D&D General How many adventures per level?

[el-remmen]

My current 5E games:

Ghosts of Saltmarsh+: 37 sessions of 4 to 5 hours each so far | 9.7 adventures so far (i.e 70% through adventure #10) | XP has been awarded nine times | 4 characters at 6th level (soon to be 7th)

Revenants of Saltmarsh: 26 sessions of 3 hours each so far | 7 adventures (and sidetreks) so far | XP has been awarded seven times | 3 PCs at 4th level with a 3rd level henchman

 

[Lanefan]

As others have noted, adventure lengths can vary enough that using them alone as a basis for comparison here is a bit iffy - never mind that a few posters on the site have in the past used the word "adventure" when they meant "session" (they're not the same thing!).

But if one has a rough idea as to how many sessions each adventure lasts on average - and if one's campaign is broken out into discrete adventures or missions with downtime between - then comparison is possible to a point.

Personally, I'm happy if an individual character bumps, say, every two or three adventures - which given that our average adventure length is about 10 sessions, means maybe one every 20-30 sessions, or 6-8 real-world months. Very low levels might be a bit faster, higher levels slower.

That's for an individual character. I don't want the party's overall average level going up by more than 1 a year, or else I'll run out of viable levels* long before I run out of campaign.

* - our game system and its mechanics tend to start getting wobbly once the party average hits around 10th-ish level and goes right off the rails not long after that.

 

[Horwath]

We have 4/5hrs sessions.

we level after 2 or 3 sessions.

Milestone leveling.

We went from levels 3 to 8 in 11 sessions in current campaign.

 

[delericho]

Back when I ran 3-hour sessions, it would be 1 each for 1st and 2nd level, and 3 each thereafter. These days, finding a 3-hour block for gaming is a distant dream, and with shorter sessions the rate has increased slightly, but not drastically - about 2 hours of play for 1st and 2nd level, and 5ish thereafter.

 

[Ancalagon]

you need to expand your thinking?

How many adventures per level? How about how many levels per round?

 

[Ancalagon]

As others have noted, adventure lengths can vary enough that using them alone as a basis for comparison here is a bit iffy - never mind that a few posters on the site have in the past used the word "adventure" when they meant "session" (they're not the same thing!).

But if one has a rough idea as to how many sessions each adventure lasts on average - and if one's campaign is broken out into discrete adventures or missions with downtime between - then comparison is possible to a point.

Personally, I'm happy if an individual character bumps, say, every two or three adventures - which given that our average adventure length is about 10 sessions, means maybe one every 20-30 sessions, or 6-8 real-world months. Very low levels might be a bit faster, higher levels slower.

That's for an individual character. I don't want the party's overall average level going up by more than 1 a year, or else I'll run out of viable levels* long before I run out of campaign.

* - our game system and its mechanics tend to start getting wobbly once the party average hits around 10th-ish level and goes right off the rails not long after that.

2 comments

1: 100% agree re misuse of the word adventure - and some others confuse adventure and campaigns, something the WotC "adventures" did not help.

2: So if you are going on average about 1 level per year, and your system is good for 10 levels (what system btw?) ... you think your campaign is going to last 10 years? That is remarkably long...

 

[Lanefan]

2 comments

1: 100% agree re misuse of the word adventure - and some others confuse adventure and campaigns, something the WotC "adventures" did not help.

2: So if you are going on average about 1 level per year, and your system is good for 10 levels (what system btw?) ... you think your campaign is going to last 10 years?

Yes.

In fact, I design each one to ideally last for as long as anyone wants to play in it, I still enjoy running it, and the rules system doesn't collapse - i.e. the rest of my life should all things work out. Ten years is the target, anything after that is bonus.

Current one is at 14 years and counting; the previous two went 10.5 and 12.5. System is much-modified 1e D&D.

That is remarkably long...

Not by my standards.

The game I play in is Mark III of a campaign that started in 1981. Mark I went from 1981 to 1991-ish, Mark II went from 1990 to 1998, and Mark III has been going since 2007. Whcih means that yes, I can legitimately say I still have characters in play that were rolled up in the early-mid 1980s, including my namesake here.

 

[Baldurs_Underdark]

Session Zero: Discuss with players roughly how long they want the campaign to be and/or their expected availability for playing. Also, discuss what would be an interesting level to start and end the campaign.

[ Length between leveling up ] = [ Expected length of campaign ] / [Final level - start level]

Adjustments may be needed as the campaign progresses. You can add milestones, XP or whatever... doesn't fundamentally change things.

 

[Ath'kethin]

I'm actually not sure. I've fallen in love with DCC's experience system, which has low thresholds (50 XP for level 2, 110 for level 3, etc), but provides 2-4 XP for surviving an encounter, depending on how tough the adventure was. So if the adventure includes 10 encounters, a character who survives all of them gets 20-40 XP.

I like this system because the emphasis on survival, as opposed to conquest or even looting, really impacts the choices players make. Especially since the threat level is a touch or six higher than it is in many games, so often combat isn't the best solution to a problem - and even when it's necessary, people tend to play much more tactically.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

I'm happy with the pace in my current campaign, even if we usually don't have distinct adventures per se - it's heavy on the roleplaying, intrigue and politic shenanigans. But a swift rush through tier 1, a year of weekly sessions for lvl 5-10 sweetspot, and 2-3 sessions per level after that as the focus turns more to major set pieces and big reveals.

The party is currently lvl 12 with their own spelljammer, investigating leads in Realmspace. Or rather, they should be investigating leads - at the moment they are busy cornering the west Faerun silk market by setting up a trade route from Shou Lung via Rock of Bral to Waterdeep. Players will be players...