Level Up! How fast is TOO fast in D&D & Pathfinder?

[@dragonshadestudios]

Delightful topic. In my decades of DMing and playing, the speed of levelling always feels"too slow for players patience, and too fast for the DMs pace".

[@LazyVideosGAME]

In my old ADnD campaign, I had a Rogue4/Wizard3. Because the others wanted a fresh start and I didn't want to start all over AGAIN (I played a Wizard before, and it took ages to get to that level) I agreed to not gain xp until they reached my level. After 7 years I am still Rogue4/Wizard3 XD

[@Team_Orchid]

Nail on the head right here.

[@elrond3737]

Yup. As DM I love super slow leveling. However, I just finished up a Pathfinder AP with my wife and kids. I used the AP level up suggestions. It was fast. They were leveling up every couple sessions. Fun for them, but now they are starting on my home brewed campaign and they will move super slow.

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

Dragonshade Studio I love that 3-5 zone and the high teens too

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Always.

[@tomyoung9834]

Surely one of the most radical professors at the university, with controversial opinions that verge on blasphemy, Prof DM always brings the fire to each and every lecture!!! Two enthusiastic thumbs up! 👍

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

I'm the Gnome Chomsky of Dungeon U.

[@tomyoung9834]

Dungeon Craft I was thinking the same thing!

[@elrond3737]

@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 Ouch!

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

Tom Young oh yeah

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

Dungeon Craft ha!

[@stripes8812]

like you say: Reward them with contacts and rumors and ethos/sanity points, not XP! Just had a 6 hr session yesterday with only 100 XP and 3d6 sp in the whole dungeon they cleared and sent out to the party and they were pleased. I handed them out contacts and rumors when they returned to town instead and they were SOOO pleased. You're the man. We are having so much fun running an adaptation of your caves of carnage. Thanks for keeping me and my friends busy and entertained and connected.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thanks for your kind words, Peter. Pass it on!

[@Squncoin]

Too many people want to level fast, you just wind up starting over a lot when you do that in my experience as well.

[@tomoyuukinue2185]

especially when you play with people who have too much free time on their hands who demanded playing tier 3 and wont settle with less then 6 hours of play. sorry for the rant :D

[@Squncoin]

@@tomoyuukinue2185 I don't even know what tier 3 is. I do get a lot of people who don't like playing at level 1 but I find that level to be the most fun, personally.

[@tomoyuukinue2185]

Its lvl 11-17 I think. And I agree with you. Starting at lvl 1 is fun and I like to do so for my sandbox game

[@wisebloodj1]

My group has the issue that we all have demanding jobs and kids and other responsibilities. We’re lucky if we get 4-5 hours twice a month. So if we did slow play and always started at level 1 there’d never be anything but tier 1 play.

[@Squncoin]

@@wisebloodj1 My group has the same problem it's just we play play DCC and low level DCC characters only go up to level 10. A 2nd level DCC character is on par with a level 5 D&D character in my opinion.

[@zephyrstrife4668]

This is also a reason why I love the Xanathar's Guide regardless of what system you are using. It has great random tables available for events that may have happened in your character's life as well as how they grew up and even immediate family/NPC contacts that the DM/GM can use to create story hooks with.

[@Deathrune14]

I love how much you talk about Conan. Running a Hyborian Age campaign right now, and hands-down Howard is one of the best authors for any DM to read!

[@BigCowProductions]

I realllllly like how you put it for the experience thing; the quicker you level, the closer you get to ending the game, or that character.

[@marxmeesterlijk]

I use Forbidden Lands and that game has no levels. Just XP points that you can use to by Skills or Talents. It leads to a more wide advancement instead the tall advancement of DnD. I really like it so far. It's more about 'normal' characters learning some new life skills to help them survive instead of become demi-godlike murder machines and hitpoint bags. anyways thanks for the channel as always!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thanks for telling me about Forbidden Lands. I'm going to have to look into it!

