D&D 5E No One Plays High Level?

[Vaalingrade]

4e had wish?

Not in the PH1!

There's Meteor Swarm, Greater Ice Storm and Legion's Hold -- a spell that stunlocks everyone in 100ft.

Wish is also not a ritual.

As far as I can see, Wish is a thing certain monsters have and can bargain with you for.

But that doesn't paint a certain narrative about how 4e worked.

 

[Minigiant]

The issue with high levels is
Game designers, Adventure Writers, and Monster Makers design like high levels like low levels.

If there is one thing I would ever design first for D&D, it would be a high level group book.

1. A list of 5 villainous groups
   1. A Fighter Army
   2. A Thieves Guild
   3. An Evil Church
   4. A Super Mage
   5. A Monstrous Group
2. Their Lairs
   1. The high level fortress
   2. The high level hideout
   3. The high level temple
   4. The high level mage tower
   5. The high level den
3. Their members
   • Their Leaders
   • Their Lieutenants
   • Their Henchmen
4. Their resources
   • Their magic spells
   • Their magic items
   • Their skills
   • Their gold
   • Their allies
5. Their reactions
   1. How they deal with teleports
   2. How they deal with summons
   3. How they deal with healing
   4. Possible contingencies for wishes and miracles
   5. How they can crank up if pressured
   6. How they can crank up if given downtime

So when the players do X, there is an index in the back to tell you what page to turn to describe how the high level enemies might react.

 

[Reynard]

The issue with high levels is
Game designers, Adventure Writers, and Monster Makers design like high levels like low levels.

If there is one thing I would ever design first for D&D, it would be a high level group book.

1. A list of 5 villainous groups
   1. A Fighter Army
   2. A Thieves Guild
   3. An Evil Church
   4. A Super Mage
   5. A Monstrous Group
2. Their Lairs
   1. The high level fortress
   2. The high level hideout
   3. The high level temple
   4. The high level mage tower
   5. The high level den
3. Their members
   • Their Leaders
   • Their Lieutenants
   • Their Henchmen
4. Their resources
   • Their magic spells
   • Their magic items
   • Their skills
   • Their gold
   • Their allies
5. Their reactions
   1. How they deal with teleports
   2. How they deal with summons
   3. How they deal with healing
   4. Possible contingencies for wishes and miracles
   5. How they can crank up if pressured
   6. How they can crank up if given downtime

So when the players do X, there is an index in the back to tell you what page to turn to describe how the high level enemies might react.

This would make a great 3PP book. Do it.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

There's a reason 3.x spawned the "E6" movement.

That said, its ridiculous amount of feats really works for E6, turning that into the main form of advancement.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

Not in the PH1!

There's Meteor Swarm, Greater Ice Storm and Legion's Hold -- a spell that stunlocks everyone in 100ft.

Wish is also not a ritual.

As far as I can see, Wish is a thing certain monsters have and can bargain with you for.

But that doesn't paint a certain narrative about how 4e worked.

i mean, i dunno, i've got the 3 phbs, arcane power...not in any of those. is it in the DMG or something?

 

[Minigiant]

This would make a great 3PP book. Do it.

I likely will once 5e 20224 comes out.
Probably add my high level pirates from my 4e campaign. (Think One Piece Pirates with Spelljammer Planejammer ships)

 

[lkj]

Almost all of my 5e games have gone to high levels. It has been fun and easy to run. I'm running two high level games right now. Apparently I'm an oddball.

AD

 

[EzekielRaiden]

That said, its ridiculous amount of feats really works for E6, turning that into the main form of advancement.

Sure, though the fact that some are amazing (Natural Spell, Spring Attack) and others are garbage...well. It's a bit more complicated than just "yeah, feats forever!"

 

[Zardnaar]

As DM it's not worth the effort vs fun payoff. I've ran up to 13 in 5E. The game starts to fall apart around 8.

Previous editions (often starting higher).

BECMI
Low 30's

2E
Level 19 (from lvl 1)
Level 18 (started at 18)

3.0

20
21
30

4E
7

5E
13/14ish iirc.

Basically cant be arsed running higher levels.

 

[Raith5]

I like high level play and like some others in this thread I found 4e did high level play really well (we got to 30th level).

For me the problem with 5e is not high level play as a different style of play per se but the way that mid level play is compressed due to the legacy of 5e sticking closely to 3e and earlier editions. It may not be possible to stretch out mid level spell and ability aquisition - because of this legacy. But I think it would be good to make some types of monsters a bit higher level so that giants become a 13th level and above monster not an 8th level type of opponent, if that makes sense.