So how do you level? Why?

[Treebore]

Let me give you examples to help get at what I am meaning with my questions.

I have done leveling by the book.

I have done leveling in early editions without allowing gold to count.

I have done it when it "feels right", meaning that when I was done with throwing all the challenges at them that are appropriate for their level, I level them so I can throw the new monsters at them.

In my last 2 3E games I leveled them at half the rate by doubling the XP required.

In some of my D&D games I came up with my own XP award system.

Currently I am running a game where they level based on the series of modules I am running, and the level recommended for them. So when the recommended level increases, they get to level.

Have to admit I am really enjoying not having to track XP.

So how have you done it, and why did you do it that way?

 

[Herremann the Wise]

I'm running a Kingmaker Campaign where the focus is on them carving out a chunck of land out of the wilderness and turning it into something special. I want this to be a generational thing with the campaign run over about fifty years in campaign time. The current PCs will develop, a new generation will come along (hopefully related to the former) and the story arc I envisage will be complete.

For this to happen, I really did not want 3e/4e/PF's rapidfire leveling frequency so I followed the PF rules and took the progression down to "slow". It allows me to get twice the adventure in (I've mixed in a lot of other stuff so far), and the room (and campaign time) to really develop some plots. It gives room so that the players can enjoy each step along the way before being rushed into the next suite of abilities. I think meshing the leveling progression with this particular campaign has been a big part of its success for our group (even though a couple of players were iffy to begin with).

I think we've logged up about sixty hours and the group have just achieved level three - so yeah... it's somewhat slow.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[AeroDm]

We tend to level up every few sessions without paying much attention to XP. The usual rate is once every three sessions, with maybe a shorter duration if it coincides with the completion of a big plot arc. We tend to enjoy the 1-12ish range the most, so leveling up every 2-3 sessions gives us about 30 sessions to the campaign. For us, that feels about right.

The one thing I miss about not using XP is that you don't get to hand out the XP award. There is some sense of satisfaction in writing down "2,500 xp" on your total and watching it build. I'm not sure that sense of satisfaction outweighed the annoyance, though.

 

[Aus_Snow]

I've tried a bunch of different ways, not least because I've tried a bunch of different systems. Old school D&D, new school D&D (not including 4e), and others... many others.

One thing I tried for d20, that worked pretty well, was an adaptation of the "Sweet20" method, using Keys and stuff. Gave an interesting kinda feel to the campaign.

No idea what my favourite is though. Whatever suits the campaign style, I guess.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

I've used all the different ways over the years. Today I tend to chose the method to play well with the intended campaign style.

For sandbox-like campaigns I prefer the XP earned method, perhaps modified to set a distinct development speed.

Plot based campaigns see leveling whenever it feels right, i.e. at certain points in the campaign.

Episodic campaigns - not that I have run any up to now - would use levels set by the GM for each episode.

My most often used campaign model is a mixture of sandbox and plot, giving the PCs rather free reign in the sandbox and utilizing adapted adventures for them. This can lead to XP earned being used as main driver plus me giving them XP boosts to get the PCs ready for a planned adventure.

 

[Ahnehnois]

This thread (and poll) might be of interest.

For my part, I just level at my discretion. At one point I used ad hoc XP for overcoming challenges. I never touched the CR/EL system.

 

[IronWolf]

I am running Kingmaker right now and I just tell the players when to level their character based on where they might be in the book we are going through. Saves me a lot of administrative overhead in the long run. It has worked well so far.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I prefer awarding experience points for dealing with campaign issues. The more dangerous and complex the adventure the more xp it is worth.

This way, players have some measure of control over both thier rate of advancement and the difficulty/danger level of the campaign.

 

[OnlineDM]

I'm in the "level when it feels right" camp. For my longest ongoing campaign, I'm running the War of the Burning Sky adventure path, so I level the PCs with an eye on where they're supposed to be in the adventure (it works out to about every three sessions, sometimes two).

For the last in-person campaign I ran, I found myself writing adventures that I felt would last "about a level" each, so I'd level the PCs at the conclusion of an adventure (also about three sessions).

I love NOT tracking XP. I did it for a while, and my life got much better when I stopped. It's just a pain in the butt without any real reward, in my opinion.

 

[howandwhy99]

So how do you level? Why?

SNIP

Have to admit I am really enjoying not having to track XP.

So how have you done it, and why did you do it that way?

Gotta say, I track XP. Putting that out there first, in case you don't want to go back to it.

For me, gaining levels is done by class after accumulating certain amounts of XP. Class, however, is not character level, but it is a nice chunk of character power increasing when a class level increases.

XP is earned by class for performing in class activities (like combat, magic spells, clerical duties, thieving, etc.) Each class and sub-class receives XP for different accomplishments, but there is some overlap in basic adventuring activities.

To gain a class level characters have a training time requirement as well. So, within their current class level they can self-train or hire a trainer to help advance to the next. They can train productively only up unto the next level in terms of training time. Training ultimately comes down to spending time and treasure to consolidate a character's experiences into improving his or her class abilities.

XP is distributed between sessions and when a character breaks a level cap with both sufficient XP and training they gain their next level's class bonuses and abilities.

Gaining levels is very slow, but there are very few levels to reach. Each is a significant jump in relative power to everything else in the world.