How do you level up your players?

[haplessvictim]

I'm curious how you folks prefer to level up the characters in your game, both as a player and as a DM. Imagine, for example, after a big fight the players have earned enough XP to get to third level. Do they simply go "ding!" and get the powers and additional hitpoints immediately? Do you wait until the first full 8-hour rest they get (this is what I do in my games)? Do you prefer to spend some small amount of game time (a week, for example) in "training" before you get the new abilities, etc.?

I ask this because one of my players complained that simply resting and getting the new level seemed "cheap" and "videogame-like" to her. She's very into the roleplaying aspect of our game, so this isn't surprising, but some of the other players were startled that she'd want any (non-mechanical) roadblocks in the way of leveling up.

[Gildedragon]

I usually skip the campaign world ahead a few weeks or months between levels.
I tend to be very loosey-goosey with xp and leveling, giving new levels when I feel enough has been done by the characters.

[limejuicepowder]

I usually skip the campaign world ahead a few weeks or months between levels.
I tend to be very loosey-goosey with xp and leveling, giving new levels when I feel enough has been done by the characters.

My group does the same thing: we don't really keep track of XP per say, we just gain a level when the DM thinks we did enough.

Luckily, no one has made a crafting character yet cause it would be kind of incompatible.

[Gazzien]

I've warned my players that I don't actually pay attention to experience, I just level them up according to the plot (After killing that massive magma elemental, turning the medusa to stone and escaping her lair, etc).

But it's normally over an eight-hour rest. (Because I give them the time between sessions to level up)

[Gwendol]

They just level whenever. Typically after I hand out XP (go figure), so chances are they've just overcome some kind of obstacle.

[Eldonauran]

This is how I handle leveling up:

Level up between game sessions and only gain access to new Ex. abilities immediately (HP, BAB, Saves, skills, feats, etc). Su/Sp abilities require a period of 'rest' (ie, 8 hours of sleep or downtime) before they can actively use them. Spells would fall in the later category.

So, you are effectively the same level you start the game session with, no matter how much XP you gain.

[Sugashane]

We just allow it during the beginning or end of the day's game.

[Gildedragon]

My group does the same thing: we don't really keep track of XP per say, we just gain a level when the DM thinks we did enough.

Luckily, no one has made a crafting character yet cause it would be kind of incompatible.

What I've done is go for pathfinder rules on the subject; that or let them craft to their heart's content and have them level up one or two sessions later.

[AuraTwilight]

When my characters level, it happens literally overnight and they get trippy dream sequences. The implication being that their characters are 'special', their random power increases mark them as heroes of significance, and they can go nuts trying to comb plot clues out of the surreal dreams.

[Twilightwyrm]

I typically have them train for one day (for a minimum of 8 hours of that day) per character level before "leveling up". A week is probably more realistic, but my groups often run into the issue of people not leveling up at the same time (because one person got extra XP from some source, or a caster is choosing to use XP on scrolls/items instead of leveling up (don't ask me why...). etc.). Having days between these levels is frustrating enough without it being extended into potentially months as characters get towards 8th and 9th level. If you want a great degree of realism, and are certain that your group is going to be leveling up at the same time, go with weeks per character level, but I fin that even role playing enthusiasts tend to be fine with simply days per character level, and this matches up nicely with the scroll learning and magic item creation rules sufficient that they can generally upgrade existing equipment or create new equipment within that time without having potentially weeks left to spare.

[hymer]

I calculate XP between sessions, and the players level their characters then (well, that's the theory, at least). I don't think it feels video-gamey that they gain power like that all, and I have no reason to think my players do either. Leveling is usually gradual enough that I don't think any explanation is really necessarry, though perhaps with wizards or artificers archivists it's a trifle odd or abrupt.

Edit: Let me clarify that. I actually find the notion of 'training' to gain a level to be a lot more phoney than achieving greater skill through actual use of your abilities. We do, however, tend to require things to make a modicum of sense. If you want to take a first rank in Knowledge (arch&eng), you need something to start from, preferably a teacher.

