a new level... [Archive] - Wizards Community

a new level... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Morphey
06-04-06, 03:38 PM i want to know whwn do you give your players xp :
after a fight
at the end of the adventure
at the end of the game session

Usually i use the last, so i doesnt slow the game and it give time to update pc between games. For the next question, maybe a little more problematic since everyone as a different oppinion on it: when do you get your new lvl ability?
after a night of sleep
after training with a master
right now ( like in video game)

im really not sure witch ne is the best. The last time ive play ( as a pc not a dm) , the dm used the first one ( lvl after sleep) but we didnt sleep the entire game , so we didnt get our new ability the entire game.
im really interseted in what you do in your game for new lvl
Shade_Damara
06-04-06, 03:44 PM I give them experience after the game session and they get their new level abilities next session.
shadowofjedis
06-04-06, 04:04 PM I give it to them once they finish something and have time to rest. So if theyre in a dungeon, they dont get xp till they go back to town or camp and rest. The way I see it, they need time to rest, meditate or think upon what they did, and learn from it.
TheChilliGod
06-04-06, 04:04 PM Aye, giving them experience just after a gaming session is the preferable approach IMO, because it doesn't take up any time in the gaming session, and you would get to level up more accurately than if you were finishing an adventure (Seriously, a player could have done with a level up when he was at that boss battle, rather than after it, eh?)

As for IG, I just make the players sleep the levels off, getting them to recollect the events of the day, the battles, how that character could have improved personally, and all that sort of evaluation of combat style that gets the character to reach new levels of expertise.
We usually finish our sessions off with it being nighttime anyway, so you could say we level up at the end of the session or at sleep-time, makes little difference. :D
shadowofjedis
06-04-06, 04:09 PM Chilli, looks like we do the same thing?

I like doing it that way because it gives them more of an excuse to go back to town and rest.

And I have a habit of bad things (i.e. the start of a side quest) happening at town, in inns, at night.

Or bar brawls...
Tempest Stormwind
06-04-06, 04:13 PM The PHB makes it pretty darn clear that levelling happens during downtime when you have time to train.

For those of you who allow mid-adventure levelling: Please explain how a wizard does his spell research and manages to pen TWO spells of ANY level he can cast (remember the time it takes to scribe a page!) into his spellbook, overnight.
Witch
06-04-06, 04:18 PM For those of you who allow mid-adventure levelling: Please explain how a wizard does his spell research and manages to pen TWO spells of ANY level he can cast (remember the time it takes to scribe a page!) into his spellbook, overnight.
I assume they've been working on them before going to sleep for a long while.
DarkRhystar
06-04-06, 04:38 PM After a session is when experience is handed out. Usually I already have the experience calculated out, but sometimes (read many times) the players will do very different things that warrant experience in themselves (in my opinion).

If the players have gained enough experience to level up, they level up their character with one exception. They roll HP at the beginning of the next session.

For those of you who allow mid-adventure levelling: Please explain how a wizard does his spell research and manages to pen TWO spells of ANY level he can cast (remember the time it takes to scribe a page!) into his spellbook, overnight.

As to how they get the spells, it's assumed they have been researching them all along. It's the equivalent of completing a difficult math equation. You spend a long while working on it and one day you manage to solve it. Works fine for us.
Drachasor
06-04-06, 04:43 PM My DM started putting coins in a bowl each time we earned experience. The number of coins was proportional to the amount of experience we earned. So while he didn't give us the exact amount, we could see roughly how much a given challenge was worth. It was very nice. The next time I DM, I'll probably do the same thing.

-Drachasor
darokinblade
06-04-06, 07:56 PM The coin Idea is pretty cool. Never thought of something like that. Kodos for creativity.

Personally, I give XP on the fly. My party has such variating levels (Due to player ADD) that its hard to account for it all, and some people need to catch up to others, and sometimes a few players who would make several levels would only make one due to DnD leveling rules.

