It really wasn't as good a stopping point as it sounded, just before the tower. We got sidetracked earlier in the evening and were way behind time wise, and the game was running later than it should have. The tower was a speed bump before the main destination, and wasn't terribly important to the story. As for the Angel(her nickname), they've been hearing other people in the game talk about her, and one or two players had looked through her character sheets, so there was some interest in seeing her in action. In fact, one of us had to leave early because of work the next day, and it was said that he'd be pissed that he missed it. I had planned a demonstration at some point in the future because of said interest, and becuase of things falling off the rails, it seemed as good a time as any.
As for the Deus Ex Machina, it was going to happen in any case. Whether a super NPC showed up, or "lets just pretend this didn't happen and do it over next week", there was going to be some sort of divine intervention, or an undeserved
TPK. They didn't mind it(watching on the sidelines) because they knew they were dead without it. It was even a decent combat since they were so torn up at the start that they actually had to play the game strategically to live through it(as I said, we're talking about level 7 characters with 5-22hp and almost no available healing against a level 9 encounter. I even got a pair of thank yous when I placed her figure on the table. I don't feel bad about it because they were dead because I screwed up, not because they screwed up.
I posted this not to brag, but to give an example of what an Epic character in action looks like in a low level game. Against heroic level enemies, the Angel was truly Epic. A lot of it had to do with the +29 damage bonus(+7 Str, +5 Enhancement, +4 Kensei, +3 Weapon Focus, +10 Reckless Weapon), and being a Heavy Blade Fighter with piles of close attacks and multiple hit and shift powers. Combat Challenge and Combat Superiority on an invincible character who attacks multiple enemies and could bloody enemies with one hit was Epic. Opening the battle with an Action Point and a pair of Dailies(one of which was the Kensei's Weaponsoul Dance) was Epic.
At least when you play them side by side in a heroic level battle, Epic characters are truly Epic compared to Heroic Characters. One special comparison I can make with previous editions, is that going supernova like that is something you just don't see in
4E. While you could do far more with a
3E character, it was far more common sight to nova. A low level Sorcerer/Beguiler can spam Color Spray and Glitterdust and do what the Angel did at low levels. What happened with the Angel was something none of us had ever seen in months of playing
4E twice a week.
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