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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 8337860" data-attributes="member: 2629">Why do we have trucks?  Cars are so much more efficient!Why do people eat steaks?  Hamburger is so much cheaper!Why do we learn to swim? It is so much easier to walk!Why do we have high level play?  Because it is a different experience that allows players to play a different stage of the game.  It can be insanely rewarding when executed well.  The problem: There is insufficient training and tools to support it and a lot of DMs don't understand the nature of the game at that level.  Although this is not a universally true statement, I have seen it be true fairly often: Most groups that are not enjoying high level play are primarily struggling because they are trying to run it like a low level game.When PCs have high magic available to them, it is folly to try to run a lot of the mainstays of low level play.  Teleportation, divination, etc... negate a lot of things that would challenge low level PCs.  It is this ability to bypass these types of challenges that makes the high level PCs feel powerful.  This is a good thing.  It gives the players new experiences with their old PCs.So many DMs just try to run a low level adventure with high level monsters.  They contrive reasons for PC abilities to not work.  "Anti-magic zones", "Every NPC is wearing an amulet of proof against detection and location", "The BBEG wizard cast a spell that makes teleportation impossible."  While a little touch of these techniques can be worked in without much impact, if you're constantly negating your PC abilities, you're fighting the system, not playing the game.  After all, D&D is improve acting at the core, and the first rule of improve acting tells you not to negate what others are doing. In high level play, you often know a lot about the challenges you face.  Warlocks and wizards might scout out an entire dungeon with arcane eye or similar magics before the PCs set foot inside.  The PCs might realize they can skip right past guardians with teleportation magic.  DMs face a catch 22: Spend a lot of prep time on encounters PCs might bypass, or risk having to 'wing it' if PCs do not bypass it.  However, you can write adventures for high level that are fun for the PCs and do not negate the abilities of the PCs.  They generally work on a few fundamental approaches:1.) There are massive forces at work.  The PCs are trying to shift the balance of power.  You want to recover powerful magics by gathering their elements, you want to stop forces in various places from achieving their goals, you want to build defenses that can withstand attacks.  You're not going to dungeon delve as often.  It is about the larger picture - not small goals.  They can come up with dozens of different things they can do to further those massive goals, creating a more open ended game. 2.) PCs have to tap into deeper resources.  They have more spell slots and more HPs, as well as better defenses.  This allows for longer combat scenarios with less resting.  I often see my high level games feature a four hour combat where the PCs are defending something from waves of enemies, or are racing against the clock to do something in less than an hour.  This creates a challenge for PCs - how do they stretch their resources long enough to reach their goals?  Short battles allow the PCs to effectively be at max power all the time - something that results in them using their most powerful abilities and ignoring the less powerful abilities.  3.) The PCs generally need motivations.  They need to care about something outside of themselves - something that needs to be protected.  If a PC is just accumulating wealth and power and killing, then it becomes hard to motivate adventure.  It isn't impossible, but the game is far easier when the PCs are trying to do something bigger than themselves, even when they are so big and powerful.  4.) DMs must adapt to the unexpected.  PCs with this many options will rewrite your story with a good (or horrible) idea.  Go with it.  If you're on a VTT and they go someplace unexpected that is not prepared, then you may need to just draw a map without the features or go with theater of the mind.  If you have a grand storyline in mind tht is to span 5 sessions and they figure out a solution that negates the whole adventure - go with it.  Yes, you'll lose out on a lot of planning, but it is not hard to recycle that later subtly.</blockquote>

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