Quest Leveling

T
he need for a simplified, streamlined leveling system has always been present in 5e. Quest Leveling is an easy and Difficulty
maleable system which depends largely on the DM's judgement and the speed at which the party wants to level. It
Facile
avoids excessive, cumbersome number tracking and competition by involving only one small number which is
attached to the party as a whole instead of individual characters. Now, before we start, I'm going to roast every Easy
other system of leveling I can think of. Challenging
The vanilla XP system is trash. Sure, it's the most traditional system, and most newcomers will understand how
it works quite easily, but its mechanics are so complicated it seems more fitting for a video game. It's extremely Harrowing
time!consuming and values combat over other accomplishments. It encourages interparty competition by having each character Dreadful
level independently, which involves atrociously large, ever!growing numbers.
Milestone leveling is widespread and easy, but it enforces a railroad storyline. It can neglect accomplishments that weren't Facile.
planned by the DM and can discourage player freedom. ("Why would I go off and do this when I know there's no XP in it for me?") party is helping,
Not to mention, it's not really applicable for sandbox or survival campaigns. tacked on top of
Session Leveling is the simplest leveling system, but it makes the least sense narratively. You can end a session mid!combat
and come back next week one level advanced, or, you can spend an entire session messing around in downtime and still advance a Examples:
level. Plus, players are forced to manage their levels on their own time, which can be overwhemling to new players. It also ignores Deliver an im
the gradual slowing that leveling is supposed to take. Collect cruci
Having "trainers" level your characters is unnecessarily time!consuming and complicated story!wise. Sure, it makes sense for While you ar
a monk to regularly return to her master to advance in her skills, but where is a warlock supposed to turn to? What if the party is Traverse a va
completing quest after quest, but they are in a remote place like the Underdark? Furthermore, leveling systems that use trainers
often require money, which saps a valuable resource from low!level characters.

How it works: Quest Points

Quest Leveling involves one central number shared between the party: Quest Points. Instead of fretting over the characters'
individual killsLevel
or traps disarmed, Quest Leveling focuses on the accomplishing Points Needed quests, goals, or errands within an
of individual
adventure or overarching job.
1 -
For example, if the players are charged to kill a Lich in a dungeon, but getting to the dungeon involves retrieving an artifact from
2 1
a ruin and transporting it through a bandit!filled canyon, there are three different opportunities for quest points in this one goal.
The amount of Quest 3 Points a party recieves depends on the difficulty of the task, which 1 comes in 5 different categories.
Difficulty is relative to the party and their level. Clearing a cave of lizardfolk could be a harrowing quest for a party of 2nd level
adventurers, but an 4 easy task for a party of level 7's. This is where the DM's judgement 2 comes into play.
5 2
6 3
7 3
8 4
9 4
10 5

Level Points Needed

11 5
12 6
13 6
14 7
15 7
16 8
17 8
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 12 6
13 6
Easy. An easy 14 7 to the party. Such a task usually involves a
task requires a sporting amount of effort, but poses very little threat
decent amount of combat
15 or some other aspect of danger or consequence. 7
Examples: 16 8
Navigate dangerous
17 terrain, such as an inhospitable desert, crumbling mountain,
8 or volcanic field.
Confront and possibly battle a party of mediocre enemies such as bandits.
18 with a well!disposed village through diplomacy.
Forge an alliance 9
19
A party of powerful 9 no threat to them, such as ogres or lesser
adventurers deigns to clear an area of enemies that would be
fiends.
20 10
Infiltrate and rob a small bank with few guards.

Challenging. A challenging quest is the most commonly encountered quest. Any assignment of moderate difficulty is
considered challenging. If a party is equally matched or rigorously tested, it has been through a challenging quest. Challenging
tasks require decent effort and put forth a small chance of player death.

Examples:
Brave the dungeon of a rising necromancer.
Esacpe a heavily guarded prison.
Convince a contentious tribal chief to donate you some of his troops.
Gain firsthand intel on a cult by posing as members.
Navigate treacherous terrain with hostile creatures, such as a haunted ruin, the Underdark, or the Plane of Fire.

Harrowing. A harrowing challenge is undoubtedly deadly and more dangerous than the average quest. In a harrowing quest,
the party is usually outmatched and needs to use great amounts of effort and strategy in order to succeed. A harrowing quest
usually entails a fair possibility of a player death, or a number of close calls at the very least.

Examples
Defeat a foe that is normally out of the party's league, like a level 4 party killing a hydra.
Survive a dungeon that other adventurers of your level would likely die in.
Steal a prized artifact from a castle full of especially dangerous enemies, such as demons or giants.
Assasssinate an important and well!guarded king.
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 Once a party collects enough points to level, subtract the points needed from the party's total Quest Points and allow them to
increase in level over the course of a long rest. The party may only advance in level once per long rest; this keeps first!tier
adventurers from leveling up too fast if they were to somehow complete a dreadful quest.

