Niche D20Table: Character Advancement
| Character Level | Ability Score Points (maximum) | Saving Throw Points(Maximum) | Feat(Type) | Initiative Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1 (1) | 4(2) | 1st (Any), 1st(Racial), 1st(Skill), Major Perk: 1 Minor Perk: 2; (1 Major Drawback or 2 Minor Drawbacks) | +0 |
| 2nd | 3(1) | 6(3) | 1st(Talent) | +0 |
| 3rd | 4(2) | 8(4) | 2nd(Any) | +0 |
| 4th | 6(2) | 10(5) | 2nd(Racial), 2nd(Talent) | +0 |
| 5th | 7(3) | 12(5) | 3rd(Any), 2nd(Skill) | +1 |
| 6th | 9(3) | 14(6) | 3rd(Talent) | +1 |
| 7th | 10(4) | 16(7) | 4th(Any), 3rd(Racial) | +1 |
| 8th | 12(4) | 18(8) | 4th(Talent) | +1 |
| 9th | 13(5) | 20(8) | 5th(Any) | +1 |
| 10th | 15(5) | 22(9) | 4th(Racial), 3rd(Skill), 5th(Talent) | +2 |
| 11th | 16(6) | 24(10) | 6th(Any) | +2 |
| 12th | 18(6) | 26(11) | 6th(Talent) | +2 |
| 13th | 19(7) | 28(11) | 7th(Any), 5th(Racial) | +2 |
| 14th | 21(7) | 30(12) | 7th(Talent) | +2 |
| 15th | 22(8) | 32(13) | 8th(Any), 4th(Skill) | +3 |
| 16th | 24(8) | 34(14) | 6th(Racial), 8th(Talent) | +3 |
| 17th | 25(9) | 36(14) | 9th(Any) | +3 |
| 18th | 27(9) | 38(15) | 9th(Talent) | +3 |
| 19th | 28(10) | 40(16) | 7th(Racial), 10th(Any) | +3 |
| 20th | 30(10) | 42(17) | 5th(Skill), 10th(Talent) | +4 |
| 21st | 31(11) | 44(17) | 11th(Any) | +4 |
| 22nd | 33(11) | 46(18) | 8th(Racial), 11th(Talent) | +4 |
| 23rd | 34(12) | 48(19) | 12th(Any) | +4 |
| 24th | 36(12) | 50(20) | 12th(Talent) | +4 |
| 25th | 37(13) | 52(20) | 9th(Racial), 13th(Any),6th(Skill) | +5 |
| 26th | 39(13) | 54(21) | 13th(Talent) | +5 |
| 27th | 40(14) | 56(22) | 14th(Any) | +5 |
| 28th | 42(14) | 58(23) | 10th(Racial), 14th(Talent) | +5 |
| 29th | 43(15) | 60(23) | 15th(Any) | +5 |
| 30th | 45(15) | 62(24) | 7th(Skill), 15th(Talent) | +6 |
| 31st | 46(16) | 64(25) | 11th(Racial),16th(Any) | +6 |
| 32nd | 48(16) | 66(26) | 16th(Talent) | +6 |
| 33rd | 49(17) | 68(26) | 17th(Any) | +6 |
| 34th | 51(17) | 70(27) | 12th(Racial), 17th(Talent) | +6 |
| 35th | 52(18) | 72(28) | 18th(Any), 8th(Skill) | +7 |
| 36th | 54(18) | 74(29) | 18th(Talent) | +7 |
| 37th | 55(19) | 76(29) | 13th(Racial),19th(Any) | +7 |
| 38th | 57(19) | 78(30) | 19th(Talent) | +7 |
| 39th | 58(20) | 80(31) | 20th(Any) | +7 |
| 40th | 60(20) | 82(32) | 14th(Racial), 9th(Skill). 20th(Talent) | +8 |
Advancement Details
Below is the description of various character advancement aspects,
Ability Score Advancement
At each level (including 1st) a character may allocate points into their ability scores as an inherent bonus to represent their continued growth as a character. A character gains a point each level to add to his ability scores, as well as an additional point every even level, as an inherent bonus to his stats. This means a character at 1st level will have 1 point, while a character will have 30 points to allocate at level 20; and 60 points at 40th. A single ability score cannot have an inherent bonus to a single ability score for more than half the character’s hit dice (rounded up) (maximum +10 inherent bonus to a single stat at 20th, and +20 at 40th)
Save Allocation
In this system saving throws are determined by the player as they level, given a number of points to spend each level with a maximum value for each save. A character has a Reflex, Fortitude, and Will saving throw and must allocate points into it accordingly. At first level a character gains 4 points to spend among their 3 saving throws, with a maximum of 2 in a single save. At 2nd level and every level thereafter the character gains 2 points to allocate in their saving throws up to the maximum for each save. While detailed on the chart the formula for the maximum saving throw value for a single save is 2 + 3/4 of the character’s level. This maximum is simply the base save bonus your character has and does not limit other factors such as ability score modifiers, and other bonuses to saving throws.
Class Talent Progression
Once a character gains their 2nd level in a class they gain access to that class’s talent list in addition to the generic talent list. A character may select talents from any class they have access to and meet the prerequisites.
Example: A character with 2 levels in fighter and 1 in rogue, at 4th level takes an additional level in rogue. The character could select a talent available to a 2nd level rogue or 2nd level fighter despite their level being taken in rogue rather than fighter.