[@helixxharpell]

3 years later.. How did that turn out?

[@marxmeesterlijk]

not sure if you're asking me or dungeoncraft, but I love running Forbidden Lands, it made for a very different type of game. Some of the greatest adventures we had ended up with the PC huddled up in a tent hiding from a snow storm, completly lost and almost out of food and firewood.@@helixxharpell

[@gordonnesbitt1451]

Starting my first campaign soon, this was really helpful, thanks PDM 🤙

[@PersonMan1234]

TL;DR You may want to practice scales a bit before jumping into Jazz. The Prof. is the Coltrane of DnD. No disrespect to the Prof., but remember to take his content with a grain of salt. Not so much this video as his others. He is very, very experienced and has many strong beliefs about the game that many others do not share. He is, in part, making huge changes to many core mechanics to mix things up and keep the game interesting; to minimize what he dislikes a d maximize what he likes. You will too, once you have some time behind the screen under your belt. But to new DMs, initially at least, I always reccomend trying to grasp the system as it is, warts and all and see how it works. Once you see how the game runs as a baseline, then start trying stuff out.

[@LachandKi]

Totally with you on levelling up. I like players to level up when they AT LEAST know every ability they have off by heart, but have been forced to use the skills they have in multiple creative ways, as well as have tried to use the character in ways that they are not yet proficient. This allows them the time and space to be creative with what they have at their disposal, which is what learning and growth are all about.

[@nickhayley]

Really like this comment. Get creative with your character. If they don't take risks or challenge themselves they don't deserve to level up.

[@maxpower3050]

You had me at "Star Wars model and Star Trek model." Huge fan, love the videos!!!

[@benvoliothefirst]

Your nerd is showing, Professor! Like it wasn't already...

[@petemcsorley]

I slash at the KZbin algorithm to promote this channel ! Love the content Professor and I did guess correctly with the Conan book, which I promptly purchased after your mention of it in a previous episode. Thank you for your time, your channel and sharing your experiences, I’m a huge fan

[@steventurner6902]

Great stuff as always Professor DM. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with the world.

[@AggroJordan86]

Awesome video, as always !! In 5e I tend to halve the xp suggestion given by the challenge rating and instead award additional xp based on achieved story milestones, good to, involvement in cool situations. That usually seems to give a good pace and allow me to throw more scary monsters at them without rushing through all the levels and them getting too powerful for the story to make sense. Like this, they level up about every 5 or 6 sessions, still fight every session & resulting in about 2 or 3 months per level. That seems to feed their loot and ability hungry soul as well as allowing a story to evolve even that slowly takes on a grander and grander scale.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Great ideas. Thanks for sharing!

[@EatAnOctorok]

I think it's fine to level up at the normal in-book pace as long as you have something to provide after Level 20 when they reach it, or a nice reward between levels. Two weeks ago, The DM Lair made a video presenting various ideas for loot and rewards, such as areas of land, or plot-relevant items, or backstory-based plot hooks. Even items that don't really help you, but are generally fun to mess around with. Further ideas were proposed in the comment sections of that video. There was even the suggestion of allowing spellcasters to work on new homebrew spells. One example I could see is one that was unrelated to this idea, "Create Robe Patch". This spell was found on D&DBeyond and was made 1st-level, but I think it should be a 2nd or 3rd-level spell. It basically allows you to turn an object or creature into a patch to put on the Robe of Useful Items, and the higher the slot you used to cast it, the higher the weight/size/CR limit on things you can turn into patches. Give your players something to achieve other than just becoming more powerful or completing the story. That's really as simple as it gets.

