High Level Campaign Help

1. High Level Campaign Help

   #1

   Some of you may know Vlad Tepes, he is a new DM and can't seem to get a grasp on running high level campaigns. The highest party member is advancing on 19th level. He needs ideas and tips on how to run high levels and what to throw at them that they won't kill in one round.
   
   Thank you very much

2. Help

   #2

   Here's an idea:
   Don't level up so much.
   Tell Vlad that he needs to stop throwing High Experience challenges at you.
   Start a new campaign and run it with more reasonable, low level challenges.

3. Help

   #3

   What he should probably do, is make more powerful enemies. another solution is that he starts a campain in which the PCs go through a lot with little recovery. I also have to agree with CP's comment, high experience is mostly caused by impatience, patience is everything in a paper and pencil RPG. what he should do is come up with some quest that don't necisarily involve combat, but rather a players logic.

4. Help

   #4

   Well, we started out at like 12th level and we've been playing this same campaign two nights a week since November. For the past month and a half we have only been getting 2000 xp a night. What I though he should do was take a break to rebuild story lines and come up with stronger NPC's, and then only run once a week.
   
   We were in the middle of the game last week and Vlad and punkrockpoet stood up and walked out. They didn't say anything just left, then about 45 minutes later we all went back into the room and there was a note on the table telling us to make new first level characters. No explanation just the note, when they left we were in the middle of the sceen. Vlad later told me that he could not handle high level campaign.
   
   Another thing I had suggested was to get a co-DM to help him out a little and just show him the ropes, but so far he hasen't done anything. That is manily because everyone refused to draw up new characters.
   
   Him starting a new campaign is killing me because my character "Penguin" started as a 5th level PC and it took me forever to raise her to the level she is at. But I guess thats just me being selfish.

5. Help

   #5

   Its fun to start new characters!
   You sound too hung up on getting experience and being strong.
   The fun of a roleplay is being somebody new, being a different person, not becoming powerful.
   Start a new character! Make a new journey, a new adventure! Create yet another legend!
   Do it!
   DO IT!
   DON'T ARGUE WITH ME! JUST DO IT!

6. Help

   #6

   I'm not hung up on being powerful I offered to drop levels because he knows how attached to this character I am. It really dosent matter to me anymore because I cant return to the campaigns anway.

7. Help

   #7

   Running a high level campaign for two nights a week sounds realy terrible to me. I would not like to do just that.
   
   Reading thru your posts, I would suggest that before you do anything else, you should sit down and have a long talk about what he and you, so the entire group, would like to get out of their game.
   
   I would also like to warn you that you might have to be carefull in phrasing your remarks. After all, nobody likes to be told he is bad at something. The way I interpret your story so far, you guys are not having a very good "out-of-game" relation. People just leaving a note and be gone...
   
   Anyway, why not start a new character at level one? Yes it may take a while before you can fight a serious group of hobgoblins or the undead leech. However it is not about fighting the powerfull that this game is about. I have always understood it was about playing a role. not rolling a dice....(and always comming up lucky...)
   
   Yours,
   
   Ylorea

8. Help

   #8

   well he started a new game, level one, and he's only running twice a month (I think, I dont know) , but they started three weeks ago and their already at level 3 and, I havent been there and even I have gaine xp. I had a two level mod to start out so I'm not planning on leveling up soon

9. Help

   #9

   Cut down on the XP.... I don't know how long the sessions are taking, but consider the default rule from Dungeons & Dragons..... for a average party of four players, there should thirteen encounters between leveling up.
   
   Depending on the situation and the group, I try to stick to this rule of thumb. Though my first group is leveling quicker right now.... they are gowing to slow down a bit.
   
   I also grant XP to people that do not show... provided they notifie me at least two days in advance. I award the xp to try and make sure they notifie me, but also because I do not want them to limp behind too much.
   Otherwise you get the situation where everybody is going to hide behind the Barbarian who has seen all the sessions...
   
   Yours,
   
   Ylorea

10. Try a different style

    #10

    Actually this is something a friend of mine if GMing (and I'm playing in), but I really wish I'd thought of it myself.
    
    Instead of the usual beat up the monsters, take the gold, and get powerful give the playes somehing to protect, something that is theirs, and then devise story lines around protecting it.
    
    In this case he gave us a farm in the border regions of civilisation. The object of the campaign is to make the farm as sucessful (and big) as possible. Of course their is the usual array of native peoples who don't necessarily like us being there (que giant intellegent spiders who we can't fight but tend to leave us alone if don't bother them, warewolf primitives too numerous to destroy who may or may not be Chaos cursed, etc).
    
