D&D 5E What Level is the Party after 56 Sessions?

[EzekielRaiden]

1 session to reach level 2
2 sessions to reach level 3
3 sessions to reach level 4

4 sessions/level thereafter, so 50/4 = 12.5 = 12 further levels gained

this leads to being level 4 at the end of the 6th session, and being level 16 (halfway to 17) by session 56.

That pace seems very slightly fast to my eyes, so if we drop it to 5 sessions/level, we'd get (exactly) level 14 after 56 sessions, which results in an overall average of (exactly) 4 sessions/level overall, just accelerated for the first few and slowed down thereafter. However, because the poll is in 3-level chunks, this makes no difference for my vote.

While I wouldn't expect it to be perfectly linear at all times, if the average pace of levelling is on the order of 8-10 weeks to gain a single level, I'm not going to be particularly pleased with the pace of that game. It's going to feel plodding, even if the narrative pacing is significantly better (but, to be perfectly honest, I don't expect the narrative pacing to be very good in such a game).

If we haven't even reached level 4 after 56 sessions, I'm gonna be crawling up the walls.

 

[Plaguescarred]

After 56 sessions somewhere between level 14-16 range.

 

[Wolfpack48]

I like slow and steady so 9-10 for me. I'd probably retire characters around this time.

 

[el-remmen]

So the inspiration for this thread was not actually my campaign that has lasted 56 sessions so far. It was joining a campaign that was about 25 3-hour sessions in, where the characters are around 8th level. It made me realize that my in-person group, who had just completed around the same number of sessions (24) had only recently hit 4th level (session #17), so nearly exactly half the rate of advancement of the game I joined . . . except these sessions last 4 to 5 hours instead of 3! So if the game I joined has 75 hours of play time, then the game I run has approximate 113 hours play time for half the advancement.

The group I run for that I decided to make this question about because it does have 3-hour sessions has played 56 sessions and only recently (session #51) hit 6th-level.

Anyway, I am not complaining about my groups' rate of advancement. The 56-session group actually prefers "a slow game" and while my in-person group is itching for 5th level, they have made some terrible blunders that have elongated past (and the current) adventures and I only grant XP after each adventure (or significant portion of a longer one) is complete and PCs have a chance for some downtime.

As usual, I just wanted to compare my experiences with others.

Personally, I disagree with Mearls strongly about advancing to 2nd level after the first session. A "Session" is too wildly varying a category of time and game events. I think advancing to 2nd level after the first adventure makes more sense, however, many sessions that takes. I like for players to have a chance to learn and absorb their abilities at each level before moving on to the next. I also prefer lower levels (my Vanity Frankenstein 5E project caps advancement at level 10 and increases XP cost per level).

Below is a breakdown of how often I awarded XP in the three 5E campaigns I am running/have run ("n/a" = XP awarded but not enough for advancement)

Ghosts of Saltmarsh+ (45 sessions total, complete/hiatus)

XP awarded at the end of Session #	Level Gained
Session #4	2nd level
Session #7	3rd level
Session #9	n/a
Session #12	n/a
Session #16	4th level
Session #19	n/a
Session #23	5th level
Session #29	6th level
Session #34	n/a
Session #38	7th level
Session #44	n/a

Revenants of Saltmarsh (56 sessions total, so far)

XP awarded at the end of Session #	Level Gained
Session #5	2nd level
Session #8	n/a
Session #14	3rd level
Session #17	n/a
Session #21	4th level
Session #24	n/a
Session #30	5th level
Session #38	n/a
Session #51	6th level

Primordial Evil (23 sessions total, so far)

XP awarded at the end of Session #	Level Gained
Session #4	2nd level
Session #10	3rd level
Session #17	4th level

 

[Plaguescarred]

I'm too a proponent for when not starting at 3rd level to provide fast advencement for level 2-3.

 

[ezo]

A "Session" is too wildly varying a category of time and game events. I think advancing to 2nd level after the first adventure makes more sense, however, many sessions that takes. I like for players to have a chance to learn and absorb their abilities at each level before moving on to the next.

I agree 100% with this. For example, with our current advancement table, it takes about 3-4 sessions for each of the first few levels.

However, even what constitutes an adventure can be very swingy.

 

[el-remmen]

However, even what constitutes an adventure can be very swingy.

You are not wrong, but that degree of swinginess is a feature, not a bug to me. Some adventures are short sidetreks and others may be multi-part epics and that gives me some leeway in terms of when to award XP and how much.

Sessions, on the other hand, as I suggested, might cover as little as an hour of in-game time (sometimes less!) or might cover weeks of time where not much happens - and in my experience at least, there is no workable average to work with, so I don't consider sessions in my determination.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

I voted for the 11-13 range.

Having DM'd a few long campaigns, I've come to understand my personal preferences.

It's hard for me to invest in any campaign shorter than 1 year. On the flip side, I get the urge to try something new if it lasts longer than 3 years. As I can play about 30 to 35 sessions in a normal year, I plan for a 1-20 level campaign to last no more than 100 sessions.

In my experience, Tier 1 and Tier 4 go by very fast. Roughly, each of those tiers takes about 15 sessions. Tier 2 and Tier 3 are about 30 sessions each.

I keep this in mind as my campaign unfolds to ensure I'm moving the story along and leveling the characters appropriately.

 

[Piperken]

Thanks for doing this, it's immensely helpful just to see the variance! @el-remmen

I fall in the slower range; we're coming up on Session #16 w/ the party at 4th level (having started at Level 1). In our case, we average between 2-2.5 hours of actual play (sessions are every 2 weeks), and have had 2-3 breaks of one month due to vacation/scheduling since we began.

 

[TwoSix]

People's anecdotes seem pretty commiserate with the voting. About 10-20 play hours per level, sped up a bit below levels 3-4.