I've got good news, bad news, good news again, and then ugly news.
Good news first. You earned another 100 experience each from the fight with the vines, 25 each for finding and clearing the abandoned house, and 25 each for finding and exploring the tower. So with the 150 experience from this session and the 100 from last, you're 25% of the way to level 2.
Bad news, you're only 25% of the way to level 2, and I don't expect things to speed up until then. I predict you'll hit level 2 in another four or six sessions, depending on if there are any sessions where we manage two combat encounters. It'll give you plenty of time to get used to the basics of your class in combat, though. And I will be sticking to the official rules regarding levels until...
Good news, once you hit level 2 I'll be accelerating the process. I can't give you an exact estimate of how much as I won't be directly tracking experience. But in practice you'll advance somewhere between double and quadruple rate. That may seem fast, but I have my reasons. Namely, the ugly math behind leveling.
4E plans for 8 or 9 encounters every level, with the balance of experience made up through quest rewards. At 48 activations per encounter (a low estimate) and 30 seconds per activation (what I can manage with macros and voice chat) it'd still take me, playing all critters and PCs, 3 hours and 12 minutes rolling dice (and nothing else) to level up.
My hope is that eventually we'll get down to 60 seconds per activation, which balloons the time in combat to a little under six and a half hours per level, with low estimates and standard rules. There just isn't enough difference between two levels to justify that much time crunching the same numbers.
But now the ugly news, we've got (for this week, anyway) a scheduling crisis. I've been scheduled for work this coming Thursday (3rd of June), right at the time we're scheduled to be done. Which is actually more like the middle of our session. (Should I apologize we keep running over?)
So the way I see it we have a few options.
- We play at our normal time, but on Tuesday or Wednesday. I prefer this option because it works with my schedule the best, but I'm aware that you may be busy.
- We play on Thursday, but we start an hour or two earlier. It doesn't work as well for me, but I could make this if it's easier for you.
- We play as normal on Thursday, I make certain my assistant doesn't sleep through the session, and when I have to go he picks things up. This inconveniences the players the least. For me it means organizing my notes for someone who doesn't mostly remember what they say, and then getting detailed notes of my assistant's improvisations while he's running the session.