D&D 5E This is the end, my beautiful friend (?) - or endgame in 5e

Question 1: Have you ever actually started a level 1 PC and got, through gaming (no-level skipping) to level 20?
Question 2: Have played more than one or two adventures as level 20th PC?
Question 3: I don't like playing high-level PCs because...

I've recently published on Dungeon Masters Guild an adventure for 20th level PCs (Finders Keepers). I'd been playing DnD5 for years and, although we started I think 3 or 4 campaigns we never had gotten to level 20. I realized it when thinking what to write next and immediately told my players to roll level 20th PCs. They looked at me and said: You're right! Yeah, we want to do that. And even though that adventure ended, we're still playing our level 20th campaign. Even after an almost TPK (my bad, I admit ) the players just wanted to make new PCs and go on.
Because you know what?
Playing level 20th is so-much-fun! All the spells, all the abilities are there for you - at last - and you can feel the power of your PC. Yeah, leveling is fun, I know. But consider this: when you're planning a particular PC build, you usually assume getting to 20th - but how often you actually do so?
It's a bit like what Blizzard did with Diablo 3 (I think a lot of you know the game): you get to max level quite quickly and then you can experiment with skills, builds etc., leveling up is there to teach you how to play, an extended tutorial of sorts.
I'm curious about your opinion and experience, so share your thoughts!

It's been a few years years since I started a PC at 1st level and made it to 20th level. Not since D&D 4e.

I've played a few adventures as a 20th level PC or higher. Chiefly in D&D 3.Xe or 4e.

I don't like playing high-level PCs for a couple of reasons: (1) Outside of something like gaining a level per session, it generally takes too long in real time to advance to that level. I don't usually like campaigns that last longer than about 6 months of real time. Usually the campaigns I like to run wrap up in 20 weekly (4-hour) sessions. And (2) it's too much of a time commitment to make a high-level character for a one-shot and players tend to be less effective at acting in a timely manner because they haven't had the time to learn their characters properly. This slows the game down a great deal.

So yeah, for the most part, give me a Tier 1 or 2 game any day of the week!

Sithikurro said:

Question 1: Have you ever actually started a level 1 PC and got, through gaming (no-level skipping) to level 20?

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Only in 4e, and it goes to 30, which we haven't gotten to, yet - 22nd in the campaign I'm in, 24th in the one I'm running, which is moving faster...
In 1e, the highest I got starting from first was 12th.
I ran an AD&D campaign that finished in 2e after 10 years, with most characters no higher than 14th. (One 18th level character was a 2e variant class that need less exp to level than a thief, and was very weak, essentially like a 3e commoner or expert.)
The 3e campaigns I was in went to 13th, and probably should have ended sooner. ;(

But, 5e I almost exclusively run, and that intro games at conventions & AL, so low-level, which also isn't ideal, you have to be careful with 1st level parties, especially.

Question 2: Have played more than one or two adventures as level 20th PC?

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Yes, a fair number of epic adventures. Levels 21 to 26, so far, including games starting at Epic.

Question 3: I don't like playing high-level PCs because...

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..the game has a definite 'sweet spot' within which it works, before that it's marginal, after, problematic.
It's possible to run good high-level games, but (outside of 4e) there are tricks to it.
In 1e it helps to shift the scope, around name level, to strongholds and politics - the rules are sketchy, but getting away from solving everything with sword or spell avoids some issues.
In 3e it gets very tricky to come up with challenges, because a DC that's barely possible to fail for a character specialized in it may be impossible for everyone else, and spells & item creation can prepare a Tier 1 caster to trivialize just about anything.
4e & 5e fixed the first problem with a common progression - 1/2 level & proficiency, respectively. 4e AEDU solved the second, so even Epic works. 5e muted it with fewer very high level slots, no make/buy, and far fewer, somewhat nerfed spells to choose from.

First, I mostly DM so my answers are related to the party I DM.

Q1: No. The closest we reached was level 17.
Q2: No.
Q3: I'm fine with high level PCs, we just haven't reached them as of yet. Hopefully this campaign.

Sithikurro said:

Because you know what?
Playing level 20th is so-much-fun! All the spells, all the abilities are there for you - at last - and you can feel the power of your PC.

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I agree with this, and it is the reason I am always tinkering with high-level / epic play. My groups have never really reached much beyond lvl 10-12 when starting at lvl 1, but we always do a few adventures at high-max level for the fun of it.

This is the end
My only friend, the end

-Jim Morrison

Sithikurro said:

Question 1: Have you ever actually started a level 1 PC and got, through gaming (no-level skipping) to level 20?

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Yes, though not in 5e (yet).

* Back in the early/mid 80's when we were still playing some BECMI we had several games that reached lv20+ (the cap for fighters/clerics/magic-users/thieves was 36 & ...... I forget what for Elves/Dwarves/1/2lings). Anyways I had a fighter that just barely made it into the Master books lvs (so 30th lv? if memory serves) & an Elf that had near maxed out in the Companion book before we abandoned that version of the game altogether.

*Highest I've ever gotten AD&D (either 1e or 2e) characters is into the mid-teens. I've got a fair # of those.

*3x/PF - I've got a Cavalier/Hellknight & a divination Wizard, both 16th lv + 6 tiers of Mythic.

*5e: My highest lv character to date is my 1/2ling warlock at 7th lv.
But I see 5e most often from the DMs side of the screen, so....

Sithikurro said:

Question 2: Have played more than one or two adventures as level 20th PC?

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Yes, in BECMI years ago.
Yes, effectively, in AD&D & 3x/PF. The actual lv #s might have been slightly less than 20, but if you want to compare them power-wise to a 20thlv 5e character....

Sithikurro said:

Question 3: I don't like playing high-level PCs because...

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I guess if I had to pick some reason then, whatever the edition, I'd point to the time it takes to get them there from 1st lv.
It's at least a 2 year+ process if you're looking at our weekly sessions.

Sithikurro said:

Question 1: Have you ever actually started a level 1 PC and got, through gaming (no-level skipping) to level 20?

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Yes, once in the 3.5 era. I have gotten close a few times in Pathfinder.

Sithikurro said:

Question 2: Have played more than one or two adventures as level 20th PC?

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No, the lack of material and hassle of running high level is not worth it. Also, after starting at level 1 the group wanted a new campaign flavor and characters to build.

Sithikurro said:

Question 3: I don't like playing high-level PCs because...

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I prefer a gritty experience that isn't epic. Resource management is key to my enjoyment and level 20 characters have all the tools to mitigate it. Creating content for high level games in 3.X/PF is an absolute chore. My preferred game is now PF and I like to call it quits by about level 14.

I am in a 5E game now and believe it to be better suited for high level play. Though I am only level 8 and its a very slow leveling game so I cant comment on 5E specifically at level 20 yet.

My thoughts so far are that 5E is the game I want to run, but 3.x/PF is the game I want to play. YMMV.

Sithikurro said:

Question 1: Have you ever actually started a level 1 PC and got, through gaming (no-level skipping) to level 20?
Question 2: Have played more than one or two adventures as level 20th PC?
Question 3: I don't like playing high-level PCs because...

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Q1: I ran a 5e conversion of the 3.5 Age of Worms adventure path. The conversion is posted to this site. We started April 2014 under the D&D Next playtest rules, and finished May 2017.
Q2: We played chapter 11 as level 20 PCs for 2-3 months. Chapter 12 used level 20 PCs with one epic boon and ran 3-4 months.
Q3: No issues with level 20 PCs.