D&D 5E What Level is the Party after 56 Sessions?

After 56 3-hour sessions of D&D 5E, what level do you think the party would be?

  • 3rd level or less

    Votes: 2 1.7%
  • 4th or 5th

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 6th to 8th

    Votes: 14 11.8%
  • 9th or 10th

    Votes: 26 21.8%
  • 11th to 13th

    Votes: 38 31.9%
  • 14th to 16th

    Votes: 24 20.2%
  • 17th+

    Votes: 15 12.6%

What level would they be (i.e. you're playing it as designed) or what level should they be (i.e. how would you like it to be) - that's two different questions. I voted as if the latter question were asked.
 

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I checked my records for my online (Fantasy Grounds) weekly games. The first group plays for three hours a week; for their most recent campaigns they were levels 10-11th and 7th respectively as of the start of session 56. Their second campaign is going at a slower pace since it's very RP-heavy and involves intrigue and politics and other things that take time to adjudicate (they're currently level 15, with 135 sessions completed). The other group plays for two hours a week, and they had just reached 8th level by session 56. We just finished that campaign at 17th level after 161 sessions.
 

I'd expect them to be around 14th to 16th level by that point. I could seem them potentially hitting 17th if I shortcut a couple of the early levels as is my preference.
 

What level would they be (i.e. you're playing it as designed) or what level should they be (i.e. how would you like it to be) - that's two different questions. I voted as if the latter question were asked.

I used "would" over "should" very purposefully.

"Would" suggests what you imagine they'd be given your general view and experience of 5E.

"Should" suggests there is a right or wrong answer, which I definitely am not remotely suggesting or believe.
 




If I did my math right level 17 would be a consistent pace.

1 session each for 1 and 2.
2 per for 3 and 4.
4 per for 5-10.
3 per for 11-16.

That brings us to 17. I would then go to 2 per for the remaining levels.

It is easy to speed it up or slow it down. Using the XP tables this is about the curve. It actually takes more XP to get from 10 to 11 than 11 to 12 despite being in another tier of power because the game is designed to speed up.
 

It depends entirely on how many encounters the party is having per session and how difficult those encounters are. But, if you follow the guidelines in the DMG closely, you should level up to 2 and 3 in one session each, and approximately every other session thereafter. So, level 20, plus 10 epic boons.

I don't think the DMG specifies per session like that.

What if a session is 1 hour? Or 8?

I expect 1 long rest every 2 (3 hour) sessions in my games.
 

Probably right around 11th level, maybe 10th. Depends on how much role play and exploration is done in each session.
 

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