thisisnotthenerd's d20 statistics - Chapter 20

it's been a while since i did one of these; welcome back to thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats. this time, we're taking a deeper dive into level progressions.

i went into this a bit back in october, but the chart has been updated to reflect fantasy high junior year's level progression, as seen below.

we're going to focus on the seasons with level changes, but a note on the non progression seasons--they tend to reflect a short timetable: events occurring over the course of a day/week. the non leveled seasons are not run in dnd and don't really have stat changes in that way, though they sometimes reflect changes in attributes, e.g. the wand evolution in misfits & magic or dan f*cks getting the wealthy attribute in mentopolis.

before we get into the level progression, let's talk adventure level. this just describes the scale of adventure; tier 1 is levels 1-4, tier 2 is levels 5-10, tier 3 is levels 11-16, and tier 4 is levels 17-20.

the majority of d20 seasons fall into tier 1 or 2, with more in the latter category. this makes sense--it's easy to create interesting/potentially deadly encounters without risking character death every time. you may notice repetition of the major progression seasons (fantasy high, the unsleeping city, a crown of candy, a starstruck odyssey, neverafter)—this is because of their general progression, with leveling after battle episodes. they cannot be fully classified as one or the other, and are thus counted in both. the scale of combat significantly changes.

with the lower levels, they run the risk of pc death, as we saw in both fantasy high and neverafter, where the parties started at level 1. in starstruck the characters go down in combat often; with the exception of the ship combats and the finale, someone goes down in every starstruck battle; sometimes multiple characters. acoc was intentionally deadly, but once the party got a primary caster they were pretty much set. the point of all of this is to say that at a certain point dnd characters get hard to kill and you have to get creative to get them to feel the stakes.

as of now, dimension 20 does not have any tier 4 adventures. it's easy to understand why; the scale of adventure, once the party gets to that point, becomes difficult to balance and make interesting over time. the high levels can be fun for oneshots and potentially a mini campaign, but without previous emotional investment, they can be difficult to make interesting--if the party is level with gods, how can you effectively challenge them? the nature of the medium is that the storytelling arcs are tied to mechanical growth; the short-form structure of dimension 20 means that they don't have the time to get characters from 1 to 20, except in the case of sequel seasons.

fantasy high senior year might potentially be a tier 4 adventure because we've had time to see the bad kids grow and change and progress through the previous levels; any tier 4 adventure would be a simple escalation of the threats the party already faced.

anyway. let's take a look at some specifics of level progressions.

check them out in spreadsheet form here

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major level progressions

the organization will be slightly different here, to account for continual progressions in sequel seasons, so keep that in mind. this will also include individual commentary in some cases. fair warning: if you're looking for a specific character/season it's better to ctrl+F.

the intrepid heroes seasons are major progression of varying degrees. initially this meant the characters went up one level after each combat encounter. as the formats for seasons varied, this changed. for example, there is only one level jump in fantasy high sophom*ore year, and only two in chapter 2 of the unsleeping city. these season are included as part of their greater series such that we can track the characters' growth.

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fantasy high

the bad kids have had some major growth from their first appearance until now--they began with milestone growth, briefly switched to xp leveling (shh!) and then returned to milestone growth with their return to battlemaps.

in freshman year, they all went through linear milestone leveling, taking subclasses at third level. in sophom*ore year, some of them leaned into multiclassing and chose to switch subclasses for the sake of narrative growth. in junior year, we saw a continuation of the multiclassing and subclass switches.

fig faeth

freshman year: fig leveled exclusively in bard from levels 1 to 8, taking whispers bard as her subclass at level 3.
sophom*ore year: fig altered her build partially, to begin the season with 6 levels of whispers bard and 2 levels of hexblade warlock. at the mid-season level up, fig swapped to the bard college of lore and dropped one level of hexblade warlock in order to end the season with 8 levels of lore bard and 1 level of hexblade warlock.
junior year: fig started the season with 8 levels of lore bard and 2 levels of hexblade warlock that she affirmed with an ancestral pact in the first battle. after taking an additional level of bard, she made the decision to take on paladin levels, exchanging one of her hexblade warlock levels to take two levels of paladin at once. for the rest of the season she alternated between leveling in lore bard and devotion paladin, thus ending with 10 levels of lore bard, 3 levels of devotion paladin, and 1 level hexblade warlock.

