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Storm Bringer
2007-04-30, 01:13 PM
just wondering at what level do the members of this forum spend most of thier DnD games playing at?

Galathir
2007-04-30, 01:25 PM
As a player, I often play around level 6-10 though our current campaign is at level 14.

As a DM I usually play around level 3-8 though I sometimes start at level 1. I think that lower levels, when DMed well, can be a lot of fun and yet still have the character be very powerful in relation to their world. Below level 10 the classes are a lot more balanced and even fighters are worth playing but that's just my personal view.

Ali
2007-04-30, 01:26 PM
First time I played was at level 10.

Only after having played at level one do I now realize that my new character (who is actually level two now) has more personality than my crappy level ten one ever had, eight levels lower.

Level one is the level to play at.

Diggorian
2007-04-30, 01:37 PM
I'll start things at about level 2 so the PC's can have some backstory. I prefer grittier style campaigns, so WBL isnt followed that much. Around level 5-6 PC's are getting famous and downtime starts getting long cause there's little local threats beyond them. By level 10 they retire after the once mighty BBEG that menaced them at level 2 is defeated.

Ran D20 Star Wars at levels 12-15, it was hard to describe flavor for combat and skills that high. Plus, there's just not enough Boba Fett's or Count Doku's to go around.

KIDS
2007-04-30, 01:39 PM
1-5. The highest I played was lvl 7, but starting at lvl 1 and reaching lvl 5 through an average adventure seems what I'm used to doing.

Green Bean
2007-04-30, 01:57 PM
My group tends to play at levels 1-12, but we tend to level up faster than normal at low levels (1-4), then slow down at mid-levels (5-10), then finish normally. Our group likes the mid levels because at low levels the dice matter more than the characters' skill.

Krimm_Blackleaf
2007-04-30, 02:20 PM
I tend to start out pretty randomly. First time was level 1, a few more times also at level 1 and then it just randomized from there. Usually campaigns and adventures start from levels 1 to 12, and a single level 20 campaign which has only had one session so far.

Emperor Tippy
2007-04-30, 02:59 PM
I will not start a game below level 3. The first 2 levels are really a waste of time. "Oh look, the house cat can kill the wizard".

Games go until we get bored (sometimes level 8 or so and sometimes epic, we generally end around level 17-20.)

Erom
2007-04-30, 03:06 PM
Start at 1-3 range, preferably at least 2 (see above), end in 5-7 range usually, ALWAYS end by 10-12 for me. Going any higher starts breaking a lot of things, requires a lot more houserules to work.

There was a poll on this a while back, iirc about 80% of responders played in the 1-10 range.

Emperor Tippy
2007-04-30, 03:09 PM
Start at 1-3 range, preferably at least 2 (see above), end in 5-7 range usually, ALWAYS end by 10-12 for me. Going any higher starts breaking a lot of things, requires a lot more houserules to work.

There was a poll on this a while back, iirc about 80% of responders played in the 1-10 range.
We get one of those polls about every 2 weeks. We were due for another.

Cocktail Umbrellas
2007-04-30, 03:20 PM
I like starting 1-3 and working up ^^ More character development ftw ^^

Jacob Orlove
2007-04-30, 03:45 PM
I will not start a game below level 3. The first 2 levels are really a waste of time. "Oh look, the house cat can kill the wizard".
I really like giving everyone size-based bonus HP to avoid stuff like that. Cats and rats and such get nothing, because they're tiny, but small and medium characters can start out with an extra 5 hp--enough that everyone can pretty much be in the double digits, but not so much that it makes encounters too easy. If you start out Large (which pretty much requires LA anyway), you can get 10 hp instead. And monsters can get even more than that (if they're bigger), which keeps things interesting.

Saph
2007-04-30, 04:30 PM
There was a poll on this a while back, iirc about 80% of responders played in the 1-10 range.

Yup, mine. The scores were about 86% for levels 1-10, about 10% for level 11-15, and about 4% for 16 or higher.

Starting games from level 1 can work fine. (Having a housecat be able to kill a character is a bonus rather than a drawback, in my opinion. Maybe not much fun for that character, but freaking hilarious for everyone else.) The campaign I'm just starting is beginning at level 3, though.

