D&D 5E Followup on "Everyone Starts at First Level"

[Warmaster Horus]

It's game dependent to me. In some games and with some groups it's necessary. In others it's not. I think it's "purer" to always start at one, but it's not pivotal in any way to my enjoyment or satisfaction with the game. It's the players that make the game, not the PCs as much. If you have good players you'll have fun no matter how you decide to handle character creation.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

In last night's combat, for example, the front line was mostly 3rd level pcs- against a CR 8 monster- and they all made it through. In fact, I don't think a single character dropped in the fight!

Maybe I don't understand the CR system, but shouldn't a CR 8 monster completely obliterate a level 1 or level 3 character?

 

[Tony Vargas]

Maybe I don't understand the CR system, but shouldn't a CR 8 monster completely obliterate a level 1 or level 3 character?

Not if they outnumber it sufficiently and it doesn't (or can't) focus fire. Bounded accuracy and all that.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

Thanks for the update! I've always preferred this type of play, and I'll be very happy if you find that 5E supports it.

 

[Tormyr]

So far at least, I have seen a lot more barbarians and fighters than hang-in-the-back types, and they've run to the front. PC durability in 5e is pretty darn high.

In last night's combat, for example, the front line was mostly 3rd level pcs- against a CR 8 monster- and they all made it through. In fact, I don't think a single character dropped in the fight! (But other than the druid and warlock- ironically, the first level pcs- everyone was out of spell slots by the end of the battle.)

What was the party composition and what were they fighting?

 

[the Jester]

What was the party composition and what were they fighting?

I described it in the first post of the thread:

Last night, a party of seven pcs, including two brand-new first level ones (a druid and a warlock), a couple of fifth level guys (vengeance paladin and evoker wizard) and a few 3rd level pcs (two barbarians and a cleric) were in an interesting and very dangerous encounter.

It started with 6 hyenas, 4 gnolls and a gnoll pack leader (or whatever it's called). But the gnolls quickly released a hydra.

 

[S'mon]

I'm worried that the choice of new-character rules might affect which characters actually end up being played. If a new character comes in at level 1, then that's fine if you're an archer or a wizard, because the scary monsters are probably just going to ignore you while you're obviously not the biggest threat. If you want to play a barbarian, or a great-weapon paladin, then that's a fairly suicidal choice in a party that will be facing high-level monsters.

Just to note that a 1st level Barbarian with 15 hp who is Raging needs 60 damage to kill him outright with one
hit! Resistance to B/P/S is a wonderful thing.

 

[Shiroiken]

I'm going to flip this into an question, for anyone, not just directed at Sacrosanct.
1) In 5e, does PC level gap eventually become a problem?
2) If so, what size is the gap when the problems start?

1) Yes, but it doesn't have to be a huge problem if ES@1 is done correctly. ES@1 was how the game was originally played: you had several characters, and tried to level them up to different points so you could use whichever was needed for a given adventure.

2) Generally you can easily work with a 3 level gap (say 2-4 or 6-8). A 4 level gap gets a bit tight, but could work at higher levels. When you have a tier change, even a 3 level gap is a bit tight, but it's totally workable.

 

[S'mon]

I ran an ES@1 Pathfinder Beginner Box campaign in EGG's Yggsburgh setting and that worked great, however attrition and slow advancement at the top end meant that no one exceeded 4th level. I would have probably used E5 rules (level cap + Feats) at the high end.
5e looks brilliant for ES@1 within the 1-10 level range, the traditional 'old school' level range - indeed better than any other edition, I think.

 

[Tormyr]

I described it in the first post of the thread:

Oops, sorry. Very nice encounter and balanced to medium (I assume the gnolls and such did not take part. The hydra is perfect in this case because each head averages 10 damage. Good story and good challenge. Nicely done.