Wally DM

Are You Experienced?

Today’s article may be a short one but this is a topic that can drive most DMs mad. You may have players that ask for a level up after every session and that can really break down the fun.

I have touched lightly on some of the problems in a previous article talking about allowing a player to level up every session. https://wallydm.com/a-level-a-session-campaign-system/ This system works well for smaller groups but how do you handle even larger groups?

I hope to address some of the problems a DM may run into every type of game. This article will cover how Experience works in D&D and may not work in other systems.

Did We Level Yet?

This is something that your players may do every game unless you establish a relative timeframe of how fast someone levels up. If you are running your own campaign and not a module, then the rate it takes to level is mostly linear, but the length of time it takes becomes stretched out.

The above table comes from the PHB 5E. The first 6 levels take over 2 times the current experience to level before dropping significantly at level 7. I think this shows the major flaw in how experience is handled because the fast levels, 1 through 5, mathematically take longer to reach.

There’s a second problem. In base D&D, each monster gives a flat rate of experience per “kill”. This works fine for a standard group of 4 people because that experience is divided evenly among every player. If an enemy gives 100 experience then every player in a party of 4 gets 25 experience. This breaks down with a bigger party and why this system works better for a smaller group.

Are Ya Winning Son?

I’ll give you some ideas to smooth out the system. If you follow this standard system, you will notice that your party only gets experience for combat and this sets up for a murder hobo party. Some modules may give experience in alternative ways but the DMG doesn’t really tell you that you can give experience for non-combat encounters. This way you can give bonus experience for completing a difficult Persuasion check or for extra ordinary acts or feats.

This is where you must take time to calculate how fast you want your party to level. Longer campaigns feel better if it does take longer to level as people get time to learn about their characters. Keep in mind, if it’s taking too long to level, the game gets stale. If things feel too slow, find opportunities to award bonus experience. This becomes easier the longer you’re a DM.

Don’t Split The Party … Levels?

Before I continue, I want to take a moment to discuss some possible snags. Sometimes not every player can make every game and this is when things get odd with experience. I recommend giving everyone the same experience and level ups. If a player falls behind in levels, the game is no longer balanced, and besides, unless it was set up that players are ok with level gaps it’s best to avoid them.

Another Milestone

There is another way to handle experience. Don’t track it at all. As the DM, you can place points when players level up. This works well for pacing out long campaigns and takes a lot of pressure from everyone. Generally, these level ups are given after a main story arc is accomplished, as thus the players can impact the speed of leveling by completing story objectives. In this way if players feel like it’s taking too long to level, this gives incentives to progress the story.

You’re Experienced Now!

Leveling really impacts how stale a game is feeling. Use this as a guide to know if it’s time to advance players along so their characters can grow. No matter what happens it’s important to let your players know if something isn’t working, talk it out.

You can continue the discussion in comments here or in WallyDM’s discord. If you’re struggling as a new DM, give me topic ideas you’re struggling with and they may become an article. Thanks as always for taking the time to learn how to become a better DM.