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hellfirenacht · 1 year ago

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Wing Man Part 3

A/N: This fic is all vibes, no plot so it's hard to write lol. I have a few ideas now thanks to the wonderful @crocwork-clockodile and @hellfiredarling 💜

As usual, typos are fixed live and in post lol

Fic Summary: Steve ‘the Hair’ Harrington is your best friend, and is constantly striking out. Sick of this, you two make a deal; you’ll wing man for each other. Hooking Steve up with dates is easy, but he finds himself struggling to find you a date. At least, until Dustin starts talking about his new cool friend Eddie.

Chapter Summary: You really should be trying to flirt, but somehow you and Eddie can only ever talk about Chris Morrison.

5k words

Part 1 Part 2

Steve did not show back up for at least a half hour after he ‘went to the bathroom’. Had you not been in your current situation, you would have made fun of him for being ‘backed up’ or something along those lines.

But in all honesty, you hardly even noticed that he was gone. When Eddie dropped the puck the world had faded into a whirlwind of clacking, yelling, and pitting children against each other. With the sudden death match, Dustin had won. You had taken Mike's place, giving him a condescending pat on the head. He hadn’t been pleased about the situation, but at least it kept him from saying whatever rule-grudge that he held against Eddie.

To your surprise, Eddie had stuck around to watch the match between you and Dustin. You tried not to be too nervous as the match went on, but your freshman friend was your saving grace even as he kicked your ass.

“Eddie’s been the leader of Hellfire for years now.” Dustin said, dropping the puck down and hitting it. “He’s always been the DM.”

“Except for Chris Morrison.” you said.

“Yeah except that guy.” Dustin nodded.

“He started the club, but I made it the merry band of bandits and misfits that it is today.” Eddie said, his hands resting against the side of the table, leaning forward. You’d only been chatting with him and Dustin for a few minutes, but you had quickly learned that Eddie was not the type to stay still for very long.

“You’re gonna get your finger smashed if you keep your hand there.” you said, glancing at how close his fingers were to the smooth surface of the rink. “You’re putting a lot of trust in geometry that this puck isn’t going to crush your hand. It’s already tried to kill me once.” You doubted that the heavy silver rings on his fingers would help at all.

Eddie looked down at his hands and pulled back, just in time for the puck to nearly hit where his fingers had been. “Shit, I didn’t even notice.”

“I notice everything.” You said, not noticing as Dustin smacked the puck at an angle that went directly into your goal. “I notice some things.”

Dustin laughed, and Eddie even grinned at the joke. With that point it was game set and match, or something like that.

“Alright, I’m going to go win some tickets now.” Dustin said, putting the clacker? Paddle? Not-Hockey Stick? Down. You still didn’t know what it was called, but luckily air hockey probably wouldn’t come up again later.

You expected Eddie to leave again, but instead he leaned back against the table, now free to let his fingers dangle without fear of being crushed.

“So you really were interested in Hellfire when you were still in school?” he asked, tilting his head over at you. That same distant and unreadable expression on his face. You really wished that you knew what he was thinking right now.

“Yeah, I saw you guys always having fun so I thought I wanted to try.” you said. “But, you know. Chris Morrison.”

“Forget about Chris Morrison.” Eddie turned towards you, standing upright and looking down at you. How did he feel so tall all of the sudden? How did he keep doing that? What magic switch was he able to turn on and off in his brain to make him go from ‘just a guy’ to ‘hey, I’m in charge here.’? “What made you have an interest in Dungeons and Dragons?”

“The dragons first, and then the dungeons.” It was the first thing that popped into your head, and you immediately realized it was maybe a little stupid and sarcastic. To be fair, you also were a little stupid and sarcastic, but with the way he was looking at you, Eddie wanted a real answer. The look on his face was actually a little funny, the way his whole face fell in annoyance.

Right, he didn’t know you. You didn’t know him. He was still trying to decide if you were some sort of friend or foe. You suspected that if Dustin hadn’t chatted with you so easily through your match with him Eddie wouldn’t have bothered talking to you more.

Maybe you should fire Steve and make Dustin your wing man instead.

He didn’t immediately leave though, which made you assume that you were being given a second chance to give him a real answer.

