[Closed] D&D 5e high-level play

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ClosedDungeons & Dragons 5thPublic1 / daykadeton


Feb 23, 2022 9:38 am
I've played and DM'd a fair bit of D&D 5e over the past few years, but I can't recall a game that went above level 10. Most don't even get near that. The nature of PbP isn't really suited to normal advancement from low to high levels. So...

Concept: You are a former party of adventurers, and you made it. You overcame all the challenges before you, perfected your skills, and now you're at the absolute pinnacle of your powers. You have achieved universal recognition as legendary heroes and undisputed masters of your craft. You're level 20.

But, as always, a new threat has emerged, more perilous than anything you have faced before. The fate of the world is once again in your hands.

Features: This game would aim to feature both extremely high-level combat (so we can experiment with all the bonkers stuff that you mostly don't get to experience in normal gameplay) and some of the social responsibilities of being a fantasy world's equivalent of a superhero.

Players: I'd like to aim for four players initially, and we'll see how it goes from there.

Characters: Personally I'd lean towards single-classed heroes, since I'm most interested in seeing those capstone abilities in action. But if you want to run some multi-classed abomination, make your case for why it would be cool!

Let me know if you're interested, what type of character you'd like to play, and most importantly why you're keen to see that character in action. This isn't a first-come-first-served thing, I'll pick the people I think will create a good group dynamic, so take your time - this will be open for at least a week.

Bear in mind that your character will have significant worldly power beyond their class abilities - a Cleric might be the demagogue of an entire church, a Paladin might be the head of a knightly order, a Fighter could be a great warlord or king, and so on. You've got nearly unlimited resources and political clout, so think about what you would have achieved with that.

Thanks for your interest!
Last edited March 2, 2022 10:03 am
Feb 23, 2022 10:21 am
I just finished my second vignettet where I had a group of 15th level characters go up against the legendary creature: A dragon. Combat was a bit of a mess with reactions, legendary actions between players, and a slew of powers, abilities and bonuses players applied to eachother (looking at you bards and paladins). It was a fun mess, but still a mess.
Feb 23, 2022 10:44 am
kadeton, we just finished a game here on gamersplane with similar concept and lvl 15 characters. It was a mess, but it was still a lot of fun, probably because DM did a lot of hard work to manage that mess.

Do You have any good idea of how to manage PBP encounter where:

1. All PC have a variety of things that could be triggered on reaction (thus altering DMs already posted monster turn)
2. PCs have an enormous amount of passive abilities, auras or ongoing effects: I can't believe a DM could run an encounter without making a mistake of disregarding at least one feature. So when a player will point out mistake you will be altering your turn again

I am very much interested if you have a good idea to prevent above problems or a solution to tackle them.
[ +- ] For example
Feb 23, 2022 11:06 am
rune and Grey, is it possible that you were in the same game? 😄
Feb 23, 2022 11:11 am
Yes, it is the same game we are talking about (I just didn't see runekyndig post yet when posting mine)
Feb 23, 2022 12:20 pm
GreyWord says:
Do You have any good idea of how to manage PBP encounter where:

1. All PC have a variety of things that could be triggered on reaction (thus altering DMs already posted monster turn)
2. PCs have an enormous amount of passive abilities, auras or ongoing effects: I can't believe a DM could run an encounter without making a mistake of disregarding at least one feature. So when a player will point out mistake you will be altering your turn again
Yeah, it's a great question. Reactions and other out-of-turn stuff, and retroactive corrections, are very tricky to handle. At the moment, I don't have a clear idea of just how difficult those concerns are to manage at high levels, though I can imagine.

Removing or modifying reaction-based abilities would certainly simplify things, though it would also be very limiting as there's a ton of them in the game. It also wouldn't prevent the problem of forgetting stuff and having to correct.

One idea I wouldn't mind trying out is posting everything OOC first, going back and forth with quick reactions and corrections, working out a full summary of everything that happens during a turn, and only then doing the in-world and in-character narration. It sounds cumbersome, it would probably require fairly active and responsive players, and you'd have to set firm deadlines for responses to come in, but I think it might save a lot of headaches.

How quickly were you able to resolve turns in your game? Did there end up being a lot of retconning?
Last edited February 23, 2022 12:36 pm
Feb 23, 2022 1:20 pm
The one bit I've had success with in the past is players give conditions on their post if they will use their reactions. Like an ooc statement like "if someone attack Bob the Wizard, i'll use my sentinel reaction". It takes a bit of preplanning by the player and effort by the DM to not use that knowledge as input to the enemy's decision making (like they wouldnt know they have sentinel at the outset, yada yada). Is it as good as full "at the table" fluidity? Nah. But it is definitely a far cry better than outright removing a major piece of action economy and player utility.

