Over on James Maliszewski there’s a blog post called Gygax in Europa linking to a copy of a fanzine produced in Switzerland in the seventies talking about Gygax’s Greyhawk campaign and citing a back and forth between Gygax and another reader:
I can appreciate your concerns over too-rapid progress and possibilities for branching-out after characters have made it to the top, but it does not really apply to us, as the campaign I’m in seems to almost as tough as the one you quote (after 2 terms – 4 months – of weekly expeditions, the highest members of our party are 5th level). – Sandy Eisen, UK
Four levels gained in four months of weekly play – *four sessions or more per level*. This is the kind of advancement I like best in my own games.
The tendency to make every fight a tactical challenge in D&D 3.5 has led to characters gaining a level every second session or faster. I was hardly able to use each of my new abilities before gaining yet another level.
I should keep this in mind and double-check every now and then.
#RPG #Old School
(Please contact me if you want to remove your comment.)
⁂
As an alternative, you could scrap the XP system and just level everyone up every 4th session?
– Marco 2009-10-02 06:52 UTC
---
When I proposed something like that – a long time ago – I remember that players said they didn’t want that. Right now the XP system sort of rewards people for showing up a lot, which is a weird side-effect. 😄
– Alex Schroeder 2009-10-02 09:14 UTC
---
I am more of a “one level per twelve to twenty sessions” kind of guy, but it depends on what is being accomplished and what level the characters actually are. Certainly, moving up from first to second level is quicker than fourth to fifth.
– Matthew James Stanham 2009-10-02 12:28 UTC