how Epic do you like it?

[Ron]

I agree with Jack7 and others that epic refers to events and not to charcters. As such, I am very confortable of the idea of low level characters playing a major part in world shattering events. That said, I am not particulary found of these adventures as they often put too much importance in DM controlled events in detriment to players' choices whereas I am more fond of creating sandbox campaign.

Regarding character levels, I am not interested in high level adventures as the charecters become more and more like superheroes and less as the fantasy troupes I am interested. Usually, I prefer to play and DM up to 5th level, although I can go up to 10th level in AD&D or 7th level in d20.

 

[gamerprinter]

Not referring to character level, as I don't think that's what the OP means by Epic (though its the reason I looked at the thread), I like an epic game sometimes. Though I also like a gritty and gory, non-epic game at other times. I guess I like variance in story concept in the games I play, and not specifically one style of game. I enjoy all styles of a game, epic and otherwise.

Regarding high level (above 20th level epic) I didn't enjoy our one 'epic' campaign much at all. I continued to play as the rest of the group wanted to move forward into upper levels, and not wanting to disrupt their game with my preferences. But I doubt I'll ever play above 20th level again - I did not enjoy it at all. I'd rather just start over with a new character concept at 1st level and go up to 'high levels' as the final goal, not epic levels.

 

[innerdude]

The longer I play RPGs, the more I find that I like "epic" gameplay less and less.

As a teen, the idea of "earthshattering, world-changing" characters and events was the panacea. It was all about being the Kvothe of your own world, the greatest ever at everything, and everyone should bow down and obey you.

The older I get, the more I find I'm much, much, MUCH more interested in the small dramas--the human, exploring the basic, fundamental things that make up our humanity, our rationality, and our relationships.

Does this mean I don't like a good fight? No, not at all, but if there's going to BE a fight at all, it had better have some bearing and consequence on my character, my relationship with my party, and my relationship to the outside world.

And maybe it's just me, but the evolution of D&D, and its related adjuncts, seems to point more and more to something other than that. Almost as if there's this assumed....I don't know, cynicism about even wanting an RPG to have elements like that. "Really? Really dude? You want, like, emotional connection and character interation? Dude, don't you know, this is freakin' D&D, not a novel." That may sound more harsh than I intend it to, but the gist is kind of there.

Maybe I should just go write a book.....or audition for another theater production. LOL

 

[delericho]

something I've been meaning to find out here is this- How epic do you like your games to be?

It really depends on what you mean by "epic". If it's just the same but with bigger numbers, count me out.

I do really like the concept of 4e's tiers, coupled with a very distinct shift in tone as the PCs move across the 10/11 and 20/21 boundaries. In the Heroic tier, they're human and acting on a local-ish scale; in the Paragon tier they're superhuman but recognisable and engaging in quests on a kingdom-wide scale; in the Epic tier they're practically demigods, and engaged in the great conflict of their generation.

The problem is, that arrangement only really works for me if the campaign goes through those three phases, and I've just never seen a 4e campaign do anything close to that. (The WotC published adventures also seem to fail to capture those shifts, which doesn't help.) And I have no interest in just starting at 21st level.

So, yeah, in concept I would like a campaign that grew to "300" or "Troy"-style epic-ness. Shame I just haven't seen it.

 

[Desdichado]

I'm not much for epic, level or story-wise. I guess I tend to like heroes I can feel a kinship to, and that tends to mean a more gritty, down-to-earth feel to the abilities and powers they wield.

As far as levels go, I'm not fond of the D&D game (any edition) much beyond 9th level. 15th level is about as far as I can strain my brain before I start being at a loss as to what sort of adventures would challenge the PCs. Yeah, I can throw bigger, badder monsters at the PCs, but an overall plot beyond "let's save the world from some power-mad villain - again" tends to be all I can think of.

Same here. In fact, almost further; rather than simply being gritty and down-to-earth, a lot of my campaigns tend to be slightly swashbuckly "fantasy Cthulhu" games. They're dark fantasy with a healthy dose of horror. Kind of the exact opposite of epic, even.

 

[billd91]

For my gaming tastes, I like epic but a little bit of it can go a long way. I like to mix things up between epic stories and villains and more mundane exploring and carousing.

One campaign we played a lot 20 years ago or so was pretty solidly focused on epic stories. Bits of carousing would get mixed in, but nearly always with the background of some great villain's machinations in the works with the PCs being called upon to save the day. That's fun for a while, but it felt very oppressive after a while. I needed a break in-between epic story lines just to decompress.

So chalk me down for a mixed campaign, one capable of shifting gears between epic and non-epic stories.

 

[Stormonu]

Same here. In fact, almost further; rather than simply being gritty and down-to-earth, a lot of my campaigns tend to be slightly swashbuckly "fantasy Cthulhu" games. They're dark fantasy with a healthy dose of horror. Kind of the exact opposite of epic, even.

Sounds almost like Warhammer Fantasy...

 

[Cajetan]

I like gritty, down-to-earth characters I can relate to, but I like them to rise to important positions and take place in epic actions. We play in Harn, so that works out pretty well.
In the HarnMaster system, the mightiest warrior can still be killed by an arrow. OTOH the combat is a little too realistic/slow for my tastes, so I prefer to go with GURPS as long as we can "keep it real". But whatever game system we use, we keep Harn as the setting.