“Alright, I played a lot of make-believe as a kid.” you said. “Then as I got older, people stopped playing, but I wasn’t ready to be done. Then when I heard about this club where you could play make-believe again, I thought it would let me have that feeling again. I thought it’d be cool to, I don’t know, have people to play with again.”

It was a childish answer, but it was a real one. Everything in your life after middle school had been a steady monotonous stream of ‘work, home, work, school, home, school function, work, home’.

“Hellfire Club isn’t Make-Believe Club.” Eddie said, still staring you down. “Yeah, it’s a fantasy game but we take it seriously. It’s not all princesses and fairy tales.”

Actually, this guy might be getting on your nerves now.

“You’re taking my answer awful personally.” you said, straightening up under his gaze. You didn’t care how intimidating he was trying to be right now, he had pissed you off. “You asked why I wanted to play, I gave you my answer. You don’t have to like it, but there it is.”

He seemed taken aback by your bluntness. He blinked, his round eyes shifting to something else. “You’re right.” he said finally with a subtle laugh. “That was a dick thing to say. I really sounded like Chris Morrison for a second.”

“Yeah, you did.” you agreed. “You always this cynical about people?”

“Well, when you’re the town freak it comes with the title.” he shrugged.

“Does it come with a sash too? Or perhaps a crown?”

“No, unfortunately Hawkins High didn’t have that in the budget this year.”

“You should take that up with the student council.”

“Or City Hall.”

He was smiling at you now, and you hated how that smile was brighter than any of the flashing lights of the arcade. The longer you looked at him, the more attractive he got. God, you were going to kill Steve for delivering something you couldn’t have.

Eddie’s demeanor changed as you two bantered, no longer on edge now. Now that he seemed sure that you weren’t here to cause problems or were just looking to laugh at the freaks, his stance was much more relaxed. You looked him over again, taking advantage of his gaze drifting to where two other members were hunched over an arcade cabinet.

He had long wavy brown hair, and you tried to place how you could have missed that in school. Surely you would have remembered someone like him, right? It felt so much like you were missing something, but you couldn’t place where you knew him. It was going to drive you insane.

“So it looks like I’m done here.” You jumped as Steve appeared behind you. You looked over at him, your face reading with panic at the idea of him ditching out on you now. Yeah, things were going a lot better without him here, and he had not been very helpful-

Okay, maybe he didn’t need to be here to help with your attempt to flirt but you still weren’t exactly eager to be left alone.

Eddie looked between the two of you and you turned to Eddie. “I’ll be right back, I’m gonna see him off.” You said.

“Right, yeah.” Eddie nodded. He was on his guard again and you felt bad that Steve’s presence caused that.

Eddie and Steve looked at each other, a tension between the two of them. For five full seconds they just stared at each other with you in the middle, wondering what the actual fuck was going on.

That’s when Eddie threw up his hands over his hand in an imitation of horns and sputtered at Steve who was immediately taken aback. It was so out of left field, and you let out a laugh before covering your mouth and grabbing Steve and dragging him away towards the entrance.

“What was that about?” you asked as you two stepped outside. “And where the hell were you for the past half hour?”

“I was giving you space because you weren’t going to get anywhere with me around.” Steve said, looking back over his shoulder. Eddie had disappeared into the arcade with his club. “He really does live up to his nickname.”

“Nickname? You’re trying to set me up with a high schooler with a nickname?” You sighed.

“Yeah, and you were basically drooling over him the whole time you were talking so, you know, you’re welcome about that.” Steve said. “Everyone called him a freak in school so, Eddie ‘the Freak’ Munson.”

“Yeah, he mentioned something about being the town freak.” you said. “Why’s he a freak exactly?”

Steve tilted his head, as if he couldn’t tell if you were joking or serious. “He runs a club called Hellfire, plays that weird game you and Dustin keep talking about, and just- look at him! With the long hair and the chains and metal patches.”

“According to you, I was looking at him.” you snorted. “So he plays games and dresses differently and has taste in music. Doesn’t make him a freak.”

“Right, I forgot you’re a total weirdo who’d be into that.”

“He was your idea!”