[@michaelolsen7000]

I had, for many years, always fallen into a trap of starting games at 1st level and by session 4 I just wanted the characters to be able to do something so I'd rapid level them to 5th level. This was usually in 3.5e. Some time ago, I discovered your channel and started to listen to a lot of your advice on DMing and I adopted some of your concepts. Nowadays I like to start my campaigns at level 10, but treat it like 1st level. I up the difficulty similar to how you've described doing it, and I make the monsters smarter and more capable of killing the players. I've found that plenty of players have become repeat customers because they feel like their character can do something, but they also feel that fear. It's really eye opening for them when at their level, there are still beings in the game world that can paralyze without giving them a save, or monsters that can pummel them into the dirt if they're not careful. Thank you Prof. for teaching me how to fix a lot of bad DM habits that 20 years doing things the same way had etched into my games. This video has also helped me, because now that I've adopted your XP system (the 1 - 5 xp per adventure/session and 10xp + milestone to level up) I've found that the power creep of the players has reduced dramatically. It would be great to see a video on how to adapt modern class concepts into the blue cover AD&D edition. I love that version of the game the best, and I'd love to get a lot of friends who grew up with Pathfinder and beyond more interested in it by allowing them to play some of their favorite modern classes and races in the older rule set.

[@azuretigers5562]

I really like this, buddy !! Starting the heroes with some set of cool skills, like they would be Apprentices, Novices... and setting them into a world of danger.

[@lupus247]

Very cool. This is the kind of DM guidance I watch this channel for. Thank you.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

You're very welcome. Next week is dealing with evil player actions. Stay tuned!

[@nicolejustindennis-phillip3205]

I love your advice Professor Dungeon Master, thank you SOOO much for bringing me such fun!

[@Vylin1]

feeding the algorithm to support my favorite DM's tips channel!

[@Jetwolf]

I just come here these days to have my opinions confirmed and validated. Top notch DM and Player advice as usual, Professor. All these perspectives aren't just practical, they enhance enjoyment of the game. These are things most older DMs know, but wish they'd known decades ago. These mini-lectures are absolute gold. Everyone except perhaps min-maxers or power gamers aught to be subbed to this channel with the bell checked, it is as essential as the DMG of any edition.

[@masteroffate2692]

Your videos provide some seriously awesome information. I've run a couple games for some friends and frankly, they went badly. But all the advice you give in your videos has gotten me excited to run another campaign. Thank you for everything you're doing with your channel.

[@TulkOrkan]

My campaign has been on going on for a little more than a year it’s been going good all thanks to your channels and channels like yours thank you

[@serpentscorpio9893]

What you're saying makes sense, but if the leveling is going to be limited, then the GM has to be open about that. In our Pathfinder campaigns it turned out super annoying when we had designed our characters for a longer progression and were almost never allowed to level up. A lower level campaign would have been fine, however in a game like Pathfinder that can affect how you design your character (not fun when most of your characteristic abilities are only unlocked at later levels).

[@GimbleMuggernaught]

This 100%. I played a 3.5 game where I built a monk character with the intention of taking levels in the drunken master prestige class. I would n't be able to take my first level of drunken master until level 7 due to the class requirements, but we started at level 3, so I figured it would probably only take about 6 months or so of weekly game sessions. We were highschoolers at the time and would frequently do 6+ hour sessions most sundays. It took over a year and a half to get my first level of drunken master, and the campaign died a few sessions later. If I had known ahead of time that we would be leveling that slowly, I would probably have picked one of my many other character concepts instead.

[@adamkrenn6323]

As always, great video, great information and great presentation!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thanks, Adam!

[@craftersforge570]

I don’t know how you always manage to provide such great content. Great video

[@ozomatli280]

I’ve been watching your channel for a while and iI love everything you said. Keep up the great work.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

ozomatli280 Thank you. That means a lot to me. I work very hard in a bubble & although views are nice, comments are always more meaningful.

[@lindsaykervin8674]

As usual, great advice, and delivery. Thanks

[@zombie-phile]

Great video. One of your best. It feels like you went more in depth than usual and I really enjoyed it..

[@mikeobrien1649]

Excellent advice, as always. I really appreciate the Star Wars vs. Star Trek comparison.

[@roepsycho]

Great advice for beginning and "super expert" Dungeon Masters! I wish KZbin had a rating system, so I could give this video 5 stars.

