As a new DM, it can be tricky to manage how often you award experience points or how often your party levels up. Not to worry, this simple guide will answer all your questions about experience points and leveling up your party! So how often should you award experience and level up your players? You should award experience points to players when they successfully complete a task or complete combat. When players reach the next tier in experience points, they have earned the next level. Alternatively, you can grant levels based on reaching important milestones in the campaign or for the number of sessions completed. While each method of leveling is perfectly valid, not every method is right for your game. Each one has advantages and disadvantages that you should consider before choosing which one to implement.

Experience Point Based Leveling

Using experience points to level up is the traditional way of tracking player progress in D&D. Players enter combat, take on quests, and gain experience points based on the difficulty of the task or enemy. Players track their experience points and use the chart below to determine their level. Once he/she has crossed the threshold into a new tier, he or she will “level up” his/her character. *The chart below can be found on page 15 of the Player’s Handbook

Experience Points	Level	Proficiency Bonus
0	1	+2
300	2	+2
900	3	+2
2,700	4	+2
6,500	5	+3
14,000	6	+3
23,000	7	+3
34,000	8	+3
48,000	9	+4
64,000	10	+4
85,000	11	+4
100,000	12	+4
120,000	13	+5
140,000	14	+5
165,000	15	+5
195,000	16	+5
225,000	17	+6
265,000	18	+6
305,000	19	+6
355,000	20	+6

Using experience points to level up is the traditional way of tracking player progress in D&D. Players enter combat, take on quests, and gain experience points based on the difficulty of the task or enemy. Players track their experience points and use the chart below to determine their level. Once he/she has crossed the threshold into a new tier, he or she will “level up” his/her character.

Experience Points from Combat

The amount of experience earned by battling monsters is directly related to the monster’s CR or Challenge Rating. Challenge Rating indicates how difficult the monster will be to defeat. The higher the CR, the tougher the monster, the more experience points earned. Monster challenge ratings range from 0 CR earning 0-10XP to 30 CR earning 155,000XP. To get the total experience earned from an encounter with multiple monsters, add all the experience points together from all monsters, but do not multiply the experience points like you would when calculating your party’s XP threshold. Each monster is worth only the experience listed in the book. If you want to learn more about how to calculate your party’s XP threshold to make sure you aren’t throwing too much at them, check out this helpful article on Creating Balanced Encounters. For all experience points by challenge rating see the chart found on page 275 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Once you have added the experience points for the encounter, divide the points among your players. For example, if your party just fought a young black dragon (CR 7) they earned a total of 2,900XP as a party. If you have 5 players in your party, then each player receives 580XP (2,900/5).

Non-Combat Challenges

Combat isn’t the only way players can earn XP. A DM can choose to award XP for exceptional role play, clever or unorthodox plans, expediency in completing a quest, solving a mystery or discovering a plot. The possibilities are limitless. The XP earned from these quests will depend on how difficult the task and the level of your characters. If you would like help creating epic side quests to award your players with non-combat XP, check out this guide to Creating Epic Side Quests. While DMs can choose to award XP for playing the game well, many would argue that non-combat challenges should be rewarded in other ways, such as in gold, contracts, alliances and contacts. This depends on your campaign’s style of play and is purely preference. Just be sure your players are earning their XP and you aren’t giving any handouts.

Advantages of Experience Points

The advantage of this method of leveling is its clarity. Players know exactly how much experience they need until they level up and that can motivate them to be more involved in combat and plot devices. Furthermore, because only the players who participated in the fight get XP, this method can also keep players accountable to show up to game night. If they miss too many sessions, they could fall behind the other party members. This system also allows DMs to give out XP as a reward for exceptional role-playing or cleverness. With the other systems, there isn’t much of an incentive to focus on these things because, regardless of if they do or don’t, they will level up at the same pace. However, in XP based leveling, working for non-combat XP can make a huge difference in how quickly players level up.

Disadvantages of Experience Based Leveling

Level Gap

One potential disadvantage to the experience based leveling system is that players who often skip sessions can quickly fall behind in levels. It is possible for most of the group to be at level 5 while one player is still at level 3. While this isn’t a huge problem, it can cause some headaches for you as the DM and for the party. You must keep the lower leveled player in mind while you are creating encounters and the party might find themselves protecting the weaker party member in the midst of a higher level dungeon.