And yes, in runes high level vignette we definitely had some retconning as reactions were given and such. One thing i think we ended up with was DM ended up just posting the numerical outcome of the enemy actions and if players had mitigations or reactions that reduced things on themselves, it was up to us to apply them and note it in our response.

Ultimately fluid communication and flexibility is key.
Feb 23, 2022 1:26 pm
How long do you expect the game to last?
Feb 23, 2022 1:57 pm
High level play would be fun for a change of things. I would like it. I might apply for it later today.
Last edited February 23, 2022 1:58 pm
Feb 23, 2022 2:13 pm
KoldikSteelskin says:
How long do you expect the game to last?
A good few months, at least. There's always the problem of players having to drop out due to Real Life, as well as the risk that it will get boring without the prospect of levelling up (though I can think of a few other ways to give a sense of advancement). But honestly, I'm happy to keep it going for as long as everyone wants to keep playing.

KoldikSteelskin

KoldikSteelskin

Feb 23, 2022 3:20 pm
KoldikSteelskin
Avaris Palmer Gem Dragonborn Monk Way of The Open Hand

Current Occupation: Endless Meditation
Accomplishments: Convinced a Dragon To Remain Docile (quivering palm)
Residence: Church of the Dragon God
Age: Possibly 140 years old
Quirk: Perfectionist
Highest Stat: Dexterity
Lowest Stat: Strength or Charisma...
Favored Weapon: Spear, when using a weapon at all
Favorite Colors: Red and Gold
Instructor: Fleeple a very religious Kobold Druid, who In his later years became very Philosophical.
Signature Style: Speed.

Part 1 Childhood: Avaris grew up in a small backwards village in the middle of nowhere a place where people would give there food to there Neighbours but fight over Silly things like whether a cart had four wheels or two, (Avaris after a few weeks of Contemplation decided it must have two Wagons had four carts had two) and when I say Fight I don't just mean argue I mean throw fists. because of this Avaris got good at avoiding such fights if he made his opinion known and someone didn't like it he'd be gone before they could punch him, Avaris learned little in that Village as most of the dragonborn there, (or most of everyone there) we're very Immature he knew this though unlike his 'friends' who thought it was good fun to fight each other over who was pretty and who was not, not even over who was interested in them Avaris felt as though this was a waste of time. Eventually his parents sent him away in hopes that he could return and replace the Village wise man, the one man nobody argued with, though I suppose he never did give his opinion on carts. Avaris never returned to that village though, on his way through the land he met a Kobold by the name of Fleeple who taught him about Justice and honor, mercy and compassion as he learned these things he felt that Yes he already knew this in his heart so why hadn't he figured it out himself eventually Fleeple had to finish training him for there were others who needed to learn, the world wouldn't be complete with one good person.

Part 2 Adventuring: Purposely left blank to leave open for Collaboration.

Part 3 Retirement: After his years of adventuring Avaris moved into a more stable life, and quickly found himself at a temple to Bahamut the god Fleeple had so Reverently worshiped at the temple he learned of Fleeple's death a fact that did not surprise him but disheartened him anyway. So Avaris took to the task Fleeple had and trained people in the ways of Truth Light and Purity (and maybe a little fighting too) hoping that after training them they would come to be great like he, when they didn't he assumed he failed in his training and every year with a different Youth tried and failed to make them as great as he had become. eventually one day he lost himself in his meditations and stayed that way for weeks when he came out of it he felt the most peace he had ever felt and thought he had a greater understanding of the world and so he dedicated himself to meditation once a week answering questions people had about anything and everything.

Until...
Last edited February 24, 2022 1:59 pm
Feb 23, 2022 5:16 pm
Creating a PC for you game is a challenge for sure. Back history alone could take a bit besides the mechanics. When were you planning to start?

Winks. I do favor multiclass PC's too. I like more options in abilities that straight class doesn't offer. It does tend to complicate one's history. But at level 20, there is plenty of space for complications.

I haven't really thought about what to create at level 20. I don't believe I have ever created anything over level 12. But I'm rather interested in giving this a shot.