- Saph

NEO|Phyte
2007-04-30, 04:53 PM
I prefer the higher levels (+10), but most of the games I end up in start low/first level, with plans for high levels, assuming the game doesn't die first.

JadedDM
2007-04-30, 04:59 PM
I run my AD&D games starting at level 1. Most don't get past level 6. Once, we got as high as 8.

I'm almost never a player, but when I am, I rarely see level 3 or higher. My strongest character ever was a cleric who made level 5. But then the DM switched to 2.5E so I left.

Penguinsushi
2007-04-30, 05:52 PM
I've found most players (myself included) enjoy making/playing high-level characters.

I've also found that most GMs (myself included) would rather run a lower-level game.

The obvious disparity there makes it somewhat of a compromise at times to make sure everyone enjoys the game.

Most of my campaigns have started at lowish level, and tend to go to about 10-15.

I agree with Galathir in that lower level games, when GM'd well, can be some of the most fun. Emperor Tippy also has a good point too: I tend to kill off characters a bit too easily at levels 1 or 2 (and sometimes 3) - even with max HP.

I think all-around, my favorite level as a player AND a GM is 6th. At 6th level, the spellcasters have a decent selection, the fighters get two attacks and most of the other classes are starting to get some of their cooler abilities, yet the characters are not yet getting so powerful that it's difficult to challenge them.

~PS

Emperor Tippy
2007-04-30, 06:02 PM
My favorite levels are 13 and 20 actually. 13 really lets you feel heroic in the true sense of the word. And at 20 you are pretty much a demigod doing whatever strikes your fancy with utter impunity.

I mean people have made level 20 fighter builds that can literally kill a million or more men before falling if you go with the standard D&D recommended level for regular level.

There is just something so great about the feeling you get when an enemy country send a hundred or so thousand men at your country and the king just tells his champion to deal with the pesky problem. It would only take him about 7 days.

Dhavaer
2007-04-30, 06:09 PM
Generally around 6.

Penguinsushi
2007-04-30, 06:15 PM
There is just something so great about the feeling you get when an enemy country send a hundred or so thousand men at your country and the king just tells his champion to deal with the pesky problem. It would only take him about 7 days.

That reminds me: I once ran an epic level evil game (lvl 30) where the PC's quest was to either take over or destroy the world. Unfortunately, one of the players moved away before they had conquered too much more than the island continent...

But like I was getting at before, at that kind of power level, a lot of things stop being challenging for the players. This makes it very difficult for the GM to come up with *anything* that the players can't just walk through. And, as a player, if there's no real challenge, it doesn't stay fun for too long - even if you can do pretty much anything. It's kind of like playing 'god mode' on video games, just with more options.

Don't get me wrong, epic games can be lots of fun - but as the GM, you have to approach high-level game prep from a much different angle.

~PS

Emperor Tippy
2007-04-30, 06:19 PM
Oh, most assuredly. If you ever play in one of my highlevel games you really shouldn't expect much combat. And lots of plane hopping is recommended.

I like DMing highlevel though, its more challenging.

Saph
2007-04-30, 06:38 PM
But like I was getting at before, at that kind of power level, a lot of things stop being challenging for the players. This makes it very difficult for the GM to come up with *anything* that the players can't just walk through.

Oh, it's very easy to make things that are a threat to level 30 characters. What's difficult is coming up with things that are a threat to level 30 characters and are actually fun to play against.

Combat at the high levels is horribly lethal, far more lethal than level 1. Since the power level of the attacks is so high, one mistake by either side usually means annihilation. It becomes harder and harder to have any combat encounter that isn't either 'PCs wipe out enemies with a flick of their hand' or 'PCs all die a horrendous instant death'.

- Saph

Galathir
2007-04-30, 09:11 PM
Yeah, I agree with Saph. Even at level 14, our encounters are usually over in a round or two. Between two arcane casters and three deadly Sneaky McStabbyson's generally who ever gets a surprise round or wins initiative wins the combat. We have so many "save or lose" spells or abilities that the enemy only has one chance to do anything. It really takes a creative DM to keeps things both challenging and fun at higher levels.

deadseashoals
2007-04-30, 09:19 PM
I have nothing to contribute to this thread, but I just had to say that Ali, your avatar is a fistful of awesome.

