High Level Literary Sources

[FireLance]

Add: The Belgariad.

And the Malloreon, aka "So you've killed a god, what's next?"

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I can't think of many books that have the save or die effects common in high level play. Having the protaganists die and then be raised isn't a common trope at all.

Not common, but the aforementioned Taltos novels {Stephen Brust} does exactly that. Vlad actually met his wife when she assasinated him the first time

It is a very interesting read and has a great deal of forethought on how rez would affect a world. Boiled down the concept is this: Death is an inconvienance as long as you have friends and money. Have neither and life is precious...

There are some other very nice touches, like the Summon Familiar ritual that I have adopted for my game. Definately a high level DnD type game.


Funny how this thread is turning into a listing of all my favorite books

 

[BadMojo]

It is a very interesting read and has a great deal of forethought on how rez would affect a world. Boiled down the concept is this: Death is an inconvienance as long as you have friends and money. Have neither and life is precious...

It's worth noting that someone with enough money can also make sure that death is much more than an inconvenience.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

David Farland's runelord series is WAY high level. Killing armies of tarrasque like creatures, Heroes who can jump like The Hulk, Unbalanced heroes who can jump so far that they break every bone in their body upon landing if they aren't as tough as they are strong.

Lots of high level goodies.

Gemmel's (god rest his soul) refugees from Atlantis are very high level, but in a low magic sort of way.

 

[Hussar]

High level characters isn't quite what I was thinking. Mostly because, even though Conan is wading his way through seas of blood, the magic level in the books is generally pretty low. No teleporting or dropping mountains on people. That sort of thing.

Heck, for high level but less magic, look at the Lord of the Rings movies. If Legolas isn't an epic level ranger, I don't know what is.

I was thinking more about the wahoo levels of magic you get at very high level. Flying heroes, blasting small chunks of the planet into orbit, that sort of thing.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I'd say yes. A lot of what the heroes do in ancient legends and folklore is superhuman.

Do greek and babylonian legends count?

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I was thinking more about the wahoo levels of magic you get at very high level. Flying heroes, blasting small chunks of the planet into orbit, that sort of thing.

Then definitely grab Glen Cook's Black Company series. The first three books at least. While mostly background characters who are briefly met by the mercenary company characters, the Ten Who Were Taken and the Rebel's Circle of Eighteen are just what you are talking about.

Summoning up tornados and hurricanes in a desert. Melting stone mountains so it flows into a valley and buries and cooks the army beneath. The ritual of taking is described as torture, gruesome death, resurrection... repeat dozens of times as necessary until happy with the result.

Actually, the magic flung by The Taken, The Eighteen, Bomanz, The Lady, The Dominator, and Old Father Tree is much more accurately described as epic, rather than just high level.

 

[Huw]

Do greek and babylonian legends count?

Gilgamesh and Enkidu - definitely epic! I wouldn't count the Greek myths though. It's hard to take the gods seriously after Aristophanes has written about them

I would suggest Julian May's Saga of Exiles. It's science fiction with psionics, but has fantasy undertones. The most powerful characters are capable of destroying cities and teleporting armies. Be warned: it takes half a book to get going.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

While most of the protagonists are low to mid level, hokey smokes but does the Black Company series feature some awe-inspiring battles. The clash with the Dominator is high level D&D for sure.

 

[ThirdWizard]

The Silmarillion. They fight gods! The silmarills themselves are artifacts. Epic stuff, that.