Experience Costs

Training Times

As long as the character is training downtime, you can mostly ignore training times. But if they spend their time doing something else, they will need to train.

Mortals

Trait Increase	Cost	Training Times
Attribute	current rating x 4	(current rating) months
Favored Ability	(current rating x 2) – 1	(current rating) weeks
Other Ability	current rating x 2	(current rating x 2) weeks
†Essence (max. 3)	current rating x 20	(current rating x 2) months
Virtue	current rating x 3*	(current rating) weeks
Willpower	current rating x 2	(current rating) weeks
New Trait	Cost	Training Times
Ability	3	3 weeks
Specialty	3**	3 weeks

†Mortals have normally Essence 1, no Essence pool, and they cannot raise their Essence. Those few who can cannot have Essence higher than 3.
* Increasing Virtues after character creation does not increase a character's Willpower
** Max three per Ability, but you can purchase the same specialty multiple times

Solar Exalted

Trait Increase	Cost	Training Times
Attribute	current rating x 4	(current rating) months
Favored or Caste Ability	(current rating x 2) – 1	immediate
Out-of-Caste Ability	current rating x 2	(current rating) weeks
Essence (to 3)	current rating x 8	immediate
Essence (above 3)	current rating x 8	(current rating) months
Virtue	current rating x 3*	immediate
Willpower	current rating x 2	immediate
New Trait	Cost	Training Times
Ability	3	3 weeks
Specialty	3**	3 weeks
Favored/Caste Charm	8	(Min. Ability) days
Out-of-Caste Charm	10	(Min. Ability + Min. Essence) days
Non-Solar Charms	16***	(Min. Ability + Min. Essence) weeks
Spell (Occult Favored/Caste)	8	(spell circle) weeks
Spell (Out-of-caste Occult)	10	(spell circle) weeks

* Increasing Virtues after character creation does not increase a character's Willpower
** Max three per Ability, but you can purchase the same specialty multiple times
*** Eclipse Caste only: includes spirit Charms and Charms of other Exalted types

For Backgrounds, see Raising Backgrounds.

Changing Specialties in Play

Once a character has three specialties for an Ability, he is barred from purchasing any more. While this certainly helps to define and stake out a character's niche and signature style, further growth in the character may ultimately make the original selection inappropriate or limiting. Characters with three specialties can buy a new specialty at a reduced cost of two experience points, but doing so forfeits one existing specialty for the Ability. Once a story, this swap may be done for free. Learning a new specialty always requires standard training time.

Abyssal Exalted

As dark mirrors of Solars, Abyssals pay the same costs for their Charms and Essence that Solars do (see the table above). While they are outside the Underworld or a shadowland, however, Abyssals need twice the training time to raise any trait except for Caste and Favored Abilities.

The dark power of the Black Exaltation deeply marks the flesh of Abyssals who carry it. First, the power of Oblivion makes it so that Abyssals never age. Only violence, poison or plague can kill them. Second, as an Abyssal increases in power, his features change, either rotting away or becoming inhumanly beautiful. At Essence 4, Abyssals must have an Appearance higher or lower than 2. At Essence 5, Abyssals must either have an Appearance of 0, or higher than 3.

The Abyssal does not make a conscious choice toward beauty or ugliness. It emerges, instead, from his unconscious perception of himself and his connection to Oblivion. A player who decides his character becomes more beautiful must pay the appropriate experience points for the increased Appearance. Training time is waived, though. If the player wants to tie the change in Appearance to the surge in the character's Essence, that's fine; if the player wants to say the change happened more gradually, that's fine too. Sometimes the change in self-image happens gradually; sometimes it happens in one shattering instant. This has no bearing on how or when the player spends the experience points, as long as she keeps her character within the proper limits.

Infernal Exalted

Except as noted in this section, Green Sun Princes gain experience points, spend them and train for new traits at the same rate that Solars do. Note that while they have Favored and Caste Abilities, Green Sun Princes do not have Charms based on those Abilities, and none may purchase demon Charms (save the Fiends, who may do so as part of their innate anima ability). Instead, Green Sun Princes treat their patron and one other Yozi’s Charms as favored.

The accompanying Green Sun Prince Experience Costs table gives appropriate costs and training times for Green Sun Prince characters when they differ from the main rulebook values.

Trait Increase	Cost	Training Times
Attribute	current rating x 4	(current rating) months
Essence (to 3)	current rating x 8	immediate
Essence (to 6 and above)	current rating x 8	(rating) months
New Trait	Cost	Training Times
Patron/Favored Yozi Charm	8	(Min. Essence) days
Non-Patron/Non-Favored Yozi Charm	10	(Min. Essence x 2) days
Martial Arts Charm (Favored)	8	(Min. Ability) days
Martial Arts Charm (non-Favored)	10	(Min. Ability + Min. Essence) days
New Sorcery Spell	9	(spell circle) weeks

Lunar Exalted

This table gives appropriate costs and training times for Lunar characters, when they differ from the Solar Exalted table above.

Trait Increase	Cost	Training Times
Attribute	current rating x 4	(current rating) months
Caste/Favored Attribute	current rating x 3	(current rating x 2) weeks
Essence	current rating x 9	(current rating) months
New Trait	Cost	Training Times
Caste/Favored Charm	10	(Min. Attribute) days
Out-of-Caste Charm	12	(Min. Attribute + Min. Essence) days
New Spell (Caste/Favored)	10	(spell circle) weeks
New Spell (Out-of-Caste)	12	(spell circle) weeks
New Knack	11	1 month

Suggested Houserules

Under consideration.

• General Revisions: All Celestial Exalted may learn Terrestrial Martial Arts at a cost of 4 experience per Charm, and require no tutor to do so. They are intrinsically beyond the Root of the Perfected Lotus even without martial arts training.
• Sidereal Exalted: Sidereal Exalted learn Celestial Martial Arts at a cost of 8 experience per Charm, instead of using native costs. In addition, they learn Terrestrial Martial Arts at a cost of 2 experience per Charm instead of 4. Finally, their native charms cost 9/10 experience favored/unfavored, instead of 10/12.
• Lunar Exalted: Lunar Exalted gain knacks at a cost of 8 experience per knack. Additionally, their native charms cost 9/10 experience favored/unfavored, instead of 10/12.
• Alchemical Exalted: Alchemical Exalted learn martial arts at a cost of 10 experience per charm instead of 11.
• Dragon-Blooded: Terrestrial Exalted native charms cost 10/11 experience points favored/unfavored, and they purchase Celestial Martial Arts at a cost of 11/12 per charm instead of 12/15.