Steve couldn’t argue with that. All the things that he would have found off putting to him in high school now seemed to parallel and fit with someone who he now considered a close friend. He’d been wrong about a lot in the past year, maybe he’d been wrong about Eddie too.

“So are you gonna actually flirt with him when I leave or are you just gonna stand there and make small talk?” Steve asked, crossing his arms. “I introduced you two, at least tell me you’re going to put in the effort.”

You winced and glanced back to the arcade, you couldn’t see Eddie but you knew he was still in there.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Steve gawked at you. “This whole thing was your idea and you’re not even going to try?”

“Listen, Steve, I like him. I do. That’s the problem. You actually hit the nail on the head, and he is absolutely my type.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“I’m not his type.” you admitted. “See, I know guys like Eddie. I’ve fallen for guys like Eddie. Funny thing about a lot of male weirdos, freaks, and outcasts, is that they still loooove themselves some popular girls. Girls like that love them because they’re trying to either fix them or piss off their parents. Freak guys don’t like weirdo girls.”

“You’re being the biggest dingus in the world and I think you’re full of shit.” Steve said bluntly. “Nice try, but you’re gonna go in there and flirt with him. Did he actually say that he was into that type?”

“Well, no but-”

“But nothing!” Steve sighed. “Listen, you’re cute, okay? I’ve seen what you look like when you’re not at work.” He gestured to your outfit. “If I took you to a party or a bar I’d be able to help you get at least six numbers by the end of the night.”

You furrowed your eyebrows. “So why are you so bent out of shape about Eddie?”

“Because you’re picky, and you’re my friend.” It was a surprisingly nice sentiment. “I’m fine dating around while I figure out what I want, but you’re not the same. You need someone who is going to understand what you’re talking about, and he is the only person in Hawkins who would also bite a head off a bat.”

“You know, everyone wants to talk about how Ozzy bit the head off a bat but no one wants to talk about how that whole thing actually happened-” you started.

“Nope. Not me. Don’t tell me, tell him.” Steve cut you off. “I should be telling you that talking about biting animal heads is not the best way to flirt but he might be into it. Just promise me you’ll at least try okay?”

Steve gave you a pleading look, and you couldn’t say no. You didn’t have the heart to. He was right, you’d given up before you’d even tried. Steve went out of his way to hand pick a potential date for you, someone he never would have even bothered talking to before. You had to try.

You breathed in the cool night air deeply, holding it before exhaling slowly. “Alright, I’ll try.” you promised.

“I expect you to tell me everything tomorrow!” Steve said as he started walking towards the parking lot you found yourself following him, your body reacting to all the times you two had parked next to each other at work.

“Yeah, yeah, you get first dibs on any kiss and tell!” you shot back. “After the details you gave me from your dates, I promise I’ll be worse.”

Steve pulled you in and gave you a hug, and you squeezed him tightly in return. You never would have thought that Steve Harrington of all people would end up such a good friend, but you were glad he was there. You two said your goodbyes before he got into his car. You waited until he’d pulled safely out of the parking lot before turning back into the arcade.

Just go in there, crash the Hellfire Club meeting again, and shamelessly flirt with Eddie Munson. Three things, that’s all you needed to do.

You pushed the doors of the arcade open and walked back inside.

You wander around the arcade.

You’re alone.

Shit.

There was no sign of Eddie or any of the Hellfire Club. You were completely alone in the arcade now and there was a pang in your stomach. You had told Eddie you’d be right back, but he was gone. Maybe your comment about still wanting to play had totally fucked over your chance to talk to him more after all.

You made your way back outside, just in time to see a van peel out of the parking lot. Your eyes widened when you saw Dusting looking out the window with an apologetic look and mouthing what you assumed to be the word “Sorry”.

Eddie must have gathered up the club to go somewhere else. You wanted to be fine, you wanted to shrug it off as you had every other time you’d failed to impress a guy, but you felt disappointed. Really disappointed. Sure you’d only talked to the guy for a half hour, most of which was spent talking trash as you all played air hockey, but you’d had fun. More fun than you’d had in a while with a guy, Steve notwithstanding.

It felt like Chris Morrison all over again.