Viscount Einstrauss
2007-04-30, 09:38 PM
I've almost always started at level 1, though the first two or three levels are usually give-aways obtained within the first two sessions. This is done because our campaigns have a tendency to last for gigantic lengths of time and can even follow multiple "arcs". Additional player backstory is highly encouraged, we just neglect to address the obvious plot hole of them beginning at level 1 for the sake of the game just being more fun.

Seatbelt
2007-04-30, 10:35 PM
Lately we've been doing levels 5-12. I've never played a character higher than level 11.

Vazzaroth
2007-04-30, 10:40 PM
I like starting games from 1 to 2, 3 at the most. All games I've played have been under level 10. I have one promising one on the boards at level 8, I think I might break my previous record witht that character. Started him at 6, too.

hanseislanson
2007-04-30, 10:51 PM
right now we are in a campaign that has lasted about 3 and a half years. Started at level 1 and are now between levels 34 and 39 with three characters. Most of the game has been within the same world system that we have built up around us as we go and so far things are going good.

Skjaldbakka
2007-04-30, 10:53 PM
My favorite levels to play at are the 5-12 range.

Lord Tataraus
2007-05-01, 04:48 PM
Well, we usually start at level 3, tough we did start at level 1 a couple times and higher levels for one-shots. We have only got above level 15 once, but that was a huge jump, level 16 to level 20 in a flash of divine power (i.e. the god know only as...DM), but mostly we are in the 6-12 range.

Caelestion
2007-05-01, 05:22 PM
As I said before, I like to start around 2nd, my favourite is probably 6th and anything above 12th is just routine levelling for non-spell-casters.

the_tick_rules
2007-05-01, 07:40 PM
highest i've everplayed is 14. though i'm gonn see how high i can take my monk. i've found some devastating feats for her.

d12
2007-05-01, 07:46 PM
For the most part the answer to the original question is 'too low.' Most of the games I've ever been in either fall apart quickly or just move very slowly due to scheduling and/or mismatching of scenarios to party strengths (DM in one game just recently tried an investigation scenario on the group..huge mistake :smalltongue:).

The class-exploration dungeon crawl I'm involved in is finally reaching decent levels (just hit level 7) in acceptable time, but that's mostly because there are few players (allowing us to play whenever we feel like it) and anything not directly related to making things bleed and looting their broken corpses is either handwaved or just ignored.

I don't really know what my prefered level is, because I've never actually played above level 9 and I don't usually gravitate to the casting classes, so I'm not exactly going to be first in line to relish bounding about pressing win buttons at later levels. Much of that is either because wizards in particular seem to just be way too much bookkeeping for my taste and the fact that most of the games I've been in have started at extreme mook levels and level 1 wizards in my experience (I did try a wizard out in two aborted games) are the opposite of fun.

puppyavenger
2007-05-01, 07:51 PM
For the firt couple games we played low epic but then came to our senses and started playing at level one because on e person could optimise and it was the first time palying for the rest (including the DM)

clericwithnogod
2007-05-01, 08:15 PM
My favorite levels are 13 and 20 actually. 13 really lets you feel heroic in the true sense of the word.
13 would probably be my favorite level. I usually game between 4-15, but 11-14 is the part I really enjoy.

Yahzi
2007-05-01, 09:46 PM
The last campaign I ran started at 0th level.

Getting the 1,000 XP to actually gain a level was the most fun anyone had had in ages.

geez3r
2007-05-01, 10:02 PM
The game I'm currently in started at 3 and now the majority of the party is at 8 or 9, and the game's going to end soon. I really like higher end games though, like level 13+ is my favorite. Simply put, it is because at that high of a level, you have so many options available to you and you can get really creative with how you solve problems/ deal with encounters.

Matthew
2007-05-01, 10:47 PM
Any level for 3.x (I don't play long term 3.x campaigns, just one offs and short campaigns), but mainly in the 1-10 range. Long term (A)D&D Campaigns tend to begin at Level 1 and go up to about Level 6 with Levels 7-12 being high level play.

Darkflame
2007-05-02, 08:23 AM
I ran a game that started at level 1 and ended up at about 25. Took about 2 1/2 years...

Currently playing in an Eberron game that started at level 1 and we have recently reached level 6.

Currently running the World's Largest Dungeon - started at 1 and has reached 3rd.

Chris.