D&D 5E 5e recommended 2.5 sessions/level rate

S'mon · Jun 30, 2019

What do you think of the 5e DMG's recommended 2.5 sessions/level rate? How do you think it compares to using the XP system, which seems designed to keep PCs in the level 5-10 range as long as possible?

After several campaigns using XP RAW, for my Thule game I've been using a modified system that gives advancement around every 2.5 sessions. So far the highest level PCs have reached level 9 from 1st. It seems to work fine but I'm wondering if maybe it means leveling out of the sweet spot too fast, and how it'll work at level 11+.

DEFCON 1 · Jun 30, 2019

I personally think its too fast, as many of my players just do not delve into the game so deeply that they will grok or use the new game mechanics they have just acquired for leveling up. Once PCs reach 3rd level I try to make sure they get at least four to six sessions at each level so they have time to use what they've acquired (especially considering each player might be out for one of those 4-6).

But I don't begrudge WotC for suggesting 2.5 sessions as a recommendation. For those groups really focused on understanding and running the rules (or for those tables that tend to switch games/campaigns two or three times a year), barreling ahead probably allows for more uses of all the goodies they can get.

Oofta · Jun 30, 2019

That's pretty much what I've always done in 5E. It depends on the group and what you want to accomplish with the campaign of course, but go too fast and it feels like you don't get to enjoy those new abilities before there's something else new. Too slow and you feel like your on a treadmill. In previous editions leveling was much, much slower and it was fine, but it's also nice to get to higher levels.

akr71 · Jun 30, 2019

I agree - too fast. My players like to play something new every time and rarely use the same class twice. Throwing new abilities at them every 2 or 3 sessions would mean they wouldn't fully grasp how to use them, or when to use them.

Fanaelialae · Jun 30, 2019

I've been using a homebrew XP system of my own that grants levels approximately every 1.5 to 2.5 sessions. We've had 30ish sessions and the PCs are around level 15. I'm fairly happy with it.

I suppose it depends on the story that you want to arise from your campaign. If you have a ton of material that you want to explore, you could slow advancement. If you have have a fairly tight amount that you don't want to pad with filler, I could see increasing advancement to as much as 1 level per session.

If you want your campaign to run to level 20, at 2.5 sessions a level that's around 50 sessions (you get level 1 for free, but presumably you want to give the players a few sessions to enjoy level 20). If you don't have 50 levels worth of material, it's probably better to accelerate advancement than to add filler (IMO).

Also, you can throttle by tier. If you want the fast-slow-fast-slow pace of the XP system, have tiers 1 and 3 require 1.5 sessions, and tiers 2 and 4 require something like 3.5 sessions.

As my campaign is ramping up towards tier 4, I've found that I'm giving out more XP. While I want them to be able to enjoy the upper levels, high level D&D is a bit wahoo. They've become serious movers and shakers, which adds a bit to my logistics as a DM. Hence, I've been leaning towards giving out sufficient XP so that they've been leveling every 1.5 sessions. My setting is a sandbox, but I find it difficult to create sufficient areas to challenge high level characters while still maintaining internal consistency in the world. I suppose the obvious solution is to send them to the planes, but that means sacrificing or pausing the connections and projects they've made on the Prime, which I'd rather not do.

Paul Farquhar · Jun 30, 2019

I think it's better to use milestones than sessions - I've known some sessions that involve little more than the PCs chilling in a tavern. It doesn't seem to be in the spirit of D&D to level up after an episode in which nothing much happens.

DND_Reborn · Jun 30, 2019

You know, it seems fast but oddly enough we've done about 2.5 sessions per level on average up to level 9. It began much faster at lower levels with only one session per level for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th (end of session #3) and it then jumped to 3 sessions per level. 7th level took 4 sessions, but there were fewer encounters per session so it makes sense. Just hitting 9th level took 4 sessions and I expect it will continue to increase at a slow rate as we need more XP.

We are also averaging about 6.3 encounters per session. Our rest rate varies depending on our current situation: about 1 short or long rest per 5-6 encounter for dungeon crawls to after nearly every encounter or two for overland travel.

Personally, the first few levels can happen so quickly that in future games I will probably advocate beginning at 3rd level.

One last note is we play every other Saturday. I have a feeling if we played every week, the DM would slow the pace. I think his ideal is to level the characters about every two months of game play or so. That is fine since it means I am looking towards level 12-13 by the end of this year and after playing all of next year will probably reach level 20 (about 2.5 years total). That might be too slow for some people and about half the rate WotC intended, but so far we like the pace.

5ekyu · Jun 30, 2019

2.5 sessions seems fine for intro but fast after that.

We use a scaling rate of 3-4 x tier sessions per level. The wiggle at 3-4 gives us good flexibility in timing. We like that pace of advancement. It gives a good amount of time to get to use new stuff before leveling again.

If I were going to change it I would change it to 6-7 x tier sessions and let them level two levels each time. Thst way each jump is bigger but lasts longer.

Garthanos · Jun 30, 2019

S'mon said:
What do you think of the 5e DMG's recommended 2.5 sessions/level rate?

I think after level 5 you could slow it to 5 sessions per level or do as I have done for a long time advance everybody whenever it feels good in story for the over all scope and theme to change/intensify.

Voadam · Jun 30, 2019

I hadn't even known that was the recommendation. I've not read through the DMG, I've gone through the basic set rules, the PH and the MM cover to cover but I've only recently started in on the DMG. I am running a 5e conversion of the Pathfinder Carrion Crown Adventure path so I am going by adventure milestones for levelling which has been way more than 2.5 sessions per level. I talked with my group and they said they were fine with whatever once they got past level 1, it helps that the campaign is mostly a CoC investigation/ghost story so stats are not a big deal so far.