D&D 5E What, if any, is the most fun level range in 5e? Has my XP mistake cheated players out of particularly fun levels?

[kagayaku]

Just to give a bit of context, the reason I'm asking is that I found out today that I've been handing out way too much XP - level 2 hurtled past super quickly, and after the big battle of last session we'd be done with level 3 after just a couple of sessions if I keep doing XP the way I've been doing it. All of us are fairly new to the game and I just want to check if I've not inadvertently cheated my players out of the best levels the game has to offer for a new player.

If I have I'll see what the table wants to do about it (maybe drop back to the start of level 3 to make it last longer, or just keep going if that would upset people) if not I'll just let them know that the XP rewards will be lower in future and why. I'm guessing this might be a preference thing, and in the DMG it says 1-4 levels are local hero levels, 5-10 heroes of the realm, etc. But maybe the combat feels most punchy and exciting at certain levels, or maybe it scales really well - I've no idea!

Thanks for reading!
Kagayaku


ps. For anyone interested in my mistake: I've been using the Adjusted XP instead of Total XP (which I'm now going to stop doing) and also giving quite a bit of roleplay XP (which I'm going to carry on doing but in smaller amounts to stay in line with combat XP).

 

[Satyrn]

The XP table is set up to zoom past the early levels, so what you've seen isn't weird. Indeed you're actually now hitting what is often considered the sweet spot.

And Levels 3-9 are where most my games are most fun. You're slowing down at a perfect time.

 

[Satyrn]

I forgot to say, my table tends to start at level 3, play just asession or 2 before leveling up to 4 and then slow down from there.

 

[cmad1977]

Running the game I’m kind of having more fun as the characters level. I’ve found 12th level more fun than say 7th.


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[Oofta]

I went to answer this poll and was going to say early levels. Then I realized that wait, I like the middle levels too. Oh wait, but high level when your character vision is really coming in to play ...

To make a long story short I like all levels, probably the lower levels where there's more a sense of "we may all die here" and "let's figure out who my character really is" a smidge more but not enough to make a difference. Later levels it feels like I'm putting on a comfortable pair of old shoes. I know what I'm doing, how to work as a team (or not) so lets go out and take out the BBEG.

A lot of it depends on campaign and DM of course.

 

[Fanaelialae]

For me, levels 5 thru around 12 are the best. The lower and higher levels do have their respective charms, but that's the sweet spot where you feel capable but reasonably challenged.

I also prefer to start at 3rd level. Levels 1 and 2 can be interesting, but more from a survival approach. I find that experienced players often find these levels to be a little boring (lack of options) which is why they were designed to fly by.

 

[kagayaku]

Ah awesome, thanks for all the replies! It sounds like we really are slowing down at just the right moment, so I guess we lucked out that I found out now rather than in another 3 levels time :'D

I think the survival and "we may all die here" part is a little of what I'm worried I'm taking from the players, but we were talking about making it harder to miss an unconscious target so the game may get a little deadlier anyway. An orc failed to land a hit on one of my player's characters as he lay bleeding out on the battlefield last game and it felt a little silly. The player felt half relieved and half cheated I think. Though in hindsight it probably would've made more sense for the orc just to drag him away anyway... more real, more interesting, and slightly less deadly.

 

[Satyrn]

An orc failed to land a hit on one of my player's characters as he lay bleeding out on the battlefield last game and it felt a little silly. The player felt half relieved and half cheated I think. Though in hindsight it probably would've made more sense for the orc just to drag him away anyway... more real, more interesting, and slightly less deadly.

There's an infinite number of ways to handle that. I think your player probably got a fun, lucky break, and all your players may be expecting a terrifying time the next time they drop because that attack might hit them next time! And it'll be more interesting for them, too, because now they know they are in mortal danger when they drop (some of us DMs are real softies who tend to avoid attacking downed players) so if they are killed off this way, they saw it coming!

And definitely keep in mind the option for the monsters to drag the fallen character away. The more different ways you do things the more fun the game ought to be for all of you.

 

[kagayaku]

Yeah, I've got to admit I do really want to hold off most times a player is down and I will always look for a more appropriate target than the downed player first... But sometimes it just seems right that the NPC in question would attack the downed player over doing something else... and then I have no choice! (so don't hate the DM, ok? :'D)

 

[Yaarel]

A useful survey!

The funnest levels in 5e are about 6-9. Heh, same as it ever was.

This survey reinforces my resolve to split the tiers by every 4 levels.



TIERS

L00: Novice (Jack, Commoner, Laborer) − recognizable to family and friends
L01-04: Student (Apprentice, Page) − recognizable to local community (eg, school)
L05-08: Professional (Journeyer, Squire, Adventurer) − recognizable to town
L09-12: Master (Master, Knight) − recognizable to region
L13-16: Leader (Grandmaster, Lord, Arch) − recognizable to nation
L17-20: Legend − recognizable to plane
L21: Epic − recognizable to multiverse



The levels of these tiers correspond exactly to the increases in the proficiency bonus. So a ‘Master’ is mechanically better than an ‘Professional’.

These tiers mostly refer to fighting styles, where some fight with swords and others fight with spells.

In the narrative, in natural language, these tiers can help suggest the general level of an encounter. But the DM can and should surprise players once in a while, such as a ranking military officer incognito, or so on.