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[Hawken]

The best people in this world rate around 5th-8th level in that world.

Only because there is no magic, no gods, no monsters and such in this world--because there are physical limits to things in this world. This world is limited by 'reality'. Take away the limits that are in this world, and the names I listed would be as epic in D&D as they are in this world.

You'll also notice that every single one of them is better than any given bunch of people in the real world.

Again, that is due to the reality of the world in question. Put them in this world (no magic, no monsters, etc) and they are normal people too--at best. Raistlin would be an Asthmatic with TB and severe retinal problems and would suffer and die from heavy metal poisoning (gold skin). Elminster would have succumbed to any number of STDs before hitting his first century of life, etc., etc.,.

But it's not--you can't possible compare playing a cello really well and warping the universe to your will or charming the gods themselves with a tune.

Sure you can. Levels are about skill as much as power. Someone could play the cello with the same degree of skill that someone else wields magic to make the impossible happen. Is magic more powerful than music--sure, unless you;'re a bard!

Okay--that's not epic. Epic in the sense of famous and awesome and epic in the sense of power are different entirely.

I knew you'd go there, or Ashtagon. You're confusing fame with skill--I'm not, and I'm fully aware of the distinction. They did MORE than Gilgamesh, Beowulf, etc., and they did it with less!

none of them are on the scale of Gilgamesh, Beowulf, or Orpheus, who could move rivers by hitting them hard, manipulate the gods with music and perform literally superhuman feats.

You're talking like these guys actually existed and did these things. Ghandi freed an entire country. That trumps hitting a river. The Beatles affected the entire world with their music! That trumps manipulating a god any day! And they did it without 'superhuman' or magical powers which makes them even more epic! If they could do those things WITHOUT powers, then the things they could do if they had access to powers would put them on such a scale that they would be to Epic characters what Epic characters are to commoners!

A swim check in calm water is DC 10, and avoiding fatigue is DC 20. A 5th level character with Str 18 and the Athletic and Endurance feats (which a trained swimmer would obviously have) a can literally swim forever without sinking by taking 10 and if he has max ranks in Swim has only a 5% chance to get tired after an hour of swimming (8 ranks + 4 Str + 2 Athletic + 4 endurance = +18 vs. DC 20, only failing on a 1), meaning that statistically speaking he can swim non-stop, without rest, for 19 hours straight. That's superhuman.

No, that's super-stupid! Plus its the result of poorly written game mechanics that weren't even intended for skills to be used that way. There are plenty of arguments proving how broken movement mechanics are, the least of which is the most obvious--that a person can move 30' AND do something else in 6 seconds. Or move 60' in 6 seconds (move-move action). Most people can only take a single step in 1 second, muchless clear 1/5th of a football field in 6 seconds.

A character with 20 Con (18 + human paragon) can hold his breath for 40 rounds, or 4 minutes. Then he needs to make a DC 10 (+1/round) Con check to keep doing so, meaning he can take 10 and hold his breath for an absolute minimum of 4.6 minutes. With Endurance (which, again, such a character would have) that's a minimum of 5 minutes.

This is assuming the DM allows that character the option to Take 10--not normally allowed when under pressure, distraction or being threatened. Being underwater about to drown is a pretty big distraction and is definitely pressuring the character. Distractions, threats, pressure, etc., don't have to come from a living source. Continue holding your breath or you drown IS a threat, so Taking 10 isn't too likely unless your DM is feeling rather generous or merciful. And even still, its a fixed situation and another example of poor mechanics. In the real world anyone who is healthy and takes the proper training can learn to hold their breath after a few months or weeks and don't need an 18 or 20 Con to do it.

The assassin class has a "death attack" inferior in almost every way to simply hitting someone. A regular 5th-level fighter can, with a crit and if focused on archery, make a single shot with a longbow to kill a Deinonychus dinosaur from 1200 feet away (1d8 + 4 Str + 4 Weapon Spec, x3 crit, max damage 48). That's superhuman.

And in the real world, anyone with a pistol can shoot someone in the head, heart or neck and kill them instantly, no levels in Assassin or Fighter required, and a sharpshooter can kill at even greater ranges than that. As well, the D&D longbow (like so much) ignores physics and lets players shoot at ranges that the weapon cannot really reach. Not only that, but another 'fantasy' aspect is taking a feat to increase the range. Improving yourself doesn't let you do something with a weapon that the weapon is not capable of doing. --And just to be snippy, specialization is only a +2 bonus for a 5th fighter, longbows have a max range of 1000' and that max damage crit is only going to happen on 1 in 160 shots (1 in 20 critical hit, less if rolling to confirm; and 1 in 8 for max damage)--all this being far more unlikely to ever happen no matter how easy you make it sound.

A character can run 6 miles in 1 hour (without stopping at all) under his maximum load before taking even a single point of subdual damage.

Where did you come up with that? RAW rules for running means your guy with a 20 Con can run for 2 minutes without stopping (1 round/pt of Con). Then he has to make a DC 10 check 1 round later or stop running, with the DC increasing by +1 per round. So, even if your DM let you Take 10 on that check, after 6 rounds (36 seconds), he would have to start rolling and after 20 more rounds (2 more minutes of running)--DC check of 36, impossible to make even rolling a 20, he would fail and have to stop. So, he could run for all of 4.6 minutes--at best! At 20' base X 3 per round, that works out to just over half a mile before having to stop and catch his breath, not 6 miles.

Putting aside the fact that each attack roll doesn't represent a single attack, yes they can. Not if you're swinging it wildly, of course, but if you're making short strikes or holding the blade you can do so. Search for some medieval reenactment videos or similar.

Each attack roll DOES represent a single attack, so, no, they can't. And it has nothing to do with swinging it wildly.

Swing it in a huge circle, hence Whirlwind Attack.

Which would be one attack against 9 people. But that's not a Whirlwind Attack. A Whirlwind Attack is making an attack against everyone within reach. A separate attack. Again, not possible IRL.

You assume that one short and one tall creature of entirely mythological origin are nothing more than short and tall humans, and that the midget has no training while the ogre does.

No, you assume I assumed. It just isn't physically possible for someone the size of a 6 year old to wrestle someone more than double their height and more than 10 times their weight. Sure, they could grab and hang on (until the big guy threw them away), but they couldn't pin them, throw them or do any damage without resorting to biting and gouging. The tall one wouldn't have a -20 penalty to hold the short one with a single hand and then launch them like a long bomb!

However, levels measure your maximum skill ranks, ability scores, etc. You can look at the rules and very plainly see that a character of level X can jump Y feet, swim Z miles, earn W money performing, and so forth, and that at 5th level most of these abilities already outstrip world records.

In some ways, sure, because the rules were built around combat on a gridmap, not on actual physics and physical capabilities. Logic and reasoning were thrown out the window on physical stuff to a large degree. But as far as the money goes, no way. Even Epic characters with skills maxxed out in Craft, Perform and Profession can't come close to generating the kind of cash that people can make in this world. They might generate hundreds, maybe a thousand or two gp in a year, but in this day and age even the fattest, laziest, least educated, welfare-having, baby-making illegal alien, non-English speakers can rake in around $20,000 in cash and benefits--without doing more than going to their mailbox and then to a bank or casino to cash their checks!