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<blockquote data-quote="EvilPheemy" data-source="post: 3257028" data-attributes="member: 3700">As it has been mentioned, 1st ed AD&amp;D is based off the campaigns of the writers, mainly Arenson and Gygax.&nbsp; In those games, 10th level was nearly epic in and of itself.&nbsp; 15th level was almost unreachable.&nbsp; Look at those early modules.&nbsp; &quot;High Level&quot; modules like Tomb of Horrors and Queen of the Demonweb Pits was reccomended for parties of 10th to 14th level.&nbsp;&nbsp; (I think in his first appearance in print, Mordenkainen was listed as a 14th level wizard, please correct me if I'm wrong.)I have no rationale as to why the 1st ed books put charts for advancement past 15th level.&nbsp; I can only think that the writers were acknowledging that sooner or later their audience would be playing games where their characters were reaching levels of 25+.In an environment where characters were expected to retire at around level 14, the level restrictions weren't so harsh.&nbsp; An elf limited to 11th level magic-user would most likely be multiclassed as a fighter, thus said elf would be a F/M-U of 7/11 level adventuring with the 14th level human.Except for theives.&nbsp; But in 1st ed (pre Unearthed Arcana era) most theiving abilities were at their maximum effectiveness at 9th level.What always broke my suspension of disbelief in those days was the contradiction of how races who apparantly gifted humanity with the secrets of magic and warfare (Elves and Dwarves, respectively) were prevented from realizing the true potential of those secrets.&nbsp; Even the wizest and most proficient Elven Magic-User couldn't cast Permenancy.&nbsp; How in the Hells did all those magical Elven goodies ever get made?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="EvilPheemy, post: 3257028, member: 3700"] As it has been mentioned, 1st ed AD&D is based off the campaigns of the writers, mainly Arenson and Gygax. In those games, 10th level was nearly epic in and of itself. 15th level was almost unreachable. Look at those early modules. "High Level" modules like Tomb of Horrors and Queen of the Demonweb Pits was reccomended for parties of 10th to 14th level. (I think in his first appearance in print, Mordenkainen was listed as a 14th level wizard, please correct me if I'm wrong.) I have no rationale as to why the 1st ed books put charts for advancement past 15th level. I can only think that the writers were acknowledging that sooner or later their audience would be playing games where their characters were reaching levels of 25+. In an environment where characters were expected to retire at around level 14, the level restrictions weren't so harsh. An elf limited to 11th level magic-user would most likely be multiclassed as a fighter, thus said elf would be a F/M-U of 7/11 level adventuring with the 14th level human. Except for theives. But in 1st ed (pre Unearthed Arcana era) most theiving abilities were at their maximum effectiveness at 9th level. What always broke my suspension of disbelief in those days was the contradiction of how races who apparantly gifted humanity with the secrets of magic and warfare (Elves and Dwarves, respectively) were prevented from realizing the true potential of those secrets. Even the wizest and most proficient Elven Magic-User couldn't cast Permenancy. How in the Hells did all those magical Elven goodies ever get made? [/QUOTE]

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