SHINOBI: Origins - Advancement
Each player gains 6 XP dots / session (5 for Chunin and 4 for Jonin) that can be placed wherever the player wants +1 bonus XP dot in a skillset for that characters most notable moment that session determined by the table. These dots fill the XP tracks of Skill Sets. Once 5 dots are accumulated in a Skill Set XP track, the track is cleared and the player may gain a Skill dot within that Set. Alternatively 3 XP can be spent to gain a Skill Specialty. Each Skill can only have one Specialty.
Genin have a maximum of 3 dots in any Skill and up to 4 dots in favored Skill Set Skills. Genin can accumulate a total of 15 dots in their favored set, 8 in each of their standard sets and 5 in each of their poor sets. Once a Genin has completed 20 sessions they are eligible to become Chunin.
Chunin have a maximum of 4 dots in any Skill and up to 5 dots in favored Skill Set Skills. Chunin can accumulate a total of 20 dots in their favored set, 10 in each of their standard sets and 8 in each of their poor sets. Once a Chunin has completed 20 more sessions they are eligible to become Jonin.
Jonin have a maximum of 5 dots in any Skill. Jonin can accumulate a total of 25 dots in their favored set, 15 in each of their standard sets and 10 in each of their poor sets. Once a Jonin has reached their limit for skill dots they may only spend XP on specializations.
GMs also gain XP / session. They can place the bonus XP dot usually given for a notable action wherever they like. GM XP can be spent on an of the GM's characters and the amount of XP received is determined by the rank of the character the XP will be spent on; (6+1 for Genin, 5+1 for Chunin, and 4+1 for Jonin). GMs running with a split group system may choose to participate as a player in the group they are not running for at no XP penalty.
Genin have a maximum of 3 dots in any Skill and up to 4 dots in favored Skill Set Skills. Genin can accumulate a total of 15 dots in their favored set, 8 in each of their standard sets and 5 in each of their poor sets. Once a Genin has completed 20 sessions they are eligible to become Chunin.
Chunin have a maximum of 4 dots in any Skill and up to 5 dots in favored Skill Set Skills. Chunin can accumulate a total of 20 dots in their favored set, 10 in each of their standard sets and 8 in each of their poor sets. Once a Chunin has completed 20 more sessions they are eligible to become Jonin.
Jonin have a maximum of 5 dots in any Skill. Jonin can accumulate a total of 25 dots in their favored set, 15 in each of their standard sets and 10 in each of their poor sets. Once a Jonin has reached their limit for skill dots they may only spend XP on specializations.
GMs also gain XP / session. They can place the bonus XP dot usually given for a notable action wherever they like. GM XP can be spent on an of the GM's characters and the amount of XP received is determined by the rank of the character the XP will be spent on; (6+1 for Genin, 5+1 for Chunin, and 4+1 for Jonin). GMs running with a split group system may choose to participate as a player in the group they are not running for at no XP penalty.
Rewards
Standard rewards are determined by mission not by session. The Party Leader acquires a mission based on their positive or negative honor. Negative Honor is called Dishonor and allows you to accept unsavory or illegal missions like assassinations, smuggling runs, and heists. No Honor is staked when you accept a mission that requires Dishonor. Missions that use positive Honor require that Honor be staked upon accepting the mission and will be lost by the Party Leader if the mission is failed. The Party Leader can be any member of the party and the rest of the party is allowed to participate in the mission along side them regardless of their Honor in most cases.
Mission Difficulties
Honor 0 - Simple
Honor +/-1-3 - Moderate
Honor +/-4-6 - Advanced
Honor +/-7-9 - Dangerous
Honor +/-10 - Deadly
The party may acquire more resources and gold than accounted for in the mission but this can only be done by the player using skills that involve risk. For example, if a player attempts to search a room in a dungeon for anything of value that you didn't account for in the mission reward, they may find something but their skill roll to find it bears consequences like a combat roll. Otherwise players may spend downtimes to make money, and gather resources without such consequences and this does not pull from the mission reward. It is important that the players track all rewards obtained on a mission as they collect them and note their gold value and who is carrying them. This helps the players split loot evenly and allows them to ensure they are not getting over or under rewarded. When a mission is accepted the Party Leader should assign another player the role of Treasurer to track the loot for the party. At the end of a mission regardless of success, the Treasurer gains 1 Gold / mission difficulty.
With multiple GMs running for a split group, keeping the rewards equal is even more important. A GM can never award players additional XP or loot regardless of the challenges the players face. It is up to the players to accept more or less difficult missions and they will be rewarded only within the bounds of the mission. It is the duty of the Treasurer to inform a GM if the party is under or over rewarded at the end of a mission and the duty of the GM to correct it. If a party has been over rewarded, the other party will not gain additional rewards to be compensated. The over rewarded party will have to lose enough of their reward to match the other party.
When GMs prepare their mission loot they should keep in mind that the total Gold values listed below are comprised of more than the agreed upon payment from the mission giver. For example, if the party accepts a Dangerous Mission which has a loot limit of 35 Gold / player, Each player may be promised 10 gold each for the mission and it is assumed that the remaining 25 Gold they are owed will be collected as loot from combats and dungeons during the mission. When building loot drops it is a good rule of thumb to assign Shinobi enemies loot drops of Gold, Equipment, and Scrolls of the jutsus they use. Loot from beasts is usually resources that embody the abilities of the creature that can be used for crafting special equipment. Non-Gold loot counts towards the loot total at 1/2 of its value. This reflects the value of Gold for its versatility and the fact that items, scrolls, and other resources may not be perfectly suited to the PCs where Gold is valuable to anyone.