I tried the training rules as per the DMG, but to be honest, i found it slowed the pace down way too much (Having to walk to a town somewhere, finding a trainer and then training... etc). I think training may work in some campaigns, like military or gladatorial campains, but not mine.

To be honest, i think it all comes down to pacing, and how you want to do it. If you dont want to have to wait for leveling, have it done at the end of the session. If you want it to span years, training is the way to go.

Personally, we take breaks as we play, and my players no we dont stop to wait for someone to level anymore, and if its not done before a fight, then they have to wait til its over. They have gotten pretty good at leveling quickly, to be sure!

Just my 2P
Dark Stryke
06-04-06, 08:15 PM I don't even bother with the experience system anymore. My players have expressed a dislike in it, as calculating it either slowed down gametime, or made more things for them to keep track of (or both). Some of my players aren't math inclined, and when I started handing out RP experience, and everyone has slightly different XP levels, there was a lot of annoyance. So, I ditched XP altogether, and now my players level when I want them to. I generally advance them at a faster pace than the D&D levelling rules would allow for, because I don't use the rediculous rules for random encounters (I use very few, if any random encounters).
The results: Everyone is pretty happy, the campaign has a much more epic feeling because the party doesn't fight random hags, goblins, basilisks, demons, hydras, etc between every town (It strains the realism. How does anybody survive when there's a 10% chance PER HOUR to fight something?), they level faster, and find larger treasure hordes to compensate. Fighting a monster means that the party has conciously sought out the enemy, or the enemy has tracked down them. Both mean storyline, which is wonderful.
But hey, some players don't like my way, because they like to see how close they are to a level, and they like to kill tons of monsters to "earn it." Whatever keeps your players happy, and your game going strongly, I suggest you do that.
Steel Cobra
06-05-06, 04:30 PM I know what I do is not the general thing of all people or even near to it.

I give out XP right at the end of the battle and if players reach a new level then I level them up right then and there. I know this may "slow down play time" but for me it works really well. My plyers enjoy a new level, and they have to get up and go to the fridge or what not every now and again.

Now that doesn't matter so much to be and I usually have them grab me some food while they are over there. I can play D&D for hours and hours non-stop, my players don't have that kind of love for it.

And well since I have a healer (less battle cleric), a rogue, a barbarian, and a tinker (technology guy). I think it works out pretty well. It kinda "fits" since none of them have spells they need to write down, or anything like that.
hmmmm
06-05-06, 04:41 PM at the end of the game session
Is when I give XP.
sorites
06-05-06, 06:26 PM I give xp at the beginning of the session. I go through a recap of the previous session's events, and as I get to each battle or event in my retelling, I award xp for it. I also use the beginning of the session to make announcements or comment on rules questions, whatever. And we play that PCs need to rest before they can level.
Gargs454
06-05-06, 07:20 PM I always give XP at the end of a session. As for level ups, obviously it would not be until the end of a session as well, but I also rule that they have to have time to sleep and reflect on what they have learned. Usually with my group, this goes hand in hand with the end of the session, but not always.

As for explaining how characters level up and learn spells mid-adventure, well its pretty simple. The wizards are assumed to have been studying the spells already. Additioinally, you could make the opposite argument for just about every other class. Clerics get their spells from their deity. So after earning enough adulation from their God, the god grants them more spells. A fighting, having gone through enough battles can now see a new approach to a certain situation (read: new feat). A monk, tones her body that much more through practice and experience and can now hit that much harder. To simply punish the wizards would be unfair imho. That being said, I do not allow them to learn more than the two automatic spells unless they a) have the scroll to copy the spell, b) have the materials to copy said spell, and c) have the time to copy said spell.

