In a traditional legendarium player characters increase in power through earning Experience Points. However, some may find this system of character progression to be a bit thin on flavor, so presented below is an alternative method of character advancement that is more in fitting to the themes of The Hero's Journey, Second Edition.
Heroic Advancement
Instead of earning Experience Points, a character can opt to gain levels through Heroic Advancement. Though this method requires less number crunching at the table, it requires both players and Narrators to do a bit of prep work before being implemented.
When using Heroic Advancement a few additional steps are needed during character creation. During character creation, each player selects one Personal Goal for their character and one Ideological Goal. A Personal Goal is exactly that: It's something that the individual character would like to accomplish personally. This has to be something significant and that will require the character to overcome a reasonable series of challenges, but is within the realm of tangible possibility. Examples in fiction might be Frodo Baggins at the beginning of Fellowship of the Ring and his personal goal of "Get the Ring to Rivendell" or Luke Skywalker at the beginning of Star Wars with his goal of "Save Princess Leia." Personal goals are always tangible, concrete, and definable.
After determining a character's Personal Goal, the player should then sit down and think about the character's Ideological Goal. This is typically much larger in scale and will seem nigh impossible to achieve. To continue the previous example, Frodo's Ideological Goal might be "To Protect the Shire from the forces of Mordor," while Luke Skywalker's might be "To return Anakin Skywalker to the Light Side of the Force." Both of these are monumental, nigh-impossible tasks. More important, there is no defined or set path to go about accomplishing them. They are open ended and in spite of their difficulty, there could be many means by which they could be accomplished.
After determining a character's Personal and Ideological Goals, the players should talk among themselves and each player then selects one other character in the party and describes how that other character's Personal or Ideological Goal is important to them and why they want to see the other player character accomplish that goal. This is called a Bonded Goal. In short, what is important to you friend matters to your character. Sam wants to see Frodo get the Ring to Rivendell because he wants Frodo to be safe and wants to return home. Ben Kenobi wants Luke to return Anakin Skywalker to the Light (even if he thinks its impossible) to help him overcome his own terrible failures during the Clone Wars. Characters in The Hero's Journey are not going on that journey alone. They're in it together.
Finally, the group as a whole should agree on a Group Goal. This is a single unifying goal that every character at the table in is invested in seeing accomplished. In the case of Frodo, the Fellowship of the Ring is invested in bringing the Ring to Mordor and seeing it destroyed. In the case of the Heroes of the Alliance, they all want to see the Empire overthrown and the Republic restored.
Whenever a character accomplishes a Personal Goal or an Achievement Goal, they earn one Achievement. Whenever a friend accomplishes a Bonded Goal an Achievement is also earned. Finally, if a Group Goal is accomplished, then everyone in the group earns three Achievements. As Achievements are earned, characters advance as detailed on the table below and earn all the normal benefits that come with gaining levels of experience.
Whenever a character accomplishes a Personal or Ideological Goal, they should collaborate with the Narrator and the other players between sessions to select a new one that is appropriate to the continuing narrative of the legendarium. If a friend accomplishes their Bonded Goal, then the player is under no obligation to select a new Bonded Goal, though it is encouraged. When a Group Goal is accomplished, then all the players and the Narrator should sit down and discuss what the next Group Goal is going to be as it is likely a driving force in the greater story and context of the legendarium. Another option is to simply not select a new Group Goal and bring a legendarium to its natural conclusion at the end of that particular story.
Goals, whether Personal, Ideological, Bonded, or Group, should never be easy or simple to accomplish and should always be appropriate to the unfolding narrative and nature of the legendarium. Personal Goals are typically the smallest in scale, with Ideological Goals being larger, and Group Goals being grander still. This system of character advancement relies heavily on player and Narrator collaboration and a good deal of trust between all parties involved. It's an in-game reward for good collaborative play and engaging storytelling. As such, it is up to the players and the Narrators to agree upon what exactly qualifies as a Goal.
The Hero's Journey, Second Edition and its supplements can be purchased on DriveThruRPG.com.
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