D&D 5E (2014) Do You Start At Level 1?

[Reynard]

(Note: this is a 5E question broadly and I don't think 5.0 vs 5.5 really matters here)

When you start a new campaign, do you usually start at level 1? Why or why not? If not, what level do you usually start at?

This question is only really applicable to the start of a new campaign. If you are creating characters to run through a specific adventure, of course you will start at a level appropriate for that adventure.

I usually have PCs start at level 3, since that is where character generation feels complete in 5E. Plus, level 1 in particular is so short it doesn't make much sense in the fiction to start at level one when after a single day of encounters, they wake up level 2. Sometimes I start at level 5 because for a number of the big adventures, they really start at level 5 and the early stuff is filler and almost always bad (looking at you Avernus and Storm King).

I have started at level 1 when trying to do the zero to hero thing, and I think Phandelver does a decent job of making it worth the effort to do so. But most of the time I find it to not be worth the squeeze.

 

[TwoSix]

Voted rarely; looking through my last games, we've started at level 1 3 times in the last 10 games.

 

[Artamo]

Very rarely. I think 3rd level is the best starting point in D&D. The “origin” levels of 1 and 2 feel just too perfunctory to me. My group of players are experienced so we come to the table with fully fleshed out characters in mind. They don’t need to really play through the first two levels. I also find most adventures in that range are too tepid - things don’t start getting good until 3rd level anyways when better monsters can be introduced.

 

[aco175]

Always start at level 1 for my home games. I also think nearly all of the other games I played in such as Adventure League started at level 1.

I get the idea of starting at level 3 but feel that you miss some growth into the character if you do not start at level 1 and these levels pass so quickly that is seems to say why bother skipping them. This last point could also be for skipping them as well.

 

[payn]

Usually has been the answer for my entire D&D career. Occasionally, ive done start at L3 or higher if doing a single module.

 

[MGibster]

5.5 doesn’t recommend starting at 1. If I run another campaign, we’ll start at 3.

 

[Plaguescarred]

I usually start campaign at 1st-level but it often is level 3 or higher more rarely so.

Reasons is i prefer party to grow together from the beginning as they take shape.

But some game start higher power-wise as a choice or because it has a defined parameters ex. Level 3-12 etc...

 

[bedir than]

We're in two campaigns meeting regularly right now.
One started at 1st level and the other started at 5th. This group has also started at 7th, 3rd, 1st for various campaigns with the starting point being determined by the story we're telling.

 

[Toe Knee Nose]

I've always started at level 1. I always feel that it take a few sessions to really pin down a character and those first three or four sessions are generally enough to bump to 3rd level in 5e. Characters just never seem... right? I can't think of the right word here. I just feel like the character just isn't cooked all the way through if I start at higher levels.

 

[DragonLancer]

Yes, always level 1 for a variety of reasons.

1. Tradition / Sacred Cow. D&D is 1st level wannabe to 20th level demi-god. As a group where half of use were playing 1st edition AD&D in the 80s, it's how it's always been done.
2. My players prefer it. We discussed it a few years ago and the consensus from old and new players alike was that starting at 1st, you grow into your character and learn what they can do. Dropping in with a 5th level right off the bad, just means you're rushing to work out what the build does.
3. Starting at 3rd you are missing out on something. Characters at that point are not squishy and can handle threats that scare 1st level characters. Some of us like that build up from facing goblins and spiders under the tavern cellars to making our way through haunted forests, forgotten ruins and finally braving the Temple of Elemental Evil as fully competent heroes.