Character level

Definition

Character level refers to a player character's total levels. If the character is multiclassing, then this is the sum of all their classes' levels. Otherwise, this is just the level of their class. For example, a character who is fighter level 2, rogue level 3, and sorcerer level 3 is character level 8.

Gameplay Mechanics

Only a limited number of gameplay mechanics are affected by character level. Listed below are known examples:

• Proficiency bonus is +2 for character levels 1 through 4; it increases to +3 for levels 5 through 8, and +4 for levels 9 through 12.
• Cantrips which deal damage gain an additional damage die at character level 5, and another at level 10. For example,  Poison Spray starts at 1d12 damage; it increases to 2d12 at level 5, and 3d12 at level 10. There are two known exceptions to this rule:

1.  Eldritch Blast – instead of dealing more damage per beam, it shoots additional beams: 2 at level 5, and 3 at level 10.
2.  Booming Blade – increases both its initial damage and the damage of its secondary effect by 1d8. It also receives its final upgrade at level 11, not level 10.

• Hit points increase with each additional character level, though the amount gained per level depends on the class chosen at level-up.
• The Life Domain Cleric class action  Preserve Life heals allies for an amount of hit points based on the cleric's character level.
• Some race-specific features are based on character level. These include:
  • Innate spells learned by drow, duergar, tieflings, and githyanki at levels 1, 3, and 5.
  • Breath attacks of dragonborn, whose damage scales similarly to cantrips, but increases at levels 6 and 11 instead.
• Experience rewarded for discovering locations is based on the lead party member's character level. For example, when discovering Crèche Y'llek, the game grants 120 experience if the lead character is level 4, 240 experience if they are level 5, 280 experience if they are level 6, and 300 experience if they are level 7.
• Certain items of a merchant's inventory are based on the character level of the first character to trade with them after their inventory is refreshed, which occurs at each long rest or when any character levels up.
  • For example, a trader whose inventory rolls five times on the Healing Potion Table is effectively guaranteed to have five  Potions of Healing at level 3, but might have a mix of  Potions of Healing and  Potions of Greater Healing at level 5.
  • Example two: The first party member to speak with a merchant who sells armour is character level 4; they may be able to purchase (or steal)  Ring Mail Armour.
    • After refreshing their inventory, another party member who is character level 5 then speaks with the same merchant, which may unlock the availability of  Scale Mail until the next refresh. The level 4 character may now also purchase this armour.
    • After this, another party member levels up to level 6 and speaks with the same merchant; they may be able to purchase  Half Plate Armour. The level 4 and level 5 characters may now also purchase this armour (at least until the next long rest).
• Raising the attitude score of individual party members with merchants (for more favourable pricing) becomes more expensive as the character trading with them increases in level.
• Transcribing scrolls for multiclassed characters who have levels in wizard is based on a character's available spell slots, rather than their wizard level.
  • If a party member tries to transcribe a wizard spell scroll whose level is too high, a message says their wizard level is not high enough, which is not necessarily true. Instead, in order to transcribe a spell scroll, the effective spellcaster level of that character's spellcasting classes must be high enough to cast that spell. A character only needs one wizard level to transcribe any wizard spell contained on a scroll. For example, a character with 1 level in wizard 1 and two levels in bard has 2nd-level spell slots, and thus can transcribe the 2nd-level wizard spell  Detect Thoughts (although they would not be able to learn 2nd-level spells from either class during the level-up process).
    • When considering effective spellcaster level and wizard spells to transcribe from scrolls, it may be helpful to bear in mind which spellcasting classes are full, half and one-third casters.