More importantly though, there are plenty of adventures out there (both published and homebrew) that anticipate that players will gain 2-3 levels during the campaign, but that don't allow for real easy retreats to the local town, etc. Requiring them to go back to town to earn their abilities would be too harsh imho.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Morphey 06-04-06, 03:38 PM	i want to know whwn do you give your players xp : after a fight at the end of the adventure at the end of the game session Usually i use the last, so i doesnt slow the game and it give time to update pc between games. For the next question, maybe a little more problematic since everyone as a different oppinion on it: when do you get your new lvl ability? after a night of sleep after training with a master right now ( like in video game) im really not sure witch ne is the best. The last time ive play ( as a pc not a dm) , the dm used the first one ( lvl after sleep) but we didnt sleep the entire game , so we didnt get our new ability the entire game. im really interseted in what you do in your game for new lvl
Shade_Damara 06-04-06, 03:44 PM	I give them experience after the game session and they get their new level abilities next session.
shadowofjedis 06-04-06, 04:04 PM	I give it to them once they finish something and have time to rest. So if theyre in a dungeon, they dont get xp till they go back to town or camp and rest. The way I see it, they need time to rest, meditate or think upon what they did, and learn from it.
TheChilliGod 06-04-06, 04:04 PM	Aye, giving them experience just after a gaming session is the preferable approach IMO, because it doesn't take up any time in the gaming session, and you would get to level up more accurately than if you were finishing an adventure (Seriously, a player could have done with a level up when he was at that boss battle, rather than after it, eh?) As for IG, I just make the players sleep the levels off, getting them to recollect the events of the day, the battles, how that character could have improved personally, and all that sort of evaluation of combat style that gets the character to reach new levels of expertise. We usually finish our sessions off with it being nighttime anyway, so you could say we level up at the end of the session or at sleep-time, makes little difference. :D
shadowofjedis 06-04-06, 04:09 PM	Chilli, looks like we do the same thing? I like doing it that way because it gives them more of an excuse to go back to town and rest. And I have a habit of bad things (i.e. the start of a side quest) happening at town, in inns, at night. Or bar brawls...
Tempest Stormwind 06-04-06, 04:13 PM	The PHB makes it pretty darn clear that levelling happens during downtime when you have time to train. For those of you who allow mid-adventure levelling: Please explain how a wizard does his spell research and manages to pen TWO spells of ANY level he can cast (remember the time it takes to scribe a page!) into his spellbook, overnight.
Witch 06-04-06, 04:18 PM	For those of you who allow mid-adventure levelling: Please explain how a wizard does his spell research and manages to pen TWO spells of ANY level he can cast (remember the time it takes to scribe a page!) into his spellbook, overnight. I assume they've been working on them before going to sleep for a long while.
DarkRhystar 06-04-06, 04:38 PM	After a session is when experience is handed out. Usually I already have the experience calculated out, but sometimes (read many times) the players will do very different things that warrant experience in themselves (in my opinion). If the players have gained enough experience to level up, they level up their character with one exception. They roll HP at the beginning of the next session. For those of you who allow mid-adventure levelling: Please explain how a wizard does his spell research and manages to pen TWO spells of ANY level he can cast (remember the time it takes to scribe a page!) into his spellbook, overnight. As to how they get the spells, it's assumed they have been researching them all along. It's the equivalent of completing a difficult math equation. You spend a long while working on it and one day you manage to solve it. Works fine for us.
Drachasor 06-04-06, 04:43 PM	My DM started putting coins in a bowl each time we earned experience. The number of coins was proportional to the amount of experience we earned. So while he didn't give us the exact amount, we could see roughly how much a given challenge was worth. It was very nice. The next time I DM, I'll probably do the same thing. -Drachasor
