D&D 5E How Long Does it Take to Reach 20th Level: A Brief Explanation

[Jfdlsjfd]

It also means that, again if one goes by the design paradigm of 6-8 encounters per day (let's say 7, for simplicity), you're going to earn a level approximately every other in-game day - meaning that in the setting you could go from 1-20 in less than a month and a half if you don't take any downtime.

PC1: "I am glad I killed my first dragon. It's really an achievement in the life of a hero"
PC2: "Time to reflect on the path we've have travelled!"
PC1: "Yeah, remember when we were rookie, afraid of fighting a pair of goblins? Or the time we nearly fainted seeing a skeleton?"
PC2: "Yeah, I remember, it was last Thursday!"

 

[Ancalagon]

My Drakkenheim game just had session 18 this Monday. Each session is 3 hours, not 4 (so if we convert it's about 13.5 4-hour sessions). The PCs have just hit level 5....

 

[Maxperson]

One of the things that I like is that they arranged is so that the 1-20 loop takes a year of play, meeting once a week, four hours a pop, with a buffer built in for not meeting for eight weeks out of the year.

You can play with the numbers (longer sessions, meeting less, etc.), but that's both an accomplishment while not being too intensive to be overly daunting ... like the AD&D level climb could be.

Yeah. We hit 20th level in about a year with 3e, with the missing weeks that happen as you note. That seemed a tad fast, so with 5e I've slowed it down to about a level every 3-5 weeks. That allows them to play at a level for a while and learn it, but still not take anywhere near as long as the AD&D days. It seems to be working out well. At least one of my players has commented that he likes the new pacing.

 

[Redneckomancer]

Ah ok, I looked at page 261 (you got me to read the DMG, Snarf) and yeah it is the specific "Session Based Advancement" rules, not XP rules. Interesting! So you flat just level based on how many sessions you play. Though considering it says this

This rate mirrors the standard rate of advancement, assuming sessions are about four hours long.

I feel like we're back to square one

 

[Alby87]

Well, remember that also BECMI had a table to help you give XPs considering your desired speed: there was option to do from 3 sessions/level to 8 sessions/level. Going really fast in BECMI takes you "3 session * 4 hours * 36 levels = 432 hours". And not considering the immortals part (other 36 levels) and the idea to redo a second character avatar to "win" the game.

And... Snarf? At first I read that dot on you MCUs result as a thousands separator, so I was thinking it was 1-20 level in one thousand and more time to see the entire Marvel Francise

 

[el-remmen]

Based on my own calculations and experience it takes infinity time to reach 20th level.

 

[Charlaquin]

Well now I'm curious, this is still using the XP tables for level ups correct? Not milestones? How long then is an average combat supposed to last at the table?

10 minutes was the target during the D&D Next playtest.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

It only takes about 10-12 shortish sessions if your group has an 11-year-old as the DM. Maybe less.

For everyone else, it's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll.

 

[Andras]

It takes our group about 18 months of every other week sessions to hit the end of a campaign, first one to 20th, last one went to 18th.

 

[Umbran]

It takes four sessions to reach fourth level.
Every level thereafter is "two to three sessions."

For this to be equivalent to the XP version, these people must be burning their way through encounters at a rate I find implausible.