D&D 5E Poll: What is a Level 1 PC?

[Hussar]

And how does 4e monster design relate to the relative power level of 1st level PCs?

Well, I'd say everything at the end of the day. If the creatures relative to the PC's are stronger or weaker, that says a lot about what a 1st level PC actually is. In 2e, for example, PC's have fairly weak HP, the baddies do very little damage, do not hit very well and the PC's can generally obliterate any given creature in a single round, even one on one. It's pretty easy to make a fighter that can kill up to a 5 HD creature in a single round (weapon specs longsword, two weapon fighting and shortsword). So, it's difficult to say that a 1st level 2e PC is just some average guy since an average guy cannot do this, ever (no weapon specs for normal people).

So, I'd say that monster design is probably the biggest indication of the relative power of a PC at any given level.

 

[Mattachine]

Thanks for the replies, and for guiding this back to the original discussion.

I really like PCs to have a more-likely-than-not chance of winning a standard 1st level encounter. I remember some early Blue Box and AD&D games where the adventure was over in 1 or 2 encounters. I was a player (and only 10 or 11 years old), and it wasn't fun.

I want 1st level PCs to have a tough time with an entire adventure, perhaps, but not risk getting killed with every die roll.

 

[SgtFreakshow]

I voted Average Joe as that is how I play it out.

However I would like to point out that there are several different kinds of Average Joes in a setting: The local farmhand is an average joe, however the basic footslogging grunt straight out of bootcamp in the local garrison is also an average joe, the grunt is obviously a joe that would beat the crap out of Farmhand Joe in a duel to the death, just as Farmhand Joe probably could sow and harvest a field three times as fast as Grunt Joe.

As what most adventurers are trained in is combat and whatever else stuff is useful for adventuring I assume the abilities of a newly rolled 1st level PC equals that of Grunt Joe or Hedgewizard Apprentice Joe or Straight-Out of Magic School Journeyman Joe or Young Street Urchin who hasn't pulled any major heists yet Joe or Newly trained assassin who's yet to complete his first real guild contract Joe and I would also assume that in a duel to the death all five of these are going to slaughter Farmhand Joe in a spectacular fashion, while they may fight a close tie with original Grunt Joe.

It's worth noting two things here: First is that I exclusively play 4th edition (a heavily modified version, but still 4th edition) and secondly that I don't use divine classes as they are classically used in D&D, in my version divine classes are multiclass only options that grants a PC a new host of faith-inspired ways to whack goblins with a sword and only divine magic through daily powers (miracles!), with the classic divine classes intact I could see some problem implementing my view of 1st level PCs upon clerics with their gaining power directly from a god thing.

Furthermore I haven't touched the abilities that a 1st level PC in 4th edition has, I believe that the combat in the game should be fun from 1st till demigod level in D&D and cutting down the amount of powers a 1st level PC has is bad for that reason, what I've instead done is simply to upgrade the 1st level monsters, so if my players meet a 1st level bandit in a roadside, he has about the same amount of tricks up his sleeve as 1 PC will approximately use in that given encounter.