So, back in 3E, a version of the game known as E6 sprang up. Details are here, but the basic conceit was that you would level up to 6 normally, then remain at 6th level for the rest of your career. Every so often you'd get a new feat, but you wouldn't continue up the normal 3E power curve into high-level wackiness.
The goal was to create a consistent play experience in the "low heroic" level range, and preserve a sense of advancement (new feats) while avoiding the headaches of high-level campaigns. It sounded very interesting, but I've never had occasion to try it out.
What I like most is the consistent play aspect - regular orc grunts can continue to be a threat throughout the game. It means the DM doesn't have to keep coming up with newer, bigger villain factions, and it also allows the players to develop a sense of scale. You look at a bunch of orcs, and you have a decent idea whether or not you can take them, because you've fought orcs before and your power level has not changed drastically since then.
Anyway, a friend of mine and I were talking at lunch today, and he mentioned that if he starts a new 4E campaign soon, it will be strictly Heroic tier. I agreed that Heroic tier seems to work better (at least for me) than Paragon or Epic. And, as mentioned above, I really like the idea of a consistent power level instead of the ever-increasing curve. So I got to thinking about what E6 would look like in 4E... or E10, more likely; get to the top of Heroic tier and stop there.
What does everyone think? Would it work? What do you think would be required to keep the feeling of advancement without substantially increasing character power past level 10? Is it enough to just hand out a new feat every so often, or would you give out powers as well?
(Oh, incidentally, I'm not interested in talking about my issues with Paragon and Epic. I'm sure I could hammer out fixes for them if I wanted, but the reason I started thinking about E6/E10 was the realization that I don't really want Paragon or Epic tier--I don't like having the power level of the campaign climb into the stratosphere.)
The goal was to create a consistent play experience in the "low heroic" level range, and preserve a sense of advancement (new feats) while avoiding the headaches of high-level campaigns. It sounded very interesting, but I've never had occasion to try it out.
What I like most is the consistent play aspect - regular orc grunts can continue to be a threat throughout the game. It means the DM doesn't have to keep coming up with newer, bigger villain factions, and it also allows the players to develop a sense of scale. You look at a bunch of orcs, and you have a decent idea whether or not you can take them, because you've fought orcs before and your power level has not changed drastically since then.
Anyway, a friend of mine and I were talking at lunch today, and he mentioned that if he starts a new 4E campaign soon, it will be strictly Heroic tier. I agreed that Heroic tier seems to work better (at least for me) than Paragon or Epic. And, as mentioned above, I really like the idea of a consistent power level instead of the ever-increasing curve. So I got to thinking about what E6 would look like in 4E... or E10, more likely; get to the top of Heroic tier and stop there.
What does everyone think? Would it work? What do you think would be required to keep the feeling of advancement without substantially increasing character power past level 10? Is it enough to just hand out a new feat every so often, or would you give out powers as well?
(Oh, incidentally, I'm not interested in talking about my issues with Paragon and Epic. I'm sure I could hammer out fixes for them if I wanted, but the reason I started thinking about E6/E10 was the realization that I don't really want Paragon or Epic tier--I don't like having the power level of the campaign climb into the stratosphere.)