Gaining 2 Levels from 1 Adventure's XP

[Knight Otu]

The corresponding section of the 3.0 PHB (page 145, Experience and Levels) says the following:

"A character can only advance one level at a time. If, for some extraordinary reason, a character gains enough XP two or more levels at once, he or she instead advances one level and gains just enough XP to be 1 XP short of the next level."

So, the "adventure" bit was added in 3.5. Personally, I'd say that an adventure may consist of sub-adventures that may conveniently end at the right point to advance a level.

 

[Garnfellow]

I recently had this problem.

Heck, we gained enough XP in one gaming session to advance us all 2 levels!

I was pointed to the rule on page 58 of the PH (3.5e), "advancing a level". Read and weep.

Spoiler

And then ignore the strict RAW interpretation, as we did.

No wonder I couldn't find this in the DMG -- it's in the PH. (Shouldn't this very important rule have been at least been cross-referenced in the DMG's discussion of XP?)

 

[Garnfellow]

Well, in this situation I'm the DM. The adventure was a long trek into a distant wilderness area, and the original plan was to have the PCs get just enough XP to level once and then be 1/2 to 3/4 of the way on to their next level at the end of the adventure. However, after several random encounters and some other strangeness, the adventure ended up consisting of many more encounters (and thus, resulting in much more XP) than I had anticipated.

So now I know there is a 3.X rule saying a character can only level once per adventure. My question is, should I ignore the rule in this circumstance? I'm inclined to chuck the rule this one time, as this seems to be the fairest thing to do.

It's not the player's fault that I didn't break out the XP awards into smaller subadventures, which I probably would have done if I had known how this all was going to shake out. If I had done it this way, the characters would still likely be 2 levels higher than when the adventure started. And the "you start 1 XP less than the amount needed" bit just seems artificial.

 

[darthkilmor]

It's not the player's fault that I didn't break out the XP awards into smaller subadventures, which I probably would have done if I had known how this all was going to shake out. If I had done it this way, the characters would still likely be 2 levels higher than when the adventure started. And the "you start 1 XP less than the amount needed" bit just seems artificial.

Indeed, don't punish the players for doing well. might want to make it take longer to level of course though

 

[Nail]

My question is, should I ignore the rule in this circumstance?

Yes.

...and with all due haste.

 

[Infiniti2000]

So now I know there is a 3.X rule saying a character can only level once per adventure. My question is, should I ignore the rule in this circumstance? I'm inclined to chuck the rule this one time, as this seems to be the fairest thing to do.

Yes.

It's not the player's fault that I didn't break out the XP awards into smaller subadventures, which I probably would have done if I had known how this all was going to shake out. If I had done it this way, the characters would still likely be 2 levels higher than when the adventure started. And the "you start 1 XP less than the amount needed" bit just seems artificial.

Even if you didn't know the rule, why force your players to miss out on playing a particular level? IMO that can be a real bummer sometimes, such as on the first level of a PrC. Instantaneously, you are now level two in that PrC? No thanks. Put me at 1XP from the second level so I can enjoy and roleplay the experience.

 

[irdeggman]

Ditto, toss it out. Not their fault.

Heck I don't like that "per adventure" part myself and will ignore that. Now they won't advance more than 1 level at a time, but not only 1 level per "adventure".

 

[the Jester]

I used to 'bank' xps for the pcs when I felt they were levelling too quickly. This was in 1-2ed, when (in later levels) you needed a truly ludicrous amount of xp to level (375,000/level for a high-level magic-user, for instance), so it also helped them continue to advance at higher levels.

 

[Question]

I find that rule to be absurd. It shouldnt be there in the first place.

 

[Hawken]

I agree that rule should be dropped. Or at least altered.

A good alternative, IMO, is to have a 'bank' or 'reserve' for excess XP. Any XP over the minimum for the new level go into this 'bank'. That XP can then be spent on magic item creation, or whatever else the DM may decide upon. A wizard would certainly be more eager to craft an enchanted sword for a fighter if the fighter volunteers to contribute his own XP!