Experience

Experience is the most important attribute a character has. It is a measure of general ability. Every ten experience is considered a stage. Each stage gives you an occupation, an increase by 1 in will power and awareness, and an increase in stamina and bonuses depending on the occupation gained.

Often the most important consideration when determining the effectiveness of a character is how many stages they have. At 0 - 2 stages, a character is considered "green". At 3 - 4 stages, a character is considered "professional". At 5 - 9 stages a character is considered "seasoned". And at 10+ stages a character is considered "legendary". Often when interacting with another, you won't be able to determine exactly how many and what kind of stages another being has, but you should be able to determine what category they fall in. For example, you may ask the referee how tough a potential opponent seems. The referee may reply, "He seems to be a seasoned combatant." If you were only 1st stage at the time, you would probably make a hasty exit.

As a character lives his life, he will gain experience depending on occurrences and what he learns. Gaining experience depends greatly on what occupation the character is working towards. At the beginning of each stage, the character should let the referee know what he wants his next stage to be. Then, a character will only gain experience if the referee feels that he has learned or gained experience in the occupation the character is trying for.

The actual rate of experience earning is left up to the referee. There is no rigid way to determine how much experience should be awarded based on specific accomplishments. The rate that a character earns experience should be slower when they reach higher stages. Usually green characters will gain experience quickly, say two to four experience for every evenly matched fight they win. Professional's will earn experience slower, say one to two experience for every evenly matched fight they win. Once you reach seasoned, each stage will result in slower experience earning for the following stage. Remember, beings that are seventh stage or higher are quite rare, so it should be very difficult to obtain.

The diversification of occupations also plays a part in the rate of experience earning. If a seasoned character has a very focused set of occupations, then it will be more difficult to learn more experience towards that focus then it would be to learn something new. For example, a character with one stage of mercenary, one of weapon specialist, two of infantry, and one of scout who is gaining experience towards weapon specialist would earn experience slightly faster than a character with three stages of weapon specialist, one of infantry, and one of mercenary. This is a slight difference and shouldn't matter until the character reaches three or more of the same occupation.

But, as always, the referee has the final say. While consistency is recommended, the referee can choose to award experience at any rate they see fit.

The occupation of scientist has a different method of earning experience. Also, the occupations of Lunatic and Mentalist have unique characteristics in regards to experience that are explained in their descriptions.

Gaining experience In Scientist

To obtain a stage of scientist a character must spend time studying, learning, and practicing. The time required depends on two things: the stage of scientist you are studying, and your intelligence. A genius-minded being would gain a stage much quicker than a simple-minded being. The rule for gaining stages of scientist past first stage is (Time for previous stage X 2) + 1 month. The time taken for first stage depends on intelligence level according to the following table:

Intelligence	Time for first stage
7 - Hypernormal	Nil
6 - Genius	1 Month
5 - Exceptional	2 Months
4 - High	3 Months
3 - Average	6 Months
2 - Low	10 Months
1 - Simple	25 Months

Note that a character with hypernormal intelligence can achieve first stage scientist in an insignificant amount of time - approximately one standard day. A month is approximately 1/12 of a standard year. The time spent can be on their own studying or at a learning institute such as a university.

For example - a character with genius intelligence:

Scientist stage earned Time required Biologist - 1st stage Biologist - 2nd stage Biologist - 3rd stage Mathematician - 1st stage Mathematician - 2nd stage Biologist - 4th stage 1 month 3 months - (1 month X 2) + 1 month 7 months - (3 months X 2) + 1 month 1 month 3 months - (1 month X 2) + 1 month 15 months - (7 months X 2) + 1 month

The character would be a fourth stage scientist and the total time taken to achieve the four stages of biologist and the two stages of mathematician would be 30 months. A character with only high (4) intelligence achieving the same stages of scientist would require 66 months of study.