What levelling up rules do you use?

[ajevans]

One of the things that marks AD&D1e from many other editions are the following rules (paraphrased from the DMG p86):

• When you receive another XP to level up, you don't automatically level up.
• Any XP received above the level threshold is lost until you level up.
• You need to find someone to train you to level up, which takes x weeks and y GP

I'm curious if anyone plays this as RAW or just house-rules for something different?

 

[delericho]

I very very briefly used training rules in 2nd Ed. They didn't survive long - my players rebelled pretty quickly.

While they were in force, they most resembled your option 3 - you don't lose excess XP but didn't level until you received training.

 

[Gilladian]

In my campaigns we pretty much level up when I want them to, but I also do imply training, I just don't require it AT level up. PCs seek out training as part of their adventures, at least sometimes.

 

[Celebrim]

I think the first year or so I played by the rules, but the training rules - like most rules in the 1e AD&D DMG - really expected all campaigns to have a Haven/Megadungeon structure with a revolving cast of PC's. They weren't well suited to wilderness campaigns and adventure paths where downtime for training just because someone had leveled up meant putting the story on hiatus and always seemed to occur at some inconvenient time because PCs never leveled up together (owing to the fact each class required a different amount of XP). If you want to run a true old school campaign with the same assumptions Gygax had about play, it might be fun to use the training rules. But otherwise, just have it work more like modern games and level more or less immediately when the XP is earned.

 

[Hriston]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by capping XP or losing excess XP. My understanding of the RAW is that once a character is awarded enough XP to meet or exceed the threshold, then the character can no longer receive additional XP until undertaking the required training, which to me sounds more like your third option than your first.

 

[ajevans]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by capping XP or losing excess XP. My understanding of the RAW is that once a character is awarded enough XP to meet or exceed the threshold, then the character can no longer receive additional XP until undertaking the required training, which to me sounds more like your third option than your first.

So, lets say I'm a Thief at 1237XP and I get given 500XP by the DM. As RAW, my XP goes up to 1251 and stays there until I get trained up to Level 2.

So we return to the game next week and I don't find a mentor or don't have GP to level up. At the end of the session the DM awards everyone 400XP each - however my XP is still at 1251XP.

I finally get round to training and levelling up, and from then on I get to accumulate XP, but the original 486 excess and the 400XP from last week are lost.

 

[Hriston]

So, lets say I'm a Thief at 1237XP and I get given 500XP by the DM. As RAW, my XP goes up to 1251 and stays there until I get trained up to Level 2.

No. According to the RAW, your XP would go up to 1737 and would stay there until you complete your level 2 training. Here's the relevant passage from page 86 of the DMG:

Under no circumstance can a character gain additional experience points by any means until he or she actually acquires the higher level through the required training/study course. Thus, a character who successfully adventures and gains experience points which not only equal a new level but are almost sufficient to gain yet a second such level, cannot opt to forego the period of training and study necessary to go up a level in favor of gaining a few more points and training and studying for two levels at once. ONCE A CHARACTER HAS POINTS WHICH ARE EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN THE MINIMUM NUMBER NECESSARY TO MOVE UPWARDS IN EXPERIENCE LEVEL, NO FURTHER EXPERIENCE POINTS CAN BE GAINED UNTIL THE CHARACTER ACTUALLY GAINS THE NEW LEVEL.​

So we return to the game next week and I don't find a mentor or don't have GP to level up. At the end of the session the DM awards everyone 400XP each - however my XP is still at 1251XP.

No, it's still at 1737. The moratorium on additional XP doesn't go into effect until the character has met or exceeded the minimum.

I finally get round to training and levelling up, and from then on I get to accumulate XP, but the original 486 excess and the 400XP from last week are lost.

You only "lost" the 400XP from last week, not the original 486 that were part of the 500 you earned as a level 1 thief. This is why I'm having trouble answering your poll.

 

[ajevans]

Hriston, okay I see you what you are saying but interpret the rules differently from you, otherwise let's say you found 200,000GP you would have enough XP to gain multiple levels, riding roughshod over Gygax's fretting over PCs being able to advance several levels in one go.

I think either is a valid interpretation given the wording.

In your case then, please interpret the poll as the following:

Option1: As you see RAW
Option2: (Doesn't apply per your interpretation)
Option3: Require training to level up but you're allowed to accrue XP in the meantime
Option4: As written.

 

[Hriston]

Hriston, okay I see you what you are saying but interpret the rules differently from you, otherwise let's say you found 200,000GP you would have enough XP to gain multiple levels, riding roughshod over Gygax's fretting over PCs being able to advance several levels in one go.

Yes, in the event of a Monty Haul DM, a level 1 thief could possibly have enough XP to advance to level 10. However, the thief would not be eligible to gain any additional XP until such time as the training for each level in between was completed and paid for. That you see this as a problem and have interpreted the rules in such a way as to address the problem doesn't justify labeling your interpretation as RAW.

I think either is a valid interpretation given the wording.

Whether valid or not, it's your interpretation, while what is written in the book is something else.

In your case then, please interpret the poll as the following:

Option1: As you see RAW
Option2: (Doesn't apply per your interpretation)
Option3: Require training to level up but you're allowed to accrue XP in the meantime
Option4: As written.

I see. Alright, I chose option 1, with the caveat that the cap is on additional XP above what was already earned to bring the PC's XP total equal to or in excess of the XP threshold for the next higher level.

 

[was]

...We ignored the RAW in this regard and always automatically levelled up when we had sufficient XP. Experience was looked at as on-the-job training.