I was wondering if there is any difference in leveling up based on if you are playing in a hardcover or not?
I feel like there is a big difference in for example, playing a hardcover adventure with a stable group vs. playing other shorter adventures with new people every week. From the rules it seems like there isn’t any difference?
There is a difference, yes. You either level up when the book says (usually at the end of each chapter) or if that hasn't happened in 8 hours of play (4 hours in T1), you can gain a level at your discretion.
- you can choose to level up after any AL module you play
- if you are playing a hardcover, you level up when the DM tells you to level up OR after every 4 hours of hardcover play at tier 1 or every 8 hours of play at tier 2. Gold received by the character is limited by level and constrained by the number of hours played.
However, the characters can always choose to turn down an available level up. This can be useful when playing hardcovers since they often take much longer to play than the stated level cap. For example, curse of strahd is expected to run until about level 10 - however, for a party doing most of the content there are enough milestones available to easily exceed that. In addition, at 4 hours/session - it is 4 sessions to level 5 and an additional 10 sessions to level 10 for a total of 14 sessions to reach level 10 for the entire adventure if following the AL time rules strictly. The odds of completing any HC in 14 sessions is extremely small so either the characters level past the content and the DM adjusts the encounters or some adjustments are made during play.
Thanks to you both. This was exactly what I was looking for.
Sadly it is difficult for me to understand how these rules make sense for a Hardcover. In Rime of the Frostmaiden for example, of out of 7 chapters there are 4 chapters (3-6) where the PCs will level once per chapter. So basically, if the PC wants they can be higher level through almost the entire adventure. 🤷🏻♂️
Thanks to you both. This was exactly what I was looking for.
Sadly it is difficult for me to understand how these rules make sense for a Hardcover. In Rime of the Frostmaiden for example, of out of 7 chapters there are 4 chapters (3-6) where the PCs will level once per chapter. So basically, if the PC wants they can be higher level through almost the entire adventure. 🤷🏻♂️
I was originally going to mention the content catalogue, but I deleted it. There is guidance on additional rule to apply to hardcover adventures. In particular:
Characters of 4th level or higher no longer gain levels by playing Chapter 1.
Characters of 7th level or higher no longer gain levels by playing Chapter 2.
Characters of 6th level or higher no longer gain levels by playing Chapter 3.
Characters of 7th level or higher no longer gain levels by playing Chapter 4.
(Guessing chapters aren't linear)
So there is a soft cap on how over leveled they can be.
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I was wondering if there is any difference in leveling up based on if you are playing in a hardcover or not?
I feel like there is a big difference in for example, playing a hardcover adventure with a stable group vs. playing other shorter adventures with new people every week. From the rules it seems like there isn’t any difference?
There is a difference, yes. You either level up when the book says (usually at the end of each chapter) or if that hasn't happened in 8 hours of play (4 hours in T1), you can gain a level at your discretion.
Leveling up in AL is prescribed as the following:
- you can choose to level up after any AL module you play
- if you are playing a hardcover, you level up when the DM tells you to level up OR after every 4 hours of hardcover play at tier 1 or every 8 hours of play at tier 2. Gold received by the character is limited by level and constrained by the number of hours played.
However, the characters can always choose to turn down an available level up. This can be useful when playing hardcovers since they often take much longer to play than the stated level cap. For example, curse of strahd is expected to run until about level 10 - however, for a party doing most of the content there are enough milestones available to easily exceed that. In addition, at 4 hours/session - it is 4 sessions to level 5 and an additional 10 sessions to level 10 for a total of 14 sessions to reach level 10 for the entire adventure if following the AL time rules strictly. The odds of completing any HC in 14 sessions is extremely small so either the characters level past the content and the DM adjusts the encounters or some adjustments are made during play.
Thanks to you both. This was exactly what I was looking for.
Sadly it is difficult for me to understand how these rules make sense for a Hardcover. In Rime of the Frostmaiden for example, of out of 7 chapters there are 4 chapters (3-6) where the PCs will level once per chapter. So basically, if the PC wants they can be higher level through almost the entire adventure. 🤷🏻♂️
I was originally going to mention the content catalogue, but I deleted it. There is guidance on additional rule to apply to hardcover adventures. In particular:
(Guessing chapters aren't linear)
So there is a soft cap on how over leveled they can be.