D&D General Scope of tiers and published adventures

Alby87

Adventurer
Hi! Recentely I was thinking about the three adventures I'm/I have mastered, their scope and their levels. And I'm thinking: are the tier scope respected in them? You know, 1-4 being local hero, 5-10 kingdom hero, 11-16 world hero, 17-20 planar hero.

So, in Curse of Strahd all your adventures are on a demiplane, but pratically you deal with a foe that affects a valley. In Tales of Yawning Portal, you always go in dungeons, even when Realms and Worlds are not in danger. Lost Mines and Dragonspire peak are things that affect a somewhat large area for third level (when the heroes start going outside Phandelver).

Played adventure, I remeber that Tomb of Annihilation and Icewind Dale have a somewhat world danger, but you still play them in tier 2. I don't mean they are mechanically unbalaced, but their scope is somewhat... wrong? Do you think this is valid also for other adventure (I don't read adventures because, you know, call for a player by friends can arrive anymoment :)
 

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I find those tiers very loose. A lot of people think level 1-2 to be starter levels and play starts at level 3. I have played through the Princes of the Apocalypse campaign and finished around level 15 being more kingdom heroes, and still most the land area was small towns and barren scrublands.
 

Hi! Recentely I was thinking about the three adventures I'm/I have mastered, their scope and their levels. And I'm thinking: are the tier scope respected in them? You know, 1-4 being local hero, 5-10 kingdom hero, 11-16 world hero, 17-20 planar hero.

So, in Curse of Strahd all your adventures are on a demiplane, but pratically you deal with a foe that affects a valley. In Tales of Yawning Portal, you always go in dungeons, even when Realms and Worlds are not in danger. Lost Mines and Dragonspire peak are things that affect a somewhat large area for third level (when the heroes start going outside Phandelver).

Played adventure, I remeber that Tomb of Annihilation and Icewind Dale have a somewhat world danger, but you still play them in tier 2. I don't mean they are mechanically unbalaced, but their scope is somewhat... wrong? Do you think this is valid also for other adventure (I don't read adventures because, you know, call for a player by friends can arrive anymoment :)
I think that tier philosophy is one useful lens through which the scope of adventures can be evaluated, but it is far from the only one.

A key thing missing is adventures involving very personal stakes, such as creation of a new spell, protection of a family member, discovery of one's missing past, etc. While those can be attached to town/kingdom/world/cosmos scales of scope, they more often function completely independently of that tier lens.
 

I think that tier philosophy is one useful lens through which the scope of adventures can be evaluated, but it is far from the only one.

A key thing missing is adventures involving very personal stakes, such as creation of a new spell, protection of a family member, discovery of one's missing past, etc. While those can be attached to town/kingdom/world/cosmos scales of scope, they more often function completely independently of that tier lens.
In DnD's defense, it's almost always been about Heroic Fantasy. Quests. Not so much about personal stakes , but the GM can insert a PC's personal motivations into many adventures.

I'm pretty sure LotFP, DCC and other systems have adventures that focus more on personal drama, OotB.
 

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