Xp transition: Chapter 1 to 2

[barry lyndon]

Approaching 2nd chapter, the anniversary edition is saying the PCs should be level 4 at the end of Thistletop but start Chapter 2 almost level 5.

What did you chapter-levelling GMS do?

[Skeld]

Since I had 6 players at the time, I left them at level 4 and started Chapter 5 there.

-Skeld

[barry lyndon]

Skeld wrote:

Since I had 6 players at the time, I left them at level 4 and started Chapter 5 there.

-Skeld

Did that leave your players constantly 1 level behind the suggested level?

I have 4-5 players.

[Skeld]

barry lyndon wrote:

Skeld wrote:

Since I had 6 players at the time, I left them at level 4 and started Chapter 5 there.

-Skeld

Did that leave your players constantly 1 level behind the suggested level?

I have 4-5 players.

Yes. I had 6 players at the time and I have 7 now (at the beginning of chapter 5). Keeping then consistently one level behind the Advancement Track is one of the adjustments I use to keep them from overwhelming the AP.

With 4-5 players, I would probably keep them right about on track with the recommended level.

-Skeld

[barry lyndon]

Skeld wrote:

barry lyndon wrote:

Skeld wrote:

Since I had 6 players at the time, I left them at level 4 and started Chapter 5 there.

-Skeld

Did that leave your players constantly 1 level behind the suggested level?

I have 4-5 players.

Yes. I had 6 players at the time and I have 7 now (at the beginning of chapter 5). Keeping then consistently one level behind the Advancement Track is one of the adjustments I use to keep them from overwhelming the AP.

With 4-5 players, I would probably keep them right about on track with the recommended level.

-Skeld

Yeah...that begins me back to my OP: Ending one chapter at a lvl below where they're supposed to be at the beginning of the next.

[Skeld]

barry lyndon wrote:

Skeld wrote:

barry lyndon wrote:

Skeld wrote:

Since I had 6 players at the time, I left them at level 4 and started Chapter 5 there.

-Skeld

Did that leave your players constantly 1 level behind the suggested level?

I have 4-5 players.

Yes. I had 6 players at the time and I have 7 now (at the beginning of chapter 5). Keeping then consistently one level behind the Advancement Track is one of the adjustments I use to keep them from overwhelming the AP.

With 4-5 players, I would probably keep them right about on track with the recommended level.

-Skeld

Yeah...that begins me back to my OP: Ending one chapter at a lvl below where they're supposed to be at the beginning of the next.

I understand what you're saying. My best advice is: don't worry about it. The game isn't a highly precise machine where all the parts have to be built to exacting tolerances to fit together. It's very fuzzy. If you're concerned that you players won't have enough XP to hit level 5, then just award them enough XP to make up the deficit and call it a "story award" for finishing the chapter.

Alternatively, if you don't want to give them something for nothing, you can make up some extra encounters with goblins or ghouls or some other ttransitional threat to take them from Chapter 1 to Chapter 2 that will provide them the needed XP. Or, you can just have them start Chapter 5 at level 4 (on their way to level 5).

My point is, all the edges don't have to line up nicely and there are multiple ways you can address the XP disparity (with not addressing it at all being a perfectly valid approach).

-Skeld

[Bellona]

My one group is a four-member party. They've just hit L 4 after clearing all of the thicket tunnel area (including the bunyip), Thistletop's ground level, and half of sub-level 1. IIRC, all their XP has been strictly as per the book's encounters.

So after a knock-down, drag-out running battle with Ripnugget and company, backed by Lyrie and Erylium (who both escaped downstairs), the party is resting after having nailed shut the doors to both sets of stairs down to sub-level 1. Now everyone can regain spells - including the remaining foes :) - and then the party can work on gaining some more XP which will get them closer to L 5.

[barry lyndon]

Skeld wrote:

barry lyndon wrote:

Skeld wrote:

barry lyndon wrote:

Skeld wrote:

Since I had 6 players at the time, I left them at level 4 and started Chapter 5 there.

-Skeld

Did that leave your players constantly 1 level behind the suggested level?

I have 4-5 players.

Yes. I had 6 players at the time and I have 7 now (at the beginning of chapter 5). Keeping then consistently one level behind the Advancement Track is one of the adjustments I use to keep them from overwhelming the AP.

With 4-5 players, I would probably keep them right about on track with the recommended level.

-Skeld

Yeah...that begins me back to my OP: Ending one chapter at a lvl below where they're supposed to be at the beginning of the next.

I understand what you're saying. My best advice is: don't worry about it. The game isn't a highly precise machine where all the parts have to be built to exacting tolerances to fit together. It's very fuzzy. If you're concerned that you players won't have enough XP to hit level 5, then just award them enough XP to make up the deficit and call it a "story award" for finishing the chapter.

Alternatively, if you don't want to give them something for nothing, you can make up some extra encounters with goblins or ghouls or some other ttransitional threat to take them from Chapter 1 to Chapter 2 that will provide them the needed XP. Or, you can just have them start Chapter 5 at level 4 (on their way to level 5).

My point is, all the edges don't have to line up nicely and there are multiple ways you can address the XP disparity (with not addressing it at all being a perfectly valid approach).

-Skeld

I'm very happy to give them something for nothing, they're all role playing their brains out and it's a joy to see. And as I've said now, quite a few times, I'm very happy to use the chapter advancement levelling method and entirely eschew XP, which I have been doing and everyone's happy with it.

What I seem to be failing to communicate in these threads is that the simplest, most robust method, which is to use the chapter advancement level, leaves players at lvl 4 at the conclusion of Thistletop and starts the next chapter at "almost level 5" and nothing happens in between
I can't "slip in" almost a level of XP out of nowhere or with some random encounters on the journey back to Sandpoint. I'll be essentially asking for updated characters sheets, clearing my throat, and then asking them for updates sheets again.

I was pretty sure someone was going to say "Idiot! You've misunderstood the text!" or "it's a misprint, it's supposed to be - " and I could relax happily understanding both the fact that I am an idiot and the proposed resolution. But the replies are just recommending using the chapter advancement method, which is the source of the issue in the first place

I will just have to figure this out somehow as it seems bizarrely that no one else has faced with or dealt with this issue, or I have misunderstood something utterly fundamental.

[Sheharan]

I read about this issue somewhere in this forum and noticed it myself in my campaign. I will fill the gap with a short sideadventure. There is no need to rush to the next chapter.

[barry lyndon]

Well while we're in this vicinity, how do GMs deal with Erylium's tome?

The alchemist in the party wants to translate it via Comprehend Languages. The description is "reads as much like a bestiary of the world's most horrific and cruel monsters" which could be a huge bonus to knowledge checks on an undisclosed number of creatures.

[Skeld]

barry lyndon wrote:

Well while we're in this vicinity, how do GMs deal with Erylium's tome?

The alchemist in the party wants to translate it via Comprehend Languages. The description is "reads as much like a bestiary of the world's most horrific and cruel monsters" which could be a huge bonus to knowledge checks on an undisclosed number of creatures.

I'd treat it like a Masterwork Tool which would give a +2 circumstance bonus to Knowledge checks related to monster lore.

It makes since for a character to read something like this and be familiar with the creature detailed inside, but this is hardly an item a character would break out at the beginning of or during combat to look up information on a monster. This is more of a "I remember reading about a creature like this..." item.

I also think a GM would be completely within reason to limit the creatures included in the tome. For instance, a GM might say it doesn't include information on Undead, Constructs, or Aberrations. Or a GM might say the book only contains the monsters from the fist Bestiary.

-Skeld