What is good lvl to start your campain at?

[Bound Birdie]

It seems like every single campaign I'm in has to start at level one. But in one shot campaigns they let you start out higher because you'll never actually progress. But I've played a few games up to a about paragon tier and then someway or another the game dies... I've NEVER gotten to even touch an epic destiny... I WANT EPIC POWERS *cries the noob* sorry I digress. Have you ever gotten to start out as a real bad a** or is there something important I'm missing about starting at the very bottom and working your way step by step up the ladder?  

[iDragow]

I feel your pain. Heck, the only game I've ever played that I've even levelled up in was Rain's coliseum game. Everything else kinda putters our around battle 3 or so. I want to get at least to level ten, is that too much to ask!? crying  

[SporkMaster5000]

starting at level 1 gives you more time to expand your story, but there's nothing to stop you from beginning at any level. i've got an idea for a warforged barbarian i'd love to start in epic tier if the opportunity presents itself.

as for the titular question, there are several places 4e's level progression at least, offers some obvious starting points. lv 1, 11 or 21 are obvious starting points, being the opening of each tier. as are lv. 5, 15 and 25, being halfway through each tier, if you want to have the impression that the players have been around for a while. lvs 4, 8, 14, 18, 24, and 28 all offer stat bonuses, if you want to over or under-shoot the halfway points. finally, any level when characters get a paragon path or epic destiny feature offers a point where your players get unique new toys to start with, although they all necessarily shorten your campaign, since you have fewer levels through which to convey your story.

however, any level works, if you really want your campaign to start there.  

[Archfiend Damio]

Most people will tell you that 4-5 is a very good starting place. BUT then again its really up to how you want to get things done. What kind of game you are running.. are you requesting everyone play a monster race? Well then you may start it 6-7 or even as high as 10, but be careful just like starting any high level game you are in for a few surprises. And as such even if you don't tell people to play only monster starting beyond level 1 basicly begains to get them looking at those races. Because in the end everyone wants to play a level 20 start campain so I can finally play an effing dragon ^_^, or a flesh golem....
I usually gauge the starting level for my world? I mean I know what I put in the world aside from random encounters I know that a party of 4th level characters isn't going to have a good chance of making it against the wyrm black dragon in the swamp. SO if that were my first encounter I would gauge it off that I suppose. BUT then again don't make them level 7 and through only Orcs and Goblins with no class levels and in groups of 3-4 you understand that your party will most likely litrally walk all over them.
Most of my games have started at 4th-6th because by then I have some breathing room as not to kill the party with one lucky blow. But you should also talor you game... I don't mean lose the flare of it take away from it or change it completely I mean more of you already have it built and you expected the party to have at least one fighter... instead you got a party of magic users and no healer, this while not to say they are not powerful is a bit problematic seeing as they are still very faragile when it comes to getting hit. (Now granted if I talk to a party I know I could make us survive even as all mages if we all played our rolls right. Setting this aside.) You may have expected them to have at least one if not both a fighter and a healer of some kind but instead you got what you need. So you have a few options. One you give them NPC back up, as such a fighter or a healer that travels with them at a small but fair price. OR you talor your game down a bit maybe take out one or two monsters in a room maybe give them a way to run if the going gets too tough things as such help keep players living and most of the time happy to be that way. You can also state that though people don't have to it would be 'in their best intrest' to have a healer and a meele fighter or a rouge or *insert you think need here* Or something that can minic the ablilities of such.
Starting bad a** is almost fun for everyone becuase most of the time you are already what your chracter needs to be and only gets more bad a** from there which is fun for some. But others love the thrill of getting to that place of bad-a**-dom. So the way you give this online here is great because you tell people hey my game is a 6th level start no this no that. so and sofouth. And then you only get people that want to play in that game intead of trying to cope with home games where someone doesn't feel good enough yet and someone else misses getting that good.
The game level should also weight a little on your DM experience as such do you know only things about chracters at first level. and once you give them high enough levels they starte getting nice amounts of gold.. are you familar with a lot of magic items? Odds are they are going to be buying them. What about varent rules? What you know should kind of restrict the playing. Maybe you want to run your very first game with only Players Hand book and Complete books. Well then you have a rather simple game play and not so many surprises.
So in the end a lot more then you think go into this when you break it down haha never really did guess I been doing this for so long it just already comes factored in my head.
The DMing things really come with time but don't be afraid to learn. Because in the end its fun switching DMs every now and again.

Hope this helps.  

[Raganui Minamoto]

I find most issues with making higher level characters is in it's creation. There are a few reasons:

1. It actually allows more room for power gaming because you can take feats that are needed for other ones. Take Combat Expertise for example. Most people wouldn't get it while in game, cause other feats might be more beneficial at the time. Or other fun things of that sort.

2. Personality. Basically you have to create a guy who's been around for awhile and has established fame or infamy. Now, this is hard on players cause it really doesn't help them get into the character at all, which takes me to...

3. Choices. THERE ARE A LOT. Without a real feel for the character you wind up back towards number 1, in which it's more power-gamey over Roleplay. If you start at a lower level, you might have taken x class or feat instead of whatever you took, due to roleplay. I've seen it happen.