overall level change:

initial level: bard 1
final level: lore bard 10 | devotion paladin 3 | hexblade warlock 1

gorgug thistlespring

freshman year: gorgug leveled exclusively in barbarian from levels 1 to 8, taking berserker barbarian as his subclass at level 3.
sophom*ore year: gorgug started the season as a level 8 berserker barbarian. at the mid-season level up, gorgug took his first level of artificer to end the season with 8 levels of berserker barbarian and 1 level of artificer.
junior year: gorgug started the season having redistributed his levels somewhat: 7 levels of berserker barbarian and 3 levels of artificer (subclass unconfirmed but expected to be alchemist). with each subsequent level up, he removed barbarian levels to replace them with higher artificer levels; he went from 7 | 3 -> 6 | 5 -> 6 | 6 -> 6 | 7 -> 5 | 9. furthermore, he swapped from the battlesmith subclass (declared at first level up) to the barbificer subclass (homebrew) to reflect his narrative growth. he ended the season with 5 levels of berserker barbarian and 9 levels of barbificer artificer.

overall level change:

initial level: barbarian 1
final level: berserker barbarian 5 | barbificer artificer 9

adaine abernant

freshman year: adaine leveled exclusively in wizard from levels 1 to 8, taking divination wizard as her subclass at level 3.
sophom*ore year: adaine started the season as a level 8 divination wizard. at the mid-season level up, she took another level of divination wizard.
junior year: adaine started the season with 10 levels of divination wizard; she continued leveling in it throughout the season to end with 14 levels of divination wizard. she was the only one of the bad kids to not change her subclass or multiclass in any season.

overall level change:

initial level: wizard 1
final level: divination wizard 14

fabian aramais seacaster

freshman year: fabian leveled exclusively in fighter from levels 1 to 8, taking champion fighter as his subclass at level 3.
sophom*ore year: fabian started the season as a level 8 champion fighter. after his catastrophic fall in leviathan, fabian lost the use of his class/subclass features. at the mid-season level up, he redistributed his build: he took 6 levels of battlemaster fighter and 3 levels of swords bard.
junior year: fabian started the season with 6 levels of battlemaster fighter and 4 levels of swords bard; he exclusively leveled in swords bard for the rest of the season to end with 6 levels of battlemaster fighter and 8 levels of swords bard.

overall level change:

initial level: fighter 1
final level: battlemaster fighter 6 | swords bard 8

kristen applebees

freshman year: kristen leveled exclusively in life cleric from levels 1 to 8.
sophom*ore year: kristen started the season as a level 8 life cleric. at the mid-season level up, she took another level of life cleric. after her death and council of the gods, she swapped her subclass to twilight cleric to reflect her new deity.
junior year: kristen started the season with 10 levels of twilight cleric; she continued leveling in it throughout the season to end with 14 levels of twlight cleric.

overall level change:

initial level: life cleric 1
final level: twilight cleric 14

riz gukgak

freshman year: riz leveled exclusively in rogue from levels 1 to 8, taking inquisitive rogue as his subclass at level 3.
sophom*ore year: riz started the season as a level 8 inquisitive rogue. at the mid-season level up, he took another level of inquisitive rogue.
junior year: riz started the season with 10 levels of arcane trickster rogue, having switched his subclass to improve efficiency and reflect his work as an angelic agent; he continued leveling in it throughout the season to end with 14 levels of arcane trickster rogue.

