D&D 5E When to leveling up? Noob question

[Grimace59]

I'm a brand new player, in a group less experienced group. (guys who haven't played for 10 years plus) We doing HOTDQ, just hit Castle Neytar. Question is when are you supposed to level? First off we know it's not right when you hit the next level like in some video games. When do you lvl up your HP and abilities? During a long rest? or do you need to be in a town or completely away from any conflict?

We've been having this discussion with one player thinking we need to be taking a break in a town, but we just hit a break in chapters where it says to level up. But the chapter switch happened after we excited a tunnel, and now were looking at a huge swamp on the way to the Castle.

When do more experienced players level up? I can't seem to find it in the PHB

Thanks for the help

 

[Z. H. Darkstar]

After a long rest or the end of an adventure/episode/chapter, provided that you have enough XP.

 

[Illithidbix]

It's upto the DM, but typically after a long rest or adventure.

Tends to be done at the end of a session/between sessions so not to cut into play time

 

[iserith]

We keep a running total of XP during play and level up on the spot when the experience required for next level is achieved. To that end, I make sure players have an idea of what they want to do for their character build a level in advance so that advancement is fast. Once the level up happens, we talk about what cool new tricks each character has and then play on!

 

[Grimace59]

We've been keeping a running total for XP and have been leveling at the end of the chapter, but the issue came up for one player because the chapter ended and we were in the swamp still in the thick of things. DM's been running it this way. It was just more of personal inquiry question incase the question came up again.

Thanks for the help and info.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

We've been having this discussion with one player thinking we need to be taking a break in a town, but we just hit a break in chapters where it says to level up. But the chapter switch happened after we excited a tunnel, and now were looking at a huge swamp on the way to the Castle.

If you're following the book, and the book says to level up between chapters, then I'd go with that.

Personally, I only let the PCs level up after they have enough experience and spend a week training. From what I gather, most DMs let their PCs level up after the next long rest.

 

[Rhogar_Rarr]

My DM has it happen after long rests. I let my players do it between sessions.

 

[Mercule]

There's no hard and fast rule on it, to me knowledge. It's really about how your group wants things to flow.

I don't think it'd necessarily be "wrong" to award it immediately. I generally wait for a successful long rest, though. It just feels better. I've also run games (especially in 3E, where awarding XP involved some math) where I only awarded XP between sessions. Some folks say the party needs to get to town or at least out of the dungeon before leveling up. And, some folks wait for the adventure to be over -- which doesn't work as well for sandbox campaigns or mega-adventures.

If you need a default to start with, I'd say go for a long rest. If they can complete a long rest successfully, they're far enough removed from danger to reflect a bit and put their experience into practice.

 

[Uller]

The main thing is that the DM should tell everyone what he plans to use for leveling and under what conditions so everyone knows what to expect before hand.

There is no wrong answer here. Just so all the players know when level ups will happen.

 

[thorgrit]

I played in a 3e game where the DM handed out xp after every downed monster. Not after every fight, after every monster. I remember one of us leveled in the middle of fighting a pack of kobolds. Whole game stopped while that player rolled hp, chose new spells, spent skill points, etc. That felt a little too disruptive for me.