Character Creation
Progression

You now have a character. You have chosen a Career, you are kitted out with Skills and Equipment, and you are now eager to play. If I've done what I set out to do, you need read no more. Anything else you need will be supplied by the ref of the game you join. However, there is a little something you will want to know at the end of your first game. The answer to the question "So now what?"

Let us say you have completed your first adventure, and have come back victorious. Your rewards are threefold.

First, your character will gain whatever rewards were agreed for the adventure - i.e. your fee. This will usually be around 10 banes for a first adventure, but as your reputation grows and you start taking on more dangerous missions, you can start asking more. As a rule of thumb, after each successful adventure, you can start asking 10 banes more. However, as the party will be comprised of many people of various levels of ability, some compromising and averaging will take place.

Second, your character is likely to have 'found' various miscellaneous things on the adventure itself. These can range from some interesting-looking plants, to the weapons of your vanquished foes, up to a mystical treasure that you happened upon along the way. These can all be kept or sold.
Note however that trying to sell the swords of your enemies is rarely profitable, and never worth the aggravation of carrying them all the way back to Keese.

Third, you will be gain experience.

Experience Points (exp points, or ep's)

This third reward is in many ways the most valuable. Experience manifests itself, in gameing terms, as Experience Points. These convert directly into skill points, and can be used to buy more skills in just the same way that you did when you created your character.

You will generally get around 10 exp points per adventure, with much scope for bonuses. For good role-playing, for clever ideas, or for a particularly successful adventure, you may be awarded more points, up to a maximum of 20. Similarly, for being crap or annoying, or for a failed mission, you may lose exp points, down to a minimum of 1.

Special eps.

If you do something so astonishing, so brilliant, so astounding, that it will be recounted in anecdotes for years to come, you may just be awarded a Special ep. Special eps are really special, and are only awarded on special occasions. Because they are so special, they can be used to buy special things.

They can be used to buy-up your skill multipliers. 1 special ep will turn a x5 into a x4, a x4 into a x3, a x3 into a x2 or a x2 into a x1.

They will gain you access to restricted areas of the rules, such as rules for Vampires and Werewolves

They can be used to 'bribe' the senior refs. If you want a magic sword, or you want to learn a skill that does not exist, or anything else that the refs are not letting you do, offering them a special eps will persuade them to see your way (unless it's really stupid). On your next adventure you may happen to find (pure coincidence you understand) the sword of your dreams, or a mysterious stranger that teaches you.

They can be used in Keese politics. You might want, for example, a contact who can inform you of the goings-on in the council. You might want to hire an assassin (which requires more than simply money). A single special ep is usually sufficient to have a small but significant effect on the world around you.

Note: A Special Ep is awarded to the player rather than the character. Thus a Special Ep is transferable. i.e. the player can spend it on a character other than the one being played at the time of the award. A Special Ep must never be awarded to a player who would abuse this privilege.

Generally, if you gain a special ep, think very carefully about what you want, and don't waste it on something you could achieve with normal eps or hard cash.

Now go, play, learn and progress. Advancement may first seem a little slow, but with a little dilligence you will become a character of great might.

Good luck.