Dragonlance "You walk down the road, party is now level 2."

[DarkCrisis]

In my attempt to try 5.5 I was trying to decide between running the Dragonlance Adventure or the Planescape one.

I was heavily considering the Planescape one when I noticed that it starts at level 3. I was wanting to give my group the full 5.5 experience by starting at level 1 and heading up from there.

Well the Dragonlance one starts at level 1. Well okay that works. Not my first choice but I do like Krynn.

"Level 1" is literally walk down a road. Maybe fight 2-4 guys. DING Level 2. Even if I wasn't running Milestone there is no way to get XP for that aside from just handing them story xp for reasons.

Next chapter is basically wandering around a town and talking to NPCs. Maybe go fishing. A battle erupts and they actually have an encounter or 2. One a boss monster (more or less). At the end of the day DING Level 3.

This is basically level 1-5. Also, keeping in mind these 1-2 battles vs full up Heroes who can just "go nova".

1-2 walking, light battle
3-4 Fishing and light battle
3-4 is maybe 2-4 encounters after some talking
4-5 is mostly talking with about 3 encounters near the end
5+ seems to be when the actual adventuring starts.

WTH?

Also it would seem to slow the game down to after an hour "Okay your level 2, change your sheets." 45 later "Okay your level 3 change your sheets." 30 minutes later "Your level 4 change your sheets." etc.

Just start the game at 5.

Just wild IMO.

Is this normal now? I get 5E is meant more for telling stories then roaming dungeons but man the first 5 levels are just handed out for more or less free.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

In my attempt to try 5.5 I was trying to decide between running the Dragonlance Adventure or the Planescape one.

I was heavily considering the Planescape one when I noticed that it starts at level 3. I was wanting to give my group the full 5.5 experience by starting at level 1 and heading up from there.

Well the Dragonlance one starts at level 1. Well okay that works. Not my first choice but I do like Krynn.

"Level 1" is literally walk down a road. Maybe fight 2-4 guys. DING Level 2. Even if I wasn't running Milestone there is no way to get XP for that aside from just handing them story xp for reasons.

Next chapter is basically wandering around a town and talking to NPCs. Maybe go fishing. A battle erupts and they actually have an encounter or 2. One a boss monster (more or less). At the end of the day DING Level 2.

This is basically level 1-5. Also, keeping in mind these 1-2 battles vs full up Heroes who can just "go nova".

1-2 walking, light battle
3-4 Fishing and light battle
3-4 is maybe 2-4 encounters after some talking
4-5 is mostly talking with about 3 encounters near the end
5+ seems to be when the actual adventuring starts.

WTH?

Also it would seem to slow the game down to after an hour "Okay your level 2, change your sheets." 45 later "Okay your level 3 change your sheets." 30 minutes later "Your level 4 change your sheets." etc.

Just start the game at 5.

Just wild IMO.

Is this normal now? I get 5E is meant more for telling stories then roaming dungeons but man the first 5 levels are just handed out for more or less free.

You noticed this now? After 10 years?

 

[DarkCrisis]

You noticed this now? After 10 years?

I haven’t ran 5E in a good while.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I haven’t ran 5E in a good while.

Ok. But this has been true for 10 years now. So very old news.

 

[Charlaquin]

Levels 1 and 2 are designed to go by very quickly because they’re introductory levels, meant to ease new players (and/or players playing a new class) into playing their character without too many complex abilities to worry about. Half a session to one session each. Level 3 is supposed to take a little longer, about one to two sessions, because that’s when you first get your subclass and it’s kinda when the “real game” starts. For experienced groups, it makes a lot of sense to start at 3rd level, and a lot of modules do start there. Most other levels take about two to three sessions if you use XP and follow the adventuring day guidelines, though a lot of groups use fewer encounters per day than recommended, so it might take twice as long or longer for such groups. Levels 5 and 11 are a bit slower, because they’re the start of new tiers and the designers wanted to give the players a bit more time to adjust and enjoy the big power bump.

