Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Mirtek Apr 25, 2015 4:31:50	Are you supposed to reach level 5 by solely playing DDEX1-1 to DDEX1-9 or is the use of the catching up rule assumed to be needed to play 5-10?   I ask because after playing two sessions of LMoP for 1,100 XP and then DDEX1-5 to DDEX1-9 I am 2,308 XP away from level 5 and there's only DDEX1-2 to DDEX1-4 left. Had I played DDEX1-1 instead of the two sessions of LMoP, the gap would be even bigger.   Did we leave too many XP by the roadside? Play with too big parties (always 6-7)? Or was the use of the catching up rule an assumption for everyone playing on DDEX?   PS: Yes, I will just use level 1-4 DDEX2-x mods to get to level 5 without the catching up rule, I am just curious if I had happened to arrive at this point while there were no DDEX2-x mods yet.
#2 Ainulindalion Apr 25, 2015 5:23:24	There is not enough experience in DDEX1-1 through 1-9 to reach level 5, even if you receive the maximum XP award for each module.   As LMoP isn't built for 6 or 7, your experience gain there was likely low.   The intention may have been to encourage sales of the printed products (which is a reason I think they're fairly heavy on magic items, comparatively).
#3 Coredump00 Apr 25, 2015 7:18:48	There is not 'intention'....  with only the first season,  you can't play *only* Expeditions and get to 5th level without using "Catch up".  If you also play Encounters or HotDQ or LMoP it can be done.  Or... if you also play some Expeditions from Season 2.
#4 Skerrit Apr 25, 2015 11:44:58	You could also apply DM xp!
#5 Byakugan01 Apr 25, 2015 14:59:50	Or the DM could/should be throwing in enough extra monsters so the party can keep pace with what the adventure perscribes?     I usually have 6-7 at the table, so i gotta add mobs just to keep them from facerolling everything.
#6 Enevhar_Aldarion Apr 26, 2015 0:30:23	Byakugan01 wrote:
#7 Byakugan01 Apr 26, 2015 1:50:32	Yeah, my bad. I was thinking of the normal HotDQ, RoT, Princes adventures.  They have XP caps but DM should add critters so bigger groups are still challenged and meet the milestones.    The expeditions just have a xp range the DM decides to award, right? I haven't read any of the expeditions yet. Ive just played a couple.
#8 QwertyAzerty Apr 27, 2015 7:29:15	DDEX1-1 give a maximum of 500xp   all the other DDEX1-2 to DDEX1-9 (total of 7 adventure) give MINIMUM of 450Xp (no matter how much you skip or how many player are at the table) and a MAXIMUM of 600XP (again no matter of how many random encounter you face or the number of players)   So in total if you get all the maximum XP you only gain 4700 XP. meaning you will be force to use one of the method to reach level 5: - DM XP reward: if you DMed a game you recceive XP you can give to your character. - Running other AL material (LMoP, season 2 adventures, first 5 chapter of HotDQ, PotA) Those adventue are legal to play with any tier 1 character and allow you to reach level 5 and gain some additional magical item -Catch-up downtime uses. This is my last resort, since I prefer to DM (helping my community by running a game or 2 for them) or play additional content to gain more experience (as a player) to learn more from my party, and to gain some additional magical item.
#9 Kalani Apr 27, 2015 9:34:57	In an effort to deal with the XP shortage - the campaign staff recommends making liberal use of the random encounters from chapter 2. These encounters are not limited to just the wooded area (into the woods) and can be used anywhere - even in Red Larch.    As such - if the party does hit XP cap, you can simply run a few random encounters before/after Tomb of moving stones, on the dessarian road, or elsewhere in places it seems appropriate.
#10 reddaemon Apr 27, 2015 10:49:33	This is a little bit of an issue now due to the lack of content because D&D5e is so new. As more adventures become available and adventurer's league gains popularity, this won't be as much of a problem. With season 2 expeditions now becoming available, you should now be able to get past level 5 if you play expeditions from both seasons. In my area Pathfinder Society is so popular that you can find a game just about any day of the week because just about every store has several regular players. Each store runs multiple tables at different tiers so everyone has a chance to play no matter what character they show up with. This would be an ideal environment for Adventurer's League as well and I really hope it eventually reaches this level of interest, but it may take a while as PFS has at least 6 years on D&D5e and has a very well established player base that has spent a lot of money on Pathfinder books.
#11 Tyranthraxus Apr 27, 2015 19:02:55	With the new season 2, 1-4 scenarios out. (as of May 1) it is NOW possible to get a character from Level 1 to Level 5 just by playing Expeditions scenarios.   Locally I dont have anyone 'crossing the streams' (ie people playing their character in both Encounters and Expeditions scenarios with the same character) so this is helpful to my groups.