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From: Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com>
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Subject: Re: [boing boing] D&D's latest module, "Vecna: Eve of Ruin," and the trouble with high-level adventures
Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2024 10:24:38 -0400
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On Mon, 3 Jun 2024 12:29:55 +0200, Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:

>Source: 
>https://boingboing.net/2024/06/03/dds-latest-module-vecna-eve-of-ruin-and-the-trouble-with-high-level-adventures.html
>
>
>D&D's latest module, "Vecna: Eve of Ruin," and the trouble with 
>high-level adventures
>Gareth Branwyn 3:00 am Mon Jun 3, 2024
>

D&D isn't very good at high-level adventures. Mostly because it is
extremely combat focused, and combat at higher-level really isn't much
different than low-level. It's just grindier because all the monsters
have higher hit-dice. Despite the hype, you really can't do much more
than low-level characters. You're dangerous, but not godlike. Sure,
you can cast 'earthquake', but it's still a very localized effect. You
might damage a building but so could a fireball. Despite what D&D
novels suggest, you aren't tearing up continents or razing populations
at 20th level.

And, sure, at 20th level you might have followers and influence, but a
lot of that is dependent on campaign and DM. Your character isn't
immediately promoted to god-emperor just because they've achieved 20th
level. Plus, what are you supposed to DO with all that influence? A
lot of time it just turns D&D into a strategy game (unsurprising,
given D&D's wargaming roots). 

A lot of the charm and enjoyment in D&D, too, comes from the STRUGGLE.
This is especially pertinent at the lower levels, where your
characters have minimal hitpoints, skills, equipment and spells. Once
you start taking that away, the game loses a lot of its challenge..
and charm. You're either wiping out dozens of low-level monsters
(yawn) or fighting critter that have been upscaled to match your level
by ramping up their abilities to ungodly levels (equally yawn). 

(It's also why I feel old-school D&D is more fun than modern editions;
the new stuff just gives you too many toys to play with, so you never
really get that feeling of vulnerability)

That's not to say you can't have fun high-level D&D games, but it
often feels like a struggle; you're fighting against a system that
just isn't designed to scale up that high. Other systems are better
suited to those sorts of power levels (Exalted, for instance) but D&D?
It's meant for low-level play.

IMHO and YMMV, obvs.