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On D&D, characters levels go from 1 to a maximum of 20 so 9 is just about half-way to maximum power.

We play on a "milestone" progression mode, meaning we level up by completing relevant pieces of the adventure such as finishing an important quest or defeating a very powerful enemy. In this mode, progression is quite slow and it can take years to get to level 9 (assuming you start from level 1)

How long ago did you start?

THis adventure started I think 4 years ago... we take a few weeks break now and then and we complete a relevant part of the adventure so I would say we have had around 3 years of actual game play