I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
People seem to be very confused about what the RAW is saying with regards to NPC's with levels. And darn my need to travel lightly for not having the DMG with me.
The vast majority of town guards *are* low-level mooklings. Even according to the RAW. This is in part because of the way populations are generated (90% commoner 1, 10% "other"), and partly because of the rarity of truly big populations that support high-level characters (villages and hamlets make up, IIRC, the majority of terrain, with one "metropolis" perhaps on the continent, or even in the world).
Now, low-level commoners can get a lot done. Using Take 10 and Take 20 rules, they can accomplish a day's task, and when they set their minds to it, they can really exceed the norms. Some can even get lucky if they try really hard in a pinch.
This assumes, as D&D does, a world where the dark demon lords don't walk the streets at night and the liches don't pop out from under the bed. Rather, the dark and spooky things of great power stay distant, like the great and powerful things of legendary power do. You've got a few 20th level heroes living in the only metropolis on the planet, you've got your cabal of five balor caged in the deepest chasms in the cursed mountains in the isoalted badlands, and you've got miles upon miles of level 1 commoners, humans, elves, dwarves, kobolds, goblins, and orcs in between them.
This is why the D&D world doesn't need to take into account things like "easily available resurrection." Or "Beholders walking down city streets." Because it's NOT that easily available...it's there, and it's not just in the PC's hands, but it is not common, not by a long shot.
So yes, in most places, 15th level heroes will be able to have immunity to the mere law enforced by the 2nd level guards. Of course, if they try their stuff in the bigger cities, they will have better forces, but even in such a case, the PC's are most likely to meet the low-level mooks first. Unfortunately, bigger cities are rare in the extreme...this is supposed to be vaguely medeival europe, not the modern US or even ancient Greece. You've only got one or two Paris or London-sized cities, period, and most of the action doesn't even take place there (not only that, but even Paris or London circa 1400 may not be able to match a D&D-sized metropolis).
It stretches verisimilitude, in a world set up like this, to have the 14th level guardsman be what the PC's would encounter, unless they had some inkling of the PC's power and they were already in a very large civilized area.
And yes, PC's should absolutely wipe the floor with the crossbow-wielding town guards nine times out of ten. The RAW is set up to have that happen. A DM can, with or without good reason, make this the one-in-ten opportunity for the right challenge to be there, but it can certainly be damaging to player's sense of world if not handled well.
The vast majority of town guards *are* low-level mooklings. Even according to the RAW. This is in part because of the way populations are generated (90% commoner 1, 10% "other"), and partly because of the rarity of truly big populations that support high-level characters (villages and hamlets make up, IIRC, the majority of terrain, with one "metropolis" perhaps on the continent, or even in the world).
Now, low-level commoners can get a lot done. Using Take 10 and Take 20 rules, they can accomplish a day's task, and when they set their minds to it, they can really exceed the norms. Some can even get lucky if they try really hard in a pinch.
This assumes, as D&D does, a world where the dark demon lords don't walk the streets at night and the liches don't pop out from under the bed. Rather, the dark and spooky things of great power stay distant, like the great and powerful things of legendary power do. You've got a few 20th level heroes living in the only metropolis on the planet, you've got your cabal of five balor caged in the deepest chasms in the cursed mountains in the isoalted badlands, and you've got miles upon miles of level 1 commoners, humans, elves, dwarves, kobolds, goblins, and orcs in between them.
This is why the D&D world doesn't need to take into account things like "easily available resurrection." Or "Beholders walking down city streets." Because it's NOT that easily available...it's there, and it's not just in the PC's hands, but it is not common, not by a long shot.
So yes, in most places, 15th level heroes will be able to have immunity to the mere law enforced by the 2nd level guards. Of course, if they try their stuff in the bigger cities, they will have better forces, but even in such a case, the PC's are most likely to meet the low-level mooks first. Unfortunately, bigger cities are rare in the extreme...this is supposed to be vaguely medeival europe, not the modern US or even ancient Greece. You've only got one or two Paris or London-sized cities, period, and most of the action doesn't even take place there (not only that, but even Paris or London circa 1400 may not be able to match a D&D-sized metropolis).
It stretches verisimilitude, in a world set up like this, to have the 14th level guardsman be what the PC's would encounter, unless they had some inkling of the PC's power and they were already in a very large civilized area.
And yes, PC's should absolutely wipe the floor with the crossbow-wielding town guards nine times out of ten. The RAW is set up to have that happen. A DM can, with or without good reason, make this the one-in-ten opportunity for the right challenge to be there, but it can certainly be damaging to player's sense of world if not handled well.
