How fast to level up in game time?

[SemperJase]

So I'm starting a new gaming group and I am taking up the DM mantle once again.

I'm thinking about level advancement in terms of time in the game world. In my last group (in which I was a player), I figured we advanced a level in about one month of the game world's time as opposed to the number of gaming sessions. We went from first to six level when I had to drop out.

Now I've seen a write up of Conan th Barbarian that assigned him level advancement based on the original writings of Robert E. Howard. He went from first to 20th level over the course of a twenty year career. Obviously much slower than my game and too slow for playing IMO (it does make sense from a literary point of view, so that is sort of an apples/oranges comparison).

What is your idea about how fast in the game time one should advance?

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

It depends entirely on how often the group meets.

My gaming group meets about once a month so I gave them second level "free" after the first adventure. I wouldn't have done that if we met every week.

 

[SemperJase]

Actually, I'm trying to seperate the number of session from the game's time line.

We game bi-weekly. In terms of the number of session, we would level up about once per session at low levels expanding to 2 or three sessions per level as the game progresses.

But in terms of the world's time line, I trying to figure out if a character would level up monthly or if that would be too fast. A character would go from level one to a powerful level 10 or 12 in one year.

 

[Quasqueton]

Here's a suggestion I've made to others with this question:

Characters can only "mentally absorb" xp at a rate of 1,000 xp per month game time.

Say the PCs earn 5,000 xp over a week's adventure (game time). The 5,000 xp are built up in the "buffer" and trickle into the character's mind over 5 months. 4 weeks after ending the adventure, they get the first 1,000 xp installment. Then another 1,000 4 weeks later, etc.

The PCs can of course take on another adventure before the 5 months is up, but all they do is build up more xp in their buffer.

This lets players feel more comfortable with in-game downtime. While they are playing paddy-cake with the tavern wenches, researching a new spell, fencing recovered treasure, etc. their character is still actually gaining xp built up from the previous adventure.

Using this method means:

1st level characters can attain 2nd level no faster than 1 month. They'll reach 5th level in just under a year. 10th level in near 4 years. 15th level in almost 9 years. 20th level in less than 16 years.

Reducing the monthly award to 500 xp doubles the time between levels.

Quasqueton

 

[Crothian]

In my new game I just started I figure they will gain 2nd level after 2 sessions, and gain every other session for the first few levels, then it will slow down to once every three or four sessions.

 

[RyanL]

In game-world time, the group I play with has been levelling up at the alarming rate of approximately 1 lvl / 2 days. Seems awfully fast, but as far as I know our DM is "by-the-book". Of course, we are working through the Heart of Nightfang Spire and all we do is fight, more or less.

-Ryan

 

[seasong]

Approximately a level per year in my story hour (linked in sig). We do lots of passing time, however, and develop the character's lives outside of adventuring, so this is probably atypical.

 

[Desdichado]

But levelling is a meta-game carrot to keep players involved and absorbed in the campaign. Separating the issue from play sessions doesn't work well, IMO. To me, levelling speed is a completely meta-game concept that plays in to how I want the game paced. I can't think of any way that I could devise a system that felt right as a default in-game clock of any kind.

 

[RyanL]

But levelling is a meta-game carrot to keep players involved and absorbed in the campaign. Separating the issue from play sessions doesn't work well, IMO. To me, levelling speed is a completely meta-game concept that plays in to how I want the game paced. I can't think of any way that I could devise a system that felt right as a default in-game clock of any kind.

Agreed. Every other game session feels about right to me, and that's how it's worked in every 3E game I've played (all two of them, at any rate).

-Ryan

 

[WayneLigon]

You can also adjust the XP assigned; lower it if you want a slower pace, raise it for faster, etc; it doesn't have to be set in stone, either!

Generally, it depends on the campaign how fast. The only really long term 3E game I've been in lasted about 18 months of real world time, and about 3-4 years game time. Lots of travelling, downtime in the winter when travel is impractical, etc.