Parties with varying levels

If a table starts a campaign using this system , all characters will be of equal level. But what if a lower level rookie joins the team?
What if a magic item boosts a player one level above the others? To deal with this, have that player track their quest points L
separately until they are equal level. Remember, if a rookie joins the team, the things the rookie faces might be harrowing for them
but easy for the rest of the party.

Alternate tables
One of the best features of the Quest Leveling system is the maleability of it. If you as the DM so choose, you can have your
characters level much quicker or slower than they would normally by changing the Quest Points needed to level. Below are some
prepared alternate leveling options.

Heroic leveling
Using this table allows your players to level much more quickly than average at every tier.
Level Points Needed
1 -
2 1/2
3 1/2
Gritty lev
4 1
The following se
5 1 campaign that fu
6 1
L
7 1
8 1
9 2
10 2

Level Points Needed

11 2
12 2
13 3
14 3
15 3
16 3
L
17 4
18 4
19 4
20 5

Headstart leveling
This format allows low!level players to speed through the first tier and become decently capable much sooner than normal.
Level Points Needed
1 -
2 1/2
3 1/2
4 1
Customizi
5 1
6 2
7 3
Using this syste
:
 Makes sense
Comparing Quest Leveling to other systems Cons:
Vanilla XP Might get clu
Vanilla XP is the individual accuulation of XP, which is earned through individual kills or accomplishments. A party of 3 l
Your players
Pros:
Easily understood; do individual things to gain XP.
Widely recognized in video games and other tabletop games.
Additio
While you're
Cons: constructive
Involves large, ever!growing numbers and tedious addition.
Bogs down combat after an enemy is killed
Encourages interparty conflict by having individual rewards for accomplishments
Players can level up before others
Is trash

Milestone leveling
Milestone leveling is the advancement of level upon the accomplishment of plot points preplanned by the DM.

Pros:
Simple and straightforward
Free of number tracking
Keeps players on track

Cons:
There's no formal way to catch lower level players up with their allies
Milestone leveling is not compatible with survival or sandbox campaigns
Enforces railroaded campaigns
Doesn't slow leveling as level increases

Session leveling
Session leveling is increasing in level inbetween sessions.

Pros:
Probably the simplest leveling system
Free of number tracking

Cons:
Usually too fast and confusing for new players
Might not make sense narratively
Doesn't slow as leveling increases

Trainer leveling
Trainer leveling is increasing in level using paid training from a guru of some kind.

Pros:
?????

Cons:
Pretty much everything
I don't know anyone who actually uses this unless they're playing AD&D or smth

Step aside other ways, it's Quest Leveling

Quest leveling is the advancement of level through the accomplishment of tasks or quests.

Pros:
Doesn't fret over individual kills or tasks and recognizes overarching achievements
Uses small, easy numbers
Keeps track of the party as a whole, not individual levels
Can be done entirely by the DM
Leveling speed can be adjusted as needed

Makes sense narratively

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 D20 Hit Points

W
hen a character advances in level, their maximum hit points increase. When you do so, you can choose to roll your
Hit Die and increase your maximum hit points by the rolled number plus your Constitution modifier, or take the
average of the roll. But, for real, who even does that first thing?
Rolling for hit points is enticing, but it's a risky practice, especially at lower levels. What if the barbarian rolled a
1 for HP two levels in a row? Would she still be able to do her main function: soaking up damage? As a player, I
know it has potential, but I wouldn't risk it.
That's why I made a compromise. The D20 Hit Point system has risk, but it still has relative safety. Using this
process, it would be very unlikely to become so lacking in HP that you become underpowered, or to be so high in HP that you
outshine everyone else. The health of the characters will become varied, but also safely close to average.

The process
The process is simple. Simply roll a d20 and refer to the table below.
Number Rolled HP Gained
1-5 Roll for HP, rerolling anything above average
6-15 Take the average roll of your Hit Die
16-20 Roll for HP, rerolling anything below average

For example, if a monk rolled for HP, and rolled a 17 on her d20, she would roll a d8, her hit die, until she rolled something
higher than a 5, her average.
With each level, there's a 50% chance you'll be gaining average hit points. And when you don't, there's an equal chance to get
under!average and above!average.
For reference, here's the average of every hit die.
Hit Die Average
d6 4
d8 5
d10 6
d12 7

Art credits
Page 1: Atarka's Command by Chris Rahn
Page 2: Nissa, Vastwood Seer by Wesley Burt and bow and arrow art by Jim Nelson
Page 3: Minstrel by sagasketchbook
Page 4: Old Friend by Kamikuzah
Page 5: Basira - Wisdom by Othon Nikolaidis
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