Progression

Character Advancement and Story Progression are often difficult to measure in Aelyria, because every player and every writer has a different way of measuring success and accomplishment. Aelyria is a virtual world, a simulation of a fantasy reality constructed to exacting details, and thousands of players contribute to its design and development every moment. How do players advance? How do stories progress? Winning the unwinnable game or finishing the neverending story can be an incredible opportunity to build a reality for yourself within Aelyria. This tutorial will offer some suggestions about innovative ways to think about progression in Aelyria.


Knowledge

Characters can always keep learning knowledge, discovering secrets, uncovering mysteries, and making intellectual breakthroughs (see: Skills Primer); some characters are designed almost exclusively with this in mind, in fact. Telling stories about how your character comes to reveal truths about themselves and others can help you define new aspects about your literary figure. Static or flat characters almost never change, are adverse to growing, and more or less approach the world from the same position; but, dynamic or round characters are ever-growing, ever-changing figures that learn from their experiences, and ultimately become more believable and compelling figures for epic heroes and villains.


Skills

Learning a skill and its abilities, and then putting these teachings into practice, helps build a training dynamic that improves your character's fundamental capabilities in magic, combat, and trade skills. Yet, this is also one of the most rewarding opportunities for you and other players to tell stories. Rather than rely upon an arbitrary set of game mechanics to put your character through the rigors of acquiring and improving skill proficiencies, you could team up with fellow-minded players and a talented moderator or two to tell the story of how your character attended magic school and uncovered a conspiracy, bested opponents at the royal tournament, or invented a remarkable device that changed the world forever. These three are but examples of how applying a story idea -- by taking a character story-goal, and combining it with a character skill-goal -- helps create a more captivating and enjoyable role playing experience for you and others.


Abilities

Once a character has learned a skill, they are trained to use some abilities that make use of these skills. For example, all bards may know about melodies and harmonies, and some bards taught to play harpsichords may know how to perform trills, chords, and scales. Yet, there are many abilities still within the framework of the skill's proficiency level that may have not been discovered, or in some instances, are waiting to be invented and developed by your character. A great instance of this is Magic, whereby wizards can craft their own spells, the complexity of which is limited only by their imagination and their proficiency with shaping mana. Instead of limiting yourself to abilities that are commonly known throughout Aelyria, your character could embark on quests to discover ancient abilities long thought to be lost, or create new abilities of their own and either sell them and become famous, or jealously guard these secrets. The possibilities are endless for measuring a new level of advancement within a skill itself.


Possessions

Acquiring wealth is a beloved hallmark of fantasy stories, and obtaining magical artifacts, legendary weapons, and epic treasures is synonymous with accomplishment in many circles. While some characters will be covetous and seek out loot throughout their journeys, possibly in some cases being defined by their greed, other characters may use possessions as a foil to tell broader stories. Perhaps a legendary artifact is but the beginning of an adventure that leads full circle, or pursuing a fabulous booty can spark conflict between pirates and navies on the high seas. Think about ways in which you can take a typical treasure hunt or dungeon crawl and turn it into an interesting story; challenge and encourage other players with opportunities and rewards to face risks. Today's danger could very well be tomorrow's glory, and the only way to know is to embark on the quest.


Relationships

Aelyria's epic storyline is all about relationships between characters, from the feudal alliances and political intrigue behind the throne, to the accumulation of power and courting of influence by guilds and factions. Characters are as much defined by who they know as they are by what they can do, and so joining a guild, starting a faction, or swearing fealty to a house can be the beginning of a new dimension for your character. What does your character hope to get out of the experience? What is your character willing to give? What beliefs and ideas drive your character's ambitions? How do these goals interact with the objectives of other characters? How will your character be remembered by others when history turns to legend, and legend turns to myth? Relatonships are at the heart of the Aelyria community, and our stories are all built around players and characters coming together to define the connections that make the world fantastic, magical, mysterious, and adventurous.