overall level change:

initial level: rogue 1
final level: arcane trickster rogue 14

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the unsleeping city

the dream team also experienced major growth, though they swapped from single battle-milestone to a more spread out approach from chapter i to chapter ii. there were notably fewer multiclasses and subclass swaps, though they were still present. given that the setting required engagement with the magical side of new york, all of the party members had some kind of magic and the party overall had a higher than average number of full casters (chapter i: 4, chapter 2: 4)

this is our first sequel season where new characters come in to play; the descriptions will reflect this change.

ricky matsui

chapter i: ricky leveled exclusively in devotion paladin from level 3 to level 10.
chapter ii: ricky started the season with a subclass change to redemption paladin, then continually leveled in it to finish the season at level 12.

overall level change:

initial level: devotion paladin 3
final level: redemption paladin 12

sofia lee

chapter i: sofia started the season as a level 3 drunken master monk--she leveled in it until mid-way through the season, when she made a pact with la gran gata and picked up two levels of hexblade warlock. she finished the season with 8 levels of drunken master monk and 2 levels of hexblade warlock.
chapter ii: sofia started the season with a subclass change to shadow monk, to symbolize her journey away from alcoholism, and then exclusively leveled in it to end the season with 10 levels of shadow monk and 2 levels of hexblade warlock. she utilized downtime addiction mechanics (progressive rolls on each die in the suite to symbolize her state; the highest roll on each given die would trigger a move to the next, e.g. a 4 on the d4 means she'd move to the d6, so on and so forth).

overall level change:

initial level: drunken master monk 3
final level: shadow monk 10 | hexblade warlock 2

kingston brown

chapter i: kingston leveled exclusively in city cleric from level 3 to level 10.
chapter ii: kingston leveled exclusively in city cleric from level 10 to level 12.

overall level change:

initial level: city cleric 3
final level: city cleric 12

misty moore/rowan berry

chapter i: misty leveled exclusively in lore bard from level 3 to level 10.
chapter ii: rowan presumably leveled up off-screen; we meet her with 12 levels of lore bard in chapter ii.

overall level change:

initial level: lore bard 3
final level: lore bard 12

iga lisowski

chapter i: iga was not present in chapter i; presumably she progressively leveled up throughout her lifetime.
chapter ii: iga started the season with 10 levels of genie warlock; after unlocking the secret of her ancestral chest, she took 2 levels of draconic sorcerer to finish the season.

overall level change:

initial level: genie warlock 10
final level: genie warlock 10 | draconic sorcerer 2

kugrash
See Also
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chapter i: kugrash leveled exclusively in shepherd druid from level 3 to level 10.
chapter ii: kugrash was not present as a PC in chapter ii, but as an omnipotent spirit of the city of new york.

overall level change:

initial level: shepherd druid 3
final level: shepherd druid 10

cody walsh

chapter i: cody was not present in chapter i; presumably he leveled up throughout his lifetime.
chapter ii: cody leveled exclusively in oathbreaker paladin from level 10 to level 12.

overall level change:

initial level: oathbreaker paladin 10
final level: oathbreaker paladin 12

pete conlan

chapter i: pete leveled exclusively in wild magic sorcerer from level 3 to level 10. pete utilized a modified build to reflect his role as the vox phantasma and his background as an addict; instead of triggering wild magic surges solely on nat 1s, his magic increased the dc with each spell he used, thus increasing the probability of surges. he also received the 14th level subclass feature controlled chaos (advantage on d100 roll for wild magic) midway through the season.
chapter ii: pete leveled exclusively in wild magic sorcerer from level 10 to level 12. he retained his altered build features and utilized the addiction mechanics that he shared with sofia.

overall level change:

initial level: wild magic sorcerer 3
final level: wild magic sorcerer 12

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a crown of candy

the taste buds also saw major growth, though some saw different progressions; the pcs started the season at staggered levels. multiclassing and subclass switches were common in this season perhaps more than any other. maximization of the builds was a focus due to the deadly nature of the season.

