I've played and ran several 1+ year D&D campaigns; one 2nd Ed, the rest 3e and 3.5e. While I normally loathe levels, it somehow works in D&D due to the sliding-scale monster system. You start with your garden variety Kobolds, and work your way up from there in the grand Final Fantasy tradition.
As for the farm-boy-to-king plotline, in my opinion D&D starts to break down around 7th or 8th level, which is really the level where you're on par with a well-equipped starting Dragon-Blood. Here, the problem is that the monsters have gotten so large and specialized, and the spells and powers so varied and complex, that you're playing an utterly tactical game of Exalted at this point, without the benefit of stunts, motivations, virtues, limits, or a social-fu system.
In those lower-levels, though, a well-crafted D&D party is a thing of beauty, very much like a hand-picked Final Fantasy Tactics hit-squad.
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As for the farm-boy-to-king plotline, in my opinion D&D starts to break down around 7th or 8th level, which is really the level where you're on par with a well-equipped starting Dragon-Blood. Here, the problem is that the monsters have gotten so large and specialized, and the spells and powers so varied and complex, that you're playing an utterly tactical game of Exalted at this point, without the benefit of stunts, motivations, virtues, limits, or a social-fu system.
In those lower-levels, though, a well-crafted D&D party is a thing of beauty, very much like a hand-picked Final Fantasy Tactics hit-squad.