Level Progression

[diaglo]

it should take about 1 year real time or roughly 900hr of roleplaying to gain a level IMO.

 

[MonsterMash]

probably its around every 6 sessions IMC, but I use a much slower XP progression chart than the usual 3.5 one. The campaign I'm running now will probably see the 1st level starting characters level after 3-4 sessions, largely because of a very heavy combat in the first session (450xp per PC).

Going back to OD&D and 1ed I remember a rule of thumb about roughly 400xp per session per character which would level up reasonably frequently.

 

[Piratecat]

it should take about 1 year real time or roughly 900hr of roleplaying to gain a level IMO.

Okay, even I think that's silly. We play for about 4 hours at a stretch every other week... so 100 hours a year. It would take us nine years to go from 1st to 2nd level! I mean, I'm patient, but 'cmon....

 

[WizarDru]

The current party level in my game is 1-3, mainly because I had some people join on after the campaign has officially started. Most of the encounters I throw at them are going to be at least a CR2. Since I don't throw combat out every session (one of the reasons some of the players joined my game), I like the combat they do have to be a) challenging and b)something to make them work as a team. I have seven players currently but some tend not to show up every session (no xps for you!).

There are several schools of thought on the matter. Many folks, particular enthusiasts who spent a lot of time on the pervious editions, feel that 3e levels people too quickly. I personally don't fall in with that group, but I understand their feelings on the matter, I think.

First, I would be awarding RPing XP-awards, not just combat ones. It may only be a flat value, but it reinforces that style of play with your group, if that's your desire. Second, remember that having 13 CR-appropriate encounters is more rare than you might at first think. Remember that this figure doesn't include higher-EL encounters, which skew the xp numbers somewhat. Fighting the orcs may be a CR3 encounter, but slaying the boss orc in his lair may be a CR4/EL6 encounter, with the xp that goes with it.

If combat is an infrequent occurence in your game, skew the xp numbers as desired. Throw more difficult combats, possibly, since the players will be more willing to commit all of their resources to the battle. A large chunk of the expectation for some classes is the depletion of resources. Notice how a wizard will commit his full firepower in a city/town encounter versus his behavior in a dungeon environment, where he always keeps a few spells self-defense, escape or that unexpected enemy.

Every group is different. My group meets roughly 3-4 times a month, and balances combat and rp-ing. We've gone from 1st level (AH! A big rat!!) to 23rd level (Ahh! An Advanced Psionic Roper of Legend!). They've progressed this far in about 3.5 years. Other groups, such as Destans, only meet 2-3 times a year for marathon sessions and have leveled to about 12th in that same time period.

Find your comfort zone and roll with it. Them orcs ain't killiing themselves.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

I vary the level speed depending on the kind of game and the familiarity of the players.

Levels we've all been through before and don't wish to linger in go fast! 1st to 9th level at about a level every 2-4 sessions. That's would be about right for us. After that I'm slowing things up considerably - intend to go a level every 6-8+ sessions, possibly longer.

We have agreed on this as a group in advance of playing...

Reasons are - everyone is comfortable with 1st-9th level play - after that it's unfamiliar territory for most of the players - want to take it fairly slowly so we can get a solid grasp on new powers and abilities before progressing any further.

Came up with this after a previous campaign got a little off the rails at around 15th level. Had a post game disection and this was the result.

All depressingly metagamey, but we'll see how it goes.

 

[Belen]

We tend to run 6-8 hour weekly sessions. At the moment we are leveling every 2-3 sessions, although considering that the normal session is 4 hours, then I guess that number is really 4-6.

Personally, I believe that levels 1-3 should go quickly (1/ session), but after that the progression should slow down.

 

[Barak]

This is not something that my players know, but I don't use XP. Their characters level whenever they need to. It probably works out to about the same as if I used XP, but it removes a great deal of record-keeping, so it makes me happy. And since I have no item-crafters, it doesn't affect anything.

 

[allenw]

I'm one of those "old-school" guys who thinks third edition levelling is too rapid, and wants the pace of progression to slow down at higher levels (like it did in the "old days"), so I've tried various xp-adjustment tricks. My current one for 3.5: Calculate XP for each character by the book, then reduce it by 5% per character level (i.e., -40% at 8th level, -60% at 12th level).
Warning: as the DMG notes, if you adjust XP but don't adjust treasure (which can be difficult in the case of opposing NPC gear), the PC's gear values will get all out of whack. Due to slowed level progression, my party is currently averaging 200% of normal gear value for their level. :\

 

[Thanatos]

In the last campaign I ran (which ran for a bit over a year before I had to move for work), we played roughly 2 times a month. We usually had 5 to 9 hour sessions, though a few went over.

For the first 5 levels, we doubled all experience. (everyone was very comfortable with that level of play)

from levels 6 to 10 experience was given out at a 1.5 rate. (varying levels of comfort).

Everything after that was normal rate.

The first 5 levels, everyone levelled every other session and from 6 to 10 everyone levels about every 3 sessions. From 10 to where we ended the game, it was about every 4 sessions.

Due to limited playing times, everyone was pretty good with that. Everyone really did have enough time to learn their characters. Encounters were usually tougher then standard for their levels though, because we usually had 5 to 9 players.

I think that with a stable and long term group, you could level slower. Especially if you played more often. For those with unstable groups or who can only meet on a limited basis, faster probably works better.

I hate starting characters out at higher then 1st level...though I don't have a problem advancing everyone quickly to whatever our goal is as far as levels go. Even with more rapid advancement, you still get many gems of stories to relate later.

There's only so much time busy lives can spend playing RPG's unfortunately, so sometimes there has to be compromises on experience and leveling. If you are having fun though, it doesn't matter how fast or slow you level.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

It depends on the group, how long you play, and how much gets done in the session. IMC we have only 2 players and play about 6-8 hour sessions of solid gaming. So, we level fast in number of sessions but it feels right for us with the amount of work we get done.

When I was stationed in Korea my group played Saturdays and Sundays, 12 hours each day. Wanna talk about leveling fast?