so how often do you go above 10th level?
- Thread starter Gundark
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Sunseeker
Guest
About every other game. Boils down to, long campaign ending with high-level play followed by a short game with low(1-3) or medium-low(3-6) play.
Often enough that I would never want D&D to cap out at 10th level.
Now mind you, this was one thing I really enjoyed about 4e. Every 10 levels had it's own specific "zone" of play. I like the idea of tiered play for exactly this reason.
Players in the level 1-10 range are expected to do X, while players in the 11-20 range are expected to Y, with less focus on X, or do X in a much grander scale(Y being like creating kingdoms, X being traditional adventuring). And then 21-30 being more Y, or a form of X that is so different from X that it's Z.
I really don't want to see D&D reduced to 10 levels.
Often enough that I would never want D&D to cap out at 10th level.
Now mind you, this was one thing I really enjoyed about 4e. Every 10 levels had it's own specific "zone" of play. I like the idea of tiered play for exactly this reason.
Players in the level 1-10 range are expected to do X, while players in the 11-20 range are expected to Y, with less focus on X, or do X in a much grander scale(Y being like creating kingdoms, X being traditional adventuring). And then 21-30 being more Y, or a form of X that is so different from X that it's Z.
I really don't want to see D&D reduced to 10 levels.
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
"Relevant" only in that it shows how you'll inevitably reap what you sow.RELEVANT.
I'm sure a place like ENWorld is filled to the brim with exceptions to that rule, but I'm willing to bet that's one of the ways in which a community like this lies at one end of the bell curve.
If you tell your players going in "This is set up to be a 1-year campaign" then you'll most likely get a 1-year campaign out of it, and that's all; and then have to start over. But if you tell them going in "This campaign is set up to last as long as people are willing to keep playing in it" then you've left it open-ended - it might last a year, or two, or ten...
Also: if you set up the campaign in full knowledge that the players who start it might not be at all the same as the players who end it many years down the road, and allow for that turnover, you're set. If, however, you take the view that one player leaving the game is enough to sink it*, you're hosed.
* - exception of course is when you only have two players to start with
Lan-"someone always knows someone who's looking to get into a game"-efan
I've passed 10th level a couple of times but almost never past 12th or so. I usually start planning how to end a campaign about halfway through 7th level and try to wrap it up around 9th-10th.
Higher level play takes too much of a time commitment to prepare for and I dont really enjoy the big, over the top stories of high levels all that much.
Higher level play takes too much of a time commitment to prepare for and I dont really enjoy the big, over the top stories of high levels all that much.
Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
Last night ended the 3.5 campaign I run, they were 15th (of 20). It ran 7 years. The campaign I ran before that started in 2000 when the 3.0 core books had not yet all been released, and ended end of 2005. It went to 16th (of 20). The several year Eberron game I was in ran to 12th of 30. (It had a closing one session at 21st, but that doesn't count.) The over 2 year 4e homebrew game I'm in we just hit 10th. The 4e dark sun game that's close to 2 years hit 8th, and while it sounds the DM is plannign for the long haul, one of the players hates paragon and beyond so I don't really expect it to get too much farther.
So, we seem to be hitting 10th in with some regularity in games that last over 2 years. In all of them the majority of the time spent in the campaigns have been under 10th though.
EDIT: Prior 3.x games I was in usually reached past 10th, btu that's because most of the group liked high level play. AD&D games usually went frrom 1st to OMG, hitting high teens or even over 20. But that was back in college time when we'd play once a week or play a whole weekend day often. That's a whole different time investment.
So, we seem to be hitting 10th in with some regularity in games that last over 2 years. In all of them the majority of the time spent in the campaigns have been under 10th though.
EDIT: Prior 3.x games I was in usually reached past 10th, btu that's because most of the group liked high level play. AD&D games usually went frrom 1st to OMG, hitting high teens or even over 20. But that was back in college time when we'd play once a week or play a whole weekend day often. That's a whole different time investment.
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Argyle King
Legend
Quite often...
I think all but two of the 4th Edition campaigns I've been a player in have gone into at least mid-paragon. Several went from 1 to 30. Most of the ones I've GMed have gone into mid-paragon.
During my 3rd Edition days, I played in a lot of campaigns which went to the high teens or to level 20. I was also in a few which went into epic levels; I think the furthest I went with a character was somewhere between 30 and 40. As a GM, the campaigns went until it made sense for the story to end and/or until there was no longer interest in the game. Typically, I liked to start my games around 3rd or 4th level and just let them run until whenever.
I think all but two of the 4th Edition campaigns I've been a player in have gone into at least mid-paragon. Several went from 1 to 30. Most of the ones I've GMed have gone into mid-paragon.
During my 3rd Edition days, I played in a lot of campaigns which went to the high teens or to level 20. I was also in a few which went into epic levels; I think the furthest I went with a character was somewhere between 30 and 40. As a GM, the campaigns went until it made sense for the story to end and/or until there was no longer interest in the game. Typically, I liked to start my games around 3rd or 4th level and just let them run until whenever.
Quickleaf
Legend
Why, I'm above 10th level right now! 
Well not me, my players... 
I ran a Planescape game which got to around 10, But for many years that was the highest I ever played. The quasi-continuation of my 4e campaign started at 11th level, with one of the original PCs carrying over and everyone else either bringing entirely new PCs or PCs they'd played before in other games. So far I like the challenges that I can throw at the PCs, but it's all pretty fresh.
Well not me, my players... I ran a Planescape game which got to around 10, But for many years that was the highest I ever played. The quasi-continuation of my 4e campaign started at 11th level, with one of the original PCs carrying over and everyone else either bringing entirely new PCs or PCs they'd played before in other games. So far I like the challenges that I can throw at the PCs, but it's all pretty fresh.
Greenfield
Adventurer
Of all the campaigns I've played in within the last couple of decades, only one was presumed to cap out below 10th level. The DM never said that, but whenever anyone got to 9th he'd kill the character to knock them back down that level.
Now D&D3.* seems like it wasn't well tested above 10th level, which may be why people shy away from that range, but I've found it to be navigable territory with the right people.
Power hungry types can and will push it over the edge, and the overly timid will end up dragging it down. But if your focus is role playing, as in exploring the theatrical aspects of play, there's no particular reason to expect any arbitrary level cap on a campaign.
Now D&D3.* seems like it wasn't well tested above 10th level, which may be why people shy away from that range, but I've found it to be navigable territory with the right people.
Power hungry types can and will push it over the edge, and the overly timid will end up dragging it down. But if your focus is role playing, as in exploring the theatrical aspects of play, there's no particular reason to expect any arbitrary level cap on a campaign.
