Levels and Growth

[K]

To keep track of things on a scale of 100, 99, 50, or even much more than 10 levels for many characters would require either way too much admin worktime or a computer program that we'd have to pay a lot for, so we're going to keep things simple. The point of it is to have a character growth system that is gauged not by time spent grinding or payments, but by judgements of the user's skill. The intervals are to be great enough that the levels are worth attaining, but not so great as to be able to completely annihilate someone just because one is a couple levels higher than another. If you are new to the site and the more skillful RPer, you don't have to worry about being spanked by someone else just because the other has been on the site long enough to vastly overpower you. The system is one of seven Levels. Everyone will start at Lv1 and will try to attain Lv7.

Level Differences:
The stats of each Level are the same of the last plus 1/3rd (which may not sound like a lot, but it is plenty big enough) of the original stats, with the exception of Lv7. Without training to add to this, that means the following:
Lv2 = 1.333... (or 4/3rds) * Lv1
Lv3 = 1.666... (5/3rds) * Lv1
Lv4 = 2 * Lv1
Lv5 = 2.333... (7/3rds) * Lv1
Lv6 = 2.666... (8/3rds) * Lv1

Now, Lv7 gets a bigger boost. If one were to follow the pattern, one would conclude that Lv7 would equal Lv1 * 3, no? Since it's the apex of the system, it's special, so Lv7 stats are equal to 3.5 * Lv1 stats. Doesn't sound very big? Do some math. It is more than big enough.

Let's use Noah Ivaldi for examples.
At Lv1, Noah's stats are only so high. He could kill a bunch of normal people easily, and he should have no trouble against a powerful Civilian, but he's not exactly a world-destroyer. Let's express his stats and parameters in made-up numbers, just for the sake of illustration. Remember that this site does not operate on a system of numeric stats, rather more generic measures, but numbers are good for illustrating and exemplifying one's capabilities and the corresponding point. Simply said, stop panicking, arithmophobes; it's just an example. P:
(All are on Scale 255, save the base parameters of Physical and Mental Stamina, Health Energy, Mana, and Chakra, which are on Scale 999. Almost all FF games run on these scales or multiples off the parameters, so, if you're familiar with them, you probably have a general idea of what this is like.)
Physical Stamina: 141
Mental Stamina: 798
Health Energy: 180
Mana: 576
Chakra: 193
Speed: 133
Strength: 85
Defense: 95
Magic: 170
Resistance: 157

At just Lv1, his magical power is pretty high, as is his resistance to magical damage, and his mana is enough that he can almost entirely spam Summon Magic for a battle against most people who are also Lv1. By Lv2, he already has more MS (mental stamina) than most Final Fantasy characters can have mana. By Lv4, he's faster, more magical, more resistant, and has more mana than most FF characters could ever aspire to. By Lv7, his stats are looking more like those of a Dragonball Z character, for the things that he's good at.

Now, remember that training your stats up and Level-ups don't stack multiplicatively. If they did, one could just train, train, and train a ton, then Level-up to raise their stats by unfair amounts. Training can be for abilities and/or stats, and it's up to the way that the character wants to train, but it is independent of Level-ups. If Noah, by the preceding example, trained his Defense up to 102 (increase of 7), then rose to Lv2, his stats would rise to 133 2/3 (95 * 4/3 + 7), not 136 ((95 + 7) * 4/3). Therefore, whether one calculates their stats numerically or not, the formula to determine the measurement of one's stats can be stated as such:
Original Stat + (1/3 * Original Stat * (Level - 1)) + Training Increase
Those who know basic algebra should find this to be painfully simple. Those who don't can read and learn, ask and learn.

