damage before it is applied to your Health or to the equipment's bonus. For example, if a penetration only deals one point of damage, and the affected combatant is wearing magical armor, the penetration damage is completely absorbed by the magic, and no penetration damage is done to the combatant or the armor. For another example, if a counter attack dealt by a combatant that Defended that combat turn dealt a total of 3 points (rolling 1 and 2 on the two half-dice such a counter attack would cause), and the affected combatant is wielding a magical sword, then the magic of the sword would absorb and negate 1 point of those 3 points, so that the affected combatant would only take 2 points to Health, and the magical weapon would only lose 2 points from its weapon bonus.

Copyright ©2005, 2010, Michael K. Eidson

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