Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
What level to start at....
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Steel_Wind" data-source="post: 2231821" data-attributes="member: 20741"><p>You might consider starting the Clerics at 3rd, Wizards at 4th and the fighter/paladin/ranger/rogue types at 2nd.</p><p></p><p>Make sure you break down your XP points properly when awarding them so those at a lower level get more.</p><p></p><p>The above balance features:</p><p></p><p>A wizard who won't die in a heartbeat and has some access to 2nd level spells of use like Scorching Ray and Web right off.</p><p></p><p>The cleric has a few more patch em up spells to keep the adventure moving along and has enough hits he can fight if pressed.</p><p></p><p>The fighters - at max hits or near that have a good chance to develop along nicely.</p><p></p><p>The party is at a power level where the 1-4th level adventures work well. The party hits the ground running and play is a little faster and a touch more forgiving than pure 1st level.</p><p></p><p>I used that above starting level IMC for a reason. There is no magical healing at all (DragonLance WotL era). Wizards of High Sorcery could take the test at 4th so I did not have to interrupt the campaign flow to accommodate the Test. I just ruled the player had already taken it.</p><p></p><p>2nd level fighters & rogues kept things nicely in balance, challenge wise.</p><p></p><p>I moved the PCs to half experience points at 5th. This keeps the players longer in the mid-level range where I prefer the party to be - and it permitted the fighters to catch up to the Wizard and narrow the gap a little faster (full XP at 2nd-4th, half for the Wizard at 5th tends to do that).</p><p></p><p>You'd be surprised how well this has worked so far. Everyone has something to contribute out of the gate - which is a real problem with 1st level wizards.</p><p></p><p>At the same time, the average party level and effectiveness means that adventures aimed at starting levels are still a challenge without any substantial rewrites.</p><p></p><p>Even now after 15 sessions, the Knights tend to dominate play in combat (knights at 6th, Wizard just hit 7th). Sure the Wizard is the hvy artillery, but the machine guns still do the most damage and control the combat flow. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Steel_Wind, post: 2231821, member: 20741"] You might consider starting the Clerics at 3rd, Wizards at 4th and the fighter/paladin/ranger/rogue types at 2nd. Make sure you break down your XP points properly when awarding them so those at a lower level get more. The above balance features: A wizard who won't die in a heartbeat and has some access to 2nd level spells of use like Scorching Ray and Web right off. The cleric has a few more patch em up spells to keep the adventure moving along and has enough hits he can fight if pressed. The fighters - at max hits or near that have a good chance to develop along nicely. The party is at a power level where the 1-4th level adventures work well. The party hits the ground running and play is a little faster and a touch more forgiving than pure 1st level. I used that above starting level IMC for a reason. There is no magical healing at all (DragonLance WotL era). Wizards of High Sorcery could take the test at 4th so I did not have to interrupt the campaign flow to accommodate the Test. I just ruled the player had already taken it. 2nd level fighters & rogues kept things nicely in balance, challenge wise. I moved the PCs to half experience points at 5th. This keeps the players longer in the mid-level range where I prefer the party to be - and it permitted the fighters to catch up to the Wizard and narrow the gap a little faster (full XP at 2nd-4th, half for the Wizard at 5th tends to do that). You'd be surprised how well this has worked so far. Everyone has something to contribute out of the gate - which is a real problem with 1st level wizards. At the same time, the average party level and effectiveness means that adventures aimed at starting levels are still a challenge without any substantial rewrites. Even now after 15 sessions, the Knights tend to dominate play in combat (knights at 6th, Wizard just hit 7th). Sure the Wizard is the hvy artillery, but the machine guns still do the most damage and control the combat flow. ;) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
What level to start at....
Top