D&D 5E Leveling up.

[tannersharp]

So I'm newer to the game, I had my teacher as DM and he knew pretty much everything so we never had a problem but it's summer and we are about to kill some bandits but we don't know how to level up, I can't find where in my players handbook so do I need the dungeon masters handbook? Or is there a page in the players handbook?

 

[MerricB]

It's in the Player's Handbook. Have a look at page 15 and then come back with any more questions you might have.

Cheers!

 

[tannersharp]

Thanks!

 

[Kobold Stew]

First, welcome to the boards. It's always nice when there are new posters here. And it's great you are playing a game without your teacher!

Levelling up occurs when you've earned a certain number of xp, or at some other time you DM says you do. Different tables do it different ways: keeping rigorous track of each person's experience (so people level at different times); keeping an average for the whole group (so everyone levels at the same time); or the DM just deciding at an appropriate time because so many sessions have passed. Or whatever.

What it means in-game can vary from DM to DM as well: sometimes DMs want you to go back to the village and train; sometimes it just sort of happens during a long rest, blip! you know more spells. Or whatever.

There really is no wrong way, as long as everyone at the table is having fun.

When the DM says you level up, the two main things that happen are more hit points and more class abilities.

1. Hit points. That's the bit spelled out on p. 15 of the PHB. You get a new hit die, and you either roll or use the average, and add it (and your constitution bonus) to your HP total. If you roll it's always a a good idea to do it in front of everyone, esp. the DM.

2. Class abilities. Go to the class advancement table that with the description of each class, and see what you get! At each new level, there are various benefits, and you see what changes from your old level to your new one. This might include getting new spells: each time a wizard gains a level you add two spells to your spell book, for example -- for me, that's a good reason to at least require a long rest when you level up. (Multiclassing is a bit more complicated, which is why it's an optional rule in 5e).

That's it.

You don't need to have a DMG (though you might want to download the free materials that are available here). I hope this helps. Have fun, and good luck against the bandits.

 

[tannersharp]

Lol thanks [emoji3] I'm super pumped for my next game, I may only be level 3 but we took out a lot of guys so for, another quick question is can wizards get staffs? Magical staffs that improve attacks because what I'm doing is going into the red brand hideout in some ruins and the leader is glass staff I think and we took someone hostage who said he has a staff and I was wondering if it would help my magic in any way because I'm a bit scronny considering my friends have so much more armed and HP because I am not so proficient, and can I get proficient in new things, I want to get more HP by learning how to use medium armour, I only have 11,

 

[tannersharp]

And where is the "advancement table"? Beacuse I am a high elf wizard and my background is sage but I don't know if the sage has anything to do with it

 

[Kobold Stew]

The table is on p. 113 for Wizards. As you go from level 3 to 4, you'll get an additional cantrip, have another level-2 spell slot, and an ability score improvement (ASI).

The ASI lets you add +2 to any one ability (or +1 to two abilities). doing so will adjust DCs and other numbers. Your friends can help with that. If your game uses feats, you can take a feat instead - talk to the DM.

Generally it's not worth a wizards' time to learn to use medium armour. You should be staying in the back and letting others get hit. But there are spells like Shield and Mage Armor that can help. Sometimes players take a level of fighter or cleric in order to learn armour proficiencies, but that's only if multi classing is allowed.

As for staffs, that's something the DM has complete responsibility for. They're making the world, and it is possible that by pursuing the hostage's clue you will get something useful -- but there are never guarantees.

Hope this helps.

 

[Wik]

So many questions, young padawan!

Regarding Wizards and Staves: You can find magical staves, but they're pretty hard to get a hold of, especially at level 3. And when you do, they rarely make you a better fighter or anything like that. Nope, they usually just let you toss out fireballs or huge, world-destroying spells. Nothing interesting or anything.

Regarding scrawny wizards: Yup, that's a thing. Armour isn't going to affect your hit points, and to get proficient in, say, medium armour is going to cost you either multi-classing, or two feats. I'm guessing you're not using those rules yet. In which case, no, you can't. But don't worry - it's a bad move anyways! Look at the spell "mage armour", cast it frequently, and hide in the back whenever you can. You shouldn't be getting hit anyways. Hit points are for people who make mistakes. Don't make mistakes, and you're golden.

11 hit points at 3rd level, while not the greatest, isn't terrible. At first level, you'll have 6 hit points, plus whatever your constitution modifier is. Each level, you roll 1d6 plus that modifier. Assuming you have no constitution modifier, 11 at 3rd level is about right. If you do have a con mod, it's a little low, but oh well. Put the fighter between you and the bad guys. That's his job. You went to sage school! You shouldn't be getting hit! Outsource that job to someone with armour!

After first level, sage means nothing to your character advancement. You're safe. At this point, the only thing it's going to lead to is book time and using your sage feature to find more quests.

Anyways. That answers your questions. Now, the most important answer to something you didn't ask: don't worry about any of it. Seriously. Don't stress the rules. This isn't a board game, where if you're not following the rules, it's "Cheating" and maybe giving you an unfair advantage. If you and your GM can agree on a way to resolve something, and it's not the way it's done in the books, that's absolutely good to play with. You'll hodge podge together your own rules, play for a while, have the game collapse due to everyone screwing up, re-read the rule book once you sort of know what you're doing, and start again.... with lots of memories of that first campaign.

Seriously, it's been more than twenty years since I ran my first "real" campaign, and it still gets spoken about. And we used about 15% of the rules in the damned book.

 

[Wik]

Oh, and if you ever come across a red creature with a propeller on its tail and a bunch of antennae, it's friendly. Make sure you send the most heavily armoured fighter up front to check this thing out. Especially if he's proud of his armour. I won't give you any spoilers, but I GUARANTEE it'll be one of the biggest laughs you'll ever have.

 

[tannersharp]

Thanks so much guys! This will help me and my group so much, and what is this propeller tailed creature called? Ps last time we had are most armoured and beefy warrior in front he turned into a sheep