D&D 5E What’s the highest level character you’ve played in 5E?

[schneeland]

12, but just briefly. Then only lower levels for a while and after that we stopped playing D&D entirely (and moved on to other systems).
I converted a few older characters from 3e (ranging between level 5 and 12) to get a feeling for the system, but never got to play them again.

 

[Zardnaar]

Level 13.

 

[MNblockhead]

In my last campaign we did milestone level-ups each session or two, starting at level 0 (using level-zero rules from an Adventurer's League adventure I'm forgetting the name of at the moment) to 20. It was a home brew campaign. We met once per month for an 8 hour game. I would create an adventure for that session, using the "your party is called together again to..." trope.

There campaign lasted just under two years and the players got to play every level.

For shorter campaigns, I've thought of doing milestone leveling where the character increase several levels each session. They would still get to play the characters for a couple sessions at each of the tiers.

 

[jayoungr]

Are you asking only for what we've played, or does DMing count too?

I've DMed up to level 20, but only played up to level 7. Because I'm always stuck ("stuck") being the DM instead of playing.

 

[DWChancellor]

Managed to get to level 13 in a Tales from the Yawning Portal giants campaign. It worked out thanks to starting with one rare magic item each... and our wizard picked the Rod of Rulership.

Gaming in the mid-levels can be fun but it is awfully easy to trip up. You often feel overpowered, overwhelmed, or out-gunned. A fine line between.

DM'ing-wise I've DM'd up to level 15 in PF and 5E and had a good time. I had really solid groups that I could trust to know their own strengths and weaknesses and play accordingly. Both groups had some casualties on the way up from level 1. Miss DM'ing for them =/ Silly people moving around and having children (me too).

 

[Tony Vargas]

Are you asking only for what we've played, or does DMing count too?

I've DMed up to level 20, but only played up to level 7. Because I'm always stuck ("stuck") being the DM instead of playing.

A lot of us primarily DM around here.
I went with actually played, myself.

Though, if you don't get to play, at all, the level of a campaign you ran should be fine.

 

[JeffB]

Its only whacked if you don't play - works great for me. You just have to understand how it relates to your group.

If I have to run a lot of encounters to figure it out and then change it significantly to work for my group, the system is whacked-right out of the package.

 

[dave2008]

. If I have to run a lot of encounters to figure it out and then change it significantly to work for my group, the system it's whacked-right out of the package.

I disagree. I run two groups. They play differently. One plays just fine with the suggested encounter guidelines and monsters as is (RAW). The other group I had to work a little more to figure out. But once I figured out their delta versus the baseline, it works great. I would not want to play a system that was so rigid it didn't allow for this flexibility in order to maintain a precise encounter budget.

Interestingly, I found that 4e, with its precise encounter design still suffered with the problems you mentioned at higher levels. IF you jumped in and played 4e at level 22 (level 15 equivalent) you would find the encounter guidelines didn't really work if where not familiar with epic level combats. I never played 3e, but I heard it was even worse. Of course in 1e & 2e we didn't really have any guidelines and it works.

 

[JeffB]

I disagree. I run two groups. They play differently. One plays just fine with the suggested encounter guidelines and monsters as is (RAW). The other group I had to work a little more to figure out. But once I figured out their delta versus the baseline, it works great. I would not want to play a system that was so rigid it didn't allow for this flexibility in order to maintain a precise encounter budget.

Interestingly, I found that 4e, with its precise encounter design still suffered with the problems you mentioned at higher levels. IF you jumped in and played 4e at level 22 (level 15 equivalent) you would find the encounter guidelines didn't really work if where not familiar with epic level combats. I never played 3e, but I heard it was even worse. Of course in 1e & 2e we didn't really have any guidelines and it works.

None of them work very well for WOTC editions or PF1 (yes, 3E is the worst) . It as much a learning curve as TSR editions. I'm not a fan of the entire concept of CR and I am all for dropping it from the game. But I had the best luck with 4E for D&D proper (no upper paragon or epic play). 13th Age is pretty decent as well- I have the least issues with it throughout all Tiers.

 

[dave2008]

None of them work very well for WOTC editions or PF1 (yes, 3E is the worst) . It as much a learning curve as TSR editions. I'm not a fan of the entire concept of CR and I am all for dropping it from the game. But I had the best luck with 4E for D&D proper (no upper paragon or epic play). 13th Age is pretty decent as well- I have the least issues with it throughout all Tiers.

I'm fine with dropping it myself as well.