You sighed to yourself and made your way to the car. Of course the second you wanted to try you ended up alone again.

Well, that killed it for tonight. You pushed the rejection out of your mind and made your way back to your own car, thinking about how you were going to tell Steve that you’d blown your chance.

Eddie Munson didn’t know what to make of the fact that Steve Harrington of all people was at the arcade. Popular? Played sports? Someone like him didn’t hang around at the arcade, not under any normal circumstances. The only thing that made sense about him being there was that he was with a girl, one that didn’t match up with the normal type that someone like Steve should be dating.

He had planned on avoiding Steve, choosing to focus on his club rather than antagonize the former king of Hawkins high. Really, he did. But then that shrimp Henderson had made his way over to Steve and his date. The kid already talked about Steve too much as it was, always going on about how cool he was while also dodging questions about how the two had met and become friends. Eddie had long since given up on asking about it, not that he cared. Not that he was jealous that the kid he was growing to see like a little brother already had another older male friend in his life.

That wasn’t Eddie’s style.

But this was Hellfire Club, and Eddie wasn’t about to lose another member to the dark side. Dustin had been looking forward to this rare gathering of the club outside of school, more than usual actually. He’d been wearing that same shit eating grin he always did when he was about to pull some bullshit at the table. Now Eddie knew why.

This little shit was trying to introduce him to Steve. Dustin talked Steve up so much, and now he just happened to be here on a date the same time as Sidequest Day? That was too convenient. Eddie shouldn’t have been surprised that Dustin was trying to bridge his friends together, but he was.

So, when Eddie saw Dustin watching Steve and his date chatting and playing Q*bert, he could have ignored the bait. He should have ignored the bait. But then Chris Morrison’s name was mentioned, and curiosity got the best of him.

Plus how could he ever resist talking shit about Chris Morrison.

So he walked up to the group, fully prepared to make agonzing small talk with Steve for thirty seconds before dragging Henderson away to focus on the real reason he was there. It wasn’t often that everyone had the time or money to come to the arcade like this, and Eddie had been lucky enough to make a special sale that day to some senior from the art department. He didn’t often have spending money for something like the arcade. He’d prefer to go to the movies or get his supply from Rick or buy anything to maintain his guitars, or upkeep of his van. Arcade time with Hellfire was something that happened once a semester at best, with the promise of him giving out advantages during the campaign he was running.

“Henderson is right. Morrison was the biggest asshole that Hellfire has ever seen. Worst DM too.” Eddie said, glancing between Dustin with a warning glare and Steve with a weary look.

He didn’t expect you, the girl playing the cabinet, to be the one to speak up. You knew Chris? This night kept getting weirder. When Eddie turned to Steve, to ask about what he was doing at the arcade, just to appease Dustin, Steve directed his attention back to you.

That made more sense, Steve Harrington wouldn’t be at an arcade on a Saturday night unless there was a girl involved.

When you turned around to face him, he noticed the way your eyes looked him down and up quickly. That was something he was used to with most people in Hawkins. They’d size him up just so that they could try and tear down the freak. There was a look in your eyes that he couldn’t quite catch before it turned into one of... disappointment? Discomfort? Shit, it was all the same to him.

Dustin made quick introductions of everyone, and Eddie was surprised when you offered your hand so easily despite the look in your eyes. Well, at least you were polite. It hadn’t even been two minutes and Eddie was already itching to get back to spending time with his club rather than crashing whatever meeting Dustin had clearly planned here.

But he’d be polite, humor the kid for just a second. If Dustin wanted him to meet Steve, then Eddie would be the contrarian and make small talk with his date instead.

You two would have graduated the same year, had Eddie not been held back. Yeah, it was starting to come back to him. He remembered you.

And that was enough of socializing with the upper class for the night. Eddie started directing Dustin back to club activities before Steve spoke up again.

“So, my friend here actually had an interest in Hellfire Club back in the day.”

It could have been left at that, but Eddie was getting more and more irritated over this situation. He looked at you, who looked like a deer in the headlights. Of course, Dustin might have seen something in Steve but he was no different now than he was back then.

“Really?” Eddie said. “And what about our little club was so interesting to you?”

