D&D General What does "This adventure is for mid-level adventurers" mean to you?

[DEFCON 1]

+3 and +4 proficiency bonus.

+2 is low-level and +5 / +6 is high level.

 

[J-H]

woah. i don't think i've heard of anyone like this before. why do you prefer 13+?

also, i'd say mid level is levels 7 to 12, personally (that's the 4th to 6th level spell range).

Higher power level and more options. My Baldur's Gate II campaign is up to 11th level (after 55 sessions and close to 2 years) and they are starting to have the power level to successfully pull off fun crazy stunts and really start to see payoff with "we are substantially more powerful than we used to be."

High level is also where you get to use the good magic items and have more loot variety and customization. You won't usually see a Vorpal sword or a fully completed Hammer of Thunderbolts in an 8th level campaign, but in one going to 20 they are not particularly disruptive.

My big campaign previous to that ended at 20+ with a couple of epic boons each. The 20th level vengeance paladin with Resilient: Con put up Aura of Power (the one that gives Evasion vs spells) and face-tanked a deific avatar for the entire final battle. The Warlock used a 1/week item to cast Wish to insta-cast Antipathy on the deific avatar, which caused almost his entire army to break and run for at least a little while.

That's stuff you can't do at low levels.
That said, it was a complicated battle and I'm planning to keep my statblocks simpler this time around. No more battles with three different kinds of supporting spellcasters!

 

[ezo]

Generally around 6 to 10, but depending on edition you could +/-1 at both ends.

For 5E (what I am currently playing) teri 2 is mid-level, with a break down of:

Low: 1-4
Mid: 5-10
High: 11-17
Stupid: 18+

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

Low level = 1-2
Mid level = 3-7
High Level = 8+

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

It means "quintessential D&D"; you have enough resources that the DM can throw lots of problems at you but not so many resources that every problem is assumed to be solved in favor of the players. In 5e, I'd say 5-12.

Once you get to around level 13, the difficult of the game stops becoming contingent on the imagination of the DM and becomes contingent of the imagination of whichever players are playing full-casters. "Mid-level" D&D represents a point where the scales are balanced the most closely, the DM has maybe a modicum more power than the players but it's razor-thin (the game does not function at all in a perfect balance between dm and players).

 

[ezo]

I am just realizing that having both spell and character progression use the term "Level" is actually very confusing at times.

Don't forget in AD&D it was also Dungeon Level and Monster Level and I think a few other "Levels"... it was a bit annoying then.

 

[billd91]

I agree that it's about tier 2 - give or take a level. I've felt that since 1e, pretty much.

 

[aco175]

It seems to be a floating answer depending on who is telling it, much like asking how much money you need to be middle-class? I seem to see answers between level 4 and 14.

 

[rhythmsoundmotion]

Halflings, Dwarves, Gnomes, etc. Not high level adventurers like elves, orcs, humans etc. champion adventurers would be half giants etc.

 

[Stormonu]

Should have made this a poll, with the ability to select multiple levels

For me, mid-level would be about 3-5.