 

[Piperken]

In my attempt to try 5.5 I was trying to decide between running the Dragonlance Adventure or the Planescape one...

...Also it would seem to slow the game down to after an hour "Okay your level 2, change your sheets." 45 later "Okay your level 3 change your sheets." 30 minutes later "Your level 4 change your sheets." etc.

Just start the game at 5.

Just wild IMO.

Is this normal now? I get 5E is meant more for telling stories then roaming dungeons but man the first 5 levels are just handed out for more or less free.

I vibe with this sentiment as well, as I like levels 1-3 for a variety of reasons.

Do you have a sense of what situations might enable them to jump from Krynn to Planescape yet?

 

[TwoSix]

Levels 1 and 2 are designed to go by very quickly because they’re introductory levels, meant to ease new players (and/or players playing a new class) into playing their character without too many complex abilities to worry about. Half a session to one session each. Level 3 is supposed to take a little longer, about one to two sessions, because that’s when you first get your subclass and it’s kinda when the “real game” starts. For experienced groups, it makes a lot of sense to start at 3rd level, and a lot of modules do start there. Most other levels take about two to three sessions if you use XP and follow the adventuring day guidelines, though a lot of groups use fewer encounters per day than recommended, so it might take twice as long or longer for such groups. Levels 5 and 11 are a bit slower, because they’re the start of new tiers and the designers wanted to give the players a bit more time to adjust and enjoy the big power bump.

Not to well actually, but assuming you're using the rough DM baseline, tier 2 is actually where you need the most "CR appropriate" encounters to level, with level 10 being the actual longest level. Number of CR-appropriate encounters to level drops quite a bit at level 11 and into tier 3.

 

[Mallus]

Think of levels 1-2 as the tutorial. That said, I've slowed down progression at every PC level in my 5e campaign.

 

[SlyFlourish]

In my attempt to try 5.5 I was trying to decide between running the Dragonlance Adventure or the Planescape one.

I was heavily considering the Planescape one when I noticed that it starts at level 3. I was wanting to give my group the full 5.5 experience by starting at level 1 and heading up from there.

Well the Dragonlance one starts at level 1. Well okay that works. Not my first choice but I do like Krynn.

"Level 1" is literally walk down a road. Maybe fight 2-4 guys. DING Level 2. Even if I wasn't running Milestone there is no way to get XP for that aside from just handing them story xp for reasons.

Next chapter is basically wandering around a town and talking to NPCs. Maybe go fishing. A battle erupts and they actually have an encounter or 2. One a boss monster (more or less). At the end of the day DING Level 2.

This is basically level 1-5. Also, keeping in mind these 1-2 battles vs full up Heroes who can just "go nova".

1-2 walking, light battle
3-4 Fishing and light battle
3-4 is maybe 2-4 encounters after some talking
4-5 is mostly talking with about 3 encounters near the end
5+ seems to be when the actual adventuring starts.

WTH?

Also it would seem to slow the game down to after an hour "Okay your level 2, change your sheets." 45 later "Okay your level 3 change your sheets." 30 minutes later "Your level 4 change your sheets." etc.

Just start the game at 5.

Just wild IMO.

Is this normal now? I get 5E is meant more for telling stories then roaming dungeons but man the first 5 levels are just handed out for more or less free.

I've always said that level 1 should be a stern conversation and a fight with a giant rat.

 

[Yaarel]

Levels of characters is a session zero topic. DM and players have total control over levels.

I personally start off a campaign by zooming thru the apprentice levels.

The characters start off at level 1, about 20 years old.

Exactly 3 encounters later, they are level 2.
After that, 6 more encounters, they reach level 3.
9 encounters, level 4.
12 encounters, level 5, and they are now the equivalent "college grads".
15 encounters is the sweetspot from levels 6 onward.

From level 13 onward, it can drop down to 12 or 9 encounters if DM and players wish.

Suit to taste. Savor the favorite levels, zoom the impatient levels.


I havent done it, but 2024 makes it easy to have a level 0, with background feat and simple weapons, and maybe a choice of one martial weapon, cantrip, or shield.