Ok, so the last post was more about the fun adventure but I shall now give a brief opinion on how the characters have leveled up. My DnD background is the Basic set and 2nd Edition, and as there is a lot of consideration that DnDNext is trying to hearken back to older versions to try and reclaim that classic feel of the game . I shall use my experience from long ago as reference, and leave comparisons to 4th edition to those more experienced than me.
We have fought 4 battles and each of those has been stacked against us on paper in terms of hit points. Now I say this, and what follows, based on the fact that I have not seen the GM monster stats that he used, so this is purely from-the-coalface how it felt when playing. Knowing how DnD monsters work classically I can ascertain that a lot of the creatures were of a higher level than us, some significantly so. When we faced the Ettin during the battle I was totting it up in my head and estimated a minimum of 100 hp (we were told afterwords it had 130 hp), and a party of 5 first level characters took it down in 5 rounds (or was it 4? ed).
So are the characters too powerful at level one? Compared to 2nd edition, no because back then fighters we ok and mages were fodder. Its a good balance because you don't feel helpless or restricted but there is still that danger of defeat, while also knowing that your skills are still just beginning.
So a quick maths on the combat above - average 26 hp of damage per party member over 5 rounds 5.2hp per hit. And that assumes everyone hit every round, which we didn't. The hit roll required was 20, we all averaged about +5 to our favored attacks due to proficiency and ability scores so that gives 15 or more to hit so an aggregate of one successful strike every 4 rounds. So we could have been doing 20 -21 hp damage each hit - if you follow the numbers here.
Obviously that isn't the real case, what happened is we were lucky with some natural 20's so gained critical damage bonus and we were trying out some house rules which basically meant we were doing four times normal damage.
In reality we were probably averaging 8 hp of damage per hit which equates to 3.25 rounds to take it down if we hit every round. But with a 1 in 4 chance it could have taken 13 rounds.
Now all these numbers are slightly up in the air because over such a short encounter the law of averages doesn't really get a chance to settle in, plus I can't be bothered to be more accurate with my calculations.
Conclusion - We were very lucky in that fight, but if you had asked me before that battle if we could have won, it would have been a resounding 'no chance'.
So why did we fight it, well I for one was expecting the GM to favor us some rolls, tip the balance for the sake of the party, in fact I do believe they were all open rolls and we were just very very lucky.
So are our characters more powerful at first level than if we were playing 2nd edition? Yes they are but not by much, maybe 5 or 10 % more powerful in terms of damage output. Starting with max hp on your hit dice at first level makes a big difference than the old random roll so in terms of hit points we are actually close to double, but still 50%-70% lower than 4th edition (I think).
So what really tipped the balance? And I do believe there is something in this game because while we did very well to kick the butt of our opponents, when we were getting hit it was only 1 or 2 strikes before we were worrying if our character would end their days still at first level.
In my opinion, and this is where I think this game has got it right, the ways the character classes are balanced to each other and the ways they can complement each other makes a huge increase in success. In 8 hours of play my sorcerer has drawn a weapon in combat only once, and that was by choice not necessity. The ranger who favors his bow was able to use it without issue, through maneuver and team tactics, the druid could switch between spell, scimitar and sling without feeling disadvantaged, the fighters could vary weapons as they wished without penalty, and all together the party was able to draw upon the strengths and talents, and this is just at level one!
I am not saying that this new version of the game has exclusivity on the way it handles character balance and ability. 4th edition does it great too from what I saw, though some folks say it got too heavy or overpowered above 10th - but I never got over level 1 so I can't say anymore about it.
We have now reached level 2 but are yet to play actively at this level. Hit points go up, healing improves, more spell slots, and some more special class abilities, so you do feel almost twice as powerful as before. Not everything improves, the mechanical parts of the characters that are shared across classes stays the same until higher level, and this is a constant theme. Class abilities increase or improve in some way every level, as you would expect but other more universal abilities improve at a much slower pace.
The variety on what classes do and how you play them is much more like the old feel of 2nd edition, in fact even more so. With a sorcerer and a druid in the party we had a chance to see how two different spell casters worked. In 2nd ed the wizard was the damage spell-caster but at low level was cast once rest 8 hours, while the druid or cleric was heal or buff and be so-so in combat. Not now, the druid was very versatile as should be expected. The sorcerer was more a one trick pony at 1st level but was able to fall back on cantrips and her spells felt powerful (for low level) when needed and versatile when required.
Are we leveling up too quickly? Hmm difficult one as that can depend on a number of things, including most importantly the play group. We don't get a massive opportunity to meet and play regularly so faster leveling will help to keep it fun and keep progress smooth. There's nothing worse than being stuck at one level for 6 months or longer because your just too busy to play regularly, and you then loose the enthusiasm.
I think it looks like classes progress in power at a more regular pace and, from when I have been rolling high level characters to test out the creation, it is obvious that they do not become too overpowered at the higher echelons of the play test. This means that quicker character leveling shouldn't feel as if you are getting too powerful too soon. I think that will be attractive to a lot of players.
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