Starting fresh in 5e and the AL; experience gained questions

[rius]

Hi folks! I've got a few questions and this seemed like a decent place to get them answered.

First, a tiny bit of background; I have a ton of experience both playing and DMing for 4e, but haven't really touched 5e at all. That's going to change in November; I'm attending a local convention and decided to heavily register for Adventurer's League events. I've been flipping through the 5e PHB and it's pretty obvious I'll need to bring character sheets for several levels, as I'm sure I won't be level 1 for very long. The question is, how long? I can't find any information on the experience gained in an AL module.

Here's what I'm signed up for;

DDAL5-1 - Treasure of the Broken Hoard (side note; I've just learned today that this is a 5 part module, an hour or so each part, and I've only signed up for one part. But they're also apparently very beginner-friendly and quick, so I don't really think I want to do the other 4. It looks like I won't miss much by not repeating the other parts, at least; they sound less sequential and more varietal?)
DDAL5-2 - The Black Road (Tier 1)
DDAL5-3 - Uninvited Guests (Tier 1)
DDEX5-1 - The Iron Baron (Tier 1)
DDAL5-6 - Beneath the Fetid Chelimber (Tier 1)
DDAL5-7 - Chelimber's Descent (Tier 1)

Basically, I have three questions. The first being, will playing in one part of DDAL5-1 get me to level 2? It only takes 300 exp so it seems likely.

Second; can I reasonably expect to be level 3 before the start of DDEX5-1? Level 3 seems to be when most classes pick up their defining traits so I'd like to hit that before the big 4 hour premier event. Since it'll only take 900 total exp, this too seems likely.

Third; Tier 1 is designed for characters level 1-4. Is it at all possible that I'll hit level 5 before the start of either of the Chelimber modules? I strongly doubt this, as it'd take 6500 exp, but it can't hurt to ask.

Thanks in advance for your time and responses!

 

[KahlessNestor]

IIRC, all 5 parts of 5-1 get you 500 XP (100 per section), just short of level 2. I haven't played the others. Not sure anyone has, since nothing season 5 is out for public play yet except 5-1, as far as I know.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

 

[NeverLucky]

Each part of 5-1 gets up to 100 XP, so you won't be level 2 until after playing 5-2. You will probably be level 3 after playing 5-3. You're not going to be level 5 after any of these adventures unless you choose to spend 20 downtime days after hitting level 4 to jump to level 5.

 

[rczarnec]

The introduction (DDAL5-1) has 5 one hour sections worth 100 XP each, the remaining DDAL adventures (5-2, 5-3, 5-6 & 5-7) are all 2 hours.
If you play them in that order, the character should be 2nd level after 5-1, 3rd level after 5-3. The epic might get the character to 4th depending on how much of it your group gets through, but more likely the character would hit 4th after 5-6. Obviously if the group does not get maximum XP the character might not hit 4th until after 5-7.

 

[Scorpienne]

DDEX5-1 - The Iron Baron (Tier 1)

Are you going to GameHoleCon?

p

 

[rius]

Yep, GameHoleCon =)

Ok, thanks everyone. It sounds like I'll be level three before the start of The Iron Baron, which is what I really wanted.

 

[Scorpienne]

Yep, GameHoleCon =)

Me too. If you're in any of these games at these times, look for me. IRL name Paige Leitman. I'm the fat chick with blue hair. I'm happy to team up with you.

Fri 08 AM - DDAL5-3: Uninvited Guests
Fri 10 AM - DDAL5-4: In Dire Need
Fri 12 PM - DDAL5-5: A Dish Best Served Cold
Fri 02 PM - DDAL5-6: Beneath the Fetid Chelimber
Fri 04 PM - DDAL5-7: Chelimber's Descent
Fri 08 PM - DDEX5-1: The Iron Baron; Tier 2


Sat 04 PM - D&D Open, Tier 2


Sun 08 AM - GHC-1: Tharaera Lost
Sun 10 AM - GHC-2: Skulljaw Hill
Sun 12 PM - GHC-3: Facing the Dark

 

[rius]

It doesn't look like it, sadly; I'm doing the -1, -2 and -3 on Friday before Iron Baron Tier 1, and then -6 and -7 on Sunday.

 

[Pauper]

Basically, I have three questions. The first being, will playing in one part of DDAL5-1 get me to level 2? It only takes 300 exp so it seems likely.

You might want to sign up for at least two more sessions of this -- they are quick (one hour each), and doing three of them will get you to 2nd level for 5-2. My experience at con-run games is that people are generally not accustomed to playing or playing alongside a level 1 character at a non X-1 table. And even if your presence does allow the DM to adjust the difficulty of the adventure downward, the adjustment generally doesn't alter the encounter enough to make it less dangerous for you. If you go into 5-2 at 1st level and die, you can come back via Faction Charity, but you won't get any awards for the mod, which will likely throw off your entire schedule for advancement.

Second; can I reasonably expect to be level 3 before the start of DDEX5-1?

If you only play one session of 5-1, likely not -- keep in mind that all the adventures (outside of the D&D Open and DDAO modules) being run at GameHoleCon are two-hour mods, which don't give the same XP as the four-hour mods people are used to. My glance at the two-hour mods from Season 4 suggests that the max XP you can get from such a mod will be 300 XP, so if you go into 5-2 as a 2nd level character, you just need to earn max XP for the next two mods (and not die), which gives you a better, but still not guaranteed shot.

The biggest reason that max XP isn't guaranteed is that large tables (with six or seven players) that aren't getting their XP primarily from non-combat sources tend to not reach the max XP for a mod -- this will be especially true if you bring in a level 1 character that keeps the mod at a lower difficulty tier which splits the default XP among seven characters. The 5-1 mini-scenarios handle this well, in that if you do the stuff that the mod expects you to do, you generally reach minimum XP just from non-combat awards, allowing you to 'top off' to near if not max XP through combat.

Third; Tier 1 is designed for characters level 1-4. Is it at all possible that I'll hit level 5 before the start of either of the Chelimber modules? I strongly doubt this, as it'd take 6500 exp, but it can't hurt to ask.

If you're playing mainly at seven-character tables, then it's unlikely you'll level out of tier 1 at GameHoleCon. If the Iron Baron is the D&D Open, though, I have no guidance on how much XP you should expect from playing in that event.

Hope you enjoy the con!

--
Pauper

 

[NeverLucky]

If you only play one session of 5-1, likely not -- keep in mind that all the adventures (outside of the D&D Open and DDAO modules) being run at GameHoleCon are two-hour mods, which don't give the same XP as the four-hour mods people are used to. My glance at the two-hour mods from Season 4 suggests that the max XP you can get from such a mod will be 300 XP, so if you go into 5-2 as a 2nd level character, you just need to earn max XP for the next two mods (and not die), which gives you a better, but still not guaranteed shot.

2 hour APL 2 adventures give 225-300 XP, but APL 3 adventures (which are more typical) give 450-600 XP. Two such adventures would be enough to guarantee level 3.