[@peterjames2466]

Great video! Always a good tip from Prof. DM!

[@hoptimas5415]

I am an AL DM because I love the continuity the players can have with their characters between groups. I do appreciate your opinions on things and I'm trying to get away from a staunch rules lawyer. Your channel reminds me it's about the players having fun and not running the "perfect legal" game of DnD. Thanks for all the hard work!

[@paulfelix5849]

Been playing for 43 years (not a typo). You're spot on. Players love a story driven game because they love the stories that entice them to play. Pace it so everyone enjoys the play and everyone wins. It takes time to figure out. Patience is the key. Be patient. Be kind. The result will be beautiful.

[@billburnside4364]

always an interesting watch, Thanks PDM

[@mcauliffeck]

Thanks this was insightful and reassuring as your thoughts are echoing my style of DMing

[@catfishcooler1566]

I've always found, as a player, that D&D gets less fun the more toys (skills, spells, weapons, etc.) the characters have. The sense of danger gets pushed back further and further until it just isn't a factor. And that's when I start checking out.

[@peterreuben5791]

Enjoying the older content too👍👍 I actually redid the experience chart.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Cool, thanks

[@christianbohner1317]

It's been almost a year since this was released, but I only recently started watching your channel. I just want to say that I'm enjoying your videos so far - and I'm looking forward to more!

[@matthewmccloud4777]

Great job! brilliant way to teach story vs. mechanics

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thanks!

[@TheMpgossage]

Great insight. I have been running Star Wars adventures for a long time, but they just kept going and and I never ended them so they died out. 2019 I started running a pick up game in our local game shop where people could join/leave any time. It went great, because I had changed to a Star Trek campaign. It began with a bunch of 3rd level characters and most of the characters were only 4-5th by the end of the year. But the story was great and we all enjoyed it no end. Thanks for expressing the campaign types with such a clear example.

[@CaseyVHunter]

Looking forward to this one very much. I hope he talks about classes leveling differently.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

They certainly should. Rogues first!

[@equaltocody]

Prof. DM mentions this more in his 6 suggestions for 6 E. Makes a lot of sense, would like that to be introduced again.

[@CaseyVHunter]

@@equaltocody I know, I made a comment there asking for a vid with how he would do it. I was hoping for that here, but still a good vid.

[@CaseyVHunter]

@Aaron Davis ...then don't do it.

[@equaltocody]

@Aaron Davis I like the idea, but I'm also okay with it not being the case. Personally, I like details like how a elf lives hundreds years longer than a human. In a tolkienesque world that would mean a wizard (low hit points needs tons of exp) would go hand in hand with that. It's a small systematic change that ripples out into the world building. Maybe it is a bit of a needles complication, but art is a needless complication. That said, I'm also playing quick and dirty 5e, and I don't use any house rules, so it's all theoretical preference.

[@sequoyahwright]

Thank you for your good work, Professor. Your experience and insight elevate and edify the viewer.

[@jamesthomas8161]

Good video to get a feel for different levels of play. Recommend!

[@Chrisg077]

More great tips!! Thanks for the hard work in dealing out. Looking forward to the next one.

[@emveeay]

Great points as usual. Enjoyed the longer video!

[@Twotoedfarm]

Love this video, I think your channel and @Runehammer go hand in hand when trying to play a game in this style. I pull so much inspiration from you guys!

[@davidmarkley3015]

I have never played in a D&D campaign. Only a few one-off adventures. I find your videos very interesting and thought provoking. I wish I participated in a group like yours.

[@goyasolidar]

The higher ratio of Level 3 vs. Level 1 characters isn't surprising to me. I personally tend to favor starting new campaigns with semi-seasoned adventurers, and 3rd level is usually my launching point. This creates room for the players to write backstories that are a little more interesting and colored with heroic deeds. Mechanically, it also allows me to use a more varied selection of monsters without fear of killing the PCs outright.

