Player: "I need to level up so I can do cool stuff!"

[Dannyalcatraz]

No, Bruce.

So...Bruce it is!

 

[Herobizkit]

Just a gripe I have about low level, specifically d20 related.

Prestige Classes.

They are built around the premise that you CANNOT become one until you advance in the relevant class(es). If there are abilities that you wish your character to have for flavour, you can't until 5-8th level.

Personally, I like starting campaigns around level 3 (chasing rats/goblins/zombies is tiresome, and after 20+ years of gaming, blah) and building a back story for how the character got there.

 

[SSquirrel]

I was stuck in a slow moving 3.5 game once, in a year and a half of meeting weekly we weren't even level 3. I had tried to talk people into starting at 5 or even 3, but one guy claimed that if we didn't start at first, we would never know our characters. I questioned how I can know a make believe person whose history I am creating less by starting at higher level, but somehow his argument won out. Most painful gaming experience of my life. I think I'd rather make high level Rolemaster characters by hand, utilizing all supplements than play in a game like that again.

IMO the whole wanting to level to do cool things is perfectly valid. 5th level wizard was all about fly, fireball and lightning bolt, 9th level was teleport. During 3.x if you wanted to make characters w/much of any prestige class, you needed at least 8th or 10th level, since it was anywhere from 5th to 7th level to meet most PC reqs. I've been enjoying 4E a good bit and don't really run into the "I need to level to do cool stuff" unless there is something specific at a particular level. Whether it's the culmination of a feat chain or a specific really awesome ability, there is always something out there to look forward to. I have a lot of fun things I can do w/a low level wizard or rogue in 4E, but I have more variety at higher levels and some of the specific options I have by then are just awesome. My Halfling Daggermaster Rogue just hit 13th and got to replace Dazing Strike w/Stunning Strike. That ability is just straight up better and while I was aware it was coming at 13th, I didn't sit around complaining that I couldn't do that yet. I just put my head down and charged the behir and did stupid amounts of damage. Yes, I built him around charging and it's ridiculous amounts of fun. No one expects the Spanish Inquistion charging halfling ginsu

There are cool uses of abilities and spells at all levels in all editions, but some have more mechanical importance.