Tracking Experience Points

As you saw from the chart at the beginning, players need A LOT of experience points to reach higher levels. This means keeping track of every encounter and how much players need to get to the next level. This can be stressful as the DM when you are creating encounters. You never want players to be just a few points short of the next level, especially if they need to level up to survive the next session. Using experience points means tracking experience points, so if you and your party aren’t great at this, you might try one of the methods below.

Milestone Based Leveling

The milestone based leveling system is most often used by DMs, and is the method Matt Mercer uses in Critical Role. Players level up once they have reached a milestone in the story, such as getting to a city or meeting an important NPC (non-player character). This is completely up to the DM and the players don’t know when they will level up.

Advantages of Milestone Leveling

The biggest advantage to milestone leveling is the amount of freedom it allows DMs. You no longer have to tally, divide and track XP. If you want players to level up at the end of the session, you simply tell them to level up. This can take much of the pressure off of encounter building and allow more focus on story.

Disadvantages of Milestone Leveling

Some disadvantages of milestone leveling include a lack of player incentives, accountability, and clarity. Without the carrot of XP dangling in front of the players at all times, some players may not actively role-play or try to find clever solutions to problems as much. If your players are only motivated to be creative when a reward present, you may have to come up with other ways to keep them engaged. Players also may not be as motivated to attend every game if they know they will level up with the rest of the party when a milestone is reached. Milestones are always obtained as a party, so there isn’t a way to leave just one player behind, meaning there may not be as much accountability for players to show up. Finally, some players like to know exactly how long before they can level up. They don’t like to be surprised and they want to feel as though they have earned the next level. These players may be a little antsy if they haven’t leveled up for a game or two. If you have a party full of these kinds of players, I wouldn’t suggest using the milestone method.

Session Based Leveling

The final leveling option is the session based leveling method. This method uses the number of sessions attended to determine when to level up. Most often, DMs will allow players to level up after 2 attended sessions.

Advantages to Session Based Leveling

The clear advantage to session based leveling is its blend of player clarity and DM freedom. Players still know when they are going to level up, just like with experience point leveling, but you don’t have to calculate and track XP. It is the best of both worlds. This system also provides incentives for players to show up to games, because that is the only way they can level up.

Disadvantages to Session Based Leveling

The disadvantage of this system is the lack of DM control and incentive to participate. Although this system frees you from the complications of XP, players are going to level up after two sessions, regardless of if they have earned it or if you are ready for them to do so. Players could spend an entire session talking in a tavern and still level up at the end of the night, some simply won’t see that as fair. The other disadvantage is the lack of incentive to participate. The only requirement to level up is to show up. Unlike the other two systems where players did have to do something (either earn XP or progress the story) session based leveling requires nothing of the players but their presence. This can affect the overall quality of the game if the players are only there to level up not there enjoy the game as it was intended.

Related Questions

How long should it take to level up in D&D? Typically it should take around 6 quests/encounters for your party to go from level 1 to level 2. This is not a hard and fast rule, but a guideline. After that, the required experience increases with every level, so it will take more and more encounters to level up. If you are using the milestone method, a good pace would be to level up every 2-3 sessions, depending on how quickly your party completes each part of the story. How fast should you level up in D&D? While many players will want to level up as quickly as possible, don’t get caught in this pitfall. Let the game progress naturally and never try to hurry players along to higher levels so they can face bigger enemies. Plan encounters for where your party is at and lets them enjoy the game at their own pace. Until next time, my friends, may your game have advantage! -Halfling Hannah

What makes an NPC (Non-Player Character) unforgettable? What keeps players coming back to the same shopkeeper over and over? Regardless of the race, gender or setting, there are a few qualities that make NPCs stand out as a cut above the rest. If you want to make your NPC interactions more memorable, follow this simple guideline to learn how.

NPC Specialties

Why does the party need to interact with this NPC? Does this NPC make a potion or magical item the party can’t get anywhere else? Or is this NPC the holder of important information? Don’t be afraid to make items, potions, information of quests available only at one shop or through one contact. (You can even make meeting this NPC for the first time a side quest!) If the party knows the only way to get what they want is to deal with a specific NPC, you can be certain they will remember his/her name.

