CHAPTER 8: LEVELING UP & EVOLUTION
“You don’t just grow stronger—you bloom.”
In The High Fantasy, character progression is more than numbers. It’s a journey of self-discovery, strain bonding, and spiritual flowering. As you level up, your powers evolve, your rituals deepen, and your connection to the Plant—and the world around you—reaches new highs.
8.1 Experience & Story Progression
Leveling Options:
- Traditional XP (DM tracks encounters, challenges, and milestones)
- Story-Based Milestones (level up at major plot moments or after vision quests)
- Circle Advancement (shared story-based growth—entire party levels together)
Each system works. Choose what fits your vibe. This game rewards both effort and enlightenment.
8.2 Level-Up Gains
When you level up, you typically gain:
- Increased HP
- New class features
- Increased SP cap (most classes gain +1 per level)
- Strain Mastery or Mutation options
- Vision Quest slots (unlocked later)
- Weedcraft skill boosts (at specific levels or backgrounds)
8.3 Strain Mastery
At Level 5, you unlock Strain Mastery—a deeper alignment that reflects your bond with the plant. Choose one benefit based on your strain:
| Strain | Mastery Effect |
| Indica | You may reduce incoming damage by your CON mod once per round |
| Sativa | You may act on initiative 0 once per encounter, even if stunned or flat-footed |
| Hybrid | You gain a permanent +1 to SP cap and can use 2 strains simultaneously (with clash risk) |
| Ruderalis | You become immune to terrain effects caused by nature or strain magic |
8.4 Strain Mutation (Optional)
Sometimes the strain changes you. If you’ve overused, clashed, or experimented too often, the DM may offer—or force—a Strain Mutation.
These can be:
- Physical (your eyes glow, your skin grows trichomes)
- Magical (you puff when stressed, or leave a trail of smoke)
- Spiritual (you hear voices from the Plant at random)
- Mechanical (reroll High Checks differently, or trigger effects on crits)
Mutations come with power—but often consequence. Roleplay them deeply.
8.5 Vision Quests
At Level 6, every character gains access to Vision Quest Slots—a unique mechanic where character-specific quests offer powerful narrative and mechanical growth.
Vision Quest Basics:
- Each quest is player-driven but DM-shaped
- Requires entering a vision state (Circle, ritual, or spiritual trigger)
- May require sacrifice: item, SP, strain, or memory
- Succeeding grants permanent buffs, new abilities, or even class evolutions
Each class has at least two core Vision Quests. Others may arise through roleplay.
8.6 Resonance Forms
At Level 10, players who have fully bonded with their strain and completed at least one Vision Quest may unlock their Resonance Form.
A Resonance Form is your true high self—a moment where strain, spirit, class, and purpose align.
Activation:
- Costs 3 SP
- May require a strain product of ancestral significance
- Lasts for 2–3 rounds or 10 minutes (depending on context)
Examples:
- Growcerer becomes a glowing strain avatar who revives plants with a touch
- Budbarian becomes a blunt-cracking flame-wrapped tank
- Cannabard sings in multiple voices, each one casting a different Puffform Verse
- Alchighmist becomes a walking vapor cloud, dropping volatile effects every step
- Circle Sage becomes untouchable, holding the Circle in suspended time
DMs and players collaborate to design custom Resonance Forms that reflect the character’s journey.
8.7 The Final Bloom (Epic Growth – Level 15+)
Though The High Fantasy v1.0 currently focuses on levels 1–10, future expansions will support high-level play including:
- Becoming a strain spirit
- Founding a legendary growhouse
- Transforming into a living ritual
- Awakening divine strains hidden beneath the Budlands
- Guiding new Circles as a Puff Elder
At high levels, reality bends with your puff. You begin to rewrite the narrative—not just play it.