New Campaigns

[Bonehoard Taffer]

I am curious. When you DM's out there start a new campaign, do you always start players at 1st level?

 

[Brisk-sg]

Not I. Normally I start PCs at 2nd or 3rd level.

 

[Umbran]

For full fledged campaigns, yes. I've done one-shots and short subjects that had higher power characters. But for full campaigns I usually start at whatever the game system calls a "starting character". I can imagine doing otherwise, but I don't see much gained by skipping ahead, and I see much can be lost, in terms of character development.

 

[Emiricol]

I'm with Umbram on this one. I've only started one campaign above 1st level, and it just sort of fizzled. The characters weren't as beloved, for one thing, so there was less "at stake". I didn't really care for it.

 

[Nightfall]

Some times Boney. (Hi btw!) Right now I started them at a higher level (5th) because while it will probably be a full-fledged campaign, I'm more interested in introducing my characters to their world than any leveling issues.

 

[MerakSpielman]

1st level.
My players insist on it - so they can see their characters evolve from puny to powerful.

This is actually going to be a bit of a problem, because my next campaign is in my world's Underdark and I'm allowing several ECL +1 or +2 races. Nobody wants to start at above 1st level to balance it out.
(don't offer suggestions to solve this - I have loads of ideas already, my groups talking it over, and I don't want to be a thread hijacker)

 

[Arnwyn]

Yes, when I start a campaign, the PCs start at 1st level. ALWAYS. It works well for us, as the players really come to care about their characters.

 

[Desdichado]

I prefer 2-3. It's still new enough to feel fresh and weak, but as a DM it gives me more flexibility on what kinds of encounters they can face. Plus, I usually level slower (like we used to back in the old days!)

and nobody wants to stay at 1st level very long.

 

[Drawmack]

I started my last campaign at 3rd level. I found that this seriously decreased party cohesion. At the early levels strategy is very important and at the higher levels it is not so important. So starting at the higher levels tends to give the players a run in and kill em approach.

 

[Bonehoard Taffer]

Some times Boney. (Hi btw!) Right now I started them at a higher level (5th) because while it will probably be a full-fledged campaign, I'm more interested in introducing my characters to their world than any leveling issues.

Hello NF. Thanks for stopping by and saying hi. I think I am pretty safe in my preumption that your campaign is set in the SL setting . You raised a valid point about introducing characters to the world. I think that is important, however, it seems that with any setting (and this is especially true w/the Scarred Lands) part of the fun is letting players learn how deeadly their world can be. Have you found that starting characters at 5th level, takes away some of the fear and caution they have about adventuring in their world?