Dungeons and Dragons' High-Level Campaigns Are the Most Fun You Can Have At the Table

It is no exaggeration to say that Dungeons and Dragons is the most popular tabletop roleplaying system on the market. With a long and storied history, D&D has dominated the TTRPG circuit for half a century now. What’s more, it has risen to new heights of prominence in the last decade thanks to popular actual plays like Critical Role, shows like Stranger Things, and games like Baldur’s Gate 3. Nowadays, many more people have played Dungeons and Dragons than ever before.

In most editions of D&D, including 5e, characters go from level 1 to 20. In spite of this, a criminally low number of players have actually ever played a character at max level, or even reached the double digits. There are many reasons this is the case, with complexity, balance, and lack of official support being the most prominent. It is a shame this is the case, because endgame D&D is the most fun players can possibly have at the table.

Why Are Dungeons and Dragons Players So Afraid of Tier 4?

The Drawbacks of High-Level Play in D&D

The 20 levels of D&D are often divided into four tiers of play by the community:

• Tier 1: Levels 1–4
• Tier 2: Levels 5–10
• Tier 3: Levels 11–16
• Tier 4: Levels 17–20

These tiers are sectioned off by major D&D character level benchmarks that are accompanied by large power spikes. For instance, Extra Attack and 3rd-level spells are unlocked at level 5 for Tier 2, 6th-level spells at level 11 for Tier 3, and 9th-level spells at level 17 for Tier 4.

However, most D&D games barely begin dipping their toes into Tier 3, let alone Tier 4. In fact, most official D&D campaigns end at or around level 12, including Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Rime of the Frostmaiden, Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep, and Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos. Even 2023 Game of the Year winner Baldur’s Gate 3 ends at level 12. While there are some that go to level 15 or even 20, there is comparatively little official support for high-level play in D&D.

When parties actually do try to play in Tier 4, there are a couple of major problems that often arise. First, playing a max-level character is hard. Though 5e is less complex than 3.5, and the D&D 5.5e rules update is even less so, a character still has a lot of bells and whistles to keep track of. An abundance of complex spells and abilities to choose from slows down turns, and can be a real challenge for players with less-tactical minds.

On the other side of the Dungeon Master’s screen, balancing high-level D&D can be a nightmare. As characters gain levels, DMs must throw increasingly more powerful monsters at them. But even the most terrifying dragons in D&D are no match for a fully-equipped 20th-level party on their own. At higher tiers of play, DMs need to make bigger, badder encounters with either swarms of weaker monsters or several strong ones in order to challenge their party.

This means more stuff to track, and less time to help players who might struggle with crunchier numbers. Combat in Tier 4 takes the slowest part of D&D and makes it even longer; a table would be lucky to get through a satisfying encounter in less than three or four hours, if not longer. And that’s not to mention out-of-combat rolls – stacking D&D abilities like a Rogue's Expertise, an Artificer's Flash of Genius, a Bard's Bardic Inspiration, and the Guidance cantrip onto an ability check means reaching a result of 30, 40, or even 50 is well within the reach of certain party compositions. Truth be told, Tier 4 can easily become a nightmare for an ill-prepared DM.

Tips For Running High-Level Campaigns in Dungeons and Dragons

Dungeons and Dragons Is Awesome At Tier 4 – If You Do It Right

That said, with the right preparation, high-level play is D&D at its absolute best. Players can wield reality-warping magic, obtain game-breaking magical items, and attack enough times to make Cloud Strife jealous. Dungeon Masters can surprise their table with insanely powerful monsters they would never expect, ranging from demon lords and archfey to literal angels and gods. Tier 4 D&D urges players to push their characters to the limit, and lets them fulfill their fantasies more completely than possible at earlier levels. Meanwhile, DMs can tell stories of cataclysm and heroism supported by the best D&D bosses the Monster Manual has to offer.

There are many tricks for players and Dungeon Masters alike that can help navigate high-level play, many of which can be useful at lower tiers as well:

• Help players create cheat sheets or flowcharts to figure out what to do in combat.
• Use timers to keep players attentive and turns swift.
• Allow minions and weak monsters in D&D to be wiped out in one or two sufficient attacks or spells, without worrying about tracking exact hit points.
• Quickly summarize a character’s surroundings when their turn comes up so they know exactly what is happening.
• Take breaks to ensure player focus does not waver, and use this time to make adjustments to creature stats or hit points if necessary.
• Avoid rewinding turns to add forgotten modifiers and bonuses, creating retroactive effects that must be adjudicated.

As for building encounters, there is an important fact DMs must consider: they are the game’s balance. The only thing stopping them from dropping a dozen Tarrasques on the party and guaranteeing a TPK is the desire to create fun encounters. The DM is in complete control of the knobs and levers. Take risks. Make mistakes. Give the epic D&D campaign boss monster that OP ability, and nerf it on the fly if it works a little too well. There is no limit to the Dungeon Master’s power; it is merely up to them to use it wisely.

While there is only so much that can be done about the dearth of official support for Tier 4, there are still options. Even if only a handful of adventure paths go to those levels, there are plenty of official CR 20+ stat blocks that can provide challenges for these players in homebrew or tweaked campaigns. Beyond that, there are some amazing third-party materials, such as the in-development Ariadne’s Book of Legends epic-level supplement for D&D, to help bridge the gap.

Unfortunately, there is a barrier to high-level D&D that no one can help a table overcome: scheduling conflicts. Many TTRPG games have fallen to this unstoppable foe, and no amount of aid from Wizards of the Coast can help fans prepare for it. But if players can manage their real-life quests well enough, some truly memorable moments await them at level 20 in D&D.