i know the title is weird, but I had an idea for my D&D game I’m running this weekend. I’m setting it in Ravnica, and with that, I had an idea to place start the session with a battle that takes place 10,000s before the starting date of the campaign, where they will be in a great battlefield. I will have made level 17-20 characters for them to play for a bit before circumstances occur that then shift the time to the current day with their level 3 characters. My question is, will this work? Is there something is should consider when attempting this? Any and all advice is great appreciated. I’m not sure I’m explaining myself well, so any questions will also be appreciated. 

My first, and main question would be: does the fight with high-level characters have some sort of meaning to the game you are running 10,000 years later? And if so, can you get the same point across without making your players build high level characters that they will basically be abandoning after one session?

So the fight itself does have meaning, the battle itself is made mainly to introduce the players to the concepts and history of the city they inhabit for the rest of the game. However you made a great point, they don’t have to be higher level in order to get the same point across. My reason for wanting high level is merely for spectacle, but I don’t want to overwhelm them or make them feel like their new characters are weak. The battle using the older characters will only be half an hour at most, and again was mainly just to create a sense of scope for the world they will be inhabiting, as well as give them reasons to care about the current conflict, as it has a lot to do with the battle 10,000 years earlier. I am actually going to build the high level characters, which might also present another problem. Thanks for replying, all the people I could air out my ideas with are playing in my campaign 

Instead of characters, I'd just make a handful of monster stat-blocks and let your players use those. I assume you're basically mimicking the Paruns of the various Guilds and leading up to the formation of the first Guildpact.

I have a bit of an odd idea. Maybe for the playing for spectacle, instead of building them full high level player characters, just let them play the battle using some high level humanoid NPC/Monsters {such as a Veteran, Archmage, etc). This gives them characters with a sizeable healthpool, but who don't have as many abilities and features to keep track of compared to a full fledged player character. They get to play around with simple attack and spellcasting mechanics (a good way to introduce basic combat mechanics if you have any new players).

This way, they get to play around in combat but when they switch it may not feel as bad. While they are losing a large amount of health and power, when they switch to their player characters they are gaining more customization and abilities. Perhaps playing a NPC for the first session will help them to figure out better what they want out of their real character in order to have the most fun. Maybe even let them choose 2 or 3 different NPC characters who participate in the battle. If one becomes cannon fodder, they can switch to another soldier present at the same time. Let them try a few general options as a sort of "tutorial" while also giving them extra lives to explore the battlefield in case they die in the grand spectacle of it all. 

Yes! Pretty much what I was thinking, but I’m not sure if that’d work or if it wouldn’t play out well? 

This is a great idea! Totally agree that having monster stats and Limited move set will aid in making it easier for them! And that way it’s not a loss, totally see what you mean. Thank you, this is incredibly helpful too! 

As both Mongoose and Kaboom have mentioned,   first, why is this fight meaningful?

If you are using this an intro to the campaign,  perhaps you should view it as a one-shot and let it take the entire session.  After that, you can make changes to your game world as decided based on what your players did.  

Then in your first session in the "current era" you can make reference to a couple of stories "from legend" that refer to that event.  Let your players see what they did had an impact (for better or worse).

I would also caution against using high level characters to start with, if the rest of the sessions will start at level 1-3.  Losing that much power just hurts from a player perspective. 

Finally,  perhaps make a small squad of low level characters that are participants in this grand event. Let your PCs be those folks. 

Just a few thoughts :)  and good luck!

I do like the idea as a construct of getting players into and invested in the world, as well as providing some old old backstory.

Thank you, I think I was relying too much on the idea of giving them an exciting intro, and not thinking that could be possible without giving them high level characters. But that is also a good point, make it the whole session instead of just a small portion. I guess my next question would be: do you think I could actually attempt this another session? Like, instead of doing it this time around, maybe I could do the flashback later on? It might provide more impact later if they are invested in the world a bit. IDK im still workshopping this, but im really excited and im super happy I can finally get feedback on my ideas! Thanks again for the response. 

Great idea! This might let them think up some cool stuff leading up to the one shot! I never thought about it, I'm still a fairly new DM so I'm trying not to make this a bad experience for them, so I'm glad that so many people responded and gave great advice, I really appreciate it. 

Have the battle culminate in the powerful party be on the receiving end of a banishment/curse like spell. They get hurled into the future into the bodies of lowly noob characters. I wouldn’t tell the players this is what has happened (I.e. that they are the same individuals). They’ve lost their memories. Let it emerge over time. Perhaps they are ultimately trying to return to their time, recover their true power, or correct some huge error/failing.

Give them each abilities that emerge over time, levels, or at specific events. Maybe every time the player brings a new character into the game it is a new incarnation of the same entity and that’s how they gain the additional abilities, unless it is too frequent (don’t want the players gaming it).

I’d make the first session a full session with the higher level characters and give them the opportunity to make decisions that will have huge impact in the future, which can then be referenced. 

10000 is a long time. Every large human civilization we know of has come and gone in most cases in that time. The events should probably set the course of an entire civilization if it’s that far back. Otherwise I think you should tighten the timeframe.