Mastery

Overview

Mastery represents your character’s growth and power development, achieved through Experience and leveling up. As your character progresses, they gain new feats, skills, and other enhancements, all encompassed under Mastery.

Starting Characters

• 5 Skill Points

• 50 Grit Points

• 2 Actions per Round

Leveling Up

Your character’s Level reflects their experience and power. When you level up, you gain new skills and other benefits that strengthen your character.

Experience Points (XP)

Experience Points (XP) are the currency for leveling up. You begin with 0 XP and accumulate more by adventuring.

Experience Gaining Methods

Characters gain experience through two primary methods:

• Combat

• Practice

Combat Experience

You earn a fixed amount of XP after each combat, based on its difficulty:

Practice Experience

Roll 1D10 XP per Effective Hour of training.
This includes sparring, drills, or focused development.

Skill Points vs Experience Points

Characters can develop in two ways:

1. Experience Points (XP)

Earned by adventuring, combat, and practice.

2. Skill Focus

Characters may skip leveling and instead gain specific skills by spending Effective Hours practicing, researching, or receiving tutoring.

All skills belong to Domains, the schools of knowledge and ability.

Domains

Basic Domains

Contain essential skills.

• May include Subdomains.

• Acquired a single time.

• Do not have levels.

A character either has them or does not.

Advanced Domains

More complex, requiring specific Basic Domains.

• Provide new skills.

• Feature multiple levels and allow progression.

Skills

Skills shape your character’s abilities in combat, exploration, crafting, and lore. Skills may be acquired via leveling or through the Skill Focus methods below.

Skill Focus Methods

Your character may gain Skills through:

Practice

Spend Effective Hours training a specific skill.
Grants the skill directly—no leveling required.

Research

Study Skillbooks or use a library.
Used mainly for lore or advanced skills.
Some physical Advanced Domains require Exercise as Research.

Tutoring

Learn from a master by spending Effective Hours.
Often used for craft or technical skills.

Starting Skills & Acquired Skills

Starting characters may choose skills from any domain. Over time, skills can be gained through leveling or through Practice, Research, or Tutoring. This dual progression system ensures a dynamic and personalized evolution of each character.

Effective Hours & Development

Every character has 3 Effective Hours per day for development activities:

• Training

• Crafting

• Gathering resources

• Studying

• Practicing skills

The Game Master should support time use during the narrative, encouraging creative growth during downtime or rest periods. Characters naturally diverge in development, adding depth and uniqueness to the campaign.

Character Arcs

Character arcs guide role-playing, helping define personality and backstory. As characters gain experience, these arcs develop and become more meaningful.

Feats

Feats are special abilities acquired at certain Levels. These abilities shape a character’s specialization or niche.

Attributes

Attributes are determined by race. When gaining +1 Attribute, simply increase one Attribute level:

• Low → Medium

• Medium → High

• High → Exceptional

• etc.

Grit

Characters start with 50 Grit Points. Veteran characters gain additional Grit as they grow.

Actions

All creatures can perform 2 actions per round (standard or reactions).
Veteran characters and some creatures gain 3 actions per round.
Extra actions from magic or items count as Reactions.

Mastery & Power

In Meteor Tales, Levels do not define invincibility. All characters remain vulnerable.
Mastery simply unlocks more tools, options, and versatility, rather than raw power.

Mastery Table