Free template
A LitRPG XP curve that tells you where book one ends
Set two numbers, the cost of your first level and how steeply costs rise, and this spreadsheet builds the whole leveling system: a 100-level XP table, how many chapters each level takes, and what level your protagonist reaches by the end of each book. Free, no signup.
LitRPG XP and leveling curve (Excel)
Free download, no signup. Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers.
What is in the workbook
Settings
Edit the blue cells only. Curve type (power, exponential, or linear), base XP, exponent, level cap, XP earned per chapter, and chapters per book.
Level table
100 rows, fully calculated. XP to next level, total XP, chapters spent on this level, the story chapter it lands on, and which book that falls in.
Pacing flags
Every level is marked OK, "too fast", or "grind wall", so a stall in chapters 40 to 70 shows up as a column you can read rather than a feeling.
XP awards
Set one dial (how many same-level mobs equal a level) and eleven encounter types price themselves, from trash mobs to raid bosses, plus a level-difference multiplier table.
What the defaults give you
The workbook ships filled in with a genre-typical curve, so you can see the shape before changing anything.
The curve
Power curve, 100 base XP, exponent 1.8. Fast early levels, slow late ones, which is the standard LitRPG feel.
Where it lands
At 60 XP per chapter and 45 chapters a book, the protagonist ends book one at level 16, book three at 36, book five at 53. Level 100 would take 507 chapters.
What a boss is worth
With 50 trash mobs to a level, a dungeon boss is 60 mobs of XP, so it levels the character on the page. An enemy ten levels below is worth zero, which retires a starting zone for good.
Why the numbers need to come from one place
Readers of progression fiction do the arithmetic, and some of them post the results. The failure is rarely one wrong number; it is quoting a thousand XP in chapter 3 and two hundred thousand in chapter 40, when those two figures imply completely different worlds. A single table you quote from keeps every stated number consistent with the last one.
The curve also decides your pacing. Too flat and the protagonist is level 200 by book two with nothing left to threaten them; too steep and a dozen chapters pass on one level. Both are much cheaper to fix in a spreadsheet than in a draft.
From the curve to a tracked character
The workbook decides the system. Keeping a character's level and stats straight across forty chapters is the other half of the job, and that is what Clifford's LitRPG stat tracker does, snapshotting values chapter by chapter so the numbers in your prose match the numbers in your system. It is part of the full LitRPG writing software.
Pair this with the stat and attribute calculator for derived values, and the power tier ladder to check your world still has threats left at the level this curve produces.
LitRPG XP curve FAQ
- Do I need Excel?
- No. The formulas are standard, so the workbook opens and recalculates in Google Sheets, LibreOffice, and Numbers as well.
- What exponent should I use?
- Around 1.8 is genre-typical: levels come quickly at first and slow steadily. 1.5 is gentle, and 2.5 or higher produces a brutal late game with long grind stretches.
- Can I use a different curve shape?
- Yes. One cell switches between a power curve, an exponential curve, and a linear one, and everything downstream recalculates.
- Do I have to publish the XP numbers in my book?
- No. Most authors quote only a few. The point is that the ones you do quote come from a consistent source.
The curve is set. Now keep the character in sync.
Clifford tracks levels, stats, and skills chapter by chapter. Start free.