The heroes in D&D are gone do to the increasing power creep of the game. It's not heroic for an Eladrin to run out on a 3 inch wide ledge to rescue a child, after all, if he falls, he'll just teleport inside the building to safety. In
3e, a pc with a +30 swim check diving in a flooded river to do the same is still not heroic, he'll make the check on a one. It's just a stroll in the park to either of these guys. If it's a simple task, with little or no personal risk, there's nothing heroic about it. A hero is not Superman, he is a normal person, who manages to rise above the common folk due to courage. He may be a bit more skilled than the average Joe, but not amazingly so. That's the difference between
3e and later games and AD&D. A 1e first level character had a couple more hit points than a farmer, but otherwise, they were pretty much the same. He was a HERO because he chose to be, not because his hd was bigger. The mechanics nowadays don't support heroes. When pcs are just exponentially better than everyone else, it's not heroic to face down an ogre, it's just being mercenary.
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