[@jdx63]

Your videos really help the worldbuilding process and you have great metaphors, thank you sir!

[@adriandavis3931]

My GM is in the process of reviewing all your videos, at my request, to begin incorporating many of your ideas into our game. My kids will be playing now as well. Thank you for the support and encouragement you give all aspiring GMs and players.

[@yvindheilo229]

Great video as always! My favorite D&D channel!

[@darkguyver1973]

Very insightful . Enjoy all of your videos

[@atahankutukcu783]

great tips, will definately take this into account in my games

[@paavohirn3728]

Well handled topic! There's a lot of nuance and points of view. Good to keep in mind that everything depends on the particulars of the situation as you say. I must admit that if I feel inadequate in regards to the adventure I'm DMing I feel I need to give out more levels. Same goes for games I participate in as a player.

[@JCSamuelson]

Unhallowed Ground was a group favorite and one of the last adventures we played together in 1995. It came out a couple months before we went our separate ways.

[@blinddog4288]

I don't think you've made a bad video! I enjoy each one and don't feel at the end that I wasted my time. Thank you!

[@Wizzard033]

Thanks again for sharing your wisdom Prof. I started plying in the 80s and I have a nice collection of minis but I haven't had anyone to game with in 25 years

[@SuperXpress2]

Really great video! I definitely run a star trek type of campaign with episodic adventures (an "episode" running about 5-6 sessions). I level the party up after every episode because we play every 2 weeks and an adventure can take 3-4 months in real time.

[@georgeanderton9741]

your stuff is awesome Professor DM!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thanks, George. YOU are awesome for watching and taking the time to comment.

[@Lunarvandross]

Always love your points of view. So thought out and well informed.

[@LordLions13]

Great video! The first campaign i DM'd in 5E was 1st-5th level (Lost Mines of Phandelver), and when i started my next campaign, i didn't want the players to go through the process of leveling up to 5 again and i started it at level 6. While it is fun, it's a lot harder for me to challenge the players when they have so much stuff at the ready. They're currently level 8 and approaching the end of the campaign. The next one i do will be back to level 1!

[@TheSoling27]

Same -- started campaign in 1991 -- still playing the same campaign -- characters at 7th/8th

[@DMXXCorps]

Dang.

[@LetsPlayCrazy]

@@DMXXCorps wtf :D half a year per the lower levels is fine. But you have multiple years per level xD thats a bit slow :D

[@jgr7487]

I totally love how "like my father before me" can meant at least 2 things in that conversation: 1st: Anakin came temporally before Luke; 2nd: Vader is physically before Luke, there!

[@benvoliothefirst]

MIND. BLOWN.

[@joshuaclabeaux1470]

Yeah, and did you notice he makes a small gesture with his head towards his father when he says that.

[@withraas4264]

Slower leveling is better for a solid, dedicated group. Thanks for the video.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

You're very welcome!

[@Knuhll]

I love this topic. Thanks for the excellent guidance! I have been running into the problem of “challenging” my players bc I messed up and gave them way too many goodies early on. Definitely going to rewatch this when I start a new campaign. Thanks!

[@illslim2100]

I enjoy ProfessorDMs thoughts.

[@williamflynn1552]

I like the philosophy the Professor espouses. There is a lot of experience with him. He leveled up in one video!!

[@aschergamer2213]

Some really good points to ponder in this one. Loved the SW/ST analogy for storytelling. Running games after school for high-schoolers tends toward several low-level groups. Mostly through player request and allows for more character experimentation.

[@MondoJohnny]

Great, well thought out reply! I was impressed that you had statistics on levels and all! You really do due diligence on this topic prof. : )

[@FooDogDM]

Good point about the Star Wars and Star Trek models. Great video, as always

[@alanwood7874]

Thanks for all the great content! I always look forward to hearing your opinions on RPG'S. Keep up the good work!

