As your character adventures, they will gain experience points for doing a variety of things. These experience points will eventually lead to the ability to level up. Your characters’ level represents how powerful they are in the wide world, and leveling up is a representation of this power increasing due to their training and experience.
Experience Points (XP) are a representation of how far your character has progressed. A freshly created character has 0 experience points. When you gain enough experience points, your character can receive training to level up, gaining more grit, progressing their proficiencies and other benefits.
Your character will have 2 parts to experience points, their current experience, and the amount to get to the next level. For example, a newly created level 1 cleric would list their experience as 0/2,300. This means they have 0 XP and will reach level 2 when their EXP reaches 2,300. Each class will tell you how much exp it takes to reach levels in their class chart.
Experience gained is measured in two methods: general XP and class XP. Although you do not need to track them separately, the GM will be. At the end of a session (or when your GM awards experience), the GM will tally the general XP and class XP you earned to tell you your XP earned the session.
Adventurers earn experience for doing multiple tasks. Killing or bypassing monsters, figuring out traps or puzzles, completing harrowing quests, and earning treasure all give general experience points. The GMs guide will give more information on how to tally general XP. However, as a player you should note that General XP is shared among the group.
Each class has a small number of things they can do to earn additional experience. For example, as an thief, you gain Class XP for seeing Skill Tests be performed by other characters. Class XP should only be earned in dangerous and relevant situations. For example, clerics gain class XP for casting clerical magic. But if your cleric wakes up, and casts Cure Wounds on themselves for no reason, or on a townsperson during the day when they aren’t in danger, they wouldn't receive class XP. Even if they were healing themselves some of yesterday’s wounds, they simply aren’t in danger in town.
The GM guide will give more information on how to tally class XP. However, players should note that attempting to "game" the system to gain additional levels is frowned upon.
You may gain bonus XP (or an XP penalty) in the form of a percentage. It should be noted that these percentages are additive, not multiplicative. Thus, 10% + 10% = 20%, not 21%.
Although you should note your XP percentages, it’s the GM that needs to use them to calculate your XP. A GM will give you your XP totals with these calculations already done for you.
Humans gain a flat 5% increase to XP gains from the Quick Learner feature.
All Multi-classed characters gain an XP penalty of 10% per class they are multi-classed into (20% for 2 classes, and 30% for 3 classes).
All characters have a chance to earn bonus XP (or have an XP penalty) based on their Prime Requisite. If you have multiple Prime Requisites, all of them must meet the score threshold below. For example, if your Prime Requisites were Intelligence and Wisdom, and your Intelligence was 16, but your Wisdom was 15, you do not qualify for a 10% bonus to XP, and instead only gain 5% (since both scores are above 13).