liam wilhelmina

liam started the season with 2 levels of ranger and selected the beastmaster subclass after the ambush on sucrosi road. he continued to level in ranger, but after the death of his companion, he 'became a war guy' and took on the gloomstalker subclass. after the death of his cousin, liam restructured his build to include 5 levels of gloomstalker ranger and 2 levels of rogue. from there, he alternated between adding levels of rogue and levels of ranger. he finished the season with 6 levels of gloomstalker ranger and 4 levels of assassin rogue.

overall level change:

initial level: ranger 2
final level: gloomstalker ranger 6 | assassin rogue 4

theobald gumbar

theo leveled exclusively in eldritch knight fighter from level 3 to level 10.

overall level change:

initial level: eldritch knight fighter 3
final level: eldritch knight fighter 10

jet rocks

jet started the season with 1 level of rogue; she took 3 levels of battlemaster fighter in preparation for the grand tournament. jet continued to increase her fighter levels--she dropped her rogue level to prioritize her fighter levels just before her death, ending with 7 levels of battlemaster fighter.

overall level change:

initial level: rogue 1
final level: battlemaster fighter 7

saccharina frostwhip

saccharina joined the party with 6 levels of storm sorcerer and 2 levels of tempest cleric; she prioritized her sorcerer levels and ended the season with 8 levels of storm sorcerer and 2 levels of tempest cleric. she was the party's only full caster and her build was optimized to reflect that.

overall level change:

initial level: storm sorcerer 6 | tempest cleric 2
final level: storm sorcerer 8 | tempest cleric 2

ruby rocks

ruby started the season with 1 level of rogue; she continued to level it, taking arcane trickster as her subclass in preparation for the grand tournament. she took 1 level of shadow sorcerer after communing with her aunt lazuli and the sugar plum fairy, but continued to level in rogue for the rest of the season, ending with 9 levels of arcane trickster rogue and 1 level of shadow sorcerer

overall level change:

initial level: rogue 1
final level: arcane trickster rogue 9 | shadow sorcerer 1

amethar rocks

amethar started the season with 3 levels of storm herald barbarian; he tok two further levels in it until the ambush at st. arugula's, when he started to level in fighter, selecting battlemaster as his subclass to match his daughter. he ended the season with 5 levels of storm herald barbarian and 5 levels of battlemaster fighter.

overall level change:

initial level: storm herald barbarian 3
final level: storm herald barbarian 5 | battlemaster fighter 5

lapin cadbury

lapin leveled exclusively in celestial warlock from level 3 to level 5. he passed away early in the campaign, thus precluding further level changes.

overall level change:

initial level: celestial warlock 3
final level: celestial warlock 5

cumulous rocks

cumulous leveled exclusively in long death monk from level 6 to level 10. he joined the party midway through the campaign as they returned to candia.

overall level change:

initial level: long death monk 6
final level: long death monk 10

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a starstruck odyssey

starstruck runs a little differently than previous seasons of dimension 20 by virtue of using sw5e--a dnd-influenced game system that utilizes aspects of the world of star wars to bring a sci-fi galaxy to life. you can check out sw5e here; i highly recommend it.

the major change is the inclusion of ship deployments as additional customization; this allows the characters to level up their proficiencies on the ship and provides additional abilities for use on space craft. ship deployment levels do not necessarily correlate to character class levels; characters technically start at level 0 and level up as they prove their mastery in ship combat. the gunner channel is technically a little overleveled in their ship deployment levels with respect to their character classes, if we assume the 5 levels of ship deployment are evenly spaced among the 20 character class levels.

this serves to balance the season, because the gunner channel ends the season at level 6 after fighting some enemies that were seriously above their weight class, though they had fewer battles in general. we saw some staggered starts again, though no subclass swaps or multiclassing. they leveled up after combats with battle boards; there were a few encounters that did not qualify (e.g. flee from fantanimalland).

gunnie miggles-rashbax

character class: gunnie leveled exclusively in engineer from level 1 to level 6, taking 3 levels and the gadgeteer subclass at the party's first level up. this class is comparable to artificer, with the full casting progression and inspiration from bard.
ship deployment: gunnie leveled exclusively in mechanic from level 1 to level 3.

