Level Up (A5E) How to reach 20th Level in 45 days — An analysis of "adventuring day" per character level

[Timespike]

you could if you tried hard enough

I know your username is a reference to looking for unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots, AND YET it checks out for that comment if taken literally.

 

[Timespike]

Another consideration here that's way out on the fuzzy edges: how much table time does an adventuring day translate into at each level?

Because that's actually an extremely meaningful distinction at the table. Even if the characters are only spending a day of time to get past [whatever], if it takes the players five or six sessions to get through, it will feel longer no matter how much the game world signposts that it isn't. Engaging with mechanics takes actual real player time, and even if you have an extraordinarily disciplined PC group that knows their abilities well, that's still true. A level 12 party is just going to have a lot more to engage with and keep track of than a level 3 one. And this also goes for their foes who will be more complex and/or more numerous (likely both).

So there's this weird meta-layer to this where there is player time vs. character/world time. I suspect these progressions were designed with player time in mind, though that's pure supposition on my part.

 

[Xethreau]

Another consideration here that's way out on the fuzzy edges: how much table time does an adventuring day translate into at each level?

Yes, I think that's an incredibly good point! And I don't think it's fuzzy at all, I think it's immediately relevant. Because just like I wanted to make a campaign calendar, folks may also be interested in how long it would take in real life time to cover certain story arcs.

Raise your hand if you've ever continued a campaign which was supposed to have been a holiday one-shot!

But yeah, besides time at table, there's also pedagogical and storytelling concerns as well. If you level up after every single fight, you don't actually have time to learn your character. And if you level up after every single fight... I feel like that actually fundamentally undermines "three pillars of play" structure.

 

[Timespike]

Yes, I think that's an incredibly good point! And I don't think it's fuzzy at all, I think it's immediately relevant. Because just like I wanted to make a campaign calendar, folks may also be interested in how long it would take in real life time to cover certain story arcs.

Raise your hand if you've ever continued a campaign which was supposed to have been a holiday one-shot!

But yeah, besides time at table, there's also pedagogical and storytelling concerns as well. If you level up after every single fight, you don't actually have time to learn your character. And if you level up after every single fight... I feel like that actually fundamentally undermines "three pillars of play" structure.

Certainly. While there are ways to explain that kind of breakneck power acquisition, I suspect they will come with a set of storytelling tropes not unlike those of the TV series 24 or the Jason Statham movie Crank, and that's an extremely specific kind of play.

 

[Xethreau]

Certainly. While there are ways to explain that kind of breakneck power acquisition, I suspect they will come with a set of storytelling tropes not unlike those of the TV series 24 or the Jason Statham movie Crank, and that's an extremely specific kind of play.

Agree, and good call-outs! I was thinking Gurren Lagann myself!

 

[WarDriveWorley]

I know your username is a reference to looking for unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots, AND YET it checks out for that comment if taken literally.

I like to keep my options open.

 

[Xethreau]

Spoiler: Mini-Tool: Campaign Calendar

Campaign Calendar

Level	Encounter Points this level	Expected Adventuring Days
1st	6	6+
2nd	4	4+
3rd	7	4+
4th	8	5+
5th	10	3+
6th	10	3+
7th	9	3+
8th	8	2+
9th	8	2+
10th	9	3+
11th	5	1+
12th	6	1+
13th	5	1+
14th	5	1+
15th	5	1+
16th	4	1+
17th	4	1+
18th	3	1+
19th	3	1+

Note: Easy encounters yield less XP per Encounter Point. Hard and Deadly encounters yeild more XP per Encounter Point. My advice is to spend an equal number of Encounter points on Easy encounters as spent on Hard and Deadly encounters.

For anybody who doesn't know:
In D&D 3.5, the number of standard encounters per level was 13.3. Every single level.
In D&D 4e, the number of standard encounters per level was 10. Every single level.

 

[Stalker0]

For anybody who doesn't know:
In D&D 3.5, the number of standard encounters per level was 13.3. Every single level.
In D&D 4e, the number of standard encounters per level was 10. Every single level.

Which suggests that the number of encounters per level in A5e is SIGNFICANTLY lower, often taking just 5-8 encounters to gain a level.

If you look at the sweet spot levels of 3-11, the average encounter per levelup is right around 8 (7.93)

Level	Medium Encounters to Level
1st	6​
2nd	3.428571​
3rd	6.545455​
4th	8.444444​
5th	10​
6th	9.230769​
7th	8.8​
8th	7.777778​
9th	7.619048​
10th	8.4​
11th	4.615385​
12th	5.333333​
13th	4.444444​
14th	5​
15th	4.8​
16th	3.636364​
17th	3.902439​
18th	2.580645​
19th	2.666667​

 

[lichmaster]

Boy these numbers are ugly

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I like the idea of adventurer's taking weekends off. Very Acquisitions Incorporated...