[chainlink]

RP heavy, character investment, sandbox campaign I track it all very carefully and try to slip the levelling in over days/weeks depending on what they are doing. Training is often (not always) required in these campaigns and characters often quest to find specific PrC trainers to lvl.

This is the hardest due to the calendar being important and characters invariably levelling at different paces. Not to mention the shenanigan's of the group and ... delicacy of running such games.

The shorter, kick in the door, characters are more #'s than ppl gigs I give xp at end of session or 3. Lvl on the spot if u want don't care.

RP heavy, combat lite, med. length campaigns whenever I feel like it's time.

[Mnemnosyne]

The last time I updated my rules on this, they came out like this:
Build Plan: Characters can advance in planned character classes without the need for external training or lengthy training periods. It is assumed that they are practicing the skills and abilities needed to achieve their pre-planned build. Deviating from the pre-planned build requires additional time for training and practice. With a trainer, this requires one day per hit die of the character (including the new level just being gained). Without a trainer, this requires five days per hit die of the character, with the days primarily devoted to training. Without a trainer, and without being able to devote the majority of the day to training, it requires ten days per hit die to advance into a new, unplanned character class. This replaces the Gaining Class Benefits rule on 198 DMG.

Arcane (Spontaneous): Gaining levels in a spontaneous arcane caster class requires time for introspection and practicing fine control over new abilities. One hour after a restful night’s calm is required to organize one’s thoughts and gain full understanding and control of new abilities.

Arcane (Study): Gaining levels in a study-based arcane character class, such as the Wizard, requires time to collect one’s notes and study, as well as transcribe the collected insights of the previous level’s experience into new spells. Eight hours of relative peace and quiet in a place where the character can study their notes and scribe new spells in their book is required.

Divine (Granted): Gaining levels in a divine spellcaster character class is automatic, and happens at the same time the character prays for new spells after accruing enough experience points to level; their deity grants them additional abilities.

Divine (Study): Gaining levels in a study-based divine character class, such as the Archivist, requires time to collect one’s notes and study, as well as transcribe the collected insights of the previous level’s experience into new spells. Eight hours of relative peace and quiet in a place where the character can study their notes and scribe new spells in their book is required.

Invocation Users: Gaining levels in an invoking class requires time for introspection and practicing fine control over new abilities. One hour after a restful night’s calm is required to organize one’s thoughts and gain full understanding and control of new abilities.

Martial: Gaining levels in a martial character class requires time for practice and training, and thus can be done after a single one hour practice session, if advancing in an existing or pre-planned class.

Meldshapers: Gaining levels in a meldshaping class requires time for introspection and practicing fine control over new abilities. One hour after a restful night’s calm is required to organize one’s thoughts and gain full understanding and control of new abilities.

Psionic: Gaining levels in a psionic class requires one hour of meditation and introspection to organize thoughts and gain full understanding of the new abilities. If the psionic class is also martial, an additional one-hour practice session is also needed.
The build plan rule requires them to plan ahead, and makes the most sense to me in that, if a person is advancing in the manner they have been planning on and practicing for, then they need no significant training period - they've done their practice over the time it took to gain the exp required. If they suddenly decide to change their focus, however, it's going to take extra time to figure it out.

[yougi]

At the beginning of each session, I give each player a "receipt" for the XP they earned in the last session, kind of like what Thunt does (http://www.goblinscomic.com/dungeon-master-tips/) (tip 4 I think). Then they level at the first extended rest period they get (more or less, first night).

[Rukia]

It's not far off base to allow players to level up after an overnight rest, especially if they've been adventuring for days.

The time spent lifting weights in the gym isn't the period where you gain strength. That happens afterwards, usually during your sleep cycle when the muscles repair the micro-fissures. Training = breaking down tissue, rest = building it so yes you do effectively wake up stronger.

