D&D 5E At what level does play become "high level"?

[Minigiant]

That's not entirely accurate. At 11th level they start the very beginning of the Masters of the Realm tier. That tier affects countries and even the world. That last part, plus the name of the tier imply that it's the higher levels of that tier that start impacting the world. Those higher levels lead into the Masters of the World tier, where their actions affect the world and perhaps beyond.

11th level would be mid level and it wouldn't be until 13th or so that they reach high levels and really start affecting the world.

That's why I stated it the way I did.

At level 11th level, you get access to high level stuff. But you aren't considered high level until much later. 6th level spells are big but you only have that and only 1 of it.

At level 11th, you might be known around the world and might be able to do things only a handful can. But you aren't a worldshaking force, not on your own.

Much like sports, you can have high level talent and be in the pros but not be considered a star or top level talent.

 

[zarionofarabel]

10th!
Because that's half...

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Part of my problen with the question is that it doesn't tell me how fine-grained it is.

Do we have "newbie/low level/mid level/high level/very high level/max level"? If so then 10 or perhaps even lower might make sense. Is it an absolute binary, "low" vs "high" with no other sets? I'm inclined to say 12-13 (which is what I voted), just because that's when things really kick into high gear and you start the "final stretch" on most of your abilities. Do we have a simple "low/middle/high" metric? Then maybe 13 is a little too low. Etc.

By not having any contrasting categories, we'll get a hodgepodge of people who are thinking in straightforward binary terms, people thinking of a smooth progression of tiers, and everything in-between.

 

[aco175]

I gather it depends on what people consider low, med, high. I tend to divide the middle levels into two groups where 5-9 is the best for my group and 10-13 is where we start to wind down the campaigns. We never gotten to 14th level in 5e so I put that for high level.

 

[Blue]

That's not really relevant to what is low, mid and high level, though. Otherwise you'd have 1-2 be low level, 3-4 be mid level, 5-6 be high level, and 7+ be epic.

Of course it is. To say that your average campaign ends mid level is just silly. High and low are relative terms, not absolutes. The cabinets my wife can't reach are high for her; but low compared to a office building, which is low compared to Mount Everest, which is low compared to low earth orbit, which is low - right there in the name.

They go epically fast, yes. And I think the average driver wouldn't say that speed is high until 90. I mean there are commonly speed limits of 75mph on freeways. Going just 5 miles an hour over the average wouldn't be very high speed. I would rate low speed as 1-45mph, mid speed at 46-90mph, and high as 90-135. Anything over 135 is pretty darn epic.

My state is 55MPG on the highways, and there are a few within my lifetime that went up to 65. So yes, 80 MPH would be fast. Again, it's all relative. 30MPG would be fast on a bicycle even if it's not fast on a car. All relative.

 

[Maxperson]

Of course it is. To say that your average campaign ends mid level is just silly. High and low are relative terms, not absolutes.

Relative to the levels of the game, yes. If you choose to stop every campaign at 5th level, you've never reached mid or high levels. What would be high level for your personal game(5th) is not high level or even mid level for D&D.

The cabinets my wife can't reach are high for her; but low compared to a office building, which is low compared to Mount Everest, which is low compared to low earth orbit, which is low - right there in the name.

Holy false equivalence Batman. Comparing something very specific, levels in D&D, to anything and everything the world with any dimension of height is useless.

Instead compare the height of cars. Some sports cars are low. Others are average(mid level) in height. A few are higher than the rest. It's relative to cars, but just because you and your wife only have short sports cars does not make any of them tall.

 

[steeldragons]

I consider anything past 9th "high level." Once casters gain 5th level spells, things get real interesting and start accelerating, exponentially.

Teleport. Wall of Force. Cloudkill. Raise Dead. Dispel Evil. Flame Strike. Conjure Elemental. Reincarnate. Scrying. Planar Binding. etc... etc... Each a game changer in its own way.

Yeah, once you are winging around 5th level (+) spells, you have crossed the threshold into "high level" game territory.

 

[Haffrung]

9th can't be high level, though. It's literally in the middle of the level range, making it mid level.

For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, WotC and Paizo at some point decided that the max level should be far, far higher than most groups ever reach. Content for play beyond 12th level is largely theoretical. IMHO, definitions of low/med/high should be based on practical actual play.

 

[Maxperson]

For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, WotC and Paizo at some point decided that the max level should be far, far higher than most groups ever reach. Content for play beyond 12th level is largely theoretical. IMHO, definitions of low/med/high should be based on practical actual play.

Despite the claims, a lot of us go to high levels. I haven't played or run a game that failed to hit 12th-22nd level since 2e. There were a very few exceptions when a campaign just wasn't working out and we wanted to switch.

That's among multiple groups, dozens of players, and no less than 7 different DMs in 4 different social circles.

 

[Asisreo]

Despite the claims, a lot of us go to high levels. I haven't played or run a game that failed to hit 12th-22nd level since 2e. There were a very few exceptions when a campaign just wasn't working out and we wanted to switch.

That's among multiple groups, dozens of players, and no less than 7 different DMs in 4 different social circles.

Yep. I was quite surprised how many apparent groups had stopped before level 20 by their own volition. I understand IRL constraints but it's never a happy occasion.

I love playing my character and seeing a wide gap of growth from 1st to up to level 17+ and sometimes we start at level 11+ just because we like to feel like dragonslaying badasses as soon as possible.