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As player characters overcome challenges, they gain experience points. As these points accumulate, PCs advance in level and power. The rate of this advancement depends on the type of game that your group wants to play. Some prefer a fast-paced game, where characters gain levels every few sessions, while others prefer a game where advancement occurs less frequently. In the end, it is up to your group to decide what rate fits you best. A character advances in level as soon as he earns enough experience points to do so—typically, this occurs at the end of a game session, when your GM hands out that session’s experience point awards.

The process of advancing a character works in much the same way as generating a character, except that your ability scores, race, and previous choices concerning class, skills, and feats cannot be changed. Adding a level generally gives you new abilities, additional skill points to spend, more hit points, and possibly an ability score increase or additional feat. Over time, as your character rises to higher levels, he becomes a truly powerful force in the game world, capable of ruling nations or bringing them to their knees.

When adding new levels of an existing class or adding levels of a new class (see Multiclassing, below), make sure to take the following steps in order. First, select your new class level. You must be able to qualify for this level before any of the following adjustments are made. Second, apply any ability score increases due to gaining a level. Third, integrate all of the level’s class abilities and then roll for additional hit points. Finally, add new skills and feats.

Multiclassing

Instead of gaining the abilities granted by the next level in your character’s current class, he can instead gain the 1st level abilities of a new class, adding all of those abilities to his existing ones. This is known as “multiclassing.” For example, let’s say a 5th-level warrior decides to dabble in the arcane arts, and adds one level of black mage when he advances to 6th level. Such a character would have the powers and abilities of both a 5th-level warrior and a 1st-level black mage, but would still be considered a 6th level character. (His class levels would be 5th and 1st, but his total character level is 6th.) He keeps all of his class features gained from 5 levels of warrior, but can now also cast 1st-level black mage spells. He adds all of the hit points, base attack bonuses, and saving throw bonuses from a 1st-level black mage on top of those gained from being a 5th-level warrior.

Note that there are a number of effects and prerequisites that rely on a character’s level or Hit Dice. Such effects are always based on the total number of levels or Hit Dice a character possesses, not just those from one class. The exception to this is class abilities, most of which are based on the total number of class levels that a character possesses of that particular class.

Favored Class

Each character begins play with a single favored class of his choosing—typically, this is the same class as the one he chooses at 1st level. Whenever a character gains a level in his favored class, he receives either + 1 hit point or + 1 skill rank. The choice of favored class cannot be changed once the character is created, and the choice of gaining a hit point or a skill rank each time a character gains a level (including his first level) cannot be changed once made for a particular level. Prestige classes can never be a favored class.

Racial Favored Class Benefits

The final section for each racial discussion describes alternative benefits for members of that race taking certain classes as a favored class. The normal benefit of having a favored class is simple and effective: your character gains one extra hit point or one extra skill rank each time she gains a level in that class. The alternate favored class abilities listed here may not have as broad an appeal as the standard choices. They are designed to reflect flavorful options that might be less useful in general but prove handy in the right situations or for a character with the right focus. Most of them play off racial archetypes, like a galka’s toughness and proclivity for breaking things or mithra’s grace and finesse.

In most cases, these benefits are gained on a level-by-level basis—your character gains the specified incremental benefit each time she gains a level. Unless otherwise noted, these benefits always stack with themselves. For example, a hume with holy knight as a favored class may choose to gain 1 point of shadow energy resistance each time she gains a level; choosing this benefit twice increases this shadow resistance bonus to 2, 10 times raises it to 10, and so on.

In some cases this benefit may eventually hit a fixed numerical limit, after which selecting that favored class benefit has no effect. Of course, you can still select the bonus hit point or skill rank as your favored class benefit, so there is always a reward for sticking with a favored class.

Finally, some of these alternate favored class benefits only add +1/2, +1/3, +1/4, or +1/6 to a roll (rather than +1) each time the benefit is selected; when applying this result to the die roll, round down (minimum 0). For example, a dwarf with thief as his favored class adds +1/2 to his danger sense ability regarding stone traps each time he selects the alternate thief favored class benefit; though this means the net effect is +0 after selecting it once (because +1/2 rounds down to +0), after 20 levels this benefit gives the dwarf a +10 bonus to his danger sense (in addition to the base value from being a 20th-level thief).

As in the previous section, what is presented here is a set of alternative benefits that characters of each race may choose instead of the normal benefits for their favored class. Thus, rather than taking an extra hit point or an extra skill rank, players may choose for their characters to gain the benefit listed here. This is not a permanent or irrevocable choice; just as characters could alternate between taking skill ranks and hit points when they gain levels in their favored class, these benefits provide a third option, and characters may freely alternate between them.

As with any alternate or optional rule, consult with your GM to determine whether exchanging normal favored class benefits will be allowed.

Advancing Beyond 20th Level

Table: Character Advancement and Level-Dependent Bonuses (Extended)

