Best epic rules

[Infernal Teddy]

Okay, which version of the Epic level rules that have been available for the game do you think hwas best in conveying the feeling of being a character of legendary status?

 

[comrade raoul]

I voted for the classic rules, although there is something to be said for the AE method, in which character just advance to 25th level, normally.

Epic rules should be driven by narrative, not mechanics: they should be an attempt to accomodate core fantasy conceptions of legendary characters, and should provide just enough opportunity advancement to allow DMs to tell these sorts of stories. This is something that the classic rules recognized that the 3.x epic rules (that placed a priority on open-ended advancement that, paradoxically, really limited possibilities for design) missed out on.

 

[Drowbane]

None

I've yet to see a set of "Epic" rules that actually conveyed the feel. 3e's Epic Rules are rather weak. Epic Items are a joke (dude, I spent 5mill gp for a 3d6 Burst effect!), and Epic Spells are just... wonky. And truthfully, not much difference between levels 20 and 21... or even 20 and 25.

 

[thundershot]

I'm one of the few who doesn't mind WOTC's Epic Advancement. I understand why they did what they did, and to me, it works out. The only thing that IS wonky is the spell system. They should have just made a book of epic spells with higher levels with guidelines on creating new spells. That would have been so much easier...

 

[Varianor Abroad]

None. Playing up to 20th level is "epic" enough for me. (Though the Arcana Evolved rules that go to 25 I like better than WotC's Epic Level Handbook.) When you're at the point when you can kill the gods, that's good.

 

[Wombat]

None. Playing up to 20th level is "epic" enough for me. (Though the Arcana Evolved rules that go to 25 I like better than WotC's Epic Level Handbook.) When you're at the point when you can kill the gods, that's good.

Other than the "killing the gods" bit, I'm fine with this sentiment

 

[kigmatzomat]

The ELH is, IMO, the best approach out of a list of bad choices. The simple fact is that the d20 mechanic seriously limits the range of success. Games like EarthDawn, that include a much broader range of results per roll, are better able to handle wider variances in capabilities. E.G. in D&D, a nat 20 will allow a 1st level commoner to hit AC1,000 while in ED a starting character might roll a d4 to attack and it would be an astronomically low chance of success against a Defense of 100 by re-rolling the d4 25 times.

My one peeve in the ELH is that a Fighter20/Mage20 and a Mage20/Fighter20 look completely different mechanically. I would have liked a "reshuffle" optional rule, where the sub-epic levels can be rearranged according to the player's preference (altering BABs & saves but not skills or HP). This is, if you can't tell, my house rule for epic.

 

[kigmatzomat]

None. Playing up to 20th level is "epic" enough for me. (Though the Arcana Evolved rules that go to 25 I like better than WotC's Epic Level Handbook.) When you're at the point when you can kill the gods, that's good.

My game is at 20th level, played up from 1st. The storyline is far from done, as I expect there is somewhere between 1-3 years of game time before the big climax. In the process, my players may reach 30th level since it will involve a war with the heroes at the forefront battling dragons. Great Wyrms with minions and who use their treasure require high level parties.

Why in the name of {Pantheon} should I stop my game b/c the system only has 20/25 levels? And as far as god-killing, yeah, the party might be able to kill a god but only if they had the help of other gods and the victim was full of divine ego. Otherwise not a chance. It's not like all the gods have a Baldur-like weakness to a common toxin.

 

[Alzrius]

I chose the D&D 3.X version, because that's the closest to U_K's Immortal's Handbook series, which is the best rendition of epic/immortal D&D-compatible gaming I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have selected "Other" for that.

 

[The Cardinal]

I always loved the direction FFG took with their "Legendary" classes and abilities (see the "Path of..." books and the Dawnforge setting)