As there has been some support in the club postings that lower level characters/campaigns are more challenging for players and better role playing environments. I would like to represent the opposing view. Many of our members may have felt that comments about their campaigns were discounted simply because they had posted devices or spells that were of very high level and effect. Or because they discussed campaigns based in legendary proportions.

While I personally agree that role play is the best part of any RPG (hey it’s even in the name!) I feel that big, loud bangs and way-larger than life events are part of that as well. "Hey man, tonight we drove Beelzebub back to the abyss! We'd have killed him but he has an innate plane shift and got away!", was one of my favorite comments from a player.

I take a different position than some of our groups very good long-time DM’s on the issue of high level games. Let me make clear that I respect them, read their posts with interest and look to their advice myself in determining game rulings.

However, high level games are fun! I really enjoy them and have played them as a result of years of continual gaming with the same 2 groups.

Rather than running modules or separate campaigns with varying characters, I took the same characters through thousands of hours of gaming. Twice new players took up the roles of PC’s who moved but the characters were the same.

The players kept gaining experience and had great ideas on how to use the natural tools and features around them. Frankly, I am pretty sure most of my players would have gone away long ago if I had not kept things constantly escalating (at a carefully controlled rate of course).

That is not to say I am in favor of "Monte-Haul" gaming either. Everything should be earned or it will hold little value. You can’t have your players feel you have GIVEN them something. If they do, the illusion falls away and they find they have nothing.

My first group ran for 14 years and came to possess incredible devices ranging from an eventual pile of magic devices collected, to "acquiring" 3 galaxy-class starships, blasters a robot friend and too much more to list. Throughout it all, I was able to encourage them to keep a healthy respect for town authorities, arch-rivals and a fear of death. Even at the 20+ level point in the campaign characters died, ran from battle and once they were all captured.

Of course none of it is real to begin with. The only thing that gives treasure or the experience points or any of it any value is the credibility the players choose to invest in the DM, his rulings and evaluation of their characters. After all that's pretty much what EXP’s are; an evaluation of your characters performance in the view of the DM.

I simply don’t believe that running the characters into higher levels prevents the skilled DM from presenting challenging monsters, villains, puzzles, traps or scenarios to keep even the highest level characters on their toes.

No single device or weapon can unbalance your run. Even the "Chime of Hunger" (If you haven't read it you should. Great item!) can be negated by an anti-magic shell. A high level mage can cast "Wish" or "Limited Wish" and at minimum nullify it's effects for a time. Even arrows launched by archers with wax in their ears could attack the wielder.

Some of my greatest D&D memories are of great battles with magic-users flying above doing battle with other MU's or strafing ground troops. Squads of allied giants battling the hordes of orcs and trolls, while clerics fortified and patched-up the many human troops. Thieves became heroic scouts and the druids called forth a storm to rain lightning down upon the enemy... I am getting a tear. One moment please...

Metaphorically speaking; there is no rock the DM can not lift and no limit to the size of rock he can create. You just have an increasingly challenging job to keep the balance and know all the spells and other high level abilities that your PC will use.

High-level campaigns do require the PC's and DM to be keenly versed in the various skills, rules and with magic. It becomes crucial that everyone knows the AOE, Range, Duration, effect, etc., of their spells. Failure to be proficient in your class can cause long drawn out turns and a loss of flow. In my humble opinion however, players should have developed those skills by the time they have been gaming for a couple of years anyway.

Simply giving the NPC opponents or monsters a plan, a routine for defending and protecting themselves can make them a greater challenge. The Ewoks from Star Wars had traps and defensive weapons along with teamwork and a plan, to greatly increase their formidability. (Sorry the Ewoks where just and easy example).

I have dealt with PC's using prismatic spheres, multiple wishes, artifacts and many high level devices or spells. I simply created villains with equally high level abilities and paraphernalia. The trick is in how you combine and use what you have. A monsters innate abilities can devastate a group who has ventured into an area where magic will not function. Then even if they have an artifact that functions in an anti-magic sphere (yes I have a few items IMC that do) a dozen mid-level demons with innate abilities can drive off and even kill some pretty high level groups.

There are several ways to make sure you are getting the most out of your opponent NPC's. They just need to be fully run.


By "fully run" I mean:

1. Opponents do not simply sit in their lair/cave/castle oblivious to the threat of unwanted visitors.

2. Guards in a High-Magic world (even in smarter monster holds) are trained from the start to watch for signs of invisible intruders and are told to IMMEDIATELY sound the alarm when seeing something at all funny. Even if not sure. They are taught how to best fight and defend against invisible, flying or otherwise augmented opponents. Most would be trained in how to disturb a MU's spell by casting a stone. Etc., etc., etc... This seems like simple logic to me.

3. Warding spells sound alarms if certain types of magical auras are detected. Merchants wear charms to ward off beguilement.

4. A magic-users guild keeps MU's high in society but under strict rules of conduct. Otherwise society would not tolerate the MU's. They actually protect the cities and give some service to the community. Therefore they are an important part of the community. Not feared and the dominating force. The kings and other rulers have aristocrat MU's as well who give the upper class a strong foothold in the guilds as well. They have an interest in maintaining the society which supports their aristocracy. Many aristocrats are religious and are influenced greatly by their preist (cleric) and this helps to further round out the balance.

5. High level thieves are kept in check my magical alarms and to some extent, their own the guild which gives protection to and has certain deals with the other guilds or nobility as well.

6. High level fighters. Cyrano diBergerac fought off 50 men. This is not a new concept. If needed, I bring 5 16th level fighters and have had no problem getting High level PC fighters to come peacefully (or unconscious) to jail in the bigger cities.

7. Clerics of the good faiths perform service to the community and help contest the more evil cults or religions. Evil ones give support to evil leaders or have their own agendas. The clerics in my world have their hand in everything. They have followers in almost every other class who want to go to heaven.

8. High level opponents have informants, paid officials, henchmen/followers and magic devices of their own. An enemy with a ball of scrying or any of the above may know when and where you will attack. May know your weaknesses. The enemy may also have friends. Friends who will come after you later (or your mom, kids, business, girlfriend).

9. NPC opponent leaders have experience. They have stayed alive and risen to the top of their lair/group/cult/society by being smarter/ faster/tougher than their fellows. They have had to have had some success to get where they are. They are crafty, clever, have extra abilities (try a frost giant who has learned formal fighting skills and gets additional attack bonuses or a modified attack matrix).

How about a rouge storm giant magic user. Leading a group of other giants (some dumb as stick but others of higher intelligence). How difficult would it be to assail his mountain fortress? Giving creatures classes can make them very formidable.

Making the opponent a real, living, thinking being can turn even a simple creature into a more dangerous opponent. The above are just a very few of the ideas similar thinking can provide to your NPC opponents.

There are many other ways this thinking can be applied to all types of NPC behavioral aspects. The more, the greater challenge they present.

I would never shy away from such high-level play. It is the greatest challenge in the game I know of and the only way to fully use the entire range of spells, devices and opportunities the game provides.

Of course this is all just my opinion. I simply wanted to present the other side of the "Power Game" issue as the "Mid and lower-level is best", point-of-view has been well championed. I personally think that rising to the highest level you can (before running out of lives!) should be the goal of any character. It should just evolve, not be rushed or manipulated unnaturally by the DM or players.


Thanks,

T