[@meraduddcethin2812]

Very solid and relevant video. Thanks. My most recent campaigns have been....vexsome. To use the terminology of your video, I've wanted to run a 'Star Wars' game and the players signed on for that, only to get side-tracked enough so it becomes villian-of-the-week Star Trek. My most recent game, I've just given up and sold it as a hex-crawl episodic, though there IS an over-arching plot they can engage if they so desire.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

That's a GREAT topic for an episode! What happens when the DM has all these ambitions for an epic game and the players don't share them. I'm writing this down. The short answer is do what you did: just go with it.

[@valterink8997]

Feeding the algorithm, I hope your videos reach more DMs!

[@zellak-pr7pu]

Great video. i have changed over to Runequest from D&D BECMI for my campaign. To avoid the problem with levels. Its an Ancient Geece style background where the PCs can sacrifice magic items to the Gods in order to gain bonuses to attributes.

[@NS56sn]

Thanks again for another great lesson professor 😊may all your rolls be 🎲20's

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thanks!

[@matteoiacobelli2958]

Awesome video and good luck for the channel!

[@3y3l33t]

Love the channel. Thanks for the hard work.

[@sonicexpert986]

Great advice! This has given me much to think about.

[@tednovy7762]

Great treatment as always, Prof.

[@brianv7581]

Great lesson PDM, I’m a big fan of both Star Wars and Star Trek methods. For my needs and playing with a younger child, I think the Star Trek episode pathway works best for me. Thanks again for a fantastic video and breaking down exp development

[@ORlestor]

Oh Professor - what a perfectly evil tease. Now I will be waiting to watch all day long tomorrw.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thanks for commenting!

[@markhermann2361]

Currently wonder about this in my own games so thank you!

[@williambird7459]

Another insightful video. I was surprised by your campaign description because your video tend to often be on keeping the rules light and the combat heavy.

[@Gildagnir]

I'm 18 sessions into my current campaign using your XP system you posed in your XP fast and easy video. I really enjoy the system. It's ended up being a fairly quick way to level through tier one. Using a goal in combination of XP allows for the fun of earning something but also presents a clear objective for players. As they increase in level imagine they will need more time to achieve their objectives.

[@alimahmood4422]

I love your content. A very big thank you. I have finally found a hobby I enjoy.

[@Loggymonster]

It's a classic time sink verse Skinner box. Psychologically, things are devalued in our minds when they come quickly and easily. For instance the Skinner box scenario of pushing a button and getting a treat can give instant gratification but eventually it loses meaning. Whereas when it takes time and effort to achieve things it is common for people to associate those things with higher value and remember them more fondly because of the effort it took to gain.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

THIS is the stuff I wish I had said. If I had a staff and I had money, I'd hire you as staff writer.

[@mattbaigent2434]

Interesting topic! I do a completely homebrew game system in a completely homebrew world called "SinS" (Storms in Sanctuara), I have face-paced players who like to progress quickly and i myself am a face paced dm, though i have learned to slow it down and enjoy my favourite part of d&d - the infiniate possibilities of the mid-level exploration sections. My setting is sci-fi with fantasy elements, i have run 1 campaign of 30 games with about 4-8 players per game, going from level 1 - 10 (probably equivalent to 3-14 n 5e). The next campaing, we are curently in the middle of and 11 games in. The players are currently level 5, and at this point, i like to slow down the levelling like you mentioned and make each gap between level up periodically longer. This is because, i like to structre my games with a STARWARS sprinkling at the beginning, STARTREK style for (most of) the beginning AND the entire MID point (the largest arc). Before concluding on all the big narrative STARWARS ending from level 8-10, where all the foreshadowing and early stuff finally pays off... Where in this camping they literally have a starship and are travelling between 7 solar systems, this time is great for character development and allows a literal STARTREK style which each planet is almost like a self contained episodical adventure. But you also have to bare in mind, I have always intended there to be 3 campaigns, set in the same world, and same (evolving) game system, played by the same(ish) players across a 3-5year period in the real world, from level 1-10 in the game world, and with 10year jumps in game between each campaign and group of heros. An amibitious task for a new DM and new group, but we are half way there and no signs of stopping! :D

[@jakeeper1]

Random Algorythm modeling comment. Love this series. Thx PDM

[@michaelminugh5357]

A simple rule is: "If the players know how their characters work, they can level up" Personally I'd hate going that slowly, sure the story matters, but the mechanics get stale with no levelling. Then again I love options so much that I only play full spellcasters.

