Hey everyone. I'm Ken Troop, lead designer on Dungeons & Dragons® Online: Stormreach". This development diary delves into the background behind a very important issue: advancement in DDO.

In pen and paper D&D, most campaigns have a level cap of 20. Of course, many campaigns will never have their characters get to 20, either because it takes too long, or because a group decides that it's more fun to reroll once their characters get into their "level teens". D&D also has the option of "epic levels" -- advancement past level 20. Some groups take advantage of this, others stay away, preferring the experience of 1-20 advancement.

This system works quite well when players play once every 1-2 weeks for a session of a few hours. Going weeks (or even months) between advancement can be fine in pen and paper D&D, and 20 levels is more than enough moments of advancement.