Anyways, that's all I got. Some of it pertains more to 3.5 or other systems than 4e, but you should understand where.  

[Arc Vembris]

One good reason to start lower is that higher level character have a shipload of powers, feats and modifiers. If you level slowly, you can get a good grasp on what each of them does in turn. Of course, if you're more experienced with your particular class or build, there's no problem with starting higher. Or if you just like crash courses and have your own book to pore through.  

[Bound Birdie]

"crash course" That's a good word for what I'm thinking I want to try. I'm thinking of running a very experimental, short lived (depending) laid back, campaign. Where someone could either just do it to play around with a class they are currently using to just kind of get a feel for it at higher levels maybe experiment in what direction they want to take. Or someone who has a recycled sheet that they favor. The storyline provided a open background basis as to why they are already in high regarded. It is a 4e and I was thinking of starting it at the Paragon Path. Plus I'm also experimenting with large battles so I want to make sure they can have a bit of power behind there force. I plan on doing lots of high lvl minions with a few good trouble makers in the encounter I'm planning. Hopefully I can have a divers group but just in case I have a paladin (maybe at like 9 or so), a *succubus* bard backup in case they are leaderless and The Queen herself who is a Epic Deva Shaman though being queen she is not ever really used unless the castle in which case it should be fairly effortless to put down the enemy anyway.
Really I want any easy going, humorous campaign where noobs can get a taste of epic power and have a little confidence boost and experienced veterans can build someone fairly all powerful and show off >.<  

[gypsychords]

Depends on the edition. 4th Edition, I think you're totally fine starting out at level 1 and really coming into your powers right from the start. 3rd Edition and 3.5, though, I've found that I enjoy things a lot more when the DM starts us off at level 2 or 3, especially when I'm playing a mage character. God knows how sucky it is to have 4hp and surrounded by rats.  

[Arc Vembris]

I can echo that sentiment. 3.5 and d20 Modern are rough to play from level 1, better to start at level 3 or 4.  

[Rain Yupa]

I wouldn't answer this question by advising you to look at the players. I'll answer to advise you by looking at your CAMPAIGN.

What do you want the players to be doing? What challenges will they confront? What evils will they have to overcome?

If you find you want a, say... demon heavy game, starting at level 1 would be inappropriate. The weakest demon in MM1 is level 6. I would probably start such a game either at the paragon level, or a few levels prior and have them work their way in.

Also, something I noticed in my FF game, is that in pbp, rapid XP gain helps keep the players focused on progress. I've planned out the campaign, and double XP has worked out awesomely!  

[bamaotaku]

There's really no definitive answer to this, though I definitely agree with Rain's statements.

You should look at your campaign, look at the kinds of enemies you expect the party to face, and have them at the appropriate level. Admittedly, it's a lot harder to hold players attentions in a PbP game as opposed to playing normally, or even playing by chat. So, sometimes, starting at a higher level can give the players more to work with so that the encounters don't seem as boring.

Also, this is just my personal feeling, I disagree with the thought that a person is incapable of roleplaying just because they have a high level character. Just because someone has more ranks in a class doesn't make creating their personality any different. If anything, it means they've had experience doing whatever they have class levels in, so clearly they have had experiences which shape who they are.

So yeah...I'll get off my soapbox now. sweatdrop  

[Bound Birdie]

*AHEM* I'm glad you guys are having a good conversation but I described the campaign to you all in an earlier post! *points up at her last post*
*sigh* I just want to run Like a few Epic wars and then a group of VERY elite members on some crusade type stuff. So Hoards of high lvl minions and a few truly challenging "leaders of the battalion types" And catapults flinging boulders that do 3d10 pop at the battlement your trying to fire spells of off! MWHAHA! sorry got carried away. but Yes I think at the paragon path. I definite feel like that's a good mid point to start at.

OH that reminds me to ask, Why do you start off with such a small amount of health in 3.5 I just started a lvl 1 smart hero and I have 7 hit points! Won't I die in like one hit?  

[Rain Yupa]

I... had meant it in an "in general" way. Rather than tell you what level to start with, I decided to help you figure out how to figure it out on your own! 4laugh

As they say, "Teach a man to build a campaign, have it turn into a one shot. Teach a FISH to build a campaign, have it run forever."

Or something like that confused  

[SporkMaster5000]

Rain Yupa

I... had meant it in an "in general" way. Rather than tell you what level to start with, I decided to help you figure out how to figure it out on your own! 4laugh

As they say, "Teach a man to build a campaign, have it turn into a one shot. Teach a FISH to build a campaign, have it run forever."

Or something like that confused

fish can run?  

[bamaotaku]

Bound Birdie

OH that reminds me to ask, Why do you start off with such a small amount of health in 3.5 I just started a lvl 1 smart hero and I have 7 hit points! Won't I die in like one hit?

Probably to insure that you're not close enough to anyone to get hit, if you can help it. They should be more focused on the Strong and Tough heroes who are killing their friends.