Character
Level
Experience Point TotalFeatsAbility ScoreWealth (gil)
SlowMediumFastPCNPC
(Basic)
NPC
(Heroic)
1st1stBy Class260390
2nd3,0002,0001,3001,000390780
3rd7,5005,0003,3002nd3,0007801,650
4th14,0009,0006,0001st6,0001,6502,400
5th23,00015,00010,0003rd10,5002,4003,450
6th35,00023,00015,00016,0003,4504,650
7th53,00035,00023,0004th23,5004,6506,000
8th77,00051,00034,0002nd33,0006,0007,800
9th115,00075,00050,0005th46,0007,80010,050
10th160,000105,00071,00062,00010,05012,750
11th235,000155,000105,0006th82,00012,75016,350
12th330,000220,000145,0003rd108,00016,35021,000
13th475,000315,000210,0007th140,00021,00027,000
14th665,000445,000295,000185,00027,00034,800
15th955,000635,000425,0008th240,00034,80045,000
16th1,350,000890,000600,0004th315,00045,00058,500
17th1,900,0001,300,000850,0009th410,00058,50075,000
18th2,700,0001,800,0001,200,000530,00075,00096,000
19th3,850,0002,550,0001,700,00010th685,00096,000123,000
20th5,350,0003,600,0002,400,0005th880,000123,000159,000
21st8,350,0005,700,0003,800,00011th1,150,000161,000208,300
22nd14,350,0009,900,0006,600,0001,500,000209,000270,800
23rd26,350,00018,300,00012,200,00012th2,000,000279,000360,100
24th50,350,00035,100,00023,400,0006th2,600,000362,000468,200
25th98,350,00068,700,00045,800,00013th3,400,000474,000613,300
26th194,350,000135,900,00090,600,0004,400,000612,000791,200
27th38,6350,000270,300,000180,200,00014th5,700,000796,0001,028,500
28th770,350,000539,100,000359,400,0007th7,400,0001,034,0001,337,100
29th1,538,350,0001,076,700,000717,800,00015th9,600,0001,345,0001,738,200
30th3,074,350,0002,151,900,0001,434,600,00012,500,0001,748,0002,259,700

Although classes don’t describe what happens after 20th level, this isn’t to say that there are no resources available to you should you wish to continue your campaign on to 21st level and beyond. Rules for epic-level play like this exist in numerous products that are compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, although in many cases these alternative rules can provide unanticipated problems. For example, if your campaign world is populated by creatures and villains who, at the upper limit of power, can challenge a 20th-level character, where will epic-level PCs go for challenges? You might be looking at creating an entirely new campaign setting, one set on different planes, planets, or dimensions from the one where your players spent their first 20 levels, and that’s a lot of work.

The following are brief guidelines to continue play beyond 20th level. These guidelines aren’t robust enough to keep the game vibrant and interesting on their own for much longer past 20th level, but they should do in a pinch for a campaign that needs, say, 22 or 23 experience levels to wrap up. Likewise, you can use these rules to create super-powerful NPCs for 20th-level characters to face.

Experience Points

To gain a level beyond 20th, a character must double the experience points needed to achieve the previous level. Thus, assuming the medium XP progression, a 20th-level character needs 2,100,000 XP to become 21st level, since he needed 1,050,000 XP to reach 20th level from 19th. He’d then need 4,200,000 XP to reach 22nd level, 8,400,000 XP to reach 23rd, and so on.

Scaling Powers

LevelGood SaveBad Save
20+12+6
21+12+7
22+13+7
23+13+7
24+14+8
25+14+8
26+15+8
27+15+9
28+16+9
29+16+9
30+17+10

Hit dice, base attack bonuses, and saving throws continue to increase at the same rate beyond 20th level, as appropriate for the class in question. Note that no character can have more than 4 attacks based on its base attack bonus.

Note also that, before long, the difference between good saving throws and poor saving throws becomes awkwardly large—the further you get from 20th level, the more noticeable this difference grows, and for high-level characters, bolstering their poor saving throws should become increasingly important. Class abilities that have a set, increasing rate, such as a berserker’s rage powers, a fighter’s fighter talents, a paladin’s smite evil, or a thief’s sneak attack continue to progress at the appropriate rate.

Spells

A spellcaster’s caster level continues to increase by one for each level beyond 20th level. Every odd-numbered level, a spellcaster gains access to a new level of spell one above his previous maximum level, gaining MP equal to that new spell level. This new spell level can be used to cast spells adjusted by metamagic feats or any known spell of lower levels.

Level(9th) MPMM Max(6th) MPMM Max(4th) MPMM Max
201359th796th334th
2114510th856th374th
2215510th916th414th
2316611th987th454th
2417711th1057th505th
2518912th1127th555th
2620112th1208th605th
2721413th1288th655th
2822713th1368th716th
2924114th1459th776th
3025514th1549th836th

For example, a 21st-level black mage gains 10 MP, in which he can cast any spell of level 1st through 9th, or in which he can cast a metamagic spell that results in an effective spell level of 10 (such as extended stop, or quickened darkga).
You might want to further adjust the rate of spell level gain for classes (like holy knights and dark knights) who gain spells more slowly than more dedicated spellcaster classes.

The table on the left are guidelines for MP progression and the maximum spell level that can be used with metamagic. For example, a Full Caster (9th) of level 23 can use metamagic on a spell to have a total cost of 11 MP like a Empower Spell (Metamagic) Ardor. A 3/4 Caster (6th) of level 23 can use metamagic on a spell to have a total cost of 7 MP like a Extend Spell (Metamagic) Gale Spikes II. A Half Caster (4th) of level 24 can use metamagic on a spell to have a total cost of 5 MP like a Extend Spell (Metamagic) Greater Fear.

 

Companions

Companions also continue to progress, though many of their additional portions do not such as their features or special features. Follow the progression found on the following table. You might want to further adjust the rate of progression for classes that have slower, faster, or different progression than a beastmaster.

LevelHD / SkillsBABGood SaveBad SaveFeatsNatural
Armor Bonus
Str/Dex BonusSpecial
2015+15+9+5812+6
2115+15+9+5812+6
2216+16+10+5812+7Ability score increase
2317+17+10+5912+7
2418+18+11+6914+7
2518+18+11+6914+7
2619+19+12+61014+8
2720+20+12+61014+8Ability score increase
2821+21+13+71116+8
2921+21+13+71116+8
3022+22+14+71116+9

Multiclassing/Prestige Classes

The simplest way to progress beyond 20th level is to simply multiclass or take levels in a prestige class, in which case you gain all of the abilities of the new class level normally. This effectively treats 20th level as a hard limit for class level, but not as a hard limit for total character level.