He shot a glare to Steve, but looked down at you with a frown. You’d always seemed nice at school, but he’d made that mistake before. Eddie always liked the groups that kept to themselves and didn’t whisper behind his back or cause trouble for his friends. It was a shame he had been wrong about you.

But when you answered awkwardly about asking Chris to join, there was something in the way you spoke that was genuine. Either you were a really good actress, or you were being serious about it. Eddie might have been the biggest cynic in Hawkins, but he always did have a weakness to cute girls.

The conversation fizzled out quickly, and as much as Eddie didn’t mind talking to you he still wasn’t interested in crashing your date or getting to know Steve at this time. Not when his club started going wild across the room as Lucas was scoring big at a game.

So he turned around and left the two of you alone, running off to see what the jackpot prize was that Lucas had claimed.

For about ten minutes everything went back to normal. He was in the middle of an intense racing game against Jeff, when suddenly he heard Dustin screaming for him, causing his car to spin out and lose spectacularly.

Tonight was not going well at all for Eddie Munson.

Pushing down his irritation, he could hear it in Henderson’s voice that he was about to start trouble again. Of course as he made his way over to the hockey table, there you and Steve were again. Great. Eddie was so excited to be the third wheel during his club’s meet up.

But then Steve disappeared to take a shit. Well, he didn’t say that exactly but it made Eddie feel better to think of Steve having a miserable time in the bathroom. Jealous? No. Not at all.

Maybe a little.

You didn’t seem to like that Steve had left you, and Eddie figured you were uncomfortable without your date around. Dustin only ever talked Steve up, but had never mentioned you to his knowledge.

When the puck went flying towards your face a moment later, Eddie’s eyes widened with shock as you caught it with a laugh. The way you spoke to Wheeler and Henderson was familiar, as if you’d met them before. How did they know you? You were cuter when you were laughing with his friends.

As Eddie watched the chaos of you bantering with his freshmen, his mind wandered to what you would have looked like in the darkness of the prop department wearing the Hellfire shirt. With how easily you got along with Henderson and Wheeler he was sure you would have fit in.

Damn Chris Morrison and damn Steve Harrington.

He snapped out of his thoughts when you spoke up, a glint in your eyes as you handed over the puck.

“What say you, Eddie of Hellfire?” The way you spoke to him, a hint of a laugh in your voice but not in the normal mocking way he’d hear from others at school, made him break out into an unabashed grin as he took the puck.

“Sudden death it is.”

Making small talk with you was easy, and it wasn’t long until Eddie had forgotten about Steve completely as Dustin decided to bridge the gap between the two of you. You were the assistant manager at Family Video, had helped Dustin and Mike with homework on occasion, and were a regular at the Rocky Horror Picture Show that played at the seedy theater on the outskirts of town.

Eddie was starting to like you more the more the three of you chatted. When the topic od D&D came back up, your answer had struck a chord with him.

“I wasn’t done playing.”

Those words would tumble around in the back of his mind for the rest of the evening. They had been honest, raw words. There was a weight to them that he’d carried himself for a long time. Growing up with Al Munson didn’t exactly give him the idyllic childhood that one would see in movies or tv. Play time wasn’t exactly a priority when you were just trying to fucking survive.

He’d challenged your answer, when he knew in his cynical heart that he was the same. Between Hellfire and his band, there wasn’t much else he had going for personal enjoyment. Of course there was time to hang out with his friends and the occasional odd night where he crashed at Rick’s place when his home with Wayne felt too small or cramped.

Eddie wanted to ask you what you’d play, if you ever did have a chance to join a campaign. He wondered if you enjoyed fantasy the same way he did, if you were a fighter, a spell caster, or a healer.

Then Steve showed back up.

Right, you were here with Steve on a date. A date that had way too much fiber and had probably exploded the toilet while he left you hanging for going on forty minutes now. And now Harrington decided that the date was over? Jesus, this guy didn’t know what he was missing out on. Eddie felt for you, he’d been on his share of bad dates in the past too, and bad nights that he wished were dates.

He shook the image of Paige out of his head.

