Glory is an out of character resource that players can earn for helping the game in some way. Similar to Experience Points, it is earned instead by the player and spent for Out of Character considerations instead of In Character abilities.

Below is a list of things that one can earn Glory for, and that it can be spent on. This list is not necessarily intended to be exhaustive.  If you help the game in some significant fashion that is not included on the list, it can still earn you Glory at the Staff’s discretion.  Likewise, if there is some other special consideration you want that is not listed below, talk to Staff to see if Glory is an appropriate way to resolve it, and how much it might cost.

Glory is transferable between players.

Personal Plotline – Suppose you had unfinished business in your character’s personal story (and you really, really should!). Perhaps his sister went missing when they were children and was never found. Perhaps a mentor promised to one day impart all he knew, when the time was right. Perhaps your wizard is having trouble convincing her superiors that she deserves promotion, and just needs a chance to prove it. Plots can and will happen to each character, and some of them will be inspired by the details of specific character’s backgrounds, flaws such as enemies or debts, and other inspirations as they become appropriate, but this option allows the player to push things along on your schedule instead of staff’s. The scope of the plot and how much it affects current events determines the Glory cost.

Missing Experience Point – Different from the experience point option, this allows you to make up experience points for games which you could not attend for whatever schedule or personal reason may have occurred. This only works if you did not attend and gain experience points in any other way, if you attended the game as a full time NPC, or if the game occurred after you began attending events of Gothic: the Lion Age.

Create Canon – If your character concept requires that some specific detail about the world be fixed into place in a way that permanently changes the landscape of the game or may affect other people’s character details in the future.. Perhaps your concept is that your father is the head of the Cyanahim order, who raised to his position through treachery. This means that detail becomes fixed into place and may affect other characters playing Cyanahim from here out. While its true that every character’s mere existence changes the world, this is for especially widespread or important changes to canon. If someone has previously fixed the detail you are trying to fix, this may be unavailable or an alternative may need to be found. The amount of characters and concepts possibly affected by the change and how much it may affect them determines the Glory cost.

Serendipity – Sometimes something would work out if not for circumstance. Serendipity allows you affect circumstantial events in the game world that are probably only important to you and your specific wants. Your character may wish to meet a Strativinci fencing master so that she can learn their art, but none have happened to make the journey to Stragosa. Serendipity could see one arrive in the town for a time, but it should be clear that this in no way makes the master want to teach the student or inclines the character to any particular advantage. All of that must be done on her own. The otherwise unlikeliness of this event, as well as its negative impact on existing plots determines the Glory cost.

Respite – Sometimes terrible things happen to characters and all hope seems lost.  Perhaps your character has become Battered and no one is available to heal them.  Perhaps they’ve become so wracked by Despair that they can’t go on.  Perhaps they’ve been driven mad by horrifying decisions or encounters with the Night Malefic. Similar to Serendipity, Respite calls for circumstances or events that will solve your character’s problem.  Unlike other considerations, Respite is specifically designed to be requested at game (at logistics) and a staff member will introduce a character or event to solve the stated problem as soon as someone is available to run it.  Respite is not instant and staff controls the means by which it is introduced, though consideration will be given to the character’s circumstances. 

Secrets – Certain kinds of rare knowledge and abilities are relatively rare within the game world or even almost completely unknown despite the truth of their existence, and starting with them may cost Glory. Among these are beginning play with any Advanced Combat Maneuvers, certain Lore Foci, or other secret arts. The Glory cost for these depends on the character concept. For something that is reasonable given the character concept, the cost is 10 Glory. If the secrets are a believable stretch, yet still a stretch, they cost 20 Glory. If the concept is otherwise completely exotic to the concept, it costs 30. For instance, a Rogalian noble wishes to learn the Vampires Basic Focus, and Vampires are much more common in Rogalia, so this costs 10.  The same Rogalian noble wishes to learn the Langschwert greatsword style – Rogalia has Templars but isn’t particularly known for them, so it costs 20.  The Rogalian nobleman wishes to learn the Slave Spear, the Shariqyn Slave warrior’s art of spear-fighting, and while one could write a story that made this theoretically possible, it would be very strange and so would cost 30.  This “phantom teaching” only applies during Character Creation and the requisite experience points must be spent at that time to purchase whatever abilities can be purchased.  One cannot spend the Glory and have the teaching “Banked” to learn at another, more convenient time.