Quick question:

If I use the Swift Learner perk while I have XP, does my XP stay where it is, or does it move to the far left slot before the S slot?

I can see both options as being valid. Sounds like a good candidate both for a rules query and the FAQ.

I assumed that it would bump up your xp to the first empty peg, as if you had “just leveled up”. which would mean the optimal time to use this perk it is at the exact moment you picked it up, because you most likely would be at only the first or second peg.

although, I myself would probably try to grab the perk early in the game and then sit in it for a while, so that way, i can level up a couple of times while it is still easy to level up and then use it at a more optimal time...with the added bonus that it keeps the perk out of the hands of your opponents...

as for my interpretation, I’ve mentikned before, the “spirit” of the power and in the video game, the swift learner perk is picked at the moment you level up, and then it instantly levels you up again.

another example might be to look at a tabletop rpg such as 5th edition D&D

at certain levels, you can use “downtime days” to bump yourself up a level, into the next “tier” of play, essentially skipping having to play through that level. the main purpose of this is to “catch up” if you missed a session and your party jumped ahead of you.

one such level is level 4. when you reach level 4 can spend your “downtime” to level up to 5. when it happens, you automatically gain “just enough “ xp to bring you to level 5, no more, no less.

i.e. you need 2700 to reach lvl 4, and 6500 to be lvl 5. if you have 3350 xp and decide to “catch up”, it would bump you up exactly to 6500 xp, “just enough” to reach level 5

its similar to 2nd edition when an undead enemy hit you with an attack that could cause “level drain” your xp would drop to the minimum you needed to be the previous level, like if you were level 5 and had 35,000 xp and got drained down to level 4, and level 4 needed exactly 16,000 xp, your xp would be reset to that amount. which would be horrible if you were must about to reach level 6 and were only a few hundred xp away and the got hit with level drain, you would drop all the way back down to the start of level 4 again...which is why I never used level drain attacks when i was the DM...

although, i suppose i could be wrong about the “spirit interpretation “, i was wrong before