Muscle memory isn't achieved while you're repetitively doing something, it's achieved during the following sleep cycle. As you sleep your brain creates new neural pathways. Again, this happens after not during the repetitive portion. Haven't you ever done anything repeatedly and not seemed to get better after a bit, but then you wake up a day or two later and all the sudden it's become easier? That's why.

So the point is you would actually get stronger after every sleep cycle, but the changes would be less significant and not result in a tangible change. However after enough sleep cycles(ie; adventuring days) then yes you would eventually wake up and have noticeably gotten stronger or improved in skills.

Now if you're changing from fighter to wizard with no roleplaying explanation, then that's a different story. Waking up and being able to cast magic after never having done so before is a bit of a stretch.

[Synovia]

I ask this because one of my players complained that simply resting and getting the new level seemed "cheap" and "videogame-like" to her. She's very into the roleplaying aspect of our game, so this isn't surprising, but some of the other players were startled that she'd want any (non-mechanical) roadblocks in the way of leveling up.

Everything in D&D is an abstraction, and your player will never be happy until she realizes this.


Leveling is supposed to be that basically you've gained the power as you overcame the obstacles, but its not until you have some free time that you can sit back and realize what you just did.

[Person_Man]

I just level them according to the plot. Tracking xp is a nightmare.

Each time they gain a level, I also give each player the option of either taking average hit dice (rounded up, which statistically is a better deal for them) OR rolling their new hit dice in front of me.

[haplessvictim]

This is how I handle leveling up:
Level up between game sessions and only gain access to new Ex. abilities immediately (HP, BAB, Saves, skills, feats, etc). Su/Sp abilities require a period of 'rest' (ie, 8 hours of sleep or downtime) before they can actively use them. Spells would fall in the later category.


That's a great idea. I like giving the players the choice of continuing the current day's work of stabbing and looting, but at a slightly suboptimal power level, versus taking a (possibly risky) eight-hour rest to fully level up. And AuraTwilight's dream suggestion is wonderful, too.

[Slipperychicken]

My groups all "Ding", then level up between sessions.

[Psyren]

Leveling is much easier to do in Pathfinder because there's no need to track XP at all. It isn't used for anything but leveling - not crafting, not spells, not psionics... you can't even lose levels due to energy drain. So we just level up between sessions when the DM feels like it.

[Lorsa]

In D&D it is usually assumed that you perform some "off-screen" training in whatever skills you are interested in or research spells you want (if you are a wizard). If no such "off-screen" time has been able to be had though things get more tricky. But you could try to remind your "this feels computer-y" player that it is assumed that the character become better while they gain their experience but it's not until they've accumulated enough training (either through combat or interaction with the world or off-screen training) that they reach the next "step" and becomes better. At some point the mechanics have to be updated but for the characters point of view it is a slow process.

I usually let people level up whenever they can "rest" a bit, be it a day or a night or a week, whatever feels appropriate at the time. Also, both a player and I agreed on, fairly resently, that it was unlikely his character could put any points in Knowledge: architecture & engineering since his character hadn't had time to study it yet. So there are some in-character reasonings that are made as well.

[chrisgray86]

When my characters level, it happens literally overnight and they get trippy dream sequences. The implication being that their characters are 'special', their random power increases mark them as heroes of significance, and they can go nuts trying to comb plot clues out of the surreal dreams.

AuraTwilight I really like that Idea thats a great way to do it!!!!!!

[chrisgray86]

Leveling is much easier to do in Pathfinder because there's no need to track XP at all. It isn't used for anything but leveling - not crafting, not spells, not psionics... you can't even lose levels due to energy drain. So we just level up between sessions when the DM feels like it.

I think I like pathfinder much better from the way you discribe it. That is one thing I wanted my sorcerer to do before he died unexpectidly was to craft wands but our dm does not do XP she just levels when she feels like it so I couldnt craft anything... I will recomend we try pathfinder for our next game.

