Between Adventures

Epic Path \ Between Adventures

In Epic Path, it is always possible for any character to work on re-training and self-improvement. The Wizard can cloister himself in a high tower and study the arcane mysteries. The Druid can meditate at length upon the glory and might of the Nascent Seed. The Fighter can go to the Fighter's Guild and have a training montage of rapid-fire smash-cuts set to 80's rock-metal. There is always stuff to do, ways to make yourself better, and that's just fun.

All standard re-training and self-improvement is carried out using the Abstract Encounter rules. The Feat, Ability, and/or Skill roll required per Interval is defined in the sections below. All Re-Training and Self-Improvement takes place in an Interval of one day, IE, you can make a skill (or ability) roll once per day, obtain Action Dice based on that roll, roll those Action Dice for pips and bank pips, all once per day. As always, you can only be working on one Abstract Encounter at a given time. If you are in the middle of your hard-rocking montage at the Fight Club and the orcs lay siege to the town, you must choose if you will interrupt your training, or skip the siege.

Most Self-Improvement also costs money: This represents rare books, unguents, arcane materials, fees to specialists, hiring instructors, etc, to enable the character to re-forge themselves in a newer, better, mold. The exact costs are detailed in each section below.

Things you can Re-Train

Hit Points

It is possible to train up your hit points, if they are less than the maximum possible for someone of your class, level and CON modifier. This is applicable to all characters, although the more hit points you have to begin with, the longer this takes.

To train up your hit points, you must have an appropriate place to train, be it a peaceful grove, a quiet meditation temple, a shrine, a gymnasium, a patch of howling wilderness, a deep, dark sewer, courts of intrigue, whatever is applicable to your character. Once the GM adjudicates there is an appropriate location, it requires one day to make any progress. All Characters must roll their class Bailiwick skill (or the one they prefer if they have more than one) and divide the result by five to obtain their Action Dice for each day of training. The target number to increase your hit points is your current hit point total.

Moving a Skill Point

It is possible to move a skill point from one skill to another skill after you have placed the skill point at level-up. We have all made a choice of a skill point that we've later found questionable, and this allows your character to realistically grow and change as time passes, as you get better at some things and lose some proficiency in other things. In general, it is easier to train up skills you have fewer Ranks in than Skills you have invested a large number of Ranks. Note that you may not train out an ability that is a prerequisite for another ability.

To move a Skill Point, you must have an appropriate place to train, be it a library, peaceful grove, a quiet meditation temple, a shrine, a gymnasium, a patch of howling wilderness, a deep, dark sewer, courts of intrigue, whatever is applicable to the skill being trained. Once the GM adjudicates there is an appropriate location, progress may begin.

A player may not use the retraining rules to swap out a skill, ability or feat taken at an earlier level for a skill, feat, or ability that they only qualify for now, but wouldn't have qualified for when they originally took the skill, feat, or ability.

The only metric that counts for Re-training rolls is the number of Ranks in the skills being worked on. Class skill bonuses, item bonuses, racial and class bonuses, none of those things have any impact on re-training at all: Re-training only affects the Ranks, and moves those ranks from one skill to another skill. All skills being re-trained must be ones that you already know: Re-training can NEVER grant you a new skill. Both skills involved in moving a point must be one that you already know and have at least one Rank in. Yes, this means you can never Re-train a Skill to zero ranks and forget how to do it completely. You may NOT move points if doing so will give you more Ranks in a Skill than you have Character Levels.

The Interval to retrain a Skill is one day.

To move a Skill Point, all Characters must roll their class Bailiwick skill (or the one they prefer if they have more than one) and divide the result by five to obtain their Action Dice for each day of training. Gain that many Action Dice. You then roll the Action Dice and expend the Pips to move the Skill Point, or, spend dice to bank the pips for the next interval. The target number to move a Skill Point is the number in the DC's chart for your character level when you finished the training. It is possible this target will increase during training if you are leveling rapidly!

It is possible to Re-train skill points from multiple skills to a single skill, in which case the target number is calculated separately for each move. In all cases, you may never move a Skill Point if doing so leaves you with zero ranks in a skill, or more ranks than you have class levels.

Changing a Feat

Note that you may not train out an ability that is a prerequisite for another ability. Backing down a feat tree in this manner can be done, but may take several re-training actions.