overall level change:

initial level: engineer 1 [mechanic 1]
final level: gadgeteer engineer 6 [mechanic 3]

riva

character class: riva leveled exclusively in suggestion consular from level 3 to level 6. this class combines features of the cleric, wizard, and sorcerer, and utilizes metamagic as an additional feature.
ship deployment: riva leveled exclusively in coordinator from level 1 to level 3.

overall level change:

initial level: suggestion consular 3 [coordinator 1]
final level: suggestion consular 6 [coordinator 3]

norman 'skip' takamori

character class: skip leveled exclusively in operative from level 2 to level 6, taking 2 levels and the lethality subclass at the party's first level up. this class is primarily based on the rogue, but provides different uses of sneak attack and additional maneuvers.
ship deployment: skip leveled exclusively in pilot from level 1 to level 3

overall level change:

initial level: operative 2 [pilot 1]
final level: lethality operative 6 [pilot 3]

margaret encino

character class: margaret leveled exclusively in scholar from level 2 to level 6, taking 2 levels and the politician subclass at the party's first level up. this is a brand new class which incorporates maneuvers from the battlemaster fighter and new features knows as discoveries that serve to support the party in battle and provide expertise out of combat.
ship deployment: margaret leveled exclusively in operator from level 1 to level 3.

overall level change:

initial level: scholar 2 [operator 1]
final level: politician scholar 6 [operator 3]

sundry sidney

character class: sidney leveled exclusively in corsair sentinel from level 3 to level 6. this class uses a 2/3rds progression that supports combat support casting from the bard and an additional level of customization known as ideals
ship deployment: sidney leveled exclusively in gunner from level 1 to level 3

overall level change:

initial level: corsair sentinel 3 [gunner 1]
final level: corsair sentinel 6 [gunner 3]

big barry syx

character class: barry leveled exclusively in ballistic berserker from level 3 to level 6. this class is based on the barbarian, with the addition of instincts that provide unique abilities aside from subclass.
ship deployment: barry leveled exclusively in gunner from level 1 to level 3

overall level change:

initial level: ballistic berserker 3 [gunner 1]
final level: ballistic berserker 6 [gunner 3]

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neverafter

neverafter has the most traditional high fantasy dnd setting--the leveling of the party is relatively normal, with a couple of subclass swaps and multiclasses, but generally standard progression.

we saw a couple of narrative moments that signaled different level shifts: destiny's children had a notable level jump after their first battle because they committed to a darker universe after death. the party had symbolic changes after their encounter with the baba yaga as well, with a second level jump going into the finale.

rosamund du prix

rosamund started the season as a level 1 ranger. at the first major jump, she continued on the ranger track and took the swarmkeeper subclass. she maintained this progression until the second major jump, when she restructured her build to incorporate 5 levels of swarmkeeper ranger, 2 levels of stars druid, and 1 level of fighter, where she ended the season.

overall level change:

initial level: ranger 1
final level: swarmkeeper ranger 5 | stars druid 2 | fighter 1

mother timothy goose

timothy started the season as a level 1 bard. at the first major jump, he continued on the bard track and took the lore subclass. he maintained this progression through the second major jump, and ended the season with 8 levels of lore bard.

overall level change:

initial level: bard 1
final level: lore bard 8

pinocchio

pinocchio started the season as a level 1 archfey warlock. at the first major jump, he continued on this track. after breaking his ties with the stepmother, he changed his subclass to destiny, a homebrew that allowed him to affect elements of fate relating to his own story. he maintained this progression through the second major jump, and ended the season with 8 levels of destiny warlock.

overall level change:

the ravening war

unlike the other seasons we've discussed so far, the ravening war has a time skip over wartime that constitutes a major level jump--almost doubling the previous builds. much like a crown of candy, this season involved lots of multiclasses and subclass swaps, with min-maxing for political intrigue as opposed to pure combat.

