Characters do not gain levels.
They gain Rank.
Rank represents hard-won experience, training, reputation, and survival. It reflects what a character has learned by facing danger, solving problems, making discoveries, enduring hardship, and changing the world.
Rank is not gained because time passes.
Rank is earned through meaningful play.
Iron & Myth is about the adventure, not the advancement track. Do not rush Rank. Let the world make it true.
Characters advance from Rank 1 to Rank 6.
Rank | Tier | Rank Die | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Adventurer | d8 | Trained, capable, but unproven |
2 | Adventurer | d8 | Blooded, tested, and trusted |
3 | Seasoned | d10 | A proven survivor of real danger |
4 | Seasoned | d10 | A hardened adventurer choosing their own path |
5 | Veteran | d12 | Dangerous, respected, feared, or followed |
6 | Veteran | d12 | A master of their tradition, marked by renown |
At Rank 3, your Rank Die increases from d8 to d10.
At Rank 5, your Rank Die increases from d10 to d12.
Rank 6 is the highest Rank.
Characters may continue to play after Rank 6, but they no longer gain additional Ranks. They may still gain treasure, allies, enemies, land, titles, scars, secrets, curses, obligations, and renown.
To gain a new Rank, a character must meet three requirements:
Requirement | Meaning |
Meaningful Sessions | The character has survived enough important play since their last Rank |
Major Accomplishment | The character has completed, changed, or survived a meaningful situation |
Respite | The character has taken time to rest, recover, reflect, and train |
The session requirements below are minimums. They do not guarantee advancement.
New Rank | Minimum Meaningful Sessions Since Last Rank |
Rank 2 | 2 |
Rank 3 | 3 |
Rank 4 | 4 |
Rank 5 | 5 |
Rank 6 | 6 |
Time alone is not enough.
A character must have done something worth remembering.
A meaningful session includes one or more of the following:
Meaningful Play | Examples |
Danger | Combat, traps, pursuit, monsters, hostile terrain |
Exploration | Unknown places, lost roads, ruins, wilderness, dungeons |
Discovery | Secrets, maps, lore, faction truths, hidden threats |
Conflict | Rivalry, negotiation, betrayal, faction struggle, moral choice |
Survival | Wounds, hunger, weather, fear, exhaustion, scarcity |
Progress | Recovering treasure, protecting allies, advancing a goal |
Change | Saving, ruining, transforming, or destabilizing something important |
The Referee decides when a character has earned the right to advance.
The number of sessions is only a guide. Rank should follow the fiction.
A character cannot gain Rank while traveling, fighting, fleeing, delving, or surviving in the wild.
Advancement requires Respite.
During Respite, the character has time to recover, reflect, train, pray, study, carouse, seek instruction, or make sense of what they have survived.
A character may have earned the right to advance, but they do not gain the benefits of the new Rank until they complete a Respite.
During Respite, ask:
What did you learn?
Who taught you, tested you, or changed you?
What scar, oath, enemy, debt, secret, or reputation came with this growth?
Who now sees you differently?
Rank should leave a mark.
When a character gains Rank, they gain the benefits listed in their class.
This usually includes one or more of the following:
a new class skill, rite, working, technique, or tradition feature
increased Rank Die at Rank 3 and Rank 5
increased Hit Points when the Rank Die increases
the chance to deepen, branch, or change their path
When your Rank Die increases, your maximum Hit Points also increase.
Maximum Hit Points equal:
Rank Die maximum + Constitution Die maximum
At Rank 4, the character reaches a crossroads.
They are no longer merely learning the basics of their path. They have survived enough to choose their own direction.
Beginning at Rank 4, when a character gains a class advancement, they may choose one of the following paths:
Path | Benefit |
Deepen Tradition | Gain another advancement from your current tradition |
Begin a New Tradition | Begin a different tradition within your class |
Begin Another Class Path | Begin training in another class, if the fiction allows |
Changing tradition or class requires Respite, training, and a reason in the world.
The Referee has final say.
Nothing is forbidden, but everything must make sense.
The character remains within their current class and tradition.
They gain another skill, technique, rite, working, or feature from that tradition.
This is the most common form of advancement. It represents mastery through continued practice.
Examples:
A Sellsword perfects a weapon style.
A Ranger masters a harsher frontier.
A Priest deepens their rites.
A Druid learns older signs.
A Mage uncovers a more dangerous working.
The character remains within their class, but begins a new tradition.
This allows greater customization without leaving the character’s core path.
For example, a Sellsword trained in Heavy Arms may begin learning the Defender tradition.
This requires a reason in the fiction.
The character may need a mentor, battlefield lesson, faction contact, oath, defeat, revelation, or period of training.
A new tradition is not simply chosen.
It is learned.
A character may begin training in another class, but only when the fiction supports it.
This should be rare.
Not all classes are equally open. Not all paths are compatible.
Changing class requires more than interest. It requires opportunity, instruction, trust, and a reason the new path would accept the character.
The world should react.
A Mage who wishes to become a Priest may need to renounce forbidden arts, take vows, submit to judgment, and prove loyalty to the Order.
A Priest who studies magic may be excommunicated, hunted, or forced into secrecy.
Druids and Rangers may distrust the Order of Light and the dark arts.
Priests may distrust pagan rites.
Nearly everyone may distrust forbidden magic.
Changing class should create opportunities, but also obligations, enemies, debts, suspicion, and consequences.
Ask:
Who teaches you?
Who refuses you?
What must you give up?
What must you prove?
Who now sees you differently?
Changing class is not just a new ability.
It is a change in the character’s place in the world.