A player may not use the retraining rules to swap out a skill, ability or feat taken at an earlier level for a skill, feat, or ability that they only qualify for now, but wouldn't have qualified for when they originally took the skill, feat, or ability. For example, upon reaching 21st level, a character gains access to Epic feats, but may not use retraining to swap out an earlier non-epic feat for an epic feat. Similarly, a high-level rogue may never retrain to have fewer than 4 basic rogue talents, even after she qualifies for advanced or epic rogue talents.

To swap a Feat, you must have an appropriate place to train, be it a peaceful grove, a quiet meditation temple, a shrine, a gymnasium, a patch of howling wilderness, a deep, dark sewer, courts of intrigue, whatever is applicable to your character. Once the GM adjudicates there is an appropriate location, progress may begin.

The Interval to re-train a Feat into another Feat is one day. In all cases, you must have and retain all prerequisites for a legal character before, during, and after the re-training process for Feats.

To change a Feat you have into another Feat you qualify for requires you to make a Skill Roll with your class Bailiwick skill (or the one you prefer if you have more than one) and divide the result by five to obtain your Action Dice for each day of training. You then roll the Action Dice and expend the Pips to swap the Feat, or, spend dice to bank the pips for the next interval. The target number to move a Skill Point is the number in the DC's chart for your character level at the time you finish your retraining rolls. It is possible this target will increase during training if you are leveling rapidly!

Changing a Class Ability

Note that you may not train out an ability that is a prerequisite for another ability. Backing down an ability tree (such as for Fighter Tactics) in this manner can be done, but may take several re-training actions. (This action applies to Talents, Tactics, Rage Powers, Sorcerer and Bard Spells, etc.)

A player may not use the retraining rules to swap out a skill, ability or feat taken at an earlier level for a skill, feat, or ability that they only qualify for now, but wouldn't have qualified for when they originally took the skill, feat, or ability. For example, upon reaching 21st level, a character gains access to Epic feats, but may not use retraining to swap out an earlier non-epic feat for an epic feat. Similarly, a high-level rogue may never retrain to have fewer than 4 basic rogue talents, even after she qualifies for advanced or epic rogue talents.

To change a Class Ability, you must have an appropriate place to train, be it a peaceful grove, a quiet meditation temple, a shrine, a gymnasium, a patch of howling wilderness, a deep, dark sewer, courts of intrigue, whatever is applicable to your character. Once the GM adjudicates there is an appropriate location, progress may begin.

The Interval to re-train any Ability into another Ability (of the exact same sort, you cannot retrain a spell into a Bonus Feat, for example) is one day. In all cases, you must have and retain all prerequisites for a legal character before, during, and after the re-training process for Abilities.

To change an Ability you have into another Ability you legally qualify for requires you to make a Skill Roll with your class Bailiwick skill (or the one you prefer if you have more than one) and divide the result by five to obtain your Action Dice for each day of training. You then roll the Action Dice and expend the Pips to change the Ability, or, spend dice to bank the pips for the next interval. The target number to move a Skill Point is the number in the DC's chart for your character level at the time you finish your retraining rolls. It is possible this target will increase during training if you are leveling rapidly!

The cost of retraining an Ability is noted for the character level in which you finish training in the DC chart.

Things you can Self-Improve

Earn a Skill Point

It is possible to earn a skill point without leveling up, by intense training, study, and practice. This can only be done once per level, and if you level up 'past' a level without using this self-improvement action, the opportunity is lost.

To earn a Skill Point, you must have an appropriate place for improvement, be it a library, peaceful grove, a quiet meditation temple, a shrine, a gymnasium, a patch of howling wilderness, a deep, dark sewer, courts of intrigue, whatever is applicable to the skill being trained. Once the GM adjudicates there is an appropriate location, progress may begin.

First, you must choose which of your already-known Skills you wish to improve by one Rank. Once you begin the Abstract Action to train the skill, you may not change the Skill you are improving without losing all your progress. The only metric that counts for Self-Improvement rolls is the number of Ranks in the skill being worked on. Class skill bonuses, item bonuses, racial and class bonuses, none of those things have any impact on self-improvement. All skills you choose for self-improvement must be ones that you already know: this process can NEVER grant you a new skill. You may NOT self-improve in a skill if doing so will give you more Ranks than you have Character Levels.

The Interval to self-improve a Skill is one day.

To improve a Skill Point, all Characters must roll their class Bailiwick skill (or the one they prefer if they have more than one) and divide the result by five to obtain their Action Dice for each day of training. Gain that many Action Dice. You then roll the Action Dice and expend the Pips to earn the Skill Point, or, spend dice to bank the pips for the next interval. The target number to gain a Skill Point is the number in the DC's chart for your character level when you finished the training. It is possible this target will increase during training if you are leveling rapidly!

