The Character Development FAQ

The Continuum roleplaying game has been in existence for about five years now officially, and there are many elements of the game system that have aspects to them that make the players, and GMs, think a little bit. This Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) page is designed to answer some of the commonly asked questions about one of the more complex Continuum game elements - Character Development.

Character Development Frequently Asked Questions

How does a character raise his or her Skill Ratings using the game mechanics of Continuum?

The only way to raise a Skill Rating in the game is by ticking off clocks - either by successfully using the skill in question, or by training. One can also increase the Skill Rating by increasing the relevant Attribute, of course.

In order to increase Skills using the "clocks mechanic", you start ticking off clocks at the beginning, at "N", no matter what your current Title is. As soon as all ten of the clocks after your Title are checked off (and, by extension, all of the previous clocks, as well), you erase the ticks, and raise your rating and title each by one. Is this right?

Not quite. The more training you already have, the longer it's going to take to get to the next higher Title. In the case of someone who currently possesses a Novice-level skill, you're right. First tick off ten (10) clocks to get to "A," then erase them and start over. That character is now Apprentice-level in that skill.

If the character (like the one in the last paragraph) is Apprentice level, he must tick off clocks in the skill up to "J" (starting from "N") to go up to Journeyman-level skill. He is now Journeyman-level, and he erases all the clocks and starts over again. Just a clarifying note here: in this example, you don't need to check off any clocks after "J" to reach Journeyman level. You just have to have all the clocks *up until* "J" ticked off. When the clocks reach "M," he is Master-level. Needless to say, going up to the next higher Title increases the Skill Rating by one (and helps with the rules covering superiority).

One of the things I've noticed in Continuum is that players receive a check on one of the small clocks every time they successfully use the Span "skill." This means that characters are going to be able to increase their Span much quicker than they should. What do people suggest here?

If the GM feels the players are advancing too quickly, he can place a limit on this as he feels necessary for the pace of his campaign/game. Dave Fooden recommended no more than one big clock per session, or one full point of Quick per adventure/story. Looking back at the stats for Joan (Continuum, page 184), her Quick goes up about 1 point per span until Span 3, then by 2s. The adventures Span 3s will be getting into, they will be needing those high Quick values, so the GM shouldn't restrict them too much! If the players are getting more than 2 points per "level" of span, one might want to slow them down though.

What is the meaning of the phrase in Continuum, page 59, "From Span 0 to Span 1 is certainly considered an advancement."? Does it take a year to learn how to span?

Chris Adams wrote: "The whole phrase is actually, "One year of the candidate's Age must have transpired *since* the last advancement. (From Span Zero to Span 1 is certainly considered such an advancement.)" So it has to be a year of Age *since* the spanner's invitation before he can become Span 2; in fact, I'd say it should be a year of Age since coming out of the In-Between, but individual GMs can fence the rules- lawyers on that one. <g>

"The reason the example of "from Span Zero to Span 1" is there is that this requirement carries over to Span 3 (see Continuum , page 87: "The following is in addition to any requirements for reaching Spans 1 and 2."). So a Three could have been a spanner for as little a two years or so. Becoming a Four means having to mentor a corner for at least 100 years of Age (page 93). So the youngest Four would be a spanner for 102+ years of Age. Becoming a Five is more merit-based; you can pay your dues steadily (250 years running a major Fraternal corner) or more rapidly with more risk (war with Antedesertium or politics in the Societal Greatest Game). Either choice can be very dynamic depending on the GM; the Fraternity mentor would essentially be leading seasoned spanners on major missions inside the Societies, with constant hints of more missions (a Continuum campaign); the Societal political type would be getting invisibly involved with major moments of history (like Stirling in "Manifest Destiny," though PCs needn't be as fanatic) and the war operative would be tackling military objectives inside Antedesertium or one of its allies (the danger of which is mentioned in Further Information and emphasized in Narcissist).

"Each of these Fours would be spending greatly varying amounts of Age toqualify; a war hero might only need a couple spectacular successful missions, a Greatest Game politico-genius might only need a few years to reach "quota" of service. This would mean a great variance in scores of Abilities and Skills between the fast-track Five war hero and the Frat veteran Five who's lead dozens of missions of varying type. Something for GMs to think about... The Aging Table on pg. 143 clearly states the time available to each Span before aging and death catch up naturally."

Special thanks to Chris Adams, Dave Fooden, Barbara Manui, David Trimboli, and the folks on the Continuum Mailing List for their help in the compiling of this FAQ information.

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