E6 -- I love it

[Dragonblade]

One additional comment, I'll make is that 3e also saw DM prep time exponentially increase with level. That was another attractive feature of E6 for 3e DMs. It kept their prep time down.

4e doesn't have that issue either. Prepping for a level 30 4e game is not much more involved than prepping for a level 5 4e game.

That's just another reason why I just don't see the same need for an E6 style variant for 4e groups.

 

[Bullgrit]

Maybe it's ironic that my enjoyment of E6 has nothing to do with a dislike or difficulty with higher level D&D3.

Bullgrit

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Maybe it's ironic that my enjoyment of E6 has nothing to do with a dislike or difficulty with higher level D&D3.

Bullgrit

I never tried it (i like high levels abilities!), but I think what also speaks for E6 is a different feeling of powers and scales.

The difference between 1st level and 20th level is colossal (yes, that's -8 penalty to AC in 3.x!). Your fight entirely different type of monsters and have amassed astounding powers. With E6, you keep at a "relatable" scale. You still play the guy from 1st level, he still has similar abilities, and the threats he can face are still similar to those he could face at 1st level (he just has an easier time with most of them, but it's not as if he could ignore them).

E6 is 3Es equivalent to 4Es "Heroic Tier", in my opinion.

The fact that your head is less likely to explode at level 6 than at level 16 is a big plus.
The fact that you miss out on the awesome stuff you can pull off at level 16 is a minus.

It depends all on your priorities - feel, no head-explosions or awesome powers...

 

[lvl 1 fighter]

It depends all on your priorities - feel, no head-explosions or awesome powers...

What do you mean no head explosions? That's my Capstone feat

 

[Bullgrit]

What do you mean no head explosions? That's my Capstone feat

This is why our campaign doesn't use any of the extra rules (like capstone feats) from that other thread.

Bullgrit

 

[lvl 1 fighter]

This is why our campaign doesn't use any of the extra rules (like capstone feats) from that other thread.

Bullgrit

Man, no head explosion feats? That's a rough DM.

[/sarcasm]

There's an old thread over at giantitp.com that reworks the base classes specifically for E6. There's some interesting ideas there but also some balance issues.

Regarding Capstone feats in particular most of the ones in the first post of the E6 thread are fairly balanced IMO. I haven't read the entire 20+ pages but I did see some power creep in the following pages with other feats that were suggested.

Does your campaign use any variant / extra rules or feats pertaining to E6? Have you made any changes to the core rules / system in response to how things play out in E6? I'm curious because I'm about to start running my first E6 game so I'd like to know if anything in particular stood out for your game.

 

[Bullgrit]

Does your campaign use any variant / extra rules or feats pertaining to E6? Have you made any changes to the core rules / system in response to how things play out in E6? I'm curious because I'm about to start running my first E6 game so I'd like to know if anything in particular stood out for your game.

We have added a few feats, but most (maybe all) are regular feats found in some of the various splat books. For instance we have the feat that gives 5 skill points, the feat that gives another spell known (for sorcerers), etc.

We don't use any of those feats from the E6 thread that basically pseudo level up. You know, the ones that say, "This concept stops your level at 6, but here are some feats that let you pretend to gain a level."

We like feats that give breadth, not height. If that makes sense.

Although, we do have one feat that isn't "normal" (from a published splat book) and could be argued gives a "level up" perk. It gives the character a +1 to one ability score -- this is so someone can "finish" their ability bump up that they start at 4th level. Basically so that +1 to an ability you get at 4th level isn't a wasted benefit.

Bullgrit

 

[Ry]

I'm glad to see E6 still is a thing over here! Thanks for playing it, guys.

 

[EricNoah]

I love the idea as I have never really loved levels 11+ in any edition of the game (at least as a DM).

I might modify to make it E10 instead of E6. As it is I typically just run regular 3x campaigns through 10th level and end them there.