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

You know, I forgot to mention that while we are averaging about 2.5 sessions per level (1 per level early on, then 3 per level since with once more), our sessions tend to be rather long, typically 10-12 hours (once 16 hours). So, if you think more in terms of a typical session between 4-6 hours, we would be twice that. Thus, I guess in terms of 4-6 hour sessions, we are averaging closer to 5 sessions per level.

I think 1-2 sessions at level 1 and 2 is great. At level 3-4, I like 2-3 sessions. At levels 5-10, I like 5-8 sessions. At levels 11+ I like 3-4 sessions (usually because the campaign is in wrap-up mode).

dnd4vr said:

So, if you think more in terms of a typical session between 4-6 hours, we would be twice that. Thus, I guess in terms of 4-6 hour sessions, we are averaging closer to 5 sessions per level.

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Yeah, I was thinking 4 hours per session which seems standard. My weeknight games are more like 3.5 hours actually - my son plays & it's a school night.

Bacon Bits said:

I think 1-2 sessions at level 1 and 2 is great. At level 3-4, I like 2-3 sessions. At levels 5-10, I like 5-8 sessions. At levels 11+ I like 3-4 sessions (usually because the campaign is in wrap-up mode).

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When I use the 5e XP system that's about the rate I see, eg that was the rate in my Runelords game when it was tabletop.

S'mon said:

Yeah, I was thinking 4 hours per session which seems standard. My weeknight games are more like 3.5 hours actually - my son plays & it's a school night.

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After I thought about it I realized that was probably the case. I think our shortest session was maybe 8 hours. We start around 11 AM or so, and stop usually around 11 PM to 2 AM, every other Saturday.

So, like I said, that puts us closer to 5-6 sessions per level.

Looks like I do something similar to the 2.5 sessions/level without realizing it. From levels 1-3, I level the characters and the end of each session. (1>2>3). After that, it's a level every two to three sessions depending on how much actual play gets done.

My system, roughly:

~4 hours of play to get to level 2
~8 more hours to get to level 3
Thereafter, about 16 hours per level

We level 2.5 times per session and finish entire campaigns in weeks! #Aaaaaaaaaagggghhh!!!

TarionzCousin said:

We level 2.5 times per session and finish entire campaigns in weeks! #Aaaaaaaaaagggghhh!!!

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He he.

Actually, after 35 years of D&D I've only recently appreciated that it's possible and easy to deliberately vary the advancement rate to suit the intended campaign. The extreme case is my Princes of the Apocalypse game where the group are old friends from previous games & their spouses & children, we only get to play once a month and levelling every 1-2 sessions works great for that, going 1-20 will still be 2.5 years which I find is a great duration for a focused campaign. My Primeval Thule game playing weekly & levelling every 2-3 sessions gives something closest to what seems to be the intended 5e experience, like 3e going from 1-20 in a year, which is faster than I've ever done before but seems to work with the high fantasy swords & sorcery tone - start fighting rats in the sewers, end battling Great Old Ones and mighty armies.

If anyone is curious, based on Leveling Up (PHB 15), Adventuring Day XP (DMG 84), and Combat Encounter XP (DMG 82) (obviously, you can substitute social or exploratory encounters for combat encounters)...