[@thezerowulf507]

Your biggest mistake is thinking you're mechanics are limited to your class options.

[@michaelminugh5357]

@@thezerowulf507 5e really does rely on your race and class features. I have tried shenanigans with vials of acid, flasks of oil, wrestling, illusions, acting, persuading and trickery. Yes permissive GMs can allow some Rule of cool-things, but this is a system with codified mechanics. You can do a lot of flexible stuff in 5e but in the end, the rules do assume that you will mainly do what your class does. There are other systems that are much more freeflow.

[@elgatochurro]

fighters > spellcasters

[@TheOnlineShredder]

Love your stuff really helps implement usable dnd content

[@RM-vw3ov]

Feeding algorithm!! Also really appreciated this episode. Feeling good stalking out my PCs at level five for a while. I’m glad I went for quest completion levelling and not experience. Gives me much more leeway!

[@neilhenderson6602]

Another great video from my favourite DM guru

[@palpytheemperorofelevators4937]

Good stuff! I love your content, Prof. Dungeon Master.

[@CollinSpicerMusic]

Just wanted to pop by and say I love this channel! Thanks for all you do, Professor Dungeon Master!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thanks, Colin! Thanks for taking the time to comment!

[@alandcapelari]

Another precisely uploaded video. I was just asking myself this question. My campaign is slow paced too, but not as much as yours, professor. My concern was that I was being too harsh on my players. Then I went to the DMG, since we play 5e, to check what the game expectations for leveling was, and I found out that, on average, it should take 44 sessions of 4 hours each to go from level 1 to 20, being one session to reach level 2, one session to reach level 3, then two sessions to reach level 4, then two or three sessions for each subsequent level. After all, we are on a good pace, and everyone is enjoying, slower than the DMG, but faster than yours. We've been playing twice a month, for one and a half year, and the players just reached level 6.

[@justanothercaptain6566]

Excellent as alway, Professor 👨‍🏫 👍

[@sethhanson5771]

Based on past "lectures" from you Professor I've adopted more of an ICRPG type game. In true DnD fashion I have taken what rules I wanted and created ones I needed and I've found leveling is less significant. Levels in my game equate more to personal / party status - fame or infamy. Leveling escalators like hit points are removed and replaced with magic items that provide all kinds of various powers. Best of which they can be given or taken away! With this method I've found running games way less stressful and a LOT more fun. Best of all combat is super fast providing plenty of time for role-playing shenanigans. In my opinion if you want a tactical miniature game go play WH 40k, DnD is meant to be silly and fun. More laughs less stress!

[@StockNitro]

Really well paced chat, great content! :-)

[@Goshin65]

Good episode, thanks. I started with Red Box in 1980 so slow leveling is normal to me. In my current game (Basic Fantasy rules, much like B/X) it took six sessions for the first PCs to make 2nd level (not all did, I use uneven xp leveling by class), and it will be quite a while before anyone makes 3rd (I'm going to be more stingy with the xp). But they're having a blast because they love the STORY we're telling together. I give xp mostly for achieving goals and good roleplaying, though there's plenty of combat too. The base setting is a modest sized border town where most of the NPCs who aren't 0-level "normal men(/women)" are just 1st or 2nd level (except the Blue Sorceress, a patron/mentor NPC and a couple of old retired fighters) so it's going to be a low-powered campaign for a long while. I agree that the most fun is to be had between 1st level and 7th-8th level.

[@brianinthebunker7407]

The collaborative player gets shown love! - Brian.