delissandro katzon

delissandro started the season with 5 levels of champion fighter. at the time skip he swapped his fighter subclass out and took a level of barbarian, to end the season with 8 levels of battlemaster fighter and 1 level of barbarian.

overall level change:

initial level: champion fighter 5
final level: battlemaster fighter 8 | barbarian 1

raphaniel charlock

raphaniel started the season with 4 levels of eloquence bard and 1 level of rogue. at the time skip he took two levels of each and the inquisitive rogue subclass, to end the season with 6 levels of eloquence bard and 3 levels of inquisitive rogue. his build included feats that

overall level change:

initial level: eloquence bard 4 | rogue 1
final level: eloquence bard 6 | inquisitive rogue 3

karna solara

karna started the season with 3 levels of whispers bard and 2 levels of great old one warlock. at the time skip she took 4 levels of phantom rogue, to end the season with 4 levels of phantom rogue, 3 levels of whispers bard, and 2 levels of great old one warlock.

overall level change:

initial level: whispers bard 3 | great old one warlock 2
final level: phantom rogue 4 | whispers bard 3 | great old one warlock 2

colin provolone

colin started the season with 3 levels of battlemaster fighter and 2 levels of rogue. at the time skip he took 3 fighter levels and 1 rogue level, to end the season with 6 levels of battlemaster fighter and 3 levels of swashbuckler rogue.

overall level change:

initial level: battlemaster fighter 3 | rogue 2
final level: battlemaster fighter 6 | swashbuckler rogue 3

lady amangeaux epiceé du peche

amangeaux started the season with 4 levels of arcane trickster rogue, comparatively lower level than the rest of the party. at the time skip, she continued in the progression to end the season with 9 levels of arcane trickster rogue.

overall level change:

initial level: arcane trickster rogue 4
final level: arcane trickster rogue 9

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burrow's end

burrow's end is the first true major progression sidequest, despite occurring on a compressed timespan. each level up is a double jump, signifying the party's exposure to the blue and the society of last bast. multiclassing, subclass swaps, and restructured builds were common in this season; all of the characters multiclass at least once.

tula

tula started the season with 4 levels of redemption paladin. at the first level jump she continued the progression with two additional levels. at the second level jump she continued the progression with two additional levels. at the final level jump she restructured her build to finish the season with 7 levels of redemption paladin and 3 levels of life cleric.

overall level change:

initial level: redemption paladin 4
final level: redemption paladin 7 | life cleric 3

jaysohn

jaysohn started the season with 4 levels of astral self monk. at the first level jump he took 1 additional level as well as 1 level of rogue. at the second level jump he continued the rogue progression with two additional levels, taking the swashbuckler subclass. at the final level jump he took two additional levels of rogue to finish the season with 5 levels of astral self monk and 5 levels of swashbuckler rogue.

overall level change:

initial level: astral self monk 4
final level: astral self monk 5 | swashbuckler rogue 5

viola

viola started the season with 4 levels of devotion paladin. at the first level jump she continued the progression with two additional levels. at the second level jump she continued the progression with two additional levels. at the final level jump she restructured her build to finish the season with 7 levels of devotion paladin and 3 levels of champion fighter.

overall level change:

initial level: devotion paladin 4
final level: devotion paladin 7 | champion fighter 3

thorn vale

thorn started the season with 4 levels of fey wanderer ranger. at the first level jump he continued the progression with two additional levels. at the second level jump he took 1 additional level as well as 1 level of tempest cleric. at the final level jump he restructured his build to finish the season with 5 levels of fey wanderer ranger and 5 levels of tempest cleric.

overall level change:

initial level: fey wanderer ranger 4
final level: fey wanderer ranger 5 | tempest cleric 5

ava

ava started the season with 3 levels of ancestral guardians barbarian and 1 level of fighter. at the first level jump she continued the barbarian progression with two additional levels. at the second level jump she continued the fighter progression with two additional levels, taking the battlemaster subclass. at the final level jump she added two grave cleric levels to finish the season with 5 levels of ancestral guardians barbarian, 3 levels of battlemaster fighter, and 2 levels of grave cleric.

