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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kerrick" data-source="post: 5087169" data-attributes="member: 4722">I'll give you guys my opinion of epic, since I've actually done an overhaul of the system:Fights should be challenging at all levels - not perfectly balanced like 4E. I don't know if you guys have played Oblivion, or are familiar with it, but that game is a perfect example of level-centric play. Everything levels with you - loot, monsters, gear you find, etc. At L1, you'll find L1-3 bandits running around in fur and iron armor. At L30, you'll find L30 bandits running around in glass and daedric armor (those are the best light and heavy armors, respectively). Bandits wearing daedric armor (which would be comparable to, say, mithril or adamantine in D&D) just strains credulity. Even the loot lists are based on level - you won't find good armor until you're high enough level, which is absurd beyond all comprehension.Thankfully, someone took it upon himself to make an overhaul whereby things are more statically levelled - bandits, for example, don't advance past L15 or so, and they'll never wear anything better than mid-level armor (and that's usually the "worn", or lesser-quality, version). Dungeons are static - if you stumble into some out-of-the-way place at L1, there's a good chance you'll get your face eaten. Needless to say, it's an incredibly popular mod.Now, back to my point: encounters (not just combats) should be challenging at any level, but not every encounter should be a challenge - sometimes the PCs can run across something that's little more than a speed bump. This is something that 4E seems to have forgotten.Fighters should not be able to hit every time he swings. With the first couple attacks, sure, but there needs to be some element of uncertainty to keep things interesting. Rolling one attack/round and knowing you'll hit is boring - there's no challenge in it. Likewise, if you can save all the time, what's the point of doing anything? The DM might as well just say "Rather than go dungeon-diving, I'll just hand out XP and loot now, and then we can all go out for pizza." The element of randomness is what makes D&D fun. I'm sure you've got stories of the time someone made a fantastic roll, or the time everyone died due to crappy rolls.For my part, I made post-20th level play scale more or less the same as 1-20. This required a lot of work - I had to redo the wealth tables, change the "epic price multiplier" to work with the new tables, alter the EAB/EAS system, overhaul the monster design rules, and a few other things. The result is a smoother transition from L20 to L21+: no more "Hey, I'm epic!" like flipping on a light switch; it's more like "Hey, I'm L21! And I'm not any more special than before!". Well, kind of. I'm working on base class progressions for L21-40, so players can stick with one class if they want and keep gaining new abilities.As for your ideas, BB:I'd rather go with caps over static bonuses. Static bonuses = cookie-cutter characters, which is one of my main gripes with 4E. Capping inherent bonuses is a good idea, as well as the item bonus cap. I don't think you need level reqs for items - this is already covered in the wealth by level guidelines. If the DM wants to hand out items that are far above the expected power level, then either a) he wants to play a high-power game, and you should let him; or b) he's an idiot, and he'll reap the consequences of his actions when said PC(s) mow through his opponents. See my <a href="http://project-phoenix.wikidot.com/equipment:equipment" target="_blank">starting wealth guidelines</a> and <a href="http://project-phoenix.wikidot.com/discussion:price-progression" target="_blank">price progression discussion</a> for more details.Looking over all your ideas, I think you might be better off starting with 4E as a base and working backward, taking things from 3.5 that you like and adding them in to make the ruleset you want to use.</blockquote>

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