[Yogibear41]

We use to just level up at the end of a game session assuming we have aquired the adequate experience, we also never leveled up in the middle of a dungeon/adventure if we didn't complete it that week, however our DM is going back to an older rule which I believe is a throw back to an older edition in which a character must train for x+1 weeks were x=their new level in order to level up.

This is probably due to our group basically never taking time to rest and spamming adventure after adventure, and our DMs desire to move time along "in game" as he has all these goodies in store for the world coming up, with a possibly apocalypse scenario 200 or so years in the future know this from a older player of his whos character found out about it somehow.

Unfortunanetly I'm playing a human so I'll be dead before it happens :(

[Darth Stabber]

I make a concerted effort to end sessions as the PCs are going to sleep, because it's a nice bookend, and it means that players don't have to track daily resources between sessions. I also don't hand out exp until the end of session. The combination of these two factors means that players level up between sessions, and there isn't any need for contrivances. Also since they have multiple methods of infinite healing, they start every session with full hp (and they are quite quick to get rid of ability damage), which means there is very little to keep track of between sessions other than exp, wands, staves, and scrolls.


Level up between game sessions and only gain access to new Ex. abilities immediately (HP, BAB, Saves, skills, feats, etc). Su/Sp abilities require a period of 'rest' (ie, 8 hours of sleep or downtime) before they can actively use them. Spells would fall in the later category.

Spellcasting is technically an ex ability (the spells themselves are not). It rarely ever comes up (it makes high level factoti even more frightening), but I definitely see the logic behind the waiting.

[Curmudgeon]

Get a good night's sleep, and the XP kicks in as soon as you wake up. (I only add the sleep period to avoid spellcasting shenanigans which temporarily qualify the character for prestige class entry.)

[Gildedragon]

Spellcasting is technically an ex ability (the spells themselves are not).
Could I get a source for this?
This sounds decidedly curious, and indeed useful for factotums.

[Bonzai]

I generally allow for some stopping points in my campaigns. I add up xp at that point. If they have enough to level at that point, then they level.

I also do not keep track of loot unless it's story specific. It is assumed that the party loots as they go, and when they level they get the recomended wealth by level as stated by the DMG. If they are at a place that they can spend it, they can buy whatever they wish. This saves on book keeping, arguing, and fighting over specific items.

It's worked well in my games, and other DMs in my group have adopted similar approaches.

[Darth Stabber]

Could I get a source for this?
This sounds decidedly curious, and indeed useful for factotums.

Unless otherwise noted, class abilities are ex. Spellcasting is not labeled otherwise. My recommendation is to avoid prepped casters if you are using factotum shenanigans. The question of what you "prepped" is very arguable (infact I would not allow it). Even with spont casters that pick their spells you could make some arguments against. Stick with fixed list casters (dread necro, warmage, and beguiler), and your argument is solid. And with beguiler, being int based, you are good to go.

[Curmudgeon]

Could I get a source for this?
This sounds decidedly curious, and indeed useful for factotums.
No, you can't get a source confirming; instead you can get this, from page 180 of Player's Handbook:
Natural abilities are those not otherwise designated as extraordinary, supernatural, or spell-like.
There's also this, from page 118 of Rules Compendium:
Natural abilities are those not otherwise designated as extraordinary, supernatural, or spell-like. They’re rarely identified as natural—that’s assumed—and they rarely take a distinct action to use.

[gallagher]

I RP the skills and feats I plan on taking at later levels, and if I plan on PrCing later I like to use the levels beforehand as the training for it. The numerical bonuses represent getting better, but its not like the character updates his sheet that night at the inn with a mug of ale.

[qwertyu63]

I don't use XP at all. I use plot based level up, where I just say "Alright, time to level up."

I've never had a crafter, but if I would give them a pool of XP they can use for crafting. Every level up I would add some amount to the pool (making up the values as I go).