Side note: Remember, not all shops are equal. While some herb shops might sell herbalism kits or low-level potions, but a specialized potions shop will deal in potions of superior healing (more likely what your party is after). Don’t waste your best NPC ideas on places your party likely will never visit again. Give superior shops superior NCPs.

NPC Descriptions Matter

There is a difference between this description:

“You walk into the shop and see a gnome behind a short counter.”

And this description:

“You duck into the small, cozy shop and see the front counter has been lowered to fit the height of a female gnome. Her skin is a dark walnut brown and she has wild red hair that flows behind her as she moves rapidly back and forth shelving items. Now and then she climbs nimbly up the case that extends from the floor to the ceiling to put an item on a higher shelf. She moves with such nimble speed that her movements are almost a blur as she works. You catch her attention and she stops halfway up the shelves, smiling broadly.”

The second description not only gives your players a physical description of the shopkeeper but personality hints as well. When she talks, I would picture this NPC stumbling over her words because she speaks so quickly. Maybe she gets off topic often or asks too many questions in quick succession.

Obviously, not every NPC needs this kind of introduction, but throwing them in occasionally will add interest and make NPCs more memorable.

This is especially important if you have a side quest in mind for your NPC. Giving a detailed description slows down the game and alerts the players that there might be more to this individual than meets the eye. Also, be sure to throw in hints if there is an item this shopkeeper has on display that the party might find useful or interesting or if an NPC might but up to something secretive or underhanded. Descriptions such as, “You see his eyes darting back and forth, scanning the area suspiciously.” Drop the subtle hint to your party that this guy may be up to no good. Descriptions like this make the NPC more memorable because they include an element of drama and mystery.

Whenever possible, make the environment surrounding your NPCs come alive by using as many sensory details as possible. What would the party smell when entering an herbalist shop? What would the air feel like if they ducked into a cellar or entered a warm room on a cold night? Is there music playing in the tavern? If so, what is it like? Our brains work in sensory details, the more you provide, the more memorable your NPCs will be.

Wholistic Personalities (Ticks & Flaws included)

No one is perfect, and your NPCs shouldn’t be either. Perfect people are plain. To make your NPCs truly unforgettable, give them flaws. Character flaws can be as innocent as speaking too quickly, such as the example above, or deep, definitive flaws, such as running an underground criminal organization or selling potentially deadly drugs. The flaw depends on the NPC and your purpose.

Note that flaws can even become epic side quests if played well. Players may be so intrigued by the effectiveness of potions sold at a particular shop, that they follow the shopkeeper to learn the “secret ingredient.” Or a greedy NPC can even become a low-level villain or a suspect in a crime which occurs against their competitor.

However harmless the flaw, simply having one will make the NPC stand out in your players’ minds. Check out the list of flaws below if you need ideas!

Harmless Flaws	Deep Flaws
Speaking too quickly	Greedy
A stutter or lisp	Racist
Misusing words	Territorial to the point of sabotaging other businesses
Speaking too loudly or too softly	Sells faulty items 30% of the time
Always distracted	Participates in or runs the Black Market
Going Blind/Deaf	Secretly sells potions/equipment to the enemy/Is a spy (if your campaign takes place in a war setting)
Forgetful, very forgetful (think 10 seconds or so)	Member of a very old family that is part of a secret society (Can be a harmless flaw depending on how you do it)
Hoarder	Collects body parts to use in potions…they must be fresh to be most effective (this can be a whole serial killer side quest!)
Speaks only broken Common	Deals in a particularly dangerous/potent drug/Is an addict/alcoholic
Constantly telling pointless stories/gossip	Is a zealous follower of a deity or being
Knows the Mayor (and makes sure you know it)	Individual or family has been cursed

Using one or more of these flaws will add both flavor and intrigue to your NPCs making them unforgettable.

For more character flaw ideas check out https://writerswrite.co.za/123-ideas-for-character-flaws/

Emotional Connection with NPCs

When memories are associated with an emotion, they are much more quickly cemented in long term memory. If you can find a way to connect your NPC emotionally to your players, it is very likely the party will remember them. However, you should keep in mind that there is a vast array of emotions your players could feel. Here are some examples:

Pity– An NPC could be suffering from an illness or dealing with the loss of a loved one. The NPC could alternatively be losing business to a competitor who is sabotaging/limiting his/her supplies.