It is possible to self-improve your Bailiwick skill, even though you are rolling the Bailiwick skill to gain Action Dice. No, you may not count the Bailiwick skill as already-improved for these rolls.

It is possible to Self-Improve skill points in multiple skills, in which case the target number is calculated separately for each skill. In all cases, you may never earn a Skill Point if doing so would give you more ranks than you have class levels.

The monetary costs of self-improving a Skill Point is noted for the character level in which you finish training in the DC chart. It is possible for these costs to increase if you level up on the middle of self-improving a Skill. It is also possible for the pips required to go up, if you spend Ranks on a Skill in the middle of a Self-Improvement Abstract Action.

Purchase a new Class Skill

It is possible to convert a non-class skill to a Class skill. Obviously, this can only be done once for each skill, as you intensely train, study, and practice that skill to make it second nature.

To make any Skill into a Class Skill, it must be a Skill you qualify for: You may not, for example, make a Bailiwick skill you do not otherwise qualify for into a Class Skill in any case. For all other skills, you must have an appropriate place for improvement, be it a library, peaceful grove, a quiet meditation temple, a shrine, a gymnasium, a patch of howling wilderness, a deep, dark sewer, courts of intrigue, whatever is applicable to the skill being trained. Once the GM adjudicates there is an appropriate location, progress may begin.

The Interval to purchase a new Class Skill is one day.

To purchase a Class Skill, all Characters must roll their class Bailiwick skill (or the one they prefer if they have more than one) and divide the result by five to obtain their Action Dice for each day of training. Gain that many Action Dice. You then roll the Action Dice and expend the Pips to purchase the new Class Skill, or, spend dice to bank the pips for the next interval. The target number to purchase a new Class Skill is the number in the DC's chart for your character level when you finished the training. It is possible this target will increase during training if you are leveling rapidly!

Re-map a Single Skill

It is possible to change the ability score that a single Skill of your choosing is based upon. It is possible to make your Acrobatics skill, for example, be based upon your Intelligence, or your Perception Skill based upon your Constitution.

To re-map any Skill from one Ability to another Ability, it must be a Skill you qualify for: You may not, for example, map a Bailiwick skill you do not otherwise qualify for to use for Charisma and thus gain use of the skill, in any case. To re-map all other skills, you must have an appropriate place for improvement, be it a library, peaceful grove, a quiet meditation temple, a shrine, a gymnasium, a patch of howling wilderness, a deep, dark sewer, courts of intrigue, whatever is applicable to the skill being trained. Once the GM adjudicates there is an appropriate location, progress may begin.

The Interval to re-map one of your known Skills is one day. You may re-map more than one Skill, but you must complete each change before you begin the next. You may re-map a Skill more than once: You may change your Diplomacy to work off your Dexterity, and then later re-map it again to work off your Constitution. You must expend the full amount of time and money each time.

To re-map one of their known Skills, all Characters must roll their class Bailiwick skill (or the one they prefer if they have more than one) and divide the result by five to obtain their Action Dice for each day of training. Gain that many Action Dice. You then roll the Action Dice and expend the Pips to re-map your Skill, or, spend dice to bank the pips for the next interval.

The target number to re-map a Skill is the number in the DC's chart for your character level when you finished the training. It is possible this target will increase during training if you are leveling rapidly!

If you are re-mapping your Bailiwick Skill, you may not count the new Ability until the change is complete.

The monetary costs of re-mapping a Skill is noted for the character level in which you finish training in the DC chart. It is possible for these costs to increase if you level up on the middle of re-mapping a Skill.

Earn a Feat

It is possible to gain the use of a new Feat, once in a character's career. This is done using the Abstract Encounter System, like all such changes, and the Feat you gain must be legal for your character in all particulars. You choose the Feat you wish to gain at the beginning of the self-improvement process. You do not have to have all the prerequisites for a feat to begin earning it. You must satisfy all prerequisites for the Feat at the time you complete the self-improvement rolls, or you may not use the feat until you satisfy all said prerequisites. If you have a Feat you cannot use (for whatever reason) you may swap it for another feat via the normal process laid out above.

To earn a feat, you must have an appropriate place for improvement, be it a library, peaceful grove, a quiet meditation temple, a shrine, a gymnasium, a patch of howling wilderness, a deep, dark sewer, courts of intrigue, whatever is applicable to the feat being trained. Once the GM adjudicates there is an appropriate location, progress may begin.

The Interval for earning a new Feat is one day.