[Mirakk]

I track XP during the session, and award it at the end of the session. If a session is still in progress for any reason, XP is rewarded at the end of the planned story arc.

This way people can spend their week debating leveling choices, and pouring over their books to decide what to do. My sessions are typically 6 hours or so, and people are ready for a break when it's all over.

The only real flaw in the system is that sometimes players come back next week without having leveled or thought about what feat to select etc. Sometimes I've got a player who just tosses something in their feat slot so we can play. I do wish I could be there to give them ideas or have them tell me what they envision their character doing, but it seems that if players don't already have the desire to do so, it's impossible to get them started doing this.

[Yahzi]

In my world, XP = gold (just like the good old days). So when the players have enough gold, they can choose to spend it on a level. Or making a magic item, or leveling an NPC follower, or just buying a castle.

D&D is a resource management game. XP is the single most valuable resource. When you allow players to manage it, it creates a lot of interesting choices. For example, I know that siphoning off XP for the NPC henchmen always makes people groan, but in my last game the players chose to spend way more on NPCs than any rule would have required, and they were excited to do so.

I cannot recommend this system enough (for simplicity, I also adjusted the level table so that every XP is worth the same as any other; i.e. you get the same XP for killing a 1st lvl orc at level 1 as you do at level 20, but at 20 it's just not enough to care about).

As for the actual process, since levels are supernatural enhancements in my game (natural training, etc. is reflected by higher attributes), it takes a day for the level to manifest and there you are.

[tiercel]

I actually use XP, though I "eyeball" XP rewards not only for what EL I think an encounter is actually worth, but also story awards. In general I tend to let folks level with a relatively safe night's sleep.

I tried using some training rules but eventually become more lax about that, mostly just trying to work in RP downtime either before or at a new level (especially for characters taking a new class or especially a new PrC).

In general I try to time levels so that they happen to hit at the end of significant story arcs (giving natural downtime to both level and purchase/upgrade gear) or at a significant midpoint in a big dungeon crawl/story arc (to highlight the importance of the PCs' progress toward their goal).

At the same time, if the party particularly impresses me and earns more XP (through unusually efficient combat and/or remarkably effective RP) than I was originally planning, I just juggle things so that leveling can happen. I *try* to tie most mechanics into the story, but sometimes it's worth handwaving the mechanics and moving on.

(e.g.: if a player can't make a session, I try to either get sufficient info from the player to NPC the character or give the character reasonable in-game downtime, but if the timing is particularly awkward, then "fine, PC #2 shrinks into a blue ball of light and floats up into the sky" only to magically rematerialize at a later date. Sometimes you just want to play the game!)

[LTwerewolf]

I award experience, both based on combat and based on noncombat encounters. They're allowed to level up when they rest, so long as they're taking the same class as they have been. If they want to change classes, they need to find a legitimate reason as to why they're learning this new thing.

[SilverLeaf167]

My party basically gets "1 level per adventure", which can lead to some seeming inconsistency when the characters only get one level regardless of the length of the adventure (I do try to make the amount and difficulty of encounters as appropriate as possible though). So far our campaigns have had a habit of dying rather quickly, so I'm awarding XP at a noticeably higher rate than usual to keep the characters advancing and the players interested.
They don't really have too much downtime between adventures, so levels just happen when they get a good night's sleep (though I guess any huge, obvious changes would be roleplayed).
If anyone ever wanted to try crafting, I'd definitely employ a more concrete XP system or just use Pathfinder's crafting rules, as long as they don't exploit them.

[gartius]

As soon as they gain the necessary xp to lvl then all passive abilities so BAB, saves, feats which do not have a daily limit (like power attack) and class abilities which are passive (favoured enemy, flurry of blows boost etc) and skill ranks are automatically applied.

Once they rest hp, all daily based class and feat powers (so spells and the like) are applied to the lvl up.

At least this is how i do it.

