D&D 5E (2024) 5e GMs: Do/Have/Would You Start Above 1st Level? (Note: Cannot change your vote.)

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

If someone doesn't get one-shot in the first session are you really playing dnd?

Maybe I've been running too much OSE

 

[TwoSix]

I tend to put the narrative first, so I pretty much start at whatever level fits the narrative best. 1 and 3 are the most common, but I've started at 1, 3, 5, 11, 15, 17, and 20 - and that's just the ones I can remember.

Same. My 5e games I've GMed have started at 1, 1, 5, 7, 8, and 10, and my next one is planned to start somewhere between 17th and 19th level.

 

[Spectral Anomaly]

Nope. They always have to start at 1 and clear the rats out of the cellar. Always!

 

[jayoungr]

It depends on the campaign and the players. For players who are new to the game, I like starting at level 1 because it introduces the features gradually. For those who are more experienced, especially if it's going to be a short campaign, I am more likely to start higher.

 

[Reynard]

Since PCs are not done being created before level 3, I almost always start there.

 

[Mallus]

We started our current 5e 2024 campaign at 3rd level because it fit the story better.

We started our old 5e campaign at 1st.

It's all good. Except when the PCs start setting random things on fire...

 

[Bae'zel]

With brand new players, I start at level 1 to gradually ramp them up to the system.

For experienced D&D players, in 5e we start at level 3 by default. It feels like a solid way to kick off a campaign.

 

[Charlaquin]

I have started 5e campaigns at levels 1, 3, 5, and 11. Level 1 is my favorite place to start, but there are lots of good reasons to start at other levels, including simply “we felt like it.” It’s one of those things like theme, mood, tone, and initial character ideas that should be discussed at the start of a campaign.

 

[Mort]

Our typical starting level for a new campaign is 3, though we have started at 5 and even at 10th.

I'm perfectly happy to start even higher but have noticed many players aren't actually comfortable starting 3rd tier plus without some lead in - too many moving parts.

 

[AlViking]

I think one of the reasons I start characters at level 1 (or even lower) is because I never have a specific campaign in mind. We discuss general themes during our session 0 along with location and a few other things. So I have a starting area defined based on that session 0 but from then on it's a very player directed campaign. There may be rumors that the city leader is really a vampire and if that's the option they bite they'll be facing undead and vampire spawn before long. If they instead decide to join the privateers to fight the pirates than a-sailing we will go.

Because there's no predetermined goals or plan just getting a feel for options and environment, both physical and political, it works well to start at lower level just to get a lay of the land and go from there.