Advancing your spacer's actions and abilities in Frontier Worlds is done via progressing and completing narrative beats and arcs (see 2.3 Beats & Arcs), which require ambition points.

Gaining Ambition

Ambition is gained through engaging with the game; taking risks, roleplaying well, and fulfilling your role in the crew.

Mark 1 ambition whenever you make or participate in a desperate action roll.

At the end of each session, mark 1 ambition for each of the following the group believes you fulfilled, or 2 ambition if you did so to a great extent:

• You played into your spacer's chosen role. For example a Captain spacer could weasel the crew out of a sticky situation, or a Duster spacer could hold off enemies so the crew can escape.
• You expressed your spacer's beliefs, drives, or background.
• You embraced your spacer's flaws, weaknesses, or trauma.

Spending Ambition

Every spacer has access to a suite of Ambition Arcs, which reward skill and ability points as the spacer progresses through the Beats. Each Ambition Arc can only be completed once per spacer, and each spacer can (usually) only have one Ambition Arc in progress at a time.

There are also a set of individual beats which reward ability points. Some of these beats are universal and flesh out a spacer's backstory and personality. Others are Role-specific and are moments of a spacer exemplifying their chosen role. Each of these beats may only be completed once per spacer.