[Razanir]

When my characters level, it happens literally overnight and they get trippy dream sequences. The implication being that their characters are 'special', their random power increases mark them as heroes of significance, and they can go nuts trying to comb plot clues out of the surreal dreams.

... that's good... I just hand out experience and level up at the end of sessions. So if they're randomly in the middle of a dungeon and about to fight a boss, so be it.


The last time I updated my rules on this, they came out like this:
Build Plan: Characters can advance in planned character classes without the need for external training or lengthy training periods. It is assumed that they are practicing the skills and abilities needed to achieve their pre-planned build. Deviating from the pre-planned build requires additional time for training and practice. With a trainer, this requires one day per hit die of the character (including the new level just being gained). Without a trainer, this requires five days per hit die of the character, with the days primarily devoted to training. Without a trainer, and without being able to devote the majority of the day to training, it requires ten days per hit die to advance into a new, unplanned character class. This replaces the Gaining Class Benefits rule on 198 DMG.

Arcane (Spontaneous): Gaining levels in a spontaneous arcane caster class requires time for introspection and practicing fine control over new abilities. One hour after a restful night’s calm is required to organize one’s thoughts and gain full understanding and control of new abilities.

Arcane (Study): Gaining levels in a study-based arcane character class, such as the Wizard, requires time to collect one’s notes and study, as well as transcribe the collected insights of the previous level’s experience into new spells. Eight hours of relative peace and quiet in a place where the character can study their notes and scribe new spells in their book is required.

Divine (Granted): Gaining levels in a divine spellcaster character class is automatic, and happens at the same time the character prays for new spells after accruing enough experience points to level; their deity grants them additional abilities.

Divine (Study): Gaining levels in a study-based divine character class, such as the Archivist, requires time to collect one’s notes and study, as well as transcribe the collected insights of the previous level’s experience into new spells. Eight hours of relative peace and quiet in a place where the character can study their notes and scribe new spells in their book is required.

Invocation Users: Gaining levels in an invoking class requires time for introspection and practicing fine control over new abilities. One hour after a restful night’s calm is required to organize one’s thoughts and gain full understanding and control of new abilities.

Martial: Gaining levels in a martial character class requires time for practice and training, and thus can be done after a single one hour practice session, if advancing in an existing or pre-planned class.

Meldshapers: Gaining levels in a meldshaping class requires time for introspection and practicing fine control over new abilities. One hour after a restful night’s calm is required to organize one’s thoughts and gain full understanding and control of new abilities.

Psionic: Gaining levels in a psionic class requires one hour of meditation and introspection to organize thoughts and gain full understanding of the new abilities. If the psionic class is also martial, an additional one-hour practice session is also needed.
The build plan rule requires them to plan ahead, and makes the most sense to me in that, if a person is advancing in the manner they have been planning on and practicing for, then they need no significant training period - they've done their practice over the time it took to gain the exp required. If they suddenly decide to change their focus, however, it's going to take extra time to figure it out.

Do you mind if I steal this for a homebrew I'm making?

[Seharvepernfan]

I'm curious how you folks prefer to level up the characters in your game, both as a player and as a DM.

As a DM, after the battle that earned them enough exp to level up.

As a player, I'd actually rather wait until the end of the session, but when I DM, my players want it RITE NAO.

[Spuddles]

We calculate all our earned xp at the end of the session, and if we have enough to level, we level between sessions.

It's a lot easier than leveling mid session with one book between 5 players, needing to plan out next level, picking spells, etc. Really slows the evening's session down, so we tend to keep bookwork between sessions.


It's not far off base to allow players to level up after an overnight rest, especially if they've been adventuring for days.

The time spent lifting weights in the gym isn't the period where you gain strength. That happens afterwards, usually during your sleep cycle when the muscles repair the micro-fissures. Training = breaking down tissue, rest = building it so yes you do effectively wake up stronger.