Happiness– The NPC is bubbly and happy creating the same emotions in the players. His/her tavern/home is full of fun gadgets, pets, or other items that the party enjoys

Irritation– This can come in any number of ways. Perhaps they talk too slowly or too quickly. He/she could ignore certain members of the group and focus only on one member they like. Or they can be too loud or mumble. Giving your NPC annoying traits will help them stick out. And if you think this will make the party never want to see him/her, think again. There will always be one person that loves to watch everyone else get annoyed with that NPC. Trust me. (It’s me. I’m the person.)

Hate– Who says your players need to love every NPC you throw at them? Hate is a powerful emotion, and it is one I love to use (though make sure you use it sparingly). For example, the Captain of the Guard who keeps stealing the party’s glory. Or, my personal favorite, the slimy jack-of-all-trades shopkeeper who sells faulty items 30% of the time.

Of course, this is only a brief list of the broad spectrum of emotions your NPC could elicit from your party. Pick an emotion and then try to produce it from your party. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but the result is always more fun than a standard meeting.

Bringing it all Together

The best way to make your NPCs unforgettable is to give them relevance and purpose by treating them like real people.

If the NPCs don’t appear to have any relevance to the story, your players will feel that interacting with them is a waste of time and simply ignore them. Give all your NPCs purpose. Make that purpose simple, like protecting a grove, providing for their family, or keeping order, but give them purpose, nonetheless.

This does NOT mean every NPC has a fully fleshed out backstory, but it does mean you have several options on hand in case your players dig a little deeper. If players want to cure an NPC’s illness, make sure you have a disease and cure in mind. Even random characters can feel like they have purpose and relevance just by using the tips I have outlined above.

Unforgettable NPCs are just one way to step up the level of your game, and I hope these tips will help you get there.

Until next time,

May your game have advantage, my friends!

-Halfling Hannah

I love side quests. I have always wanted a bumper sticker that says, “I brake for side quests.” I know I am not alone. Who else has spent hours upon hours completing every random side quest available in a video game before even starting the main storyline? Don’t be ashamed! Side quests are awesome!

When done correctly, side quests can be a work of art. They help players develop skills and gather the information and resources they will need later. Heck, they can even be amazing stories in and of themselves! Side quests allow players to explore the world and people around them in short but meaningful ways.

There are few games that provide both the time and format, and even encourage the use of side quests, such as Dungeons & Dragons. In these games, there is a whole world of possibilities (literally!) and the only limiting factor is the size of your imagination.

But with all this freedom comes the daunting responsibility of the DM to try to connect all the dots.

How do we, as DMs, create these and lead our players to the kinds of side quests they will remember? How do we create truly epic side quests?

To help you develop your own epic side quests I have created this 5 step guide. This is not a pre-made side quest, this is a guide to help you create your own unique and fun quests, tailor-made for your party.

Step 1: Think About Purpose

There is a difference between a random encounter and a side quest. That difference is purpose.

A great story, no matter how long or how short, has a purpose. What is the purpose of your side quest? No matter how simple or silly your quest, it should have a takeaway. A side quest of rescuing a child’s kite from a tree could have the purpose of reminding a jaded party that there is still innocence in the world that needs protecting.

A side quest of healing a village racked with a horrible disease could awaken the party to the realization the mages’ guild is experimenting with ancient, evil magic.

Perhaps the purpose is as simple as creating bonds and trust within the party or creating ties to a local village/area (which may or may not be destroyed by a dragon later.) The point is, a good quest accomplishes a purpose. Here are some other purposes your quest could accomplish:

•       Acquiring a rare/unique item
•       Gathering resources (show me the money!)
•       Gathering Intel
•       Lifting the mood
•       Taking a break from constant combat
•       Developing characters and bonds
•       Setting up a new plot

Whatever the purpose, your side quest should provide the party with something meaningful, or it will just be a waste of everyone’s time.

Take Away: There are many purposes to side quests, make sure you know what your purpose is.