overall level change:

initial level: ancestral guardians barbarian 3 | fighter 1
final level: ancestral guardians barbarian 5 | battlemaster fighter 3 | life cleric 2

lila

lila started the season with 4 levels of inquisitive rogue. at the first level jump she continued the rogue progression with two additional levels, and swapped her subclass to arcane trickster. at the second level jump she took two levels of wizard. at the final level jump she restructured her build to finish the season with 4 levels of arcane trickster rogue and 6 levels of bladesinger wizard.

overall level change:

initial level: inquisitive rogue 4
final level: arcane trickster rogue 4 | bladesinger wizard 6

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minor level progressions

these are the seasons with only one level jump--this reflects having narrative growth on a compressed timeline. if we include fhsy for the sake of argument, all of these seasons fall into tier 2--it makes sense that there's only a minor level change because the characters don't need to be significantly scaled up to face more powerful foes. it's also notable that these are 10 episode seasons, and the other 10-eps either have no level change or major level changes--the length has room for variance.

this section kind of restates the obvious, but it's interesting to see the difference in how much each season prioritizes optimization; for example, brennan gets got by a feat (alert) that antiope takes with her level up.

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the seven

not too many crazy changes, though we do see a few multiclasses/multiclass extensions. the notable changes really fall into the nitty-gritty, with class features, subclass features, and feats.

antiope jones

antiope started the season with 6 levels of arcane archer fighter and 3 levels of monster slayer ranger. at the mid-season level up, she took another ranger level and the alert feat.

overall level change:

initial level: arcane archer fighter 6 | monster slayer ranger 3
final level: arcane archer fighter 6 | monster slayer ranger 4

katja cleaver

katja started the season with 9 levels of battlemaster fighter. at the mid-season level up, she took 1 level of barbarian.

overall level change:

initial level: battlemaster fighter 9
final level: battlemaster fighter 9 | barbarian 1

penny luckstone

penny started the season with 9 levels of arcane trickster rogue. at the mid-season level up, she took another rogue level.

overall level change:

initial level: arcane trickster rogue 9
final level: arcane trickster rogue 10

danielle barkstock

danielle started the season with 9 levels of shepherd druid. at the mid-season level up, she took another druid level.

overall level change:

initial level: shepherd druid 9
final level: shepherd druid 10

ostentatia wallace

ostentatia started the season with 9 levels of forge cleric. at the mid-season level up, she took another cleric level.

overall level change:

initial level: forge cleric 9
final level: forge cleric 10

sam nightingale

sam started the season with 6 levels of storm sorcerer and 3 levels of glamour bard. at the mid-season level up, she took another bard level, as well as a magic initiate: warlock to reflect her pact with talura.

overall level change:

initial level: storm sorcerer 6 | glamour bard 3
final level: storm sorcerer 6 | glamour bard 4

zelda donovan

zelda started the season with 8 levels of eagle totem barbarian and 1 level of fighter. at the mid-season level up, she took another fighter level.

overall level change:

initial level: eagle totem barbarian 8 | fighter 1
final level: eagle totem barbarian 8 | fighter 2

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a court of fey and flowers

another season without crazy changes--all of the characters continue their standard progression, no subclass changes or multiclasses, though hob continues a multiclass progression.

andhera

andhera started the season with 8 levels of devotion paladin. at the mid-season level up, he took another paladin level.

overall level change:

initial level: devotion paladin 8
final level: devotion paladin 9

k.p. hob

hob started the season with 6 levels of battlemaster fighter, 1 level of rogue, and 1 level of barbarian. at the mid-season level up, he took another rogue level to get cunning action.

overall level change:

initial level: battlemaster fighter 6 | rogue 1 | barbarian 1
final level: battlemaster fighter 6 | rogue 2 | barbarian 1

chirp featherfowl

chirp started the season with 8 levels of bladesinger wizard. at the mid-season level up, she took another wizard level.

