Hi folks,

My group and I are a bit confused about the award of advancement points. There's a 'box' on page 2 of the character sheet, on which to write points awarded, but there's also a group of three little 'tick boxes' alongside each skill group where one is also meant to record them... And we can't find anything in either rulebook to explain the difference, and when we ought to record them in one place and when the other, or why...

Please can someone clarify this for us?

I guess part of the confusion is because there are only three spaces on the front for each skill group, whilst even the first level in a common skill costs 4 AP... So it looks as though, if you can only fill in three boxes, you can never advance. But recorded on the 'back' of the sheet, they're not 'assigned' to a skill group?

We're enjoying the game, mostly, but are finding some of the 'fiddlier' parts of the system a bit confusing. Though the books are an easy read, we're finding it very hard to look something up 'in the heat of the moment', and find a relevant answer, even with the aid of the new PDF index. It's quite frustrating! It may be, at least partly, because we're used to rather 'crunchier' systems (Harnmaster, WFRP,etc).

Cheers,
Phil

You're by no means the only one to find the fiddliness confusing. It takes practice, but it does get better.

As for the AP, we use the box to 'bank' unspent points between Adventuring Phases: the stars next to the groups are just to record what's happening in-adventure, because you can't get more than three at once.

The three stars next to each 'set' of skills are used to note down the Advancement Points during Adventuring Phases. Usually the first one is given for a great or extraordinary success, and then the second and third are usually given for invoking traits and such, meaning you can only get 3 Advancement Points per 'set'. How and when exactly to award them this way has been the topic of endless debate at various times. I'm sure one of the forum wizards will provide a handy link

In regards to the big circle on the back, my group has been using that as a sort of running total of how many they've gained by each fellowship phase. Some of my players have marked down the overall amount they've earned, and also how much they've got after spending, others have kept it purely for how much they currently have.

Wow, that's a chunk of text... hope it helps