D&D 5E Level 20, no class higher than 12 (edited!)

[TwoSix]

I'm thinking of doing a relatively short (12-15 sessions) level 20 game for one of my groups. This game would have the fairly large caveat that the PCs could not go above level 10 in any one class; in other words, everyone PC would have to be multiclassed.

I'm adding one house rule that if a character gets extra attack a 2nd time (or more), they get an additional feat instead.

The focus will be progressing by finding magical items and quest rewards over leveling.

What sort of character would you find interesting in this scenario? Are there any obvious red flags I'm not seeing?

 

[Distracted DM]

@Horwath has a 10/10 even split house-rule they shared here D&D 5E - Subclass feature vs. feat -- Which is "worth" more?
It might be of interest.

Your "gets a feat instead of superfluous Extra Attacks" is an interesting idea!

 

[TwoSix]

It's a solid house rule, but I also don't want to power them up to the point of actually being competitive with "normal" 20th level characters. The focus here is on giving them strong, flexible characters without the narrative challenges that 6th level+ spells can cause, and also moving the focus of the game away from gaining that "next level".

 

[Horwath]

It's a solid house rule, but I also don't want to power them up to the point of actually being competitive with "normal" 20th level characters. The focus here is on giving them strong, flexible characters without the narrative challenges that 6th level+ spells can cause, and also moving the focus of the game away from gaining that "next level".

E11 is my favorite E6 variant for 5E.
11th level, just gives you a dip into high level game without breaking much.
single 6th level spell slot per day will not be such a big influence and martials get a very solid boost at 11th level,
well, all except rangers, hehe.

 

[aco175]

With no 11th level fighter bump, I would stop that one at 5th level. Add 9th levels rogue for the +5 backstab dice and supreme sneak. Add 6 levels of wizard to round things off. Might focus on DEX and INT. Add halfling to get the thief stuff like hiding and moving through spaces.

 

[Pedantic]

I'm adding one house rule that if a character gets extra attack a 2nd time (or more), they get an additional feat instead.

The focus will be progressing by finding magical items and quest rewards over leveling.

If that's the goal, I'd probably go further. Pick a level to fix the PCs at to get the base character level differentiation you want, then tie progression entirely to magic items/quest boons. Maybe pick a small range, and provide "training" as a potential reward that can get characters from say 3rd up to 6th, perhaps not at a perfectly even pace between PCs.

You can cut up class features that the characters might like into such rewards, i.e. tie the ability to cast a spell 1/day to a ritual empowerment or divine reward, that kind of thing.

5e is really aggressive about putting all meaningful character power in leveling, I think more extreme steps are necessary to really shift the tone.

 

[Maxperson]

I'm thinking of doing a relatively short (12-15 sessions) level 20 game for one of my groups. This game would have the fairly large caveat that the PCs could not go above level 10 in any one class; in other words, everyone PC would have to be multiclassed.

I'm adding one house rule that if a character gets extra attack a 2nd time (or more), they get an additional feat instead.

The focus will be progressing by finding magical items and quest rewards over leveling.

What sort of character would you find interesting in this scenario? Are there any obvious red flags I'm not seeing?

Epic Boons are always a nice reward.

 

[TwoSix]

If that's the goal, I'd probably go further. Pick a level to fix the PCs at to get the base character level differentiation you want, then tie progression entirely to magic items/quest boons. Maybe pick a small range, and provide "training" as a potential reward that can get characters from say 3rd up to 6th, perhaps not at a perfectly even pace between PCs.

You can cut up class features that the characters might like into such rewards, i.e. tie the ability to cast a spell 1/day to a ritual empowerment or divine reward, that kind of thing.

5e is really aggressive about putting all meaningful character power in leveling, I think more extreme steps are necessary to really shift the tone.

Well, that's part of the reason I picked 20th level; it functions as a soft "E-X" type game but in an organic way. I'm not "cutting" anything off, instead I'm giving them the players the opportunity to play high level D&D with just a bit of tweaking.

Having to multiclass also encourages a little more gamism, which I like for D&D.

And 6th level spells+ and 11th level+ class features become reward opportunities rather than expectations. I have a thing where I really have a strong preference for the players being able to do detailed character building at the start of play, but where their character ends up is a function of earning rewards (ideally diegetic) through play. Knowing what abilities are going to be gained from levels 1-20 is my chief issue with standard D&D.

 

[Pedantic]

Well, that's part of the reason I picked 20th level; it functions as a soft "E-X" type game but in an organic way. I'm not "cutting" anything off, instead I'm giving them the players the opportunity to play high level D&D with just a bit of tweaking.

Ah, I misunderstood the prompt. You're starting and sticking at 20th level. That makes more sense.

 

[Neonchameleon]

I'm thinking of doing a relatively short (12-15 sessions) level 20 game for one of my groups. This game would have the fairly large caveat that the PCs could not go above level 10 in any one class; in other words, everyone PC would have to be multiclassed.

I'm adding one house rule that if a character gets extra attack a 2nd time (or more), they get an additional feat instead.

The focus will be progressing by finding magical items and quest rewards over leveling.

What sort of character would you find interesting in this scenario? Are there any obvious red flags I'm not seeing?

... you're practically asking for some joker to play a coffeelock aren't you? And have you nerfed cantrips (or rather prevented them from scaling past level 10)? 4d10 firebolts against a standard two attacks is pretty strong - and that's before we get into Eldritch + Agonizing Blast or other stacking cantrip modifiers.