Smiles. It is kinda like making a superperson because that is what you are to everyone else. (What you thrusted a two-handed sword in my back. Please take your butter knife home and quit playing with sharp edge toys.)

Edit: Thoughts to create a male 9 Level Bard/11 Level Rogue Half-Elf. Stressing of the character is on his Bard'ness and a back history when he wasn't (Rogue)

Smiles and yes I do like color.
Last edited February 23, 2022 6:03 pm
Feb 24, 2022 8:08 am
GeneCortess says:
Creating a PC for you game is a challenge for sure. Back history alone could take a bit besides the mechanics. When were you planning to start?
I always like it when players put a decent amount of thought into how their characters fit into the world, it's much more interesting than what abilities they have.

I don't have a firm start date in mind at this stage - we'll kick off when we've got a solid group together. I won't make any decisions about who to invite until next week, to give people time to consider what they might like to play.
GeneCortess says:
It is kinda like making a superperson because that is what you are to everyone else.
Yeah, absolutely. D&D tends to feel more like superhero comics than fantasy novels anyway, so I figure we might as well embrace that!
Last edited February 24, 2022 8:10 am
Feb 24, 2022 8:51 am
I would make the assertion that a Barbarian Zealot 6 Cleric of war 14 has a much better set of abilities than a 20th level in either class.

But I'm curious about how to distinguish between a 20th level PC and a God.

There are level 14 paladins that have solo'd Tiamat for instance.

That said, I would like to play this character as if there were the contender to be the God of War.
Feb 24, 2022 8:57 am
I'm going to park my name here to register interest, if you still have space. And will propose a concept/character to follow!
Feb 24, 2022 9:21 am
Jomsviking says:
I would make the assertion that a Barbarian Zealot 6 Cleric of war 14 has a much better set of abilities than a 20th level in either class.

But I'm curious about how to distinguish between a 20th level PC and a God.

There are level 14 paladins that have solo'd Tiamat for instance.

That said, I would like to play this character as if there were the contender to be the God of War.
Totally - I would assume that there are plenty of multiclass characters that would end up being more powerful than a single-classed level 20. But while you might not get that combination of abilities on one character very often, you probably have come across those abilities individually in actual play, because 8th-14th level isn't too uncommon. I've literally never seen the class capstone abilities in play, ever, which is why I'm more inclined in that direction. But if there's an awesome combo of multiclass abilities that you'd really like to try out, by all means make your case!

I don't think there's much distinction between gods and superheroes, generally. What is Superman if not a god among humans? So yes, I fully expect this game to be a bit of a power fantasy - you have all the power in the world, what do you choose to do with it?

The aspiring God of War concept is a solid start. The only caveat I'd mention (and this goes generally) is that whatever character you play needs to play nice with the others.
BedzoneII says:
I'm going to park my name here to register interest, if you still have space. And will propose a concept/character to follow!
Absolutely, please do. This isn't a matter of getting in first, I'm going to go over the proposals and pick the ones I think will work best once everyone has had a chance to put forward their interest. Take your time - the more thought you put into the concept, the better!
Feb 24, 2022 10:01 am
Sounds like fun!

I generally go in for caster types, and generally more in the direction of sorcerers and warlocks.
Last edited February 24, 2022 1:04 pm
Feb 24, 2022 3:10 pm
Edit: Thoughts to create a male 9 Level Bard/11 Level Rogue Half-Elf. Stressing of the character is on his Bard'ness and a back history when he wasn't (Rogue)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

He was charlatan/swindler and top on his game. Tons of connections and never spent a day in jail. Life changed him, by a woman. He gave up that lesser life and became an entertainer of sorts. Unfortunately, Half-Elves live longer than humans and he buried her.

That is more of the history I was thinking of.
Feb 24, 2022 3:51 pm
Talking about gods. Druid already at lvl 18 get "Timeless Body" meaning they are effectively no more mortals by definition.
I am actually intrigued to see how will DM create story content that provides reason for gods and demigods to assemble a team, admitting they are not able to solve the problem alone or with the help of their worshippers.
Feb 25, 2022 3:14 am
Current idea in my head is a paladin, fought some kind of planar war for years to defend the realm, succeeded (to some extent) by sealing a gate to prevent the baddies from ever coming through, and has spent the last x number of years guarding that gate with his regiment. they've basically built a fort or outpost there to do so, which has since evolved into a bastion town, and he's the presiding commander.

Presumably he needs to be recalled to active duty because a more urgent need has arisen.
Last edited February 25, 2022 8:49 am
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