Muscle memory isn't achieved while you're repetitively doing something, it's achieved during the following sleep cycle. As you sleep your brain creates new neural pathways. Again, this happens after not during the repetitive portion. Haven't you ever done anything repeatedly and not seemed to get better after a bit, but then you wake up a day or two later and all the sudden it's become easier? That's why.

So the point is you would actually get stronger after every sleep cycle, but the changes would be less significant and not result in a tangible change. However after enough sleep cycles(ie; adventuring days) then yes you would eventually wake up and have noticeably gotten stronger or improved in skills.

Now if you're changing from fighter to wizard with no roleplaying explanation, then that's a different story. Waking up and being able to cast magic after never having done so before is a bit of a stretch.

lol

[Story]

It's a lot easier than leveling mid session with one book between 5 players, needing to plan out next level, picking spells, etc. Really slows the evening's session down, so we tend to keep bookwork between sessions.


Why not have everyone plan out their next level beforehand?

[nedz]

I award xp after story arcs. Ideally levelling up should happen between sessions so that we don't waste valuable playing time, and to allow the players to consider their options. It also allows me to balance encounters better since I do plan some ahead — sometimes taking a level can make a huge difference, though this is mainly true in the 1-6 level range.

[SiuiS]

Characters are getting field training and experience all the time. That fighter has spent so many thousand XP perfecting the high cross into side wrap from s hanging guard, for example. It's actually more video game-y to require the player to then spend time "buying" his level.

But what about the rogue who gets better at lock picking but there were no locks this adventure? You ask. Well, what about the hundreds of hours marching every adventure wrong no conversation that passes in the blink of an eye, I say! Community college gets you a vocation after 500+ hours learning and practicing. And I know I, for one, frequently work out skills in my downtime, often with hilarious pantomiming when no one is looking.

That said, I much prefer the get Xp, ding method over Handing out Levels. I know it's system specific, that not all games and systems run alike, but in the few I've done where levels were just granted, it severely cheapened the experience. I would also like a game where players had the time to sit back and train in their off time, but I've never ha a long running game which included viable off time.

[Mnemnosyne]

Do you mind if I steal this for a homebrew I'm making?
Sure, go ahead.

[Spuddles]

Why not have everyone plan out their next level beforehand?

Because a lot changes session to session, plotwise, gearwise, etc. And again, we all still need access to limited resources, like tables and stuff.

Leveling up mid-session tends to just waste time.


I award xp after story arcs. Ideally levelling up should happen between sessions so that we don't waste valuable playing time, and to allow the players to consider their options. It also allows me to balance encounters better since I do plan some ahead — sometimes taking a level can make a huge difference, though this is mainly true in the 1-6 level range.

This is largely why we level up after session.


Characters are getting field training and experience all the time. That fighter has spent so many thousand XP perfecting the high cross into side wrap from s hanging guard, for example. It's actually more video game-y to require the player to then spend time "buying" his level.

But what about the rogue who gets better at lock picking but there were no locks this adventure? You ask. Well, what about the hundreds of hours marching every adventure wrong no conversation that passes in the blink of an eye, I say! Community college gets you a vocation after 500+ hours learning and practicing. And I know I, for one, frequently work out skills in my downtime, often with hilarious pantomiming when no one is looking.

That said, I much prefer the get Xp, ding method over Handing out Levels. I know it's system specific, that not all games and systems run alike, but in the few I've done where levels were just granted, it severely cheapened the experience. I would also like a game where players had the time to sit back and train in their off time, but I've never ha a long running game which included viable off time.

I recently went on vacation to Oahu. While there I spearhunted chickens in the rainforest, snuck onto a military base inside a volcano, and got drunk in armor and did some SCA style boffing. I also brought a little cord to practice my knots during travel/downtime, and came back with the bowline, clove hitch, and alpine butterfly added to my repertoire. I also read some esoteric material on phylogeny reconstruction.

So clearly you can spend your time adventuring and still pick up ranks in skills you don't use and even learn spells.