Thinking of D&D adventure in the general abstract

[jmucchiello]

We know from WotC's pre-3.0 market research that most people start their PCs at 1st level. And that most campaigns only last until the mid levels. Ergo, for most players, most of their time is spent at the low- to mid-levels.

Odd, we always started campaigns at 5th level to get over the hump of someone's PC dying every 3 hours. Low level pre-3.0 characters were not more fragile than their 3.x counterparts, but levels 1-4 took a lot longer pre-3.0 than post 3.0. Killing an Orc was worth 15 xp in 2e, potentially divided among everybody. Getting 2,000 xp to get to second level fighter took a lot of time.

Thus, I always think about the fun levels in the 8-12 range. But as for the question, I don't usually think about adventures in the abstract. No, in fact, even when reading other adventures, I think about how I can tune it to whatever the current level of the group is.

 

[Abe.ebA]

Y'know, I generally balk at starting a campaign at mid-to-high levels (eg: 10th) because everyone starts with so many options and should, by that point, have so much character background. But I've played in several campaigns and heard of a fair number more where the PCs start out as powerful movers who suddenly, for one reason or another, lose their might and drop down to 1st-3rd level. Now I'm all tempted to try a game going the opposite way: random peasants or 1st level adventurers suddenly gain 10th level powers and abilities... That could be mighty interesting.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

What ever level the PCs are at in the game I'm running or what ever level I'm at in the game I'm playing in.

Default to the former if they disagree. I'm always thinking about how to make my current game better.

I answered high levels.

 

[arwink]

I tend to think in the mid-levels (about 6th through 12th), since that's the point the PC's start to shape up as heroes but still have the potential to be threatened by a pack of orcs.

 

[genshou]

You forgot the other option. I think of D&D as spanning levels 1-20. I couldn't vote for any one.

 

[Felix]

It's level 3 for me.

Adventuring is still dangerous, but you've gotten over a hump in terms of being fragile. You've just started tasting real loot in magic items. Your character theme starts to pull together and you begin to distinguish yourself from other characters of the same class.

Level 3 is where it's at.

 

[Herobizkit]

Back in my 2nd ed. days, level 7 was the "sweet spot" for the most enjoyable adventures; you weren't a bum, your magic items and spells were ample but not plentiful, and you could kick a fair bit of a$$ and still be challenged by "iconic" monsters (giants, dragons, that damn beholder...)

In 3e, I don't see a "sweet spot" any more. The game is now so chock full of math and tactics, worries about monsters being balanced for the PC's, having the correct amount of treasure divvied out, and being certain to pre-plan your character to level 5-7 so you can get the Prestige class you want... it's really like having to plan your whole game ahead of time before you play it.

My most uber characters have gone through the gauntlet of The Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil and are currently level 18. That's pretty high in my book. In all my history of playing D&D, the only character I've ever had higher was my very first Human Wizard 20 who dual-classed into Cleric and got to 15th before I was done with her.

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I find that you just can't play 3.x fast 'n loose like you could in 2nd edition, and that's why I haven't found thr sweet spot yet. *shrug*

 

[shilsen]

Like Umbran and genshou, when I think about the game I tend to think all the way across the scale from 1-20.

I think that's actually a little necessary in D&D, since there are very significant changes in gameplay as characters gain levels (compare a campaign arc for PCs of lvls 1-6 to another for lvls 7-13 or to lvls 14-20). I'm guessing that one factor in some of the complaining one hears about D&D is that many people do actually have a sweet spot that they prefer and tend to think of when conceptualizing the game, and the gameplay that goes with that sweet spot changes substantially with enough of a change in levels.

 

[el-remmen]

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I find that you just can't play 3.x fast 'n loose like you could in 2nd edition,

It's just you.

 

[EyeontheMountain]

For me, it is about 5th to 12th level.

At low levels, 1-3 it is hard to be heroic when a kobold makes you wet yoruself.

By 4th to 6th, you can do some multiclassing, cast a few spells, and have a cool feat/ability or two. It is nice making skill checks occcasionally also.

But after 7th, you start getiting osme bredth and a few levels in a prestige class. More goodies, and more surivability. At this level you can start to ignore lesser opponents like orcs, like a true hero. Now your barbarian can charge twenty orcs and the rest of the party starts digging twenty graves.

But after that the chees starts to come in. You can do all kinds of obscene things ,and cheesy combos start to come into ther own.