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Starting a higher level campaign soon as a player: what to watch out for? What should my DM watch out for?
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<blockquote data-quote="J-H" data-source="post: 9100265" data-attributes="member: 7020951"><p>Uncommons at level 12? Stinks to be a martial in that kind of environment. Magic items are the only way non-casters can gain mobility options like flight and spider climb, as well as (aside from certain class features) all kinds of defenses like resistances, save bonuses, better AC, and miss chances. Casters, meanwhile have Shield, Absorb Elements, Blur, Blink, Mirror Image, etc.</p><p></p><p>Here's the advice I included with my Against the Idol of the Sun campaign, which runs 13-20 (plus a few epic boons post-20). For context, the Aarakocra and their god(s) were the BBEGs:</p><p>[spoiler=long]</p><p><strong>Adapting to High Level D&D</strong></p><p></p><p>High level D&D characters, particularly spellcasters, have the ability to survive almost anything, deal massive amounts of damage, and reshape the battlefield in a round or two. At 5th level, a <em>Fireball</em> at the wrong time can cause a TPK. At 15th level, a typical adventuring party can shrug off 3 <em>Fireballs</em> and a <em>Prismatic Spray</em> with no ill effects.</p><p></p><p>In combat, this means that the DM is free to throw lots of firepower at the PCs and trust that they will be able to dismantle their enemies in a few rounds. Reviewing the included Campaign Log will show a typical party handle an invisible ancient dragon with ease, teleport to an enemy airship and wipe out its crew, drop into an enemy temple and kill the priest, then leave, or even split up to conduct hit-and-run raids with a <em>Hasted</em> Monk who can literally outrun the enemy. This may seem like a challenge to DM, but the DM’s job is not to conduct the party’s strategy or tactics – simply to make a good effort at defeating them with the resources on hand. Sometimes, the enemy will scare the PCs or chase them off. Sometimes, the players will get good rolls and will cut through 60 CR worth of opponents like a +3 Flaming Dagger versus warm butter.</p><p></p><p>As spellcasters benefit less from magic items adding options versus non-casters, increasing the Attunement limit by 1 at level 11 and 1 more at level 20 is recommended.</p><p></p><p>Out of combat, high level players have access to extreme strategic mobility, including <em>Scrying</em>, <em>Teleport </em>(one Aarakocra party that may be used to attack them will include a Helm of Teleportation), and <em>Transport</em> <em>Via</em> <em>Plants</em>. This may seem hard to plan for, but that’s the advantage of a large, pre-populated map. The Aarakocra also have the benefit of a Scrying chamber at every temple, and can be assumed to have good, but not perfect, ability to track the party unless or until Scrying is blocked. The players again do most of the work; the DM simply decides when the players should be attacked, what reasonable steps the enemy is taking in the background, and what additional reinforcements have been dispatched to temples.</p><p></p><p>The hardest part, in the author’s experience, is choosing quickly what actions enemy should take in large battles (10+ foes vs. the party). Spell selections presented in the Bestiary are typically abbreviated and categorized to help; beyond this – pick a few default actions and use those. Low-level divine casters can’t go wrong with Sacred Flame or Guiding Bolt. High level casters are likely to use their high-level spells first.</p><p></p><p>The players do not see what happens behind the screen. Sometimes the DM will forget a creature’s special abilities or make sub-optimal choices. Most of the time, the players will never even know, and that’s okay.</p><p>[/spoiler]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="J-H, post: 9100265, member: 7020951"] Uncommons at level 12? Stinks to be a martial in that kind of environment. Magic items are the only way non-casters can gain mobility options like flight and spider climb, as well as (aside from certain class features) all kinds of defenses like resistances, save bonuses, better AC, and miss chances. Casters, meanwhile have Shield, Absorb Elements, Blur, Blink, Mirror Image, etc. Here's the advice I included with my Against the Idol of the Sun campaign, which runs 13-20 (plus a few epic boons post-20). For context, the Aarakocra and their god(s) were the BBEGs: [spoiler=long] [B]Adapting to High Level D&D[/B] High level D&D characters, particularly spellcasters, have the ability to survive almost anything, deal massive amounts of damage, and reshape the battlefield in a round or two. At 5th level, a [I]Fireball[/I] at the wrong time can cause a TPK. At 15th level, a typical adventuring party can shrug off 3 [I]Fireballs[/I] and a [I]Prismatic Spray[/I] with no ill effects. In combat, this means that the DM is free to throw lots of firepower at the PCs and trust that they will be able to dismantle their enemies in a few rounds. Reviewing the included Campaign Log will show a typical party handle an invisible ancient dragon with ease, teleport to an enemy airship and wipe out its crew, drop into an enemy temple and kill the priest, then leave, or even split up to conduct hit-and-run raids with a [I]Hasted[/I] Monk who can literally outrun the enemy. This may seem like a challenge to DM, but the DM’s job is not to conduct the party’s strategy or tactics – simply to make a good effort at defeating them with the resources on hand. Sometimes, the enemy will scare the PCs or chase them off. Sometimes, the players will get good rolls and will cut through 60 CR worth of opponents like a +3 Flaming Dagger versus warm butter. As spellcasters benefit less from magic items adding options versus non-casters, increasing the Attunement limit by 1 at level 11 and 1 more at level 20 is recommended. Out of combat, high level players have access to extreme strategic mobility, including [I]Scrying[/I], [I]Teleport [/I](one Aarakocra party that may be used to attack them will include a Helm of Teleportation), and [I]Transport[/I] [I]Via[/I] [I]Plants[/I]. This may seem hard to plan for, but that’s the advantage of a large, pre-populated map. The Aarakocra also have the benefit of a Scrying chamber at every temple, and can be assumed to have good, but not perfect, ability to track the party unless or until Scrying is blocked. The players again do most of the work; the DM simply decides when the players should be attacked, what reasonable steps the enemy is taking in the background, and what additional reinforcements have been dispatched to temples. The hardest part, in the author’s experience, is choosing quickly what actions enemy should take in large battles (10+ foes vs. the party). Spell selections presented in the Bestiary are typically abbreviated and categorized to help; beyond this – pick a few default actions and use those. Low-level divine casters can’t go wrong with Sacred Flame or Guiding Bolt. High level casters are likely to use their high-level spells first. The players do not see what happens behind the screen. Sometimes the DM will forget a creature’s special abilities or make sub-optimal choices. Most of the time, the players will never even know, and that’s okay. [/spoiler] [/QUOTE]
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Starting a higher level campaign soon as a player: what to watch out for? What should my DM watch out for?
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