darokinblade 06-04-06, 07:56 PM	The coin Idea is pretty cool. Never thought of something like that. Kodos for creativity. Personally, I give XP on the fly. My party has such variating levels (Due to player ADD) that its hard to account for it all, and some people need to catch up to others, and sometimes a few players who would make several levels would only make one due to DnD leveling rules. I tried the training rules as per the DMG, but to be honest, i found it slowed the pace down way too much (Having to walk to a town somewhere, finding a trainer and then training... etc). I think training may work in some campaigns, like military or gladatorial campains, but not mine. To be honest, i think it all comes down to pacing, and how you want to do it. If you dont want to have to wait for leveling, have it done at the end of the session. If you want it to span years, training is the way to go. Personally, we take breaks as we play, and my players no we dont stop to wait for someone to level anymore, and if its not done before a fight, then they have to wait til its over. They have gotten pretty good at leveling quickly, to be sure! Just my 2P
Dark Stryke 06-04-06, 08:15 PM	I don't even bother with the experience system anymore. My players have expressed a dislike in it, as calculating it either slowed down gametime, or made more things for them to keep track of (or both). Some of my players aren't math inclined, and when I started handing out RP experience, and everyone has slightly different XP levels, there was a lot of annoyance. So, I ditched XP altogether, and now my players level when I want them to. I generally advance them at a faster pace than the D&D levelling rules would allow for, because I don't use the rediculous rules for random encounters (I use very few, if any random encounters). The results: Everyone is pretty happy, the campaign has a much more epic feeling because the party doesn't fight random hags, goblins, basilisks, demons, hydras, etc between every town (It strains the realism. How does anybody survive when there's a 10% chance PER HOUR to fight something?), they level faster, and find larger treasure hordes to compensate. Fighting a monster means that the party has conciously sought out the enemy, or the enemy has tracked down them. Both mean storyline, which is wonderful. But hey, some players don't like my way, because they like to see how close they are to a level, and they like to kill tons of monsters to "earn it." Whatever keeps your players happy, and your game going strongly, I suggest you do that.
Steel Cobra 06-05-06, 04:30 PM	I know what I do is not the general thing of all people or even near to it. I give out XP right at the end of the battle and if players reach a new level then I level them up right then and there. I know this may "slow down play time" but for me it works really well. My plyers enjoy a new level, and they have to get up and go to the fridge or what not every now and again. Now that doesn't matter so much to be and I usually have them grab me some food while they are over there. I can play D&D for hours and hours non-stop, my players don't have that kind of love for it. And well since I have a healer (less battle cleric), a rogue, a barbarian, and a tinker (technology guy). I think it works out pretty well. It kinda "fits" since none of them have spells they need to write down, or anything like that.
hmmmm 06-05-06, 04:41 PM	at the end of the game session Is when I give XP.
sorites 06-05-06, 06:26 PM	I give xp at the beginning of the session. I go through a recap of the previous session's events, and as I get to each battle or event in my retelling, I award xp for it. I also use the beginning of the session to make announcements or comment on rules questions, whatever. And we play that PCs need to rest before they can level.
Gargs454 06-05-06, 07:20 PM	I always give XP at the end of a session. As for level ups, obviously it would not be until the end of a session as well, but I also rule that they have to have time to sleep and reflect on what they have learned. Usually with my group, this goes hand in hand with the end of the session, but not always. As for explaining how characters level up and learn spells mid-adventure, well its pretty simple. The wizards are assumed to have been studying the spells already. Additioinally, you could make the opposite argument for just about every other class. Clerics get their spells from their deity. So after earning enough adulation from their God, the god grants them more spells. A fighting, having gone through enough battles can now see a new approach to a certain situation (read: new feat). A monk, tones her body that much more through practice and experience and can now hit that much harder. To simply punish the wizards would be unfair imho. That being said, I do not allow them to learn more than the two automatic spells unless they a) have the scroll to copy the spell, b) have the materials to copy said spell, and c) have the time to copy said spell. More importantly though, there are plenty of adventures out there (both published and homebrew) that anticipate that players will gain 2-3 levels during the campaign, but that don't allow for real easy retreats to the local town, etc. Requiring them to go back to town to earn their abilities would be too harsh imho.