A question came up in our game about character advancement. We just started and were discussing how much experience we needed to reach 3rd level. The chart says we need 900. We are already have 430 from our adventuring and yes we are second level. We thought we needed 470 (900-430=470). Our GM said we needed 770. After asking him how he came to this number. It appears after we reach a level our experience level is dropped to 0 and we start over. So after we reached second level our experience dropped to 130 xps (what was left). At least this is how the gm explained it to us. So we need 770 to reach level 3 (900-130= 770). I was wondering how other Dms handle this, which method is use. In other campaigns I have played in we have never had the experience total drop to 0 after a level is reached. I understand it is the dm's game, but is there any rules that people might know of that can help us?
It could be that the DM wanted slower growth in his campaign. If you just use the automated tools of the character manager, you will notice it doesn't reset your exp when you level up.
You can also just ignore XP entirely and use the milestone system where the DM decides when you've done enough to level. I personally prefer that system so you level when you've completed a quest rather than just killed the right number of monsters
I recently switched my group over to this when we started a new CoS campaign and its soo much nicer. Quick and easy and while it takes that nice XP bar away from characters it also doesn't leave them focusing on it as much. It also gives the DM some leeway to speed up or slow down leveling if needed (within reason).
"BEYOND 1ST LEVEL As your character goes on adventures and overcomes challenges, he or she gains experience, represented by experience points. A character who reaches a specified experience point total advances in capability, This advancement is called gaining a level."
"The Character Advancement table summarizes the XP you need to advance in levels from level 1 through level 20"
The table shows the total XP needed to achieve a given level not the incremental amount.
It is most likely the DM might be misinterpreting the table (though they may have changed the XP requirements ... but keep in mind that using the numbers as increments would make leveling very slow unless the DM also increased the XP awards for monsters far beyond that in the monster manual. (this problem would not be noticed in the first 2 to 4 levels since tier 1 is designed to go by quickly but reaching level 5 and 6 would become noticeably more difficult at the normal rate of granting XP.
Note also that the milestone or Adventure check point approaches to leveling can be a useful alternative to calculating XP.
A question came up in our game about character advancement. We just started and were discussing how much experience we needed to reach 3rd level. The chart says we need 900. We are already have 430 from our adventuring and yes we are second level. We thought we needed 470 (900-430=470). Our GM said we needed 770. After asking him how he came to this number. It appears after we reach a level our experience level is dropped to 0 and we start over. So after we reached second level our experience dropped to 130 xps (what was left). At least this is how the gm explained it to us. So we need 770 to reach level 3 (900-130= 770). I was wondering how other Dms handle this, which method is use. In other campaigns I have played in we have never had the experience total drop to 0 after a level is reached. I understand it is the dm's game, but is there any rules that people might know of that can help us?
Your XP doesn't drop back down to 0. The relevant rules are covered in this section of the Basic Rules.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
It could be that the DM wanted slower growth in his campaign. If you just use the automated tools of the character manager, you will notice it doesn't reset your exp when you level up.
That’s either a house rule to slow down how fast you level up or your DM doesn’t know the rules very well yet.
Professional computer geek
You can also just ignore XP entirely and use the milestone system where the DM decides when you've done enough to level. I personally prefer that system so you level when you've completed a quest rather than just killed the right number of monsters
1000 times this! ^^^^
I recently switched my group over to this when we started a new CoS campaign and its soo much nicer. Quick and easy and while it takes that nice XP bar away from characters it also doesn't leave them focusing on it as much. It also gives the DM some leeway to speed up or slow down leveling if needed (within reason).
PHB p15
"BEYOND 1ST LEVEL
As your character goes on adventures and overcomes challenges, he or she gains experience, represented by experience points. A character who reaches a specified experience point total advances in capability, This advancement is called gaining a level."
"The Character Advancement table summarizes the XP you need to advance in levels from level 1 through level 20"
The table shows the total XP needed to achieve a given level not the incremental amount.
It is most likely the DM might be misinterpreting the table (though they may have changed the XP requirements ... but keep in mind that using the numbers as increments would make leveling very slow unless the DM also increased the XP awards for monsters far beyond that in the monster manual. (this problem would not be noticed in the first 2 to 4 levels since tier 1 is designed to go by quickly but reaching level 5 and 6 would become noticeably more difficult at the normal rate of granting XP.
Note also that the milestone or Adventure check point approaches to leveling can be a useful alternative to calculating XP.