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Message: <blockquote data-quote="PapersAndPaychecks" data-source="post: 3262897" data-attributes="member: 28854">And 9th level druids, and you could subtract a level or two if your character was a dwarf, and then you've got to rebalance for the size of the party (7-9 players was suggested as optimal for D1-3, but there's obviously a huge difference between 7 players and 9!) and its number of henchmen and whether the group's got any exceptionally useful magic items and so on and so on ad infinitum ad nauseam.It's a case of "engage brain while deciding your group's ready for this."  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />S1's definitely for 14th level clerics and wizards, and works well with higher.  See the pregens listing below.Well, providing all the demi-humans are thieves or multiclassed, yes.No they weren't.  WG6 is for 14-19.  H1 is for 13-17.  H2 is for 16-18.  H3 is 17-20.  H4 is 18-100.  And there were more than a few others in the 10-14 range (CB1-2, RS1, and I think those execrably bad Lankhmar conversions were too.)  A fair few for the 9-12s as well (EX1-2, WG5 etc.)You're talking as if the S-module series was the high-level one, and that's unwarranted.  The high-level ones were called "H".  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />No they weren't.  You can tell the tournament modules because, like A1-4 or C1-2 or others of their ilk, they have "Tournament" written on the front and a tournament scoring system.It's true that the original characters to play the adventures were included in G1, and in slightly different form, in later printings of D1-2.  It's also true that S1 included a wide variety of sample characters.  Those were intended to give alternative options to the group, rather than necessarily to say that they were characters that SHOULD be used; and they served as a good benchmark against which to evaluate the actual party.In fact, I think it's fair to say that those 1978-1979 modules were remarkably non-prescriptive about how the group should approach them (own characters, pregens, whatever).Let me see now...G1 pregens:  Human Mage 12, Human Thief 13, Human Cleric 12, Human Fighter 14, High Elf Fighter/Mage 5/8, Human Cleric 9, Dwarf Fighter 9, Human Mage 9, Half-Elf Ranger 9.3 demihumans out of 9 characters (about the right range).  Our dwarf fighter is right on the level cap.  Our elf's got a little scope to advance but his fighter abilities are sadly depleted... our half-elf ranger is on the level cap.  And the humans are generally a fair bit higher than the demi-humans.S1 pregens:  Human Mage 14, Human Cleric 14, Human Paladin 12, Human Ranger 13, Elf Fighter/Mage 5/11, Dwarf Fighter 9, Halfling Thief 11, Dwarf Fighter/Thief 7/8, Human Cleric 9, Half-Elf Cleric/Fighter/Mage 5/7/6...Seeing a pattern here?I'm afraid I think you're wrong about this too.The bits of 1e that most people seem to remember best are the S1/GDQ group.  They were certainly the best-selling D&D modules ever produced, with some of them edging up towards 100,000 sold.  How do you explain their undoubted success and popularity in terms of a system that should have broken several levels earlier?Absolutely.  Couldn't agree with you more about this.  If you want "balance" or "equity", then 1e isn't the game for you.</blockquote>

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