Classes reaching Tier 4

Tyler Dunn · Feb 18, 2019

Of those of you that have had a character reach tier 4 from tier 1, what classes and subclasses have you reached tier 4 with?

jgsugden · Feb 18, 2019

Just 5E? Or any edition that reached a point where 9th level spells were flowing?

Going in reverse order and only games that are (currently) 5E:

Party 1 (not quite at 17th yet, but soon):

Deep Gnome Wizard (my PC)
Dwarf Cleric
Half-orc Fighter
Halfling Paladin
Human Cleric (a recent replacemet PC)

Party 2:

Mountain Dwarf Barbarian 16, Fighter 4 (my PC)
Half-orc Paladin
Human Bard
Human Rogue
Elven Spellsword

Party 3: (me DM)

Human Illusionist Wizard
Moon Druid (campaign specific race)
Half-orc Fighter/Rogue
Halfling Ranger / Bard (archer)
Tiefling Sorlock

Party 4: (me DM - converted from 4E)
Half-orc Barbarian
Human Cleric
Human Sorcerer
Human Warlock
Paladin (Race was campaign specific)

Party 5: (converted across many editions - Dark Sun - now plays once a year)

Human Sorcerer (my PC)
Dwarf Fighter
Human Psionicst (homebrew)
Half-giant Fighter
2 other PCs I am forgetting

Those are the 5E games that have/will reach 17th that I've been a part of, although 2 started in other editions.

Tyler Dunn · Feb 18, 2019

jgsugden said:
Just 5E? Or any edition that reached a point where 9th level spells were flowing?

Just 5e

S'mon · Feb 18, 2019

PCs who have started at 1st level in my games and hit Tier IV with no bumps/free levelling along the way are:

Hakeem, Berserker Barbarian 20
Quillax, Moon Druid 18

That's in 4 years of frequent play, I probably run 2 5e D&D games a week on average.

Tormyr · Feb 18, 2019

In my 5e Age of Worms campaign, at various times we had at 20th level:
Tiefling Wizard (Transmutation)
Half-Gnoll Paladin (Ancients, with a brief stint as Oathbreaker)
Lightfoot Halfling Rogue 14 (Thief) Monk 6 (Elements)
Human Monk (Shadow)
Half-Orc Fighter (Champion)
Drow Cleric (Trickster)
Dragonborn (Blue) Sorcerer (Red Draconic)

Some players had extra characters which were switched in and out, but 4 or 5 of those characters were present at any one time.

jgsugden · Feb 18, 2019

S'mon said:
PCs who have started at 1st level in my games and hit Tier IV with no bumps/free levelling along the way are:

Hakeem, Berserker Barbarian 20
Quillax, Moon Druid 18

That's in 4 years of frequent play, I probably run 2 5e D&D games a week on average.

If I might ask - with that much play (comporable to my levels), why did only 2 PCs in the games you've played in reach 17+? Did the DM end the other campaigns? Players lose interest and end the campaign? Players die and come in with lowere level PCs that for some reason never caught up?

S'mon · Feb 18, 2019

jgsugden said:
If I might ask - with that much play (comporable to my levels), why did only 2 PCs in the games you've played in reach 17+? Did the DM end the other campaigns? Players lose interest and end the campaign? Players die and come in with lowere level PCs that for some reason never caught up?

1. I mostly use individual XP
2. Individual campaigns only tend to run about 2-2.5 years at a time before I'm starting over with a new 1st level group, possibly in the same campaign world - I will restart old campaigns though. Currently I'm running Runelords (PCs 16th-20th) that started in 2015 and took a break all of 2018, plus new Primeval Thule and Princes of the Apocalypse campaigns. My last session of my Wilderlands 5e campaigns that started early 2015 was last week (Feb 2019) and that game is now on hiatus so I can focus on the other three, which are better games for my current players (plus I'm hooked on Thule right now, & its themes overlap w Wilderlands a lot).
3. Player attrition - move away, get bored, occasional sacking or ragequit.

4. PC attrition - I run a fairly deadly game & perma-death not uncommon
5. New PCs getting to start or restart above 1st level or Tier one.

The last is the main reason. Apart from Quillax Druid-18 who worked up from 1st, other Tier IV PCs in my current high level Runelords game, recently restarted - see http://smonscurseofthecrimsonthrone.blogspot.com/ - are:

Shieldbiter, dragnborn Barbarian-20 - worked up from 10th in a different campaign, Wilderlands
Claw, goliath Barbarian-18 - worked up from 8th in Runelords campaign
Sandor, human Barbarian-17 - worked up from 1st to 15th in Wilderlands then given a 2 level bump for Runelords

Technically none of those three PCs fit the OP query, though all three players have done more than enough play to go 1-20 at least once, but with more than one PC.

Tyler Dunn · Feb 21, 2019

jgsugden said:
Just 5E? Or any edition that reached a point where 9th level spells were flowing?

Going in reverse order and only games that are (currently) 5E:

Party 1 (not quite at 17th yet, but soon):

Deep Gnome Wizard (my PC)
Dwarf Cleric
Half-orc Fighter
Halfling Paladin
Human Cleric (a recent replacemet PC)

Party 2:

Mountain Dwarf Barbarian 16, Fighter 4 (my PC)
Half-orc Paladin
Human Bard
Human Rogue
Elven Spellsword

Party 3: (me DM)

Human Illusionist Wizard
Moon Druid (campaign specific race)
Half-orc Fighter/Rogue
Halfling Ranger / Bard (archer)
Tiefling Sorlock

Party 4: (me DM - converted from 4E)
Half-orc Barbarian
Human Cleric
Human Sorcerer
Human Warlock
Paladin (Race was campaign specific)

Party 5: (converted across many editions - Dark Sun - now plays once a year)

Human Sorcerer (my PC)
Dwarf Fighter
Human Psionicst (homebrew)
Half-giant Fighter
2 other PCs I am forgetting

Those are the 5E games that have/will reach 17th that I've been a part of, although 2 started in other editions.

Did all those characters start at level 1 (except for the replacement cleric)? If so, I'm impressed your parties got that far without anyone (permanently) dying (except for the one with the replacement cleric)

Mr. Wilson · Feb 21, 2019

Lightfoot Halfling UA Monster Slayer Ranger 5/Tempest Cleric 12
Variant Human Totem Barbarian 17
High Elf Illusionist 17
Tiefling Lore Bard 17
Variant Human Battlemaster Fighter 13/Oath of Devotion Paladin 4

I start play at 3rd level in my games and all players started at 3rd except for the Ranger/Cleric who started at 5th when she joined the game.

jgsugden · Feb 21, 2019

Tyler Dunn said:
Did all those characters start at level 1 (except for the replacement cleric)? If so, I'm impressed your parties got that far without anyone (permanently) dying (except for the one with the replacement cleric)

Most of them, with a few being characters that joined at low levels. Few PCs are 'lost' after revivify is available, as that (or purchasing raise dead) is usually available. As long as the desire is there to continue the game and character, once life magic is available, PCs tend to stay in the game. The Half-orc fighter in the first group is also a replacement PC that stepped in somewhere around 5th or 6th level (I think).

However, deaths have been few and far between in 5E. There have been some (Fying aaracockra monk gets hit and taken to 0, crashes for a failed death save and then immediately takes a turn and rolls a 1 on the death save was the most recent death).

These games tend to be a little meaner than the suggested guidelines for encounter construction, but they're far from all deadly encounters like seen in some games.