Depending on how you’ve been introduced toDungeons & Dragons, you may think that all journeys must start at level one. Even popular JRPGs often have protagonists start out learning skills for the first time or beating up hordes of small rats before they can claim their first level up.
But, like with just about every rule in D&D, you don’t have to follow the rules. Many Dungeon Masters (DMs) might apply that mindset to how players level up, by tracking experience points, or rewarding story-based milestones. Well, you can decide to also have your players start at a higher level, and there are times you absolutely should.
8One-Shots And Short Campaigns
Short Plus High Level Can Equal Sweet
One of the first times you should absolutely start your players at a higher level is when the story you’re telling isn’t going to be very long.Whether it lasts only a single session, or only a few months, starting at level one and ending at level 20 will be such a break-neck pace that will leave everyone’s heads spinning.
So, instead of considering the players journey one that goes from start to end, you may instead look at it as joining the party for a brief period of time, for just a single chapter of their much bigger story.
7To Start Characters With Experience
Like An Adventurer’s Resume
There are somany countless stories and backstories that you may create and your players can craft. Some come up with these tales of being on the run for years, being trained as assassins, or even being highly recommended to a powerful Lord or Nobel.
In those instances, it will only feel more realistic to have these player characters come together after having gained experience as adventurers, soldiers, or in any other background. After all, why would an influential NPC hire a group of people who haven’t already been put to the test or challenged by some decent foes?
6To Dive Into Higher Level Combat
Leveled-Up Combat
Just like there are countless stories, so many players and DMs enjoy the combat portion of D&D more than anything else. Although it’s good to have a bit of balance in campaigns, if everyone around the table is much more interested in combat than in roleplay, puzzles, or the like, then why not jump into the good stuff?
This doesn’t mean you have to start the party out by taking on enemies with high combat ratings (or a high CR). Sometimes, even only starting one level higher can give the party access to some of the skills they want to start with. But this will also allow everyone to skip past some of those typical low-level encounter scenarios.
It’s always good to start out a new campaign by getting a sense of everyone’s playstyles so it’s easier to know which decisions, like this, could benefit everyone.
5For Feats Or Stat Increases
That’s Two Additional Points In Wisdom
Sometimes the reason you, or your players, want to start higher than at level one is to gain access to feats or the stat increases that happen at level four, eight, 12, and so on up the chain. Now you can still have your party start at level one but allow them to pick one of these options before the campaign starts.
Or, you may have the players start at the first time the game rules say that they can take these feats or increases to their stats. The other good thing about them starting at level four, instead of level one with a feat of their choice, is that their hit points will be higher. This allows you as a DM so much more wiggle room to create encounters and the reasoning why the party as a whole has more experience under their belts.
4To Match Players' D&D Experience
Play Smarter And Harder
Although it’s always fun to play D&D with people who are jumping into the game for the first time, if you’re playing with gamers who know a lot about the game, why not let the characters start with more knowledge too?
This doesn’t mean you have to give the characters access to the same amount of knowledge as the players themselves, but it can heighten the sense of immersion the players feel. After all, their characters would have grown up in this world of magic and fantasy creatures, so they would have access to some knowledge and, with that, experience.
3For A High-Magic Campaign
If You Give A Player A Magic Item
you’re able to have a campaign with a high amount of magic without starting the characters any higher than level one, but it also can help it feel more natural for spellcasters to have access to higher level spells. Or, on the other hand, characters who can’t use magic to have higher defenses against it.
And it’s more than just the level of spells, but also how powerful magic and enchanted items are. You may not want to give your level one playersa legendary magical item. But give those characters some experience and then they’ll know how to use those high-cost, high-power items.
2After A Total Party Kill
DMs Can Be Necromancers Too
A Total Party Kill, or TPK for short, is when each of the player characters are killed, whether at the hands of a foe or in some horrendous event or accident. Now, after a TPK happens, there are a few different roads you can go down, like starting a new campaign.
But you may instead have the players make new characters to either continue the current story, or have one that is told parallel to it. This can save the players a lot of heartbreak by allowing them to keep going and seek out vengeance against the enemy who has wronged their previous characters. And, as a DM, this can save you from feeling like you have to throw a campaign away and start over at square one.
1Because It Fits Your Play Style Or Campaign
Sometimes The Best Reason Is No Reason At All
The important thing to remember as a DM is that you don’t always need a reason to start a campaign at a higher level. If you’re planning a campaign and it feels more natural to have it start at a higher level than level one, then follow that feeling.
You can even start out believing you want to start at level one, but once you’ve talked to the party members and have heard their ideas about their characters and stories, you can make the decision then and there to raise everyone’s level. Craft a campaign that works best for all of you.