Step 2: Decide How Long the Side Quest Should Be

The length of your side quest will depend largely on your purpose. The search for a rare magical item may take several sessions, but side quests do not have to be long to be impactful. A mini-quest can be as short as 10-20 minutes but, if done correctly, the impact will last the whole campaign.

Example: My group was on their way to a Drow city on the other side of a mountain range, far beyond the reach of civilization. At the base of the mountains was a small village, their last stop before entering untamed wilderness. Up until this point, the group of mixed race adventurers hadn’t had great interactions with the common folk, to the point that they were beginning to discuss not completing the quest and saving this world.

When they entered the village, the people avoided them, mummering under their breath, everyone except one small boy. He stared at them, wide eyed and clearly enamored. As he stared, a gust of wind pulled at his kite, ripping the string from his small hand and taking the kite high into the sky.

He began to cry. The group, naturally, rushed to his aid, promising to locate his missing kite. The boy beamed and the side quest began.

This mission only lasted about 20 minutes, but my players still talk about it. Mostly because the quest ended with the half-orc rolling a natural 1 on a low dexterity check to pull the kite from the tree it was stuck in, thus tearing the kite in half as he tried to dislodge it. The whole group had a lovely ceremony for the kite and shared a moment of silence as the Dragonborn used his breath weapon to send the kite up to kite heaven in flames…before he remembered he had the mending spell.

The group then played a rather intense game of hide and seek before escorting the boy home.

 This short and silly side quest  served two purposes:

1. To remind the group who they were fighting for
2. To give them a moment of lighthearted fun before, what I knew was to be, a long, hard battle ahead.

     Take away: Side quests do not have to be long and intricate to be deeply meaningful.

Step 3: Consider Campaign Tie-In

Although a side quest can be completely random, the best side quests have some kind of tie-in to the main story line, even if your players don’t realize it…yet. A character or item from a side quest can show up later to save the party in their hour of need, or becomes vitally important to the success of a mission.

I can tell you from experience that players love it when a seemingly random event or useless item is woven into the story line. Do this a couple of times and I guarantee your players will be on the lookout for side quests and taking notes on the NPCs they meet along the way.

Take Away: Tie NPCs, events and items into the main story.

Step 4: Create Player Buy-In

Why should your players care? If you can’t answer this, then don’t expect your players to take the time and energy to jump through your hoops.

There are lots of ways to create buy-in, the simplest and most obvious is money. If your group is strapped for cash, they will most likely do whatever promises gold.

However, this is an extrinsic motivation that will likely not last long. Don’t rely on the promise of gold to create buy-in every time. Eventually, your party will be too rich to care, and if they do need the money, that is all they will be interested in. No names, no conversations, nothing but gold.

Some better ways to create party buy-in are to appeal to your player’s backstories, bonds, or flaws. Each of these creates a deeper motivation that will ensure players complete the quest and do so in a timely manner. How you appeal to these will depend on your players, but every player will have something you can use against them. Are they a gambling addict? Perhaps they have a tragic backstory involving losing their parents (who doesn’t?) whatever it is, use it to create buy-in.

Take Away: Not all that glitters is gold. Create player buy-in through the use of emotion.

Step 5: Create Memorable NPCs

The heart and soul of a side quest! Creative and fun Non-Player Characters can make a side quest truly epic, and you don’t have to be a voice actor to bring them to life!

It is more important for the people of your world to feel like real people than it is for them to have a unique voice. Here are some questions to ask about your NPCs

•       What are his/her flaws?
•       What do they want and what are they willing to do to get it?
•       What are their bonds?
•       What has their life experience been thus far? Are they innocent or jaded?

This are just a few questions that will help guide you in the creation of NPCs. If you are looking for more information on creating NPCs, check out this article on Creating Unforgettable NPCS.

In the end, it isn’t about how clever your stories or how detailed your character descriptions are, it is about making sure the players have fun. Side quests can be the times when your really “let your hair down” so to speak. They can hit the players hearts, make them laugh, make them cry, or just let them try that one ridiculous spell they have been so excited to use.

Regardless of the type of game you run, the kinds of players you have or what you’re a looking to accomplish, if you follow these simple guidelines, you will create epic side quests your players can’t get enough of.

Until next time,

May your game have advantage, my friend!

-Halfling Hannah