So I'm making a race campaign between the adventures and a group of enemies. The players have to protect a magic item while the enemies have to destroy it. So the player's can't really go on any real side quests. would there be anyway to get them XP in a short time so they can level up to the required level to face the last opponent. I can give them more then usual amount of magic items to balance it out but are there any other ways?
"You submerge yourself in the Pool of Knowledge and gain 2 levels."
Just give them the XP. Obviously do it in a way that makes sense for your world, but you can handle it however you want. Maybe one of the extra special properties of the magic item they're guarding is that it imparts knowledge or accelerates growth. At any rate, the XP police aren't going to show up at your door if you don't strictly follow the guidelines in the DMG.
You’re the DM, you can give them xp for anything you like. Advancing the story, good role playing, finding something important. You’re completely in charge of how much they get. You can give the characters xp if the players give you cookies if you want.
Or go at it from the other angle, and power down the enemy to a more appropriate challenge if they haven’t leveled enough.
You should make sure they get a chance to play at each level, try out their new spells and skills, feel the growth and make the increase in level feel meaningful. If it's too rushed it takes away from the feeling of achievement. Usually if the campaign is designed for high level characters you just begin at a higher starting level. If you have a low level campaign but high level enemies then push back that part of the goal with more content in between until it fits better with the party level.
Yes. Just make sure they can play at the higher level and it will be fine. I've played in campaigns that started at level 10. Just be careful about it if they're noobs.
Some groups you need to dole out XP like candy as a reward to keep people engaged. Good RP? have some XP. Did something clever? Have some XP.
But honestly I only use milestones because I prefer to let the game just happen and then let them level up when it makes sense for the story arcs. If you really want to do XP you can look at the mile stones moments in the game, take the XP needed to hit those levels and then divide that by the number of sessions between. Then you just reward "around" that much XP. The characters should more or less level up at the "right" pace for what you want and it'll look really organic.
If you really want to do XP you can look at the mile stones moments in the game, take the XP needed to hit those levels and then divide that by the number of sessions between. Then you just reward "around" that much XP. The characters should more or less level up at the "right" pace for what you want and it'll look really organic.
One of the groups for which I currently DM is very XP dependent (as in the players feel cheated if they don't get XP at the end of a session). However, I follow the method almost exactly as you described above. I have pretty good idea of where the group needs to be by certain points in the campaign and adjust the amount of "XP gained" each session to help ensure they're there. I've rarely had an issue with group not being leveled up when they need be...and I've only had few times where they leveled up "early" by a session or two before they would have otherwise.
Tie the XP to the premise and objectives of the game. They get XPs for actions they take to safeguard the item and XPs for every week they succeed. Maybe put a pot of XPs they can get by achieving some milestones in the course of the contest. Whatever winning is, reward them. Deductions or no reward for the opposite.
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So I'm making a race campaign between the adventures and a group of enemies. The players have to protect a magic item while the enemies have to destroy it. So the player's can't really go on any real side quests. would there be anyway to get them XP in a short time so they can level up to the required level to face the last opponent. I can give them more then usual amount of magic items to balance it out but are there any other ways?
"You submerge yourself in the Pool of Knowledge and gain 2 levels."
Just give them the XP. Obviously do it in a way that makes sense for your world, but you can handle it however you want. Maybe one of the extra special properties of the magic item they're guarding is that it imparts knowledge or accelerates growth. At any rate, the XP police aren't going to show up at your door if you don't strictly follow the guidelines in the DMG.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
True I could use milestones as well right?
I only use milestones or story bases levelling in my campaigns. Then characters are always "correct level" and you dont to have calculete XP:s at all.
You’re the DM, you can give them xp for anything you like. Advancing the story, good role playing, finding something important. You’re completely in charge of how much they get. You can give the characters xp if the players give you cookies if you want.
Or go at it from the other angle, and power down the enemy to a more appropriate challenge if they haven’t leveled enough.
You should make sure they get a chance to play at each level, try out their new spells and skills, feel the growth and make the increase in level feel meaningful. If it's too rushed it takes away from the feeling of achievement. Usually if the campaign is designed for high level characters you just begin at a higher starting level. If you have a low level campaign but high level enemies then push back that part of the goal with more content in between until it fits better with the party level.
Yes. Just make sure they can play at the higher level and it will be fine. I've played in campaigns that started at level 10. Just be careful about it if they're noobs.
Some groups you need to dole out XP like candy as a reward to keep people engaged. Good RP? have some XP. Did something clever? Have some XP.
But honestly I only use milestones because I prefer to let the game just happen and then let them level up when it makes sense for the story arcs. If you really want to do XP you can look at the mile stones moments in the game, take the XP needed to hit those levels and then divide that by the number of sessions between. Then you just reward "around" that much XP. The characters should more or less level up at the "right" pace for what you want and it'll look really organic.
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One of the groups for which I currently DM is very XP dependent (as in the players feel cheated if they don't get XP at the end of a session). However, I follow the method almost exactly as you described above. I have pretty good idea of where the group needs to be by certain points in the campaign and adjust the amount of "XP gained" each session to help ensure they're there. I've rarely had an issue with group not being leveled up when they need be...and I've only had few times where they leveled up "early" by a session or two before they would have otherwise.
Tie the XP to the premise and objectives of the game. They get XPs for actions they take to safeguard the item and XPs for every week they succeed. Maybe put a pot of XPs they can get by achieving some milestones in the course of the contest. Whatever winning is, reward them. Deductions or no reward for the opposite.