BRC
2013-10-17, 01:53 PM
If you asked me a few months ago, I would have said my favorite level ranges were 6-10. The point where the PCs are starting to get cool toys, but can still be reasonably challenged by a group of town guards with crossbows without leveling said guards to the point where they could each kill a tyranosaurus.
But then I joined my current campaign, which was the first low-level campaign I had ever played. We started at level 1, and have been level 2 for quite some time. It's roleplay-heavy and combat light, but the combat we DO have is some of the most fun I've ever had.
A lot of that is due to a really, really good DM, but I don't think he could have pulled this off at higher levels.
Everybody has low health (My orc fighter has the most at 19), so each successful hit seems major. If my character shrugs off a sword blow it feels like my character is a tough Orc who can keep fighting after taking a hit from a greatsword, rather than a pile of hitpoints that happens to be slightly larger than other piles of hitpoints. When the Elf Bard hits somebody with a stick it feels like he's actually contributing to the fight, rather than just doing a laughable amount of damage, because at these levels 1d6-1 Is still a decent percentage of enemy hitpoints.
As I mentioned, the DM deserves a lot of the credit for making these sequences seem like high-stakes life-or-death battles, rather than two piles of numbers slowly lowering until one number runs out, but I don't think he could do it quite as well at high levels. For a level 6 fighter having three non-flaming crossbows leveled at him simply isn't much of a threat, and it's hard to keep that cinematic feeling when two characters can swing greataxes at each other for four rounds without somebody falling into tiny chunks.
But, that said, I kind of miss higher levels. I miss a lot of the utility, the crazy magic items, the fun spells, to cool feats and PRC class features. I enjoy how the combat becomes high-stakes and cinematic, and how anybody with martial weapons proficiency and a Greatsword is a legitimate threat, but I miss a lot of those fantastical elements that only come from higher-level play.
is there any way for me to have my cake and eat it too within the confines of DnD?
But then I joined my current campaign, which was the first low-level campaign I had ever played. We started at level 1, and have been level 2 for quite some time. It's roleplay-heavy and combat light, but the combat we DO have is some of the most fun I've ever had.
A lot of that is due to a really, really good DM, but I don't think he could have pulled this off at higher levels.
Everybody has low health (My orc fighter has the most at 19), so each successful hit seems major. If my character shrugs off a sword blow it feels like my character is a tough Orc who can keep fighting after taking a hit from a greatsword, rather than a pile of hitpoints that happens to be slightly larger than other piles of hitpoints. When the Elf Bard hits somebody with a stick it feels like he's actually contributing to the fight, rather than just doing a laughable amount of damage, because at these levels 1d6-1 Is still a decent percentage of enemy hitpoints.
As I mentioned, the DM deserves a lot of the credit for making these sequences seem like high-stakes life-or-death battles, rather than two piles of numbers slowly lowering until one number runs out, but I don't think he could do it quite as well at high levels. For a level 6 fighter having three non-flaming crossbows leveled at him simply isn't much of a threat, and it's hard to keep that cinematic feeling when two characters can swing greataxes at each other for four rounds without somebody falling into tiny chunks.
But, that said, I kind of miss higher levels. I miss a lot of the utility, the crazy magic items, the fun spells, to cool feats and PRC class features. I enjoy how the combat becomes high-stakes and cinematic, and how anybody with martial weapons proficiency and a Greatsword is a legitimate threat, but I miss a lot of those fantastical elements that only come from higher-level play.
is there any way for me to have my cake and eat it too within the confines of DnD?