Simple Missions
Time- 1 session
Beneficiary- Commoners, other Genin
Honor- +1 Tick
Reward in Gold Value- 5 / Character
Loot may include- Mundane Equipment, Scrolls, Gold
Moderate Missions
Time- 2 sessions
Beneficiary- Commoners, low tier Nobles, other Chunin
Honor +2 Ticks
Reward in Gold Value- 15 / Character
Loot may include- Mundane and Fine Equipment, Scrolls, Gold
Advanced Missions
Time- 3 sessions
Beneficiary- mid tier Nobles, other Chunin and Jonin
Honor +3 Ticks
Reward in Gold Value- 25 / Character
Loot may include- Mundane, Fine, and Special Equipment, Scrolls and Jutsu Modifications, Gold
Dangerous Missions
Time- 4 sessions
Beneficiary- high tier Nobles, other Jonin
Honor +4 Ticks
Reward in Gold Value- 35 / Character
Loot may include- Mundane, Fine, Special, and Legendary Equipment, Scrolls and Jutsu Modifications, Gold
Deadly Missions
Time- 5 sessions
Beneficiary- Hokages, Nations
Honor +5 Ticks
Reward in Gold Value- 50 / Character
Loot may include- Mundane, Fine, Special, and Legendary Equipment, Legendary Scrolls and Jutsu Modifications, Gold
Mission Difficulties
Honor 0 - Simple
Honor +/-1-3 - Moderate
Honor +/-4-6 - Advanced
Honor +/-7-9 - Dangerous
Honor +/-10 - Deadly
The party may acquire more resources and gold than accounted for in the mission but this can only be done by the player using skills that involve risk. For example, if a player attempts to search a room in a dungeon for anything of value that you didn't account for in the mission reward, they may find something but their skill roll to find it bears consequences like a combat roll. Otherwise players may spend downtimes to make money, and gather resources without such consequences and this does not pull from the mission reward. It is important that the players track all rewards obtained on a mission as they collect them and note their gold value and who is carrying them. This helps the players split loot evenly and allows them to ensure they are not getting over or under rewarded. When a mission is accepted the Party Leader should assign another player the role of Treasurer to track the loot for the party. At the end of a mission regardless of success, the Treasurer gains 1 Gold / mission difficulty.
With multiple GMs running for a split group, keeping the rewards equal is even more important. A GM can never award players additional XP or loot regardless of the challenges the players face. It is up to the players to accept more or less difficult missions and they will be rewarded only within the bounds of the mission. It is the duty of the Treasurer to inform a GM if the party is under or over rewarded at the end of a mission and the duty of the GM to correct it. If a party has been over rewarded, the other party will not gain additional rewards to be compensated. The over rewarded party will have to lose enough of their reward to match the other party.
When GMs prepare their mission loot they should keep in mind that the total Gold values listed below are comprised of more than the agreed upon payment from the mission giver. For example, if the party accepts a Dangerous Mission which has a loot limit of 35 Gold / player, Each player may be promised 10 gold each for the mission and it is assumed that the remaining 25 Gold they are owed will be collected as loot from combats and dungeons during the mission. When building loot drops it is a good rule of thumb to assign Shinobi enemies loot drops of Gold, Equipment, and Scrolls of the jutsus they use. Loot from beasts is usually resources that embody the abilities of the creature that can be used for crafting special equipment. Non-Gold loot counts towards the loot total at 1/2 of its value. This reflects the value of Gold for its versatility and the fact that items, scrolls, and other resources may not be perfectly suited to the PCs where Gold is valuable to anyone.
Simple Missions
Time- 1 session
Beneficiary- Commoners, other Genin
Honor- +1 Tick
Reward in Gold Value- 5 / Character
Loot may include- Mundane Equipment, Scrolls, Gold
Moderate Missions
Time- 2 sessions
Beneficiary- Commoners, low tier Nobles, other Chunin
Honor +2 Ticks
Reward in Gold Value- 15 / Character
Loot may include- Mundane and Fine Equipment, Scrolls, Gold
Advanced Missions
Time- 3 sessions
Beneficiary- mid tier Nobles, other Chunin and Jonin
Honor +3 Ticks
Reward in Gold Value- 25 / Character
Loot may include- Mundane, Fine, and Special Equipment, Scrolls and Jutsu Modifications, Gold
Dangerous Missions
Time- 4 sessions
Beneficiary- high tier Nobles, other Jonin
Honor +4 Ticks
Reward in Gold Value- 35 / Character
Loot may include- Mundane, Fine, Special, and Legendary Equipment, Scrolls and Jutsu Modifications, Gold
Deadly Missions
Time- 5 sessions
Beneficiary- Hokages, Nations
Honor +5 Ticks
Reward in Gold Value- 50 / Character
Loot may include- Mundane, Fine, Special, and Legendary Equipment, Legendary Scrolls and Jutsu Modifications, Gold