You gave him a smile as you said goodbye. Well, you said you’d be back in a moment but Eddie knew that the night was over. You walked out of the Arcade with Steve, and that would be that.

Sidequest day was always short, with limited spending money between members and the machines eating quarters like candy. Soon his little sheepies were gathered around him again, talking about their winnings and who deserved to get some sort of perk for the game. It was almost unanimously decided that it would go to Lucas, after he’d nearly broken the basketball machine from how fast he had been throwing balls.

Eddie still had a bill burning a hole in his pocket, having spent more time talking to you than playing games. He had to get this weird night out of his mind, and turned towards the group, knowing that he was going to regret this.

“Whoever has any money left, pool it in I’ll take us to get pizza.” He said. This was followed by cheers and a scrambling of pulling out loose quarters, dimes, and even a five that Gareth forgot he had in his wallet. Eddie lead them all towards the parking lot, his eyes scanning the parking lot for you.

You and Steve were chatting by his car and laughing the same way that you had laughed with him before Steve pulled you into a tight hug. Maybe your date wasn’t a bust after all. Eddie didn’t know why he cared, this was only the third time you’d met. You didn’t know him.

Dustin nudged Eddie, that same smug grin on his face.

“Pretty fun night, huh, Eddie?” he said.

“Your plan didn’t work, shrimp.” Eddie said. “I know you were trying to set something up and I’m not interested.”

Dustin looked surprised, and looked like he was going to argue but a sharp glare from Eddie shut him up. Eddie never had an interest in meeting Steve, and it was clear Steve felt the same way, going so far as to ditch his date to hide in the bathroom the whole time. Eddie didn’t know what the kid saw in Harrington but Eddie was less than impressed.

“Geeze, sorry.” Dustin sighed. “I thought you two would get along.”

“You know, a little humility wouldn’t hurt you.” Eddie said before grabbing his shoulder. “Next time you decide I have to meet someone, don’t make it during Hellfire, mk?”

Dustin looked disappointed but nodded as everyone piled illegally in the back of Eddie’s van. As long as Eddie didn’t drive like a madman (a difficult feat) it would be safe enough. He’d put the seats down to haul equipment years ago, and never could get them to come back up. He could fix it if he wanted, but there was never a real reason to.

As everyone got settled, Dustin looked over at Mike with a shrug. The two of them had thought that things were going well between the two of you, but the look in Eddie’s eyes had said otherwise now.

“Maybe she just wasn’t his type?” Mike said, as the rest of the club chatted. “Eddie doesn’t really talk about those things anyway. Maybe he doesn’t even want a girlfriend.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t see the way they were talking. Even if he wasn’t into her like that, they were still getting along.” Dustin sighed and shifted to look out the window as Eddie started up the van. Everyone in the back held on for dear life as Eddie started out of the parking lot.

As they passed your car, Dustin caught your eye just as you stepped out looking dejected.

“Sorry” Dustin mouthed to you.

It had been a bust tonight, but something felt off. Why would Eddie have such a clearly good time talking to you, just to turn around and say he wasn’t interested?

Dustin made a mental note to drop into Family Video tomorrow to talk to you and Steve.

Part 4

Dividers by @strangergraphics

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thisisnotthenerd · 5 months ago

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detailed level progressions

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 primarily, 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 fucks 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 sophomore 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 sophomore 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.

sophomore 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.

sophomore 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.

sophomore 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.

sophomore 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.

sophomore 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.

sophomore 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

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:

initial level: archfey warlock 1

final level: destiny warlock 8

puss in boots | pib

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

overall level change:

initial level: rogue 1

final level: mastermind rogue 8

gerard of greenleigh

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

overall level change:

initial level: fighter 1

final level: battlemaster fighter 8

ylfa snorgelsson

ylfa started the season as a level 1 barbarian. at the first major jump, she paused her barbarian progression for 2 levels of moon druid. she then returned to the barbarian progression, taking the bear totem subclass, and ended the season with 6 levels of bear totem barbarian and 2 levels of moon druid.

overall level change:

initial level: barbarian 1

final level: bear totem barbarian 6 | moon druid 2

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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 allowed him the use of metamagic and telepathy, which heightened his use of magic and secretive nature.

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

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