At what character level do you prefer to start play?

[KB9JMQ]

As a DM always start at first level.
As a player I have started at 4th and 8th once each and 1st all others.

 

[fafhrd]

2nd for the oft stated multiclassing reason.

 

[Meeki]

The optimum level I like to start at is 7th. This gives players alot of flexibility when choosing races and classes. Also this gives players time to see how a prestige class will fit into their scheme. Background is important for players and I believe that level 7 gives a character a richer background that could involve other adventurers and adventures and allow for a network of npc's to be created for that character instead of having the whole party be connected to one network. A level 1 character's background includes being a farmer/commoner/whatever and starting his life out as an adventurer. When he reaches level 7 hisbackground will be almost the same as the other group members unless teh DM wants to spend alot of time working with characters on the side.
On top of this spell casting becomes fun with lvl 4 spells (and level 3 I suppose) and level 7 is when characters begin to differentiate alot (especially say someone is playing an abjurer and is the only arcane caster in the party now he has the ability to still take some utility spells but has the slots of put some fun abjurations in.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

3rd. Most spellcasters get 2nd level spells, the melee characters can take a hit from something other than a rat and not take a nosedive, etc.

 

[MonsterMash]

I really prefer 1st, but I'm open to starting a little higher so that characters are harder to kill and can be more fleshed out in terms of the system.

 

[Sidekick]

I prefer a 2nd level start, or failing that 3rd level.

1st I find too delicate, and at 2nd I can have characters that are already multi-classed – which I’m chronic at doing. I’ve spent enough real life years at 1st and 2nd level. I prefer to get them out of the way relatively quickly.

As a DM I also prefer to start games at 2nd or 3rd level. I DM eberron & I like to have my PCs have some xp from the Last war & the last 2 years, hence 2nd level.

My current group has started at 3rd level as they were elite Blademark troops – we;; that and one of the players (our resident RL’er/PG’er) doesn’t really enjoy low levels. So it was a concession for 3rd.

I really enjoy 4-7th so as a DM I tend to slow down XP progression through these levels - my players (3/4) like it that way too.

Of course I’m going to be doing RHoD so there goes that. 5 levels in 40-50 days -yeesh talk about unlocking your potential at alarming rates.

 

[dragonhead]

I start at 1st. level. i find it puts the players to more of a risk and makes them use their mind, not their hit points.

 

[Kid Socrates]

Started my last two campaigns at level 3. Stat boost in the future, just gotten that next feat so the character's taking on their signature style, enough HP to take chances but not so much where they'll headbutt dragons or something.

 

[DestroyYouAlot]

For me, as a DM, the "sweet spots" are 1st, 3rd, and 5th. 9 times out of 10, if I'm starting a "main" campaign, it's 1st level, no ifs, ands, or buts. (I've got nothing against ECL creatures, monsters, etc., but I like to start out simple.) In 2e I'd sometimes go as high as 2nd lvl, just beacuse the characters were so much more fragile and levelling took so much longer, but now 1000 xp are pretty easy to come by - and that 2nd level ding is the best feeling in the world, IMHO. The character history (and that inevitable first dead PC) are just too valuable to trade away.

If it's a relatively "rough-and-ready" campaign, or something that's only supposed to run for a limited time as a "second campaign", I'll go for 3rd level. Extra feat, 2nd level spells, you get the picture. For example, a backup campaign idea that's been bouncing around my head for awhile is one that's set in Thar, north of the Moonsea in the Forgotten Realms: All the PCs are barbarians, taken prisoner by a goblin tribe. They have to escape and fend for themselves in the steppes (needlesss to say, their village is sacked and burned when they get back there.) 1 level of barbarian required, otherwise you can't keep up with everybody else. (I.e., you either passed the trials of manhood, requiring you to run a certain speed and distance, fight to a certain level, etc, or you died.) This kind of thing requires a certain durability from the PCs, and they still have two class levels to play with for customization.

Then, some campaign concepts require a certain power level to start with; the city campaign I just started playing in is a good example. 5th level is when you start to have some pretty damn capable adventurers, it really is a different game past that point. I haven't used this myself, but I can see where it fits.

 

[Rhuvein]

I've started games as high as level 3, but would prefer to always begin at level 1.