Gaining Levels:
Yeah, this is the part that you've been waiting for. In order to gain Levels, one must undergo a Levelling Challenge. This will put your skills to the test. You must demonstrate the skill of a higher Level to attain it. A Levelling Challenge can only be taken once per week (real time) per character. If it wasn't already clear, allow me to make this so: Levels do not carry over between characters. If Mr. User has three characters, and one of them Levels-up, his skill may be proven for that character, but he has to prove his skill with each char for each char's level. One enters a Levelling area and awaits a proctor. Be patient; there will be a lot going on at once, so people may take more than a few days to get to yours, but we'll try to be reasonably prompt. The proctor then joins, and the proctor initiates the test. Their methods of testing your skill could be anything from a battle to a written test. It can be whatever the proctor wishes to test you with. At the end of the test, which is determined by the proctor, the proctor will decide whether you have enough skill to Level-up once, twice, or not at all. One can only skip one Level at a time; one can not obtain three Levels in one Levelling Challenge. One is not guaranteed a Level at all; if you are Lv4 and take a Levelling Challenge, but your skill isn't enough for Lv5, you will stay Lv4. Don't worry about unfair Levels; every Levelling Challenge will be viewed by at least one admin and probably at least one mod, and we will make corrections as we see-fit. People are encouraged to get along and be fair even if they don't like each other, anyway, so your proctor and you may be at each other's throats, but you will still be told to maintain the concept that you are both human, and that you should thus both hold a manner of respect and civility, so your proctor is incredibly likely to be fair in Levelling you, and (s)he will be reprimanded if (s)he is not fair. No character will die during a Levelling Challenge unless it is, as determined by the user of that char, for storyline purposes. Similarly, unless it is for such storyline purposes, Levelling Challenges will not be interfered with. Double-Levels can be attained until the top. One must be Lv6 before becoming Lv7, and that final Levelling Challenge will be a doozy, which will be monitored and approved by the admins. If more than one admin disagrees with one's final Level-up, it is denied. It's a pretty big deal, as it is the apex for the multipliers on your stats. The proctor for a Levelling Challenge must be at least of the same Level as the destination Level. If one enters an LC at Lv1, the proctor must be Lv2 in order for one to rise to Lv2, and must be Lv3 or higher to rise to Lv3. Normally, one can only join an LC thread as a proctor if one is a member of the respective guild (or other Level-authoritative entity) or a Royal, but exceptions may be made at admin approval. Proctors can also be generic characters of NPAs, which will meet the specified prerequisites. To illustrate the system, here are some examples (with some parts summarized into hyphenated sections for the sake of conciseness):
Noah-
Noah entered the Levelling Patch. He doodled some alchemy circles in a soil patch with his Blood Scepter while awaiting his proctor, keeping his senses keen and paying attention to his scepter's Blood Perception.
-Proctor enters and speaks to him, then begins test; Noah answers and begins test; the two correspond until Proctor ends it-
Proctor-
That is enough.
=Adrian thrust his sword into the ground and summoned bursts of Bloody Shadows to rise into the Phantoms. He had seen enough.=
You are now Lv3.
=The dark knight then left the same way that he had entered.=
Noah-
((Hey, I have the skill to be Lv7. Why am I only getting to be Lv3?))
Proctor-
((You can only rise two Levels at once. In order to be Lv7, you have to pass another test to become Lv5, another to become Lv6, and one big test for Lv7.))
Noah-
((What? That sucks! I'm not getting what I deserve!))
Proctor-
((Not everyone can be determined to have enough skill so immediately. Even if I know that you have the skill for Lv7, and even if we all do, to jump you up that easily would mean that we'd have to grant the same leniency to everyone, but not everyone's skill can be so easily seen to be high enough. You got the best that you could get for your first Levelling Challenge; please accept it and just work your way up, so that you truly earn and deserve what you get.))
Noah-
((Okay, yeah, I see your point. Thank you.))
Noah gave a bow of respect to Adrian.
"Thank you. I have a class to teach, so I'll be off, now."
The Level-up triggered the retrieval of some more of his memories, allowing him to complete his postulate to generate his old Teleport ability. He promptly formulated it and used it to depart in unison with his proctor.
[Example Fin.]

Does that make anything more clear? No . . .? Eh, I tried. Ask about it if you still don't get something. Please read before you ask; no one likes someone who just goes around and asks about information that they would have if they just opened their eyes. It's childish. Please read things as entirely as you can, then ask about anything that you don't get. We will be happy to help you.

Oh, one last thing. These are all the differences in stats, not abilities. We'll be more lenient with abilities, so long as improvements are reasonable. That is, if your stats go up by such an amount, your abilities should get better by a similar amount. Abilities can't always, or even usually, be judged numerically, so we'll just have to keep an eye on those.