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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mouseferatu" data-source="post: 260768" data-attributes="member: 1288">Re: Re: The Epic Lamentations of Mouseferatu Okay, first off, as I've already said, I made a mistake bringing fiction into this.However, let me clarify.  I see Raistlin as an NPC, not a PC, but it's not because of his powers, or at least not purely because of his powers.  Raistlin was a plot point.  That's purely a subjective interpretation, I realize that.  I also admit that my view of Raistlin is probably colored by the fact that I'm not a huge Dragonlance fan.  So I'll admit that my inclusion of him was probably in error, and we'll move on from that particular point, okay? Nothing I've said is "silly," if you read what I said and not what you assume I meant.  But let's ignore that.Here's the thing.  Most fantasy novels I read don't involve the characters doing stuff that's equivalent to the epic-level book.  They aren't tossing world-ending spells, or swimming up waterfalls.  Yes, they often have great skill, or wield powerful magics, but those are easily encompassed by the levels up to 20th.  The characters who do stuff equiavelent to what's in the ELH are from sources such as anime, ancient ballads, and myth.That's not a bad thing.  Those are enjoyable reads, and can make enjoyable games.  But they don't feel the same as a "typical" fantasy novel.  They're not better or worse.  And if you go back, I never said epic-level games were better or worse.  They're just different, IMO. Gosh, it's nice to know you don't even have to be at one of my games to know how I DM.  I never just throw out the numbers.  Every bit of action in combat, or anywhere else, is described visually first, and mechanically later, if at all.I fully appreciate the value of dramatic instances.  Single-shot kills are hard to achieve in a hit point system, though, which is why such things are less common in D&D than they are in novels.  Never said they shouldn't exist.  However, you're taking the approach that Bard was an epic-level character, whereas I'm not.  That's purely a matter of interpretation.And BTW, what part of "<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />" didn't you understand on my comment about hit point systems? I can very much picture epic-level stuff being cool.  But I see it as fitting better into an environment designed for it than I do in a campaign world that never had epic-level stuff before, but now suddenly, *poof!*, it appears.  Guess what else?  My players agree with me.  Every one of them would rather play an epic game in a separate world from our "standard" campaigns.Once again, not better, not worse, but different. I've said nothing of the sort.  I don't believe in "sides."  Every one of my players will tell you that my greatest strength as a DM, far beyond my skills at role-playing or number crunching, is the creation of an interactive story that fully involves the PCs.And if that means breaking the rules so an NPC can do something the PCs can't, my players are okay with that.  Why?  Because they know that I've always got my reasons, and they will always--always--be given a chance to destroy or counteract the villain's power/magic/whatever by the end of the story.Incidentally, most of my villains who can do this aren't human anyway.  They're demons, or undead, or monsters of some sort.  Most of my human villains very much follow the rules, unless they happen to have some powerful magic item (like an artifact) to allow them to do otherwise. I expect my opinions to be interpreted, yes.  Based on what I've written, not on other people's ideas of what my campaigns must be like based on something I said about the ELH.  And I expect them to be interpreted politely.Now go back over what I said.  I never said epic-level stuff shouldn't exist.  I never said epic games were bad.  I never said the ELH was a bad book.I said that I enjoyed epic-level stuff more when it was set aside from other campaign settings, and I said that I felt the book didn't do enough at giving suggestions for epic-level campaigns, stories, and settings.  That's all I said.  Anything else is supposition--and, from what I've seen, totally inaccurate.</blockquote>

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