Highest Possible Level?

[Synergy2]

Heya guys!

So I have simply been wondering ... What is the highest level possible in Pathfinder?

Can you actually have a maximum level?

Or is it entirely possible for someone to maximize several classes up to 20, plus prestige classes?

Obviously that would be boring at hell to play since you'd murder everything, but I am just wondering if there is an actual limit in Pathfinder.

[Kolokotroni]

20. No matter how many times you multiclass, the maximum level is 20.

[Synergy2]

So even if you have 3 classes maximized at 20th level, you're still counted as level 20, not 60?

[LazarX]

If you go by the standard game, it's capped at 20 character levels and 10 mythic tiers if you add the mythic option. There are a couple of sentences of advancing characters beyond 20, but it's deliberately made not particurlarly platable by requiring a doubling of total exp for each level beyond 20.

But in real terms... the limit is what your GM sets it to be. Most campaigns tend to end before reaching 12-14.

[Kolokotroni]

Synergy2 wrote:

So even if you have 3 classes maximized at 20th level, you're still counted as level 20, not 60?

You misunderstand me, the maximum possible character level is 20. Character level is the sum of all your classes. You CANNOT have 3 classes at 20th level. You can have 3 classes, split among the permitted 20 levels, Say, sorceror 5/paladin 5/dragon disciple 10. But you cant have sorceror 6/paladin 5/dragon disciple 10. When you reach 20th level combined among all your classes, by the rules you can no longer advance.

There were rules in dnd 3.5 called 'EPIC' which expanded play beyond 20th level, but there isnt a pathfinder version of them, and they had some pretty serious issues in 3.5.

There is a small section of the gammastering chapter of the core rulebook that mentions a very light method by which you could extend a game past 20th level. But they even say within them that they are essentially a stop gap to wrap up a campaign

Quote:

Note that these guidelines aren't robust enough to keep the game vibrant and interesting on their own for much longer past 20th level, but they should do in a pinch for a campaign that needs, say, 22 or 23 experience levels to wrap up. Likewise, you can use these rules to create super-powerful NPCs for 20th-level characters to face.

[David knott 242]

I know of at least two 3rd party products designed for advancing Pathfinder characters beyond 20th level, in addition to the crude system given in the Game Mastery Guide. One has a hard stop at level 30, while the other one has no set limit.

But in fact the level limit is whatever your GM sets it at. If he ends the campaign when you are at 3rd level, then 3rd level is the limit. If he continues the campaign all the way to 40th level, then 40th level is the limit. Few campaigns advance as high as 20th level -- most end before that level.

[Darkwolf445]

Kolokotroni wrote:

When you reach 20th level combined among all your classes, by the rules you can no longer advance.

I'm not sure how you can state this, then in the same post quote the part of the core rules that state that one can exceed level 20.

[Cyrad]

Darkwolf445 wrote:

Kolokotroni wrote:

When you reach 20th level combined among all your classes, by the rules you can no longer advance.

I'm not sure how you can state this, then in the same post quote the part of the core rules that state that one can exceed level 20.

Those aren't hard rules -- they're simply suggested houserules.

The level cap is 20. You'll never find a core Pathfinder NPC with more than 20 class levels, even legendary ones.

[shadow_of_doom]

So is that why many level twenty abilities are just so good, because you were loyal to the class this entire time.

[Paladin of Baha-who?]

Yes, it's called a capstone. The PFRPG developer team decided they wanted to reward people who stuck to a class instead of multiclassing.

[Dragon, Aim, Fire!]

Not true! There ARE rules for 20+ play. Check out "Advancing beyond 20th Level".

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/character-advancement

The game goes as long as you'll let it go. The math just starts to break down after 20.

[BigDTBone]

Dragon, Aim, Fire! wrote:

Not true! There ARE rules for 20+ play. Check out "Advancing beyond 20th Level".

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/character-advancement

The game goes as long as you'll let it go. The math just starts to break down after 20.

The math starts to breakdown earlier than that, but a group could certainly play beyond 20th level if they chose to.

[Silentman73]

In theory the level cap is infinite. The game doesn't provide new abilities for the PCs, however, past 20th level. Once you're past 20th, you look at the number patterns for BAB, spell progression, etc., and you keep raising them. It means spellcasters have more spells per day, but still won't have anything more powerful than a 9th level spell without a lot of player/GM-created content.

Bestiary 4 has some creatures to encounter (like Cthulhu) that you could theoretically put post-20 PCs up against, but eventually you're literally just going to run out of interesting things to do without the right group.

This was one of the very few rare things that 4th Edition did right. They said "Once you reach 20th level, you tie up your mortal affairs, and you move on." The idea was that characters of that power were just literally no longer concerned with threats to a mortal world; their actions for an entire tier of leveling have been affecting massive swaths of real estate (continents, if not worlds, and definitely other realities), and eventually they just say "There's nothing more for me to do here, so I need to find out whats' 'out there'."

Gods start noticing PCs in the upper teens (and by "noticing" I mean that divine, immortal extraplanar entities start considering the PCs a valid threat, or a desirable ally). PCs are creating their own demiplanes, martial types are masters of every conceivable weapon, they stand toe to toe with the most ancient of dragons, likely are wiping out demigods, and may have even gotten it into their heads to head on down to the Ninth Layer of Hell and take out Asmodeus (and they might manage it).

You can go past 20th level, but there isn't an awful lot of reason to do so. Maybe the PCs become demigods or gods themselves, you advance your campaign world 20 or 40 years, and maybe the new 1st level PCs start receiving spells from praying to these "new gods"...