D&D 5E (2024) GMs: How long should it usually take to go from level 1 to 4?

[The Soloist]

During 2e, levelling with my groups was based on the number of sessions played. In the 90s, we were younger and played sessions of 5-6 hours, instead of 2-3 hours these days. But we only played once every three or four weeks. I gave them a level every three sessions (regardless of XPs, I stopped using them.)

 

[Lanefan]

I think we killed 6 before we were downed, so it was not even close. They ambushed us too.

That was the 4th fight of the campaign, although it was right after a long rest. Previously we had defeated 5 shadows, 2 shadows and a skeletal warhorse ...

Man, Shadows must have been nerfed along the editions somewhere. In games I'm used to, 5 Shadows would annihilate any party averaging less than 3rd level without any effort at all and would/could be a significant threat to 4th or even 5th level parties.

I DMed a party of 1st-levels who decided they were going to face-charge a village of about 20 Kobolds. Not a TPK only because a few of the characters turned tail and fled once they realized their stupendous error, and the Kobolds didn't pursue beyond sight of their village. Still, 4 dead out of 6.

In the end we were revived by the bad guy, their leader, a half-orc. He stripped us naked and threw into the slums with 1hp no money or treasure (no more halfplate )

So we are starting next week still level 1 with no gear, no money, no spellbook for the Wizard and the same mission ahead of us.

I think the plan is to wander around the slums until we get attacked so we can get enough XP to level and have a few weapons.

That's a good save by the DM, and now you all owe that Half-Orc big time.....

 

[ECMO3]

Man, Shadows must have been nerfed along the editions somewhere. In games I'm used to, 5 Shadows would annihilate any party averaging less than 3rd level without any effort at all and would/could be a significant threat to 4th or even 5th level parties.

Well the first set with the Skeletal Horse was kind of tough, the Cleric was downed I think (by the Horse). The second set not so much.

Shadows are only really dangerous if they hit a low-strength character multiple times. Otherwise their AC is low, their damage is low.

That's a good save by the DM, and now you all owe that Half-Orc big time.....

The hald-orc is the main antagonist for this part of the adventure, so he is going to have to die. However the guys that hired us and gave us an advance to clear out his gang of Kobolds and Goblins are not going to be too happy I don't think.

 

[zakael19]

The value of XP is that it provides players (and the DM) with a visible progress bar, showing them how close they are to leveling up. This is both viscerally psychologically satisfying, and a good barometer for the pacing of the action. If you have a target number of sessions in mind, and the players are well behind schedule to earn enough XP in your target number of sessions, you know you should probably include more XP opportunities and/or drive the pace of the action faster. If they’re gaining XP way more rapidly than expected and on track to level well before your target number of sessions, you know you have room to slow things down, maybe have some lower-key sessions. It also helps draw a connection between the players’ actions and their character advancement. Players get to see that their actions bring them measurably closer to leveling up, rather than just leveling up when the DM says to.

The total absence of anything but fiat leveling from Daggerheart is my biggest complaint with that system. I like how Draw Steel! abstracts it down to a much smaller system of 1-2 Victories awarded for overcoming challenges, and 16 victories translated into XP for a level. If D&D separated XP from the encounter building rules that would be pretty cool.

 

[Demetrios1453]

What I find interesting is how narrow that expectation has become. Tier 1 isn’t mechanically deep, but it’s not devoid of narrative weight. The kinds of stories you can tell at low levels—local stakes, community-focused arcs, problems that don’t require heroic firepower—have a tone and texture that disappears once you scale into Tier 2 and beyond. The challenge is that a lot of groups see those stories as a temporary prologue rather than a meaningful mode of play.

This! I find the ingrained rush to get to T2 a just expected these days, when there are interesting stories that can be told even at Level 1. I always tell my groups we'll be taking a bit longer to level through T1 (although not excessively so!) to enjoy what those levels can offer.