Starting above 1st level - player reaction?

[caudor]

I often start my players off at higher levels (anywhere from 3rd to 12th). I like to make sure they create some kind of history for their characters first so that they know where they come from, what types of things they've accomplished, etc. It usually works out well. As long as the players create enough history for their character, they become as attached to them as they would to any other. I also like creating situations where the character's history is revealed to both the player and the group. Sort of how you'll have an old friend, previously unmentioned, pop into a running TV series. With higher level characters, this is easy to do since there is so much unspoken history.

As for equipment, I've tried several different ways in the past, depending upon the campaign. Sometimes I just let 'em at the DMG. Other times I limit them to 50% of their funds on a single item. Occasionally, I'll roll randomly and ignore items that do not make sense for the character. I do this until their alloted funds are spent. Sometimes I'll just give them some magic items that I feel are appropriate to their characters and the campaign. Somtimes, if the situation warrants it, they'll have nothing (like a player who wanted to play a recently freed slave).

It all depends on the campaign.

 

[Vonlok The Bold]

The longest running campaign I ever played in used to start everyone off at 1st level after deaths, new characters etc. Then at one point our DM announced that we weren't 1st level players anymore. Then everyone from that moment started their characters off at 3rd or 4th level. I can't remember exactly. It was a long time ago.

If it is a new situation, either campaign, DM, or Players I would want to start off at 1st and enjoy the journey ahead.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I like to start at 3rd level. This allows use of LA and such.

I don't think it cheats them out of anything or takes them away. The way I look at it, the campaign will last the same amount of time. Whether or not they start at 1st and work their way up to 10th or start at 5th and work their way up to 15th, they'll have the same time and energy invested. In fact, the higher they start the survivable the characters and the more the player will be able to invest in the character.

 

[Crothian]

I, too, don't like starting at higher levels. Starting higher then say 3 can feel odd and the players have abilities they are not used to. So, for games I want higher level characters for I just advance them faster, Even as fast as a level a session lets players grow and experiecne their characters. Then once they are the level you want them to be start the mod.

 

[IronWolf]

I am another one that doesn't like to start at high levels. I like to get the feel for my character from the lower level experiences. I see those as some of the formative times for my characters. Jumping in at a higher level causes me to have a harder time getting attached to the character in the long run.

 

[Gilwen]

I generally like to start in the range of 1 - 6th level as a player. I have started off at 11 and higher but it took me longer to develop a feel for how I wanted to play the character even though I had an extensive back story.

Gil

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I prefer to start at higher levels because I generally like characters who gained their initial experience through some means other than adventuring, or whose background only makes sense if they join the party at a higher level.

I like to play grizzled veterans who have to take up their blades one last time, big-fish-in-a-small-pond heroes who have to face a wider world where their rep is meaningless, cryptic mentor characters, and shadowy double agents with past (and perhaps present) associations with powerful villains.

Those characters don't work (or don't feel right) coming in at 1st level, or even 3rd.

 

[GlassJaw]

I like starting players off at level 2, although I might try 3rd next time. As a DM, I hate making adventures for 1st level characters. It's so easy to kill everyone off. Just a lucky die roll and a PC is dead. That one extra level gives the characters a lot more survivability.

 

[Kelleris]

I start everyone off at 6th level, as a rule. In fact, IMC that's pretty much the level where you begin to be taken seriously as an adventurer anyway. Any lower than that and I start to feel limited in my character concepts. Starting at 1st level makes me feel like a dirt farmer who just picked up a sword or a spellbook. Bleh.

Heh, wandered from my campaign to myself there, eh? Well, I also like Dming in the mid-level range more than any other, so that's a secondary reason. Playing 6th through 13th or so feels like a good campaign to me, though I would not be averse to going higher with a good DM.

 

[Kaji]

For a serious long-term campaign, I would start at first. I also tend to speed through the first two levels, until the characters are around third or so. We have done higher level builds for one-shots or short campiagns we want to try out, and that works ok, but we all build suoer characters that way and it's just...different. I don't care for it. I would suggest using story based adventures as much as possible at low levels, getting to know npcs, and granting xp's for clever play and good role-playing rather than killing kobolds. Makes it more fun for everyone.