Low-Mid Level games and the über-Wizard?

[Lolth]

Basically, most of the "Wizards win!" threads seem to revolve around being umptibumpth level and being able to cast chains of über spells. Which is cool for those who enjoy that (and more power to you!), but I tend to prefer more 3-9th kinds of games, where (to me) PCs can do cool things without breaking the setting.

(As such, my own game welcomes people starting at ECL3, and no one is past 5th level yet, most still 3rd-4th.)

What I'd like to know is, since to me Wizards are not the "win button" at these levels, and in my opinion that gives more classes a chance to shine, what do people enjoy playing in these neighborhoods?

What classes shine brightest when there's no Celerity/Time Stop/Cheese at hand?

[Saph]

3rd-9th level is really the sweet spot for D&D. The classes are as nicely balanced against each other as they're ever going to be. There are lots of monsters of the right CR. The PCs are powerful enough to be able to solve things in interesting ways, but not so powerful that they can just blast through a problem with brute force. I've seen just about every race and class used effectively in the 3rd-9th range.

All the classes can shine at 3rd-9th, and you should be able to have an effective character with pretty much any type of build.

- Saph

[Tor the Fallen]

I really enjoy melee types at these levels, as they have the ability to keep trucking with their vastly superior HPs and ACs.

[Counterspin]

Definitely the sweet spot. This is where I started out running my games, but as my love of new random stuff got more and more pronounced, I made it up to about 12th level as my standard, where there's space for prestige classes and weird multiclassing. My group isnt' interested in optimization, with one exception, so I don't really have to worry about the full casters getting out of hand. Heck, we rarely even have one.

[Lolth]

Well, I'm not a fan of "optimization" in the sense of "cram everything in to make a cookie-cutter über PC just like all the others because that's the best way to do it" but I do believe in building a character to be effective at what they do - whatever it is they do.

Then, once the paint gets scratched IC, as it were, I advance them based on whatever happened in role-play. To me, part of the fun is seeing how that PC evolves based on what happens to them, good and bad, as opposed to sticking to a character progression plan come Hell or high water, though I know (and respect) some players who do exactly that.

[Kel_Arath]

omg! totaly a druid cause then you can have a wolfie and it doesnt matter that it sucks. but really, i enjoy playing characters that are good and getting places and then using those places to kill, ie: jump based char with bow.

[Matthew]

I pretty much enjoy playing all the Core Base Classes and Default Races from about Level 1-5, with Melee types falling off after that in terms of power, things can become less enjoyable. I'm not really interested in playing many of the other Base Classes and Races available, though some appeal more than others.