PDA

View Full Version : Speculation How powerful do you see characters being per tier?



Bannan_mantis
2020-01-11, 09:44 AM
so the title says it all, in terms of 5e what thematic power would you say each tier of play has. I say this since looking online and talking to others I seem to see a mixed level of answers and results with some people saying a level 20 character is just a straight up god while others saying they still have limits to their abilities similar to real life people.

With this considered I'm curious to see what level of power each people see their player characters having per tier. This seems to be subjective from table to table so hearing what people have to say would be interesting. To start off I'll give descriptions for the way I see the tiers being and just know this is how I see it personally and I'm not trying to say this is the right way to look at the tiers:

Tier 1 (levels 1-5): these characters are very skilled but overall still very mortal. Fighters could take on a small squad of soldiers and Sorcerers could level a house with the right spell. The best fighters in all of history from the real world would go here and characters like black widow, hawkeye or nick fury fit here.
Tier 2 (levels 6-10): these characters start to get into abilities simply impossible to perform by anyone within the real world. Rogues could escape from the most non-magic and magic prisons you put them in and a barbarian could wrestle any land animal into submission. Think some greek heroes or characters like Captain America and Spiderman
Tier 3 (levels 11-16): these characters are very powerful and capable of doing a lot of things impossible for people in the real world. Wizards travel dimensions and bards are manipulating countries into fighting each other. think demigods and since I've already used marvel characters like doctor strange, hulk and magneto
Tier 4 (levels 17-20): these characters, while still technically mortal, could fight with and against literal gods. Clerics become full champions of their deities, barbarians with magic items here could probably beat lesser war deities in a fight and wizards start to manipulate reality on a godlike level. Characters who are lesser deities go here and to finalise the marvel trend characters like thor and silver surfer go here.

Psychoalpha
2020-01-11, 10:23 AM
Pretty sure 5E doesn't get you past Tier 2 of your examples regardless of character level.

Also largely independent of edition, the answer is going to be different per class. The impact a level 20 Fighter has on the game world is, short of extreme narrative support by the DM, different than the impact a level 20 Cleric can have.

Bannan_mantis
2020-01-11, 10:48 AM
Pretty sure 5E doesn't get you past Tier 2 of your examples regardless of character level.

Also largely independent of edition, the answer is going to be different per class. The impact a level 20 Fighter has on the game world is, short of extreme narrative support by the DM, different than the impact a level 20 Cleric can have.

To respond to the first one I see the characters like that mostly for 2 reasons. 1) Characters at high levels can do a lot of really powerful stuff when you start to crunch the numbers or analyse them closely, especially with the magic items you tend to get at those levels. Moon druids get close to being immortal with their constant wildshape usage, fighters can deal insane amounts of damage all at once (some reaching 300+ in one round) and wizards can manipulate space and time with spells like wish, time-stop or true polymorph. 2) it opens up the game more, with this you can include godlike enemies at higher levels as final bosses which is pretty fun and fitting since you're at such a high level.

To respond to the second question true you have a point there but I'm asking more for a generalised idea I suppose. More asking for an idea about power level overall across the classes so like more of an average.



P.S. in case I sound tongue and cheek sorry, I'd like to avoid getting into a bit of a big argument which can be somewhat common on messaging boards.

kazaryu
2020-01-11, 11:03 AM
So imma do 2 basic categories, mages and martials.

Mages:
Lvl 5: standard level for a professional caster. Theyve spent alot of time preparing and are now a peer.

Lvl 10: regional head of your field. Potentially rubbing elbows with nobility or serving jn the kings court.

Lvl 15: your name is circulated among the upper crust of beings in the planes beyond your own. There are effectively no threats to your wellbeing on the material plane beyond extremely expertly executed ambushes

Lvl20: you command the respect of beings whos entire being is magical. You could find yourself in the employ of inner plane nobility, inner planar beings may even jealously fight over you.

Martials:
Lvl 5: professional soldier, among the best. Think: US marines
Lvl 11: among the best elite troopers in the known world. Not only are you an olympiad, youre a 7 gold medalist. Youd easily be able to handle yourself against the basic infantry of interplanar forces.
Lvl 16: legends are constructed around the few warriors that have achieved your prowess. You'd be fit to lead angelic hosts.