In addition there’s a number of generic talents available to a character. See List of Generic Talents for a full listing.
Feat Progression
Characters gain a basic progression as they level of Racial, Skill, any a category of any feat.
Any Feats
A character gains a feat of any type they qualify for at every odd level (1st, 3rd, 5th, etc..). This type of feat can be any feat from Magic, Martial, Combat, Racial, Skill, or any other feat that the character meets the prerequisites for. Granting a character a total of 10 “Any” feats by 20th level.
Skill Feats
Skill feats are gained at 1st, 5th, and every 5 levels thereafter (1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40) gaining a total of 9 skill feats by 40th level. These feats must always be selected from the skill feat category.
Racial Feats
Racial feats are gained at 1st, 4th, and every 3 levels thereafter (1, 4, 7, 10, etc..) gaining a total of 14 racial feats by 40th level. These feats must always be selected from the racial feat category, either for your specific race/heritage, or the general race feats that can be taken by any race.
Bonus Feats
As a character advances in level, they may gain bonus feats from class features or other sources. Unless otherwise specified, when a bonus feat is granted the character must meet all prerequisites for that feat; this does not change regardless of whether a specific feat is granted or if the character is allowed to select a feat (whether from a category such as martial feats, or a list of specific feats).
If a character is granted a specific feat (such as by the Rogue’s class feature which grants the Evasion feat), and the character already possesses that feat from another source (such as having chosen it on character creation or at level-up), the character may instead select a different feat in its place. The character must meet all prerequisites for this feat, and it must use the granted feat as a prerequisite; if no feats are available to select under these requirements the character may instead select a martial feat for which they meet the prerequisites, or may be allowed to select a different feat at the GM’s discretion. The source which grants this bonus feat may specify a different method of substitution, or deny substitution altogether.
Initiative Progression
As a character becomes more experienced the better their reflexes becomes in combat. For every five hit dice they possess they gain a +1 bonus to initiative rolls.
Expected Wealth By Level
A character at first level is expected to start with 100gp. In addition, each character begins play with a single battered suit of armor and two battered weapons they are proficient with. (Battered items function a non-magical, non-masterwork, versions of the weapon that scrap for 4d6 gold).
For characters starting above first level the following chart should be utilized for the expected wealth of a character of that level. As a campaign progresses and characters gain level a GM should attempt to keep each character’s wealth by level roughly in this range for their level to ensure they don’t become too powerful or fall behind on their expected progression of power and utility.
| Character Level | Wealth |
|---|---|
| 1st | (see above) |
| 2nd | 500gp |
| 3rd | 1,000 gp |
| 4th | 2,000 gp |
| 5th | 3,000 gp |
| 6th | 5,000 gp |
| 7th | 8,000 gp |
| 8th | 13,000 gp |
| 9th | 21,000 gp |
| 10th | 34,000 gp |
| 11th | 48,000 gp |
| 12th | 54,000 gp |
| 13th | 70,000 gp |
| 14th | 90,000 gp |
| 15th | 120,000 gp |
| 16th | 150,000 gp |
| 17th | 200,000 gp |
| 18th | 260,000 gp |
| 19th | 340,000 gp |
| 20th | 440,000 gp |
| 21st | 540,000 gp |
| 22nd | 640,000 gp |
| 23rd | 760,000 gp |
| 24th | 880,000 gp |
| 25th | 1,120,000 gp |
| 26th | 1,280,000 gp |
| 27th | 1,440,000 gp |
| 28th | 1,700,000 gp |
| 29th | 1,920,000 gp |
| 30th | 2,160,000 gp |
| 31st | 2,340,000 gp |
| 32nd | 2,600,000 gp |
| 33rd | 3,000,000 gp |
| 34th | 4,000,000 gp |
| 35th | 5,000,000 gp |
| 36th | 6,000,000 gp |
| 37th | 7,000,000 gp |
| 38th | 8,000,000 gp |
| 39th | 9,000,000 gp |
| 40th | 10,000,000 gp |
Experience Points Per Level
Experience points required per level depend on the campaign or GM. Some may choose to use Slow, medium or fast experience. Some may choose to even avoid experience entirely doing a milestone-based system.
| Character Level | Experience Point Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Slow | Medium | Fast | |
| 1st | — | — | — |
| 2nd | 3,000 | 2,000 | 1,300 |
| 3rd | 7,500 | 5,000 | 3,300 |
| 4th | 14,000 | 9,000 | 6,000 |
| 5th | 23,000 | 15,000 | 10,000 |
| 6th | 35,000 | 23,000 | 15,000 |
| 7th | 53,000 | 35,000 | 23,000 |
| 8th | 77,000 | 51,000 | 34,000 |
| 9th | 115,000 | 75,000 | 50,000 |
| 10th | 160,000 | 105,000 | 71,000 |
| 11th | 235,000 | 155,000 | 105,000 |
| 12th | 330,000 | 220,000 | 145,000 |
| 13th | 475,000 | 315,000 | 210,000 |
| 14th | 665,000 | 445,000 | 295,000 |
| 15th | 955,000 | 635,000 | 425,000 |
| 16th | 1,350,000 | 890,000 | 600,000 |
| 17th | 1,900,000 | 1,300,000 | 850,000 |
| 18th | 2,700,000 | 1,800,000 | 1,200,000 |
| 19th | 3,850,000 | 2,550,000 | 1,700,000 |
| 20th | 5,350,000 | 3,600,000 | 2,400,000 |