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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kitsune9" data-source="post: 5827109" data-attributes="member: 18507">My take on high-level play is that I love it personally. I never got to use it in 1e, never got to use it in BECMI, had only one campaign go to 14th level before we got tired of it in 2e, but ran campaigns that ended in high-level in 3.0, 3.5 and now Pathfinder. I think I agree with Monte's assessment in that high-level play changes, but it doesn't break down. Here's been my experiences:1. At high-level, the "adventure as a journey" modules are dumb. I have to put in encounters at the fixed locations the players are going to be at instead of assuming that they'll get on their horses and travel across the land to wherever they're headed. Odds are, they'll teleport, fly, or use some magical means that will avoid mundane planned encounters. If I'm not careful, clever divination spells and teleport will allow the players to go from Start to End and bypass Everything in Between in the first session. I have to plan my adventures with these spells and abilities in mind, not ban them because they're annoying.2. Familiarity makes the game go faster. I like high-level play because I'm just as comfortable and familiar with it as I am with low-levels. The campaigns I played in ended at high level. The campaigns I ran ended at high-level. How many of you had DMs who started a campaign, but RL causes it to end after a few levels. Then when the DM says he's ready to get back into the game, it's "create a new character". Then the campaign goes a few levels, and the DM is bored. Create a new character, start a new campaign. Then the DM is burned out and someone else takes over, but it's create a new character, start a new campaign. Finally, when you get in a campaign where it looks like you're going to the Big Leagues, the game breaks down because both players and DM aren't familiar with the rules--they either hadn't used them or they're really really rusty at it. Not with my group. We slog through combat and everything. Figure out what doesn't work and what does, but don't give up.3. High-level prep takes a lot more time. If you have more options at high level, that alone will add to any DM's prep time. If I was creating a baddie for my 1st level group and building him from scratch--15 min and I'm done. When I created a baddie for my 22nd level group and buildingg him from scratch--4 hours and I'm done. The 4 hour baddie was killed in the first round (failed Will save). As a DM, I don't mind the extra prep time to put in the effort for my high-level encounters, but I know of others who absolutely think that any prep time beyond 15 minutes for any adventure at any level the game is not worth playing.</blockquote>

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