Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Brother MacLaren" data-source="post: 3370235" data-attributes="member: 15999">See, this is what I don't get.  I always imagine a static world, where the monsters and traps are what they are independent of PC abilities, and going up levels means you can take on the tougher things and solve more difficult problems.  Level 1: your party probably cannot defeat the minotaur in Keep on the Borderlands, and it will kill you if you try.  Level 4: you probably can.  Level 1: rogue cannot find a Fire Trap even by taking 20.  Level 4: they can.  So by going up levels, you're not running in place, you're making real progress.  I do understand your point about having options, but maybe I'm not fully getting it. Let's say I have a 1st-level human fighter with Combat Expertise, Improved Trip, and Improved Disarm (so he has all the options from the start).  At level 2, 3, and 4 he takes the "incremental" feats Weapon Focus, Improved Toughness, and Weapon Specialization.  He's still doing the same thing -- tripping, disarming, and smashing with his flail -- but now he's considerably stronger (his overhead press increased by 30 lb) and he can defeat a 9'-tall 600-lb giant in single combat.  That's just astounding.  When unarmored, he can routinely climb a typical dungeon wall (+10 Climb check) and make a 20' long jump.  He can likely take a Lightning Bolt to the chest (10d6, failed save) and keep fighting.   These are all things that he couldn't do as a 1st-level character, he's AMAZINGLY more competent, but he has only had incremental improvements to his existing abilities.  The feeling of playing the character just changes so much that I can't see it as just a few mechanical improvements.Granted, it's not the same when you compare level 13 to level 12, but even so, when you roll exactly what you need to hit, or when you are down to single-digit HP, you're thankful for gaining that last level.</blockquote>

Verification