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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Synchronicity" data-source="post: 1611596" data-attributes="member: 10070">I like starting games at between 2nd and 4th level; it means that you're a little experienced, so you can have done a bit more in your backstory as opposed to being just another 'farmer's son who just left the farm with his dad's sword and a suit of leather armour.' I don't like starting much above that, because it does encourage tweaked levelling, allowing you to optimise your character in a way you couldn't have done (or couldn't have done so easily) if you'd actually had to play through those levels. However, I dislike level 1 in general because of the 'OK, you have a roughly 1 in 4 chance of landing a good blow on the orc. You swing, you miss. You swing, you miss. The orc criticals you with his greataxe. You take 30 points of damage. You die.' or 'OK, you cast magic missile. The orc takes 3 damage. You hide behind the fighters and do nothing else for the next 7 hours, until you can rest again and get your paltry 2 1st level spells back.' So; not cheating. In many ways, I prefer it. Having said that, my D&D campaign at the moment began from 1st level; we're now 4th, and it's the most fun I've had in ages. Political intrigue, world-dooming prophecies..you name it, we've got it! In that case, our characters are wet behind the ears (in the case of the half-aquatic elf, perhaps literally..), and only one character seemed out of place at 1st level: the veteran ranger, survivor of many battles. Still, it's been a lot of fun, and the early levels have shaped my character. 1st level can work sometimes; I'm just more hesitant to make people begin that weak because a lucky hit can kill them and I'm not in the habit of fudging rolls. It seems a shame to waste the hours the player put into creating their character's persona and backstory because one goblin got lucky, hence beginning at a higher level for advanced survivability.</blockquote>

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