NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 9107372" data-attributes="member: 6877472">I mean, it's not that there's a wrong way to play D&D, it just comes down to which way is best for you and your group.  But the thing that always bothered me about people who never really want D&D to stretch into the realm of high fantasy (even though it's always kind of been there, really), is if you work backwards.Ok so what is level 20?  If you say you want level 20 to be, say, d'Artagnan, a peak level human and debatably the best swordsman in France, what is level 15?  Level 10?  Level 5?  Level 1?I mean, depending on the era, the maximum level in D&D has been 20, 30, 36, 50, or 100 (I can't be the only one who remembers the finale of Bloodstone)!It's like saying "well, I think a level should only be about a 0.05% improvement, so by level 20, you'll be as strong as two 1st level guys".  Don't get me wrong, higher level D&D can absolutely break down if you keep playing the same way; I've been in a campaign for like 35 years now and my character has advanced to the point that I don't even use a character sheet anymore; most anything I want to do, I succeed at.The issues are more that I can only do so many things at once, and they take time.  So do I want to stop the evil God who is killing all potential Paladins before they are even born?  Marshal forces to prevent an entire world from being overrun by a vast evil army?  Craft an artifact to keep a promise to a powerful immortal?  Train my apprentice so that they can eventually take on my duties as the Guardian of Magic Itself?  Find my wayward daughter who ran off to have an adventure and make sure nothing happens to her?Decisions, decisions.If 5e has any problem, really, it's that the game no longer presents you with goals anymore.Like, look at AD&D (1 and 2).  Early on, you're trying to make a name for yourself, and maybe earn a fortune with some glory.  Each success pushes you a bit farther, as what you earn is always necessary for the next step.Treasure buys better armor, horses, wagons, supplies, eventually going towards things like building your own keep or guild, and the upkeep on your retinue.The name and glory you earn for yourself leads to powerful NPC's recruiting you, which leads to even more dramatic adventures.But these days, if you go by the treasure guidelines, even if you pay for all the stuff needed to go on an adventure, you can have thousands of gp laying around because we no longer have base-building, retinue gathering, or domain building as a default part of the game.Spellcasters are the only ones who can really use money, and they can often leverage their magic into ways to earn vast wealth unless the DM is really careful about their world building.Magic loot is no longer a guarantee, and even if you find it, there's a sharp limit on how many items you can realistically make use of anyways.Even leveling can lead to diminishing returns, as some classes really don't have a lot to look forward to for several levels at a time.  The things necessary to keep a D&D game interesting for a high level game almost all have to come from the DM, it's not built into the system, and the DMG doesn't provide nearly enough guidance.I'll parrot something that was said by others upthread; 5e really seems built assuming you're already a veteran DM and know how to do this stuff.  If you're not, the things you'll need to learn, you won't learn from WotC.</blockquote>

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