    An interesting side-effect is that priorities tend to change - animal lore becomes for important than killing power and money gets spent on sheep and fruit trees rather than magic swords (yes we bought a dowen fruit trees and lots of sheep). Also individual character power is virtually irrelevant.
    
    I'm not necessarily suggesting you use the same plot (although it certainly works) but I would suggest putting a little thought into set-up and campaign goals and further that a non-standard set-up might help.

11. Re: High Level Campaign Help

    #11

    I know this is an old topic but come on why don't you just put a limit on how strong a player can become. People don't become gaming gods just because the kill a few dragons. Also the game is less about experience and more about skill if you put in a few boundaries

12. Re: High Level Campaign Help

    #12

    Unfortunately, because the campaign did not start with the boundries, it become unfair now to just plot new ones on. 
    
    "Oh by the way, I decided nobody can exceed 15th level in the game."
    "But I am 18th level!"
    "Yah meant to talk to you about that, can you take off the last three levels worth of hit points and spells? Thanx".
    
    In DnD, the system is set up for power advancing progression. Nature of the beast and the reason many of us do not like the game. You can do other things with it, political/ social/ economic advancement, if you are careful and set things up early.
    
    They have not set up a campaign with alternate goals or ideals (such as a political game/ game of throne, or some other secondary goal), they were dungeon adventurers.  So they do not have those goals in place, nor will those characters be functional in such an environment in that game. (Bluff of +2 and sense motive of +3, oh okay... you are just fodder in a political game).
    
    The GM is also a newbie, so he was having issues scaling challanges against these character. It takes skill to handle multi threats, so the tough threat seems to engage the powerful character and doesn't engage the low level one... smearing them into pate' .
    
    It would of worked out better if he started with something he could handle and could grow into.
    
    Mostly, it was about the Next Great Threat, each having to be escalated because the only reward built into the game (and their campaign) was tactical power.  http://www.strolen.com/content.php?node=1798 .  So yes, you are sort of right, but you can't just radically turn a campaign around like that without either losing player interest or having characters that are totally inappropriate.
    
    Di yah?

13. Re: High Level Campaign Help

    #13

    :D :wink:
    
    New to the site and forum but long time gamer. 
    
    I could better give ideas if I knew exactly what system you were using, but in lieu of that I will make an assumption that it is AD&D based.  There are a number of ways to go.  The parties challenges should be mutated monster species, with possible added powers or skills (maybe psionics).  I would go so far as to suggest that someone get a hold of the old 2nd edition book High Level Campaigns too.  They have detailed out a section of legendary monsters that is to die for :what:  :lol:!! 
    
    If the party needs challenges you can go in a number of directions.  There is political intrigue, Deity related conflicts, and high level magic users to run afoul of.  If the villians appear to be too easy, play out their INT & WIS to the max.  Set it up so that the foe they are facing will run to a safe place if near defeat.  There are always simalcrums and clones to use in this same evasion ploy.  If a leader has the GP then they might just have a simalcrum created.  The recurring villain is a role best played out in higher level campaigns.  The powers of higher level mages spells is only limited by the amount of material on the intranet that you can access. 
    
    There is always more, but high level characters are not something to worry about as long as you are willing to drop the ceiling on them if they get too big for their britches.  A high level INT mage would set them up to do just that. 
    
    :shock: :wink:
    
    Turn them all into rainbow mushrooms and drop them 300’ to the music of the Anvil Chorus!!!!
    
    Have everyone roll their dice before the adventure and tick them off one by one, it helps speed up the game and allows the DM more time to think on his feet.

14. Re: High Level Campaign Help

    #14

    Just because you did not start with boundaries in your current games does not mean you can use them in future games.
    
    It would help alot I think if there were limits in your game world as its kind of unrealistic to have warriors that can kill gods and dragons or shrug off infernos. Besides while I did not understand your point and political stuff Moon hunter, I think maybe the PCs could use actual inteligence and wisdom instead of stats on a page. This system was used by the game Guild Wars by the way.
    
    Alternatly you could just replace the old people with new characters.

15. Re: High Level Campaign Help

    #15

    Go back through the characters' backgrounds for ideas (they do have backgrounds, right?).  Any still left unresolved earlier in the campaign, now become perfect for when the characters are powerful enough to avenge their father against the six-fingered man, rescue Buttercup, or whatever. 
    
    Old plot threads can also be resurrected.  An old foe could have also gained levels, acquired political connections, or even allied with other old enemies of the pc's. 

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