D&D 5E When to Award XP?

[Triumph_Fork]

I used to use XP in older editions, now I'm finding it easier to just level up my party all together without the worry of numbers.

I don't use XP at all as of late. Life gets in the way sometimes and I don't want to penalise my players for not showing up because they're at a wedding or better, getting married (even though DnD is WAY more important right?). If you think your party should level up fairly and at the same time, level them all up at once! I do so before a dungeon or around a pivotal area of the plot. It all depends on the difficulty you have set in mind.

 

[aco175]

I award XP at the end of each chapter or level in the adventure. Some adventures are only 1 level and XP is given while packing up for the night. Other adventures are muiti-level and we may finish playing one night and I give XP, but they have not rested before going into the next level that starts the next week of gaming. I let them level up anyways. It does not seem to wreck anything and the players enjoy having a new spell or ability one day sooner.

A few weeks ago they leveled up mid-day and the bard got a 5th level spell for the first time. Player was happy and I just made the monsters more powerful.

 

[SubDude]

No particular reason. But I would advise against levelling up in the middle of the adventuring day, when some daily resources are already expended. It's more neat to wait until the long rest.

Thank you for addressing my question. I had not considered that. Sometimes it wouldn't matter, but others it might matter a lot. I'll noodle this one over some more.

 

[AntiStateQuixote]

Whatever works for you. I award XP at the end of each session, but don't allow the players to level until a long rest.

This is exactly what we do.

 

[alienux]

I'm probably in the minority. I just give them the XP after the encounter to make it easier to keep up with, instead of keeping track throughout a session. I give it out to them after each encounter, then we're done until the next. It's always worked well for me.

Fluff wise, it's partly the experience they get from the encounter itself anyway, so since their characters have gained experience from that encounter, I see no reason, for me at least, for them not to have it.

 

[akr71]

I reward XP every session or two or three - the higher the level, the more sessions that pass between me handing out XP, because it doesn't much matter how close they are until they pass that threshold. It gets more frequent as they get closer to the next level too - I'm not gonna make them wait just because I don't feel like doing the math.

However, like others have said - no long rest, no level up.

 

[Rya.Reisender]

I reward XP after every battle, but that does not mean characters have to instantly level up.

I go by AL rules where you won't level up until you do a long rest (or finish the module) even if you reached the XP needed.

 

[schnee]

We award after every session, level up on long rest.

 

[Hriston]

I award experience upon completion of an "adventure", some major undertaking of the player characters. For instance, if they try to raid a dungeon complex for treasure, they gain experience when they are done with that enterprise, whether successful or not. I also require a period of training to level up.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I’ve been idly mulling over switching from “at the end of a session” to “after each encounter.” ith a chronically late player, and sometimes it feels a bit unfair awarding XP for stuff that happened when he wasn’t even there yet. But on the other side, it may be more trouble than it's worth.

There is no hard and fast rule. Some people award it after every kill. Some after every encounter, some only at the end of each session, some only after the dungeon is completed.