To earn a new Feat, you must declare the Feat you are working on at the beginning of the process. All Characters then roll their class Bailiwick skill (or the one they prefer if they have more than one) and divide the result by five to obtain their Action Dice for each day of training. Gain that many Action Dice. You then roll the Action Dice and expend the Pips to earn the Feat you are working on, or, spend dice to bank the pips for the next interval.

The target number to earn a new Feat is the number in the DC's chart for your character level when you finished the training. It is possible this target will increase during training if you are leveling rapidly!

The monetary costs of earning a new Feat is noted for the character level in which you finish training in the DC chart. It is possible for these costs to increase if you level up on the middle of earning a Feat.

Earn a Minor Racial Ability

It is possible to gain the use of a new Minor Racial Ability, once in a character's career. This is done using the Abstract Encounter System, like all such changes, and the Minor Racial Ability you gain must be legal for your character in all particulars. Specifically, using this action you must choose a Minor Racial Ability from your current race. If you somehow change races, you must change this additional Minor Racial Ability to match your new race.

You choose the Minor Ability you wish to gain at the beginning of the self-improvement process. You may not change the Minor Ability you are working toward in the middle without losing all your progress.

To gain a Minor Racial Ability, you must have an appropriate place for improvement, be it a library, peaceful grove, a quiet meditation temple, a shrine, a gymnasium, a patch of howling wilderness, a deep, dark sewer, courts of intrigue, whatever is applicable to the ability being trained. Once the GM adjudicates there is an appropriate location, progress may begin.

The Interval for earning a new Racial Ability is one day.

To earn a new Ability, you must declare the Ability you are working on at the beginning of the process. All Characters then roll their class Bailiwick skill (or the one they prefer if they have more than one) and divide the result by five to obtain their Action Dice for each day of training. Gain that many Action Dice. You then roll the Action Dice and expend the Pips to earn the Ability you are working on, or, spend dice to bank the pips for the next interval.

The target number to earn a new Minor Ability is the number in the DC's chart for your character level when you finished the training. It is possible this target will increase during training if you are leveling rapidly!

The monetary costs of earning a new Ability is noted for the character level in which you finish training in the DC chart. It is possible for these costs to increase if you level up on the middle of earning an Ability.

Earn a Major Racial Ability

It is possible to gain the use of a new Major Racial Ability, once in a character's career. This is done using the Abstract Encounter System, like all such changes, and the Major Racial Ability you gain must be legal for your character in all particulars. Specifically, using this action you must choose a Major Racial Ability from your current race. If you somehow change races, you must change this additional Major Racial Ability to match your new race.

You choose the Major Ability you wish to gain at the beginning of the self-improvement process. You may not change the Major Ability you are working toward in the middle without losing all your progress.

To gain a Major Racial Ability, you must have an appropriate place for improvement, be it a library, peaceful grove, a quiet meditation temple, a shrine, a gymnasium, a patch of howling wilderness, a deep, dark sewer, courts of intrigue, whatever is applicable to the ability being trained. Once the GM adjudicates there is an appropriate location, progress may begin.

The Interval for earning a new Racial Ability is one day.

To earn a new Ability, you must declare the Ability you are working on at the beginning of the process. All Characters then roll their class Bailiwick skill (or the one they prefer if they have more than one) and divide the result by five to obtain their Action Dice for each day of training. Gain that many Action Dice. You then roll the Action Dice and expend the Pips to earn the Ability you are working on, or, spend dice to bank the pips for the next interval.

The target number to earn a new Major Ability is the number in the DC's chart for your character level when you finished the training. It is possible this target will increase during training if you are leveling rapidly!

The monetary costs of earning a new Ability is noted for the character level in which you finish training in the DC chart. It is possible for these costs to increase if you level up on the middle of earning an Ability.

Earning an Ability Point

It is possible to gain the use of an additional Ability Point for any Ability you choose. This may be done up to twice per Ability during a character's career. This is done using the Abstract Encounter System, like all such changes.

You choose the Statistic you wish to improve at the beginning of the self-improvement process. You may not change the Ability Point you are working toward in the middle without losing all your progress. IE, if you switch from improving your Strength to improving your Constitution, all progress toward the point of Strength is lost.

To gain an Ability Point, you must have an appropriate place for improvement, be it a library, peaceful grove, a quiet meditation temple, a shrine, a gymnasium, a patch of howling wilderness, a deep, dark sewer, courts of intrigue, whatever is applicable to the ability being trained. Once the GM adjudicates there is an appropriate location, progress may begin.

