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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ValhallaGH" data-source="post: 5291399" data-attributes="member: 41187">They were created that way, or they engaged in secret and perverse rituals to gain even greater power.One of the conceits of the E6 system variant is that there shouldn't really be combat foes over ~CR10.  That sweet CR 12 Aspect of Orcus that you like to use as a mini-boss in your eventually-epic undead campaign?  That's now the actual stats of Orcus, Demon Lord of undeath (with a few tweaks).That kick-butt Wizard 8 / Liche NPC you have used as a 'standard lieutenant' for the real bosses?  He's now the high liche-lord of evil and the focus of the entire campaign.The characters don't fight Titans.  They petition them and hold (polite) discourse, because they can't actually threaten a being that can stop time to finish adjusting itself for the sudden fight.You're right to think of these novels in E6 terms.  That's wholly appropriate, and Aragorn is the big example in the essay I linked to earlier.As for the obscenely powerful, they are all either foes (ring wraiths, Shelob, Smaug), background NPCs engaged in mysterious-but-vital activities that kept them off screen (Galadriel, Elrond), or villains that could not be fought directly (Sauron) and instead required the discernment of their one-weakness and how to exploit it.The DM never has needed rules for how these things ended up where they have.  He only needs rules for how they interact with the world (attacks, defenses, skills).  Progression rules are for PCs, not NPCs.That said, having a few guidelines for yourself to keep your world internally consistent is a good thing.  If that's what your after then your initial post would be a good way to track when a villain really steps up to that next, obscene level.One interesting idea is <a href="http://www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/misc/theoryaboutpeasants.html" target="_blank">this short essay</a> by Sean K. Reynolds.  It's not an E6 world, just the assumed D&D world, but still insightful, especially the last couple of paragraphs.  It still assumes that everyone can level up, unlike E6 which really reserves that for adventuring types only, but it makes for some interesting speculation.I find his math to be too lazy, but the basic idea is reasonable.  Figure that a season is generally a CR 1/4 (75xp), split amongst a party of two (or more, with children and extended family actively assisting) and you're looking at no more than 37.5xp per season (likely around 18.25xp per season with a family group of four).  That's 150 / 75 xp per year, or 6.66 / 13.33 years until level 2.  And since the CR doesn't really change (excluding disaster-filled months), the xp rewards won't change until the commoners reach a high enough level to reduce the award.  At 150 xp per year, a Dwarf (adult age: ~45) would be around 138 (middle aged) when he was level 6; at 75 per year he'd be 231 (creeping into venerable) upon reaching level 6.  At level 7 he'd be around 325, probably dead of old age, and in the last few decades of his life no matter how long-lived he is.A human gains experience at the same rate, so he'd be level 6 around ages 110 or 200, by which time he's dead of old age.Elves work the same, just at a higher starting age (~125), hitting level 6 around age 311 (old), and level 7 around age 405 (venerable, possibly dead of old age).Does that help?</blockquote>

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