Mercurius
Legend
As I talk about here, I am in the process of re-watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe and just finished Thor: The Dark World. I like how Marvel depicts the Asgardians more as highly evolved beings with an advanced technology then actual "gods." The rpg geek in me started to wonder, how would the Asgardians translate into D&D terms, specifically 5E? How would you handle them?
A couple things come to mind. First of all, 5E is obviously lacking any kind of epic or mythic play. Certainly levels 17-20 are considered "epic tier," but we don't know what is beyond that, or at least how WotC will handle it.
Secondly, there are clearly different "tiers" within the Asgardians themselves. We don't ever see "normal people" or citizens except in the background, but presumably they exist because Asgard is depicted as a sizeable city. In terms of combat-capable Asgardians, we start with the Einherjar warriors, who are essentially the "fodder" in the battles. And then we have the "heroes" like the Warriors Three, and then there are the "epic" characters or "gods" like Odin, Thor, Loki, Heimdall, Frigga, etc. Now while it would be tempting to correlate those three tiers with 4E's three tiers of Heroic (Einherjar), Paragon (Asgardian heroes), and Epic ("gods"), I think we have to start higher.
In 5E terms, it would be quick-and-easy to say that Einherjar are akin to second tier (levels 5-10), heroes akin to third tier (levels 11-16) and gods akin to fourth tier (17-20). But I have a hard time thinking that Thor is "just" fourth tier, especially when you consider how much more powerful he is than his companions, the Warriors Three. Maybe the Warriors Three are fourth tier and Thor is something else, a legendary or mythic status (levels 21+)?
Also, what about ability scores? Thor held his own against the Hulk in The Avengers, so presumably his STR is off the charts. I can't imagine the Hulk having less than a 25 STR, and maybe higher - so Thor would be maybe ~3 points below the Hulk.
I guess the bottom line is that I'm curious about how 5E might handle levels 21 and higher, and the MCU and, in particular, the Asgardians seem like an interesting context to use.
Edit for the sake of clarification: I realize that superheroes don't translate perfectly to D&D terms, because power level in superheroes is less determined by their experience (and thus level) and more by their natural superheroic talent. For instance, compare Black Widow - who doesn't have superpowers as far as I can tell, but is certainly high level - to the Hulk, who is enormously powerful but would be difficult to quantify in terms of level. But the question is if you were going to D&Dize, and 5Eize, Marvel characters - in particular Asgardians - how would you do it?
A couple things come to mind. First of all, 5E is obviously lacking any kind of epic or mythic play. Certainly levels 17-20 are considered "epic tier," but we don't know what is beyond that, or at least how WotC will handle it.
Secondly, there are clearly different "tiers" within the Asgardians themselves. We don't ever see "normal people" or citizens except in the background, but presumably they exist because Asgard is depicted as a sizeable city. In terms of combat-capable Asgardians, we start with the Einherjar warriors, who are essentially the "fodder" in the battles. And then we have the "heroes" like the Warriors Three, and then there are the "epic" characters or "gods" like Odin, Thor, Loki, Heimdall, Frigga, etc. Now while it would be tempting to correlate those three tiers with 4E's three tiers of Heroic (Einherjar), Paragon (Asgardian heroes), and Epic ("gods"), I think we have to start higher.
In 5E terms, it would be quick-and-easy to say that Einherjar are akin to second tier (levels 5-10), heroes akin to third tier (levels 11-16) and gods akin to fourth tier (17-20). But I have a hard time thinking that Thor is "just" fourth tier, especially when you consider how much more powerful he is than his companions, the Warriors Three. Maybe the Warriors Three are fourth tier and Thor is something else, a legendary or mythic status (levels 21+)?
Also, what about ability scores? Thor held his own against the Hulk in The Avengers, so presumably his STR is off the charts. I can't imagine the Hulk having less than a 25 STR, and maybe higher - so Thor would be maybe ~3 points below the Hulk.
I guess the bottom line is that I'm curious about how 5E might handle levels 21 and higher, and the MCU and, in particular, the Asgardians seem like an interesting context to use.
Edit for the sake of clarification: I realize that superheroes don't translate perfectly to D&D terms, because power level in superheroes is less determined by their experience (and thus level) and more by their natural superheroic talent. For instance, compare Black Widow - who doesn't have superpowers as far as I can tell, but is certainly high level - to the Hulk, who is enormously powerful but would be difficult to quantify in terms of level. But the question is if you were going to D&Dize, and 5Eize, Marvel characters - in particular Asgardians - how would you do it?
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