Level of Play

[Stormonu]

Just what is the general level range that you play? What level do you usually start at in play? How high up do you go? What's the "sweet spot" for levels in the games you're involved with?

And of course, what is about those levels you don't play that you don't like (keep it general folks, let's try not to snipe editions).


[sblock]
While I usually start all my games at 1st level, 3rd-8th are about where I like to play. Above 8th, building NPCs gets complex and the game gets more "Yahoo!" than I like.
[/sblock]

 

[SKyOdin]

A pattern that an old DM I used to play with used and that I rather like is to start at level 1, but very rapidly go up in level at first. After the players have earned a few levels and the PCs have acquired more substantial abilities, level slows down noticeably, but still continues at a rather brisk pace. By the time the characters are in mid to late teens level wise, leveling slows down rather considerably.

At the very least, I like the idea of getting through the early levels quickly. In D&D, they are usually the least fun range of levels, since characters have so few options at their disposal at first. I don't think I could stand dwelling on levels 1 and 2 in 4E for long, since the second encounter power adds so much in that system.

 

[Lanefan]

Ignoring one-offs and convention games, I have neither DMed nor played with a PC higher than 12th.

Lan-''my current campaign has a dauntingly long way still to go in order to change this''-efan

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I voted for all of them.

In most games I play, we start at one and keep going until we max out or finish an adventure path.

 

[Dausuul]

My group typically starts between 1 and 5, and stays in the 1-10 range; our campaigns don't last long enough to get much past that.

Moreover, I find high-level play in 3E is insane and broken, while high-level play in 4E is a blizzard of modifiers and numbers and fiddly stuff. I have never yet met an edition of D&D where I felt the game worked "out of the box" past level 10 or so.

 

[Raith5]

1st through to 3.5, campaigns generally stopped at 11th or 12th.

4th ed campaign is currently 15th and still fun.

 

[Crothian]

We start at level 1 nd go to the campaign ends. That has been anywhere from also level one to somewhere in the 40's (only happened once).

 

[drothgery]

Checked 1st through 12th, though I had one 2e game get a little past that, one 3.5 game go all the way to 20th, and a 4e PBP I'm about to start in is going to kick off @ 12th. Mostly don't like very low levels (1st-3rd or so) in anything but 4e (too easy to die, wizards and sorcerers are more effective as bad crossbowmen than spellcasters), but high paragon and later tends to give everyone but pre-4e martial characters too many options.

 

[trancejeremy]

In BECMI I have gotten as high as 25th level. In AD&D it was the teens.

In both cases it sort of shifted from simply adventuring to more ruling a kingdom/stronghold. Which I can be a lot of fun.

Of course, it really doesn't need to be an either/or sort of thing. Usually we has several characters plus henchmen. Just didn't use them all at the same time, just whenever it was appropriate.

 

[Ahnehnois]

My last two campaigns have run roughly 1-8, so I put that. I have run every level up through epic though.

I've avoided the higher levels because they need to be earned in a running campaign, and I haven't had time to run long enough campaigns. I do like high-level play.