The Interval for earning a new Ability Point is one day.

To earn a new Ability Point, you must declare the Ability you are working on at the beginning of the process. All Characters then roll their class Bailiwick skill (or the one they prefer if they have more than one) and divide the result by five to obtain their Action Dice for each day of training. Gain that many Action Dice. You then roll the Action Dice and expend the Pips to earn the Ability Point you are working on, or, spend dice to bank the pips for the next interval.

The target number to earn a new Ability Point is the number in the DC's chart for your character level when you finished the training. It is possible this target will increase during training if you are leveling rapidly!

The monetary costs of earning a new Ability Point is noted for the character level in which you finish training in the DC chart. It is possible for these costs to increase if you level up on the middle of earning an Ability Point.

Things you can Purchase

Purchase an Action Point

It is possible to gain the use of an additional Action Point through intense study, training, and meditation. This Action Point is exactly like the Action Point that is usually gained at the beginning of any Real-Time Combat, and can be used for any legal use of Action Points in your campaign. Note that it is possible to earn Action Points through the Re-training system if your Game Master is not awarding Action Points in each combat, and the Game Master allows Re-training. Yo may buy as many Action Points as you wish, with the important caveat that you cannot ever have more than one Action Point "banked' from the use of re-training. This is done using the Abstract Encounter System, like all such changes.

To gain an Action Point, you must have an appropriate place for improvement, be it a library, peaceful grove, a quiet meditation temple, a shrine, a gymnasium, a patch of howling wilderness, a deep, dark sewer, courts of intrigue, whatever is applicable to the character being trained. Once the GM adjudicates there is an appropriate location, progress may begin.

The Interval for earning a new Action Point is one day.

To earn a new Action Point, you must declare you are working to earn one. All Characters then roll their class Bailiwick skill (or the one they prefer if they have more than one) and divide the result by five to obtain their Action Dice for each day of training. Gain that many Action Dice. You then roll the Action Dice and expend the Pips to earn the Action Point you are working on, or, spend dice to bank the pips for the next interval.

The target number to earn a new Action Point is the number in the DC's chart for your character level when you finished the training. It is possible this target will increase during training if you are leveling rapidly!

Earning an Action Point does not incur any monetary costs, making it an economical alternative for all those with Vows of Poverty, wastrel habits, or penurious Game Masters.

Purchase a Combat Bonus

It is possible to gain the use of a Combat Bonus through intense study, training, and meditation. A Combat Bonus is similar to an Action Point, in that they may only be used during Real-Time Combat, IE, while an initiative order is underway. Using a Combat Bonus adds 2d6 to the roll which is being boosted.

A Combat Bonus may be used to boost any to-hit roll, Combat maneuver check (CMB or CMD), or damage roll.

If used to boost a to-hit roll, use of a Combat Bonus may raise a D20 roll to a 20 or even higher, but it is not considered a 'natural' result, and as a consequence, may not threaten a critical strike.

If used to boost any weapon damage roll, the 2d6 rolled are treated as additional base weapon damage of the same type as the weapon being used, and thus increase upon critical hits and are further multiplied by the level of the wielder.

A Combat Bonus is NOT an Action Point, and may be used at any time during combat, even in the same round as an Action Point and even during an action granted by an Action Point.

You may buy as many Combat Bonuses as you wish, with the important caveat that you cannot ever have more than one Combat Bonus "banked' from the use of re-training. This is done using the Abstract Encounter System, like all such changes.

To gain a Combat Bonus, you must have an appropriate place for improvement, be it a library, peaceful grove, a quiet meditation temple, a shrine, a gymnasium, a patch of howling wilderness, a deep, dark sewer, courts of intrigue, whatever is applicable to the character being trained. Once the GM adjudicates there is an appropriate location, progress may begin.

The Interval for earning a new Combat Bonus is one day.

To earn a new Combat Bonus, you must declare you are working to earn one. All Characters then roll their class Bailiwick skill (or the one they prefer if they have more than one) and divide the result by five to obtain their Action Dice for each day of training. Gain that many Action Dice. You then roll the Action Dice and expend the Pips to earn the Combat Bonus you are working on, or, spend dice to bank the pips for the next interval.

The target number to earn a new Combat Bonus is the number in the DC's chart for your character level when you finished the training. It is possible this target will increase during training if you are leveling rapidly!

Earning a Combat Bonus does not incur any monetary costs, making it an economical alternative for all those with Vows of Poverty, wastrel habits, or penurious Game Masters.