overall level change:

initial level: bladesinger wizard 8
final level: bladesinger wizard 9

squak airavis

squak started the season with 8 levels of lore bard. at the mid-season level up, he took another bard level.

overall level change:

initial level: lore bard 8
final level: lore bard 9

delloso de la rue

rue started the season with 8 levels of bard, subclass unknown. at the mid-season level up, they took another bard level.

overall level change:

initial level: bard 8
final level: bard 9

binx choppley

binx started the season with 8 levels of arcane trickster rogue. at the mid-season level up, they took another rogue level.

overall level change:

initial level: arcane trickster rogue 8
final level: arcane trickster rogue 9

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nonprogression seasons

i really don't feel like writing all of these out individually, so reference the images for specifics of leveling. i do have some commentary on the tiering of these seasons and what it means for the scale of the adventure.

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escape from the bloodkeep

the vile villains are still tied for highest level party at level 14, though they have fewer multiclasses--thus the characters are running around with roughly the same amount in each of their toolkits. they're sturdy enough that battles can be in precarious environments and include multiple objectives, while leaving room for shenanigans. honestly, given the lava shenanigans in bloodkeep, you'd think brennan would have learned for fhjy.

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tiny heist

given the genre, it makes sense that the tiny thieves would be capped at level 4. getting them up into tier 2 would lead to shenanigans that would stretch the bounds of a heist movie. they tend to run low magic, and the few spells in use are explained by the presence of fairies, technology, or monastic tradition. that doesn't stop them from doing things like rolling on a roll of quarters like a circus bear, crushing a man in a transforming car, or blowing up a bomb with a flamethrower.

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pirates of leviathan

at level 5, the buccaneer buddies are securely beyond the abilities of the average person, and that's clear in their roles on leviathan. it means that the threats feel real and present and that the characters inhabit the world as protectors of their home. the entire party has some degree of magic/supernatural aid, which tracks for the people that end up facing a magical threat to leviathan.

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mice & murder

much like the tiny thieves, if the sylvan sleuths got too high level it would stretch the bounds of credulity for the mystery genre. the party is low magic; the vicar's magic is explained by blessings from the lord, though he is actually pretty bad at it. to even out the need for high rolls with the need for low leveling, all of the characters have a feat granting them skill expertise in one of the key skills of the mystery: history, insight, investigation, perception, and athletics for lars. this lets them work with the 15-20-25-nat 20 system for ability checks; all of them could theoretically find clues, but realistically they have different skillsets and would look for different things, which balances the info they find.

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coffin run

the fang gang has a mix of levels that reflects the amount of time each character has spent with dracula--may at level 6, aleksandr and wetzel at level 7, and squing at level 8. it affects their strategy in unusual ways: squing is the tank, wetzel and aleksandr fight on the front/midlines while running support, and may does crowd control. the party is fairly magic by nature, but leans more toward partial than full progressions.

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dungeons and drag queens

the questing queens are in much the same situation as the buccaneer buddies; powerful enough to start venturing out, but still low enough that the threats feel real and present. tier 2 is the bread and butter of 5e--fun abilities for the characters, enough that you have to think about what you're doing, but not too much for new players. this party leans a little bit harder to the martial side of things--with two long-ranged specialists they tend to space their fights out and take people out from afar, while staging princess as a shield and gertrude present for dps.

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and that's all for this time! i hope you enjoyed this installment--it's a long one (6.3k words!). kudos to you for making it this far.

obligatory spreadsheet link: thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats

thisisnotthenerd's d20 statistics - Chapter 20 - thisisnotthenerd (2024)

major level progressions

fantasy high

the unsleeping city

a crown of candy

a starstruck odyssey

neverafter

the ravening war

burrow's end

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minor level progressions

the seven

a court of fey and flowers

nonprogression seasons

escape from the bloodkeep

tiny heist

pirates of leviathan

mice & murder

coffin run

dungeons and drag queens