All right. Here are what the primary sources say:
Dungeon Master's Guide p. 207 said:
After 20th level, your base attack bonus never improves. You gain epic bonuses and other bonuses on your attack roll, but these don't ever increase your base attack bonus and thus never grant you additional attacks.
This limit doesn't apply to the base attack bonus derived strictly from a monster's Hit Dice. For instance, a titan with 21 HD using the advancement rules in the Monster Manual has a base attack bonus of +21. Thus, another cap exists: A high base attack bonus never grants a creature more than four attacks with any given weapon using the full attack option.
(Emphasis added.)
ibid. said:
The epic rules in this section also work for monsters with character levels, using the creature's effective character level (ECL) instead of just its class leves. For example, a bugbear (3 Hit Dice and +2 level adjustment) that is also a 14th-level fighter/3rd level blackguard is ECL 22 and thus gains an epic attack and save bonus.
Epic Level Handbook said:
Regardless of its ECL, a monster with class levels uses the base attack bonus and base save bonus progressions of its class (rather than the [epic] progression shown on table 1-1) until it has 20 character levels. Beginning with its 21st character level, it uses the progressions shown on table 1-1.
In any other place where "character level" is indicated, you can use effective character level instead. For example, a creature with a level adjustment of +5 who is also a 13th-level fighter/3rd-level blackguard is ECL 21 and eligible to select an epic feat provided he meets the prerequisites.
(Emphasis added.)
SRD: Epic Level Basics said:
Epic Save Bonus: A character’s base save bonus does not increase after character level reaches 20th. However, the character does receive a cumulative +1 epic bonus on all saving throws at every even-numbered level beyond 20th, as shown on Table: Epic Save and Epic Attack Bonuses. Any time a feat, prestige class, or other rule refers to your base save bonus, use the sum of your base save bonus and epic save bonus.
Epic Attack Bonus: Similarly, the character’s base attack bonus does not increase after character level reaches 20th. However, the character does receive a cumulative +1 epic bonus on all attacks at every odd-numbered level beyond 20th, as shown on Table: Epic Save and Epic Attack Bonuses. Any time a feat, prestige class, or other rule refers to your base attack bonus, use the sum of your base attack bonus and epic attack bonus.
(Emphasis added.)
Savage Species said:
When a creature's description refers to character level, add any class levels it has to the base creature's Hit Dice to determine the character level. This is not the same as effective character level (see below),, [sic] which also includes a level adjustment. The creature's base save and base attack bonuses are based on its character level.
(Emphasis added.)
SRD: Divine Ranks and Powers said:
Most deities are 20 HD outsiders with 30 to 50 character levels as well. These additional character levels beyond an effective character level of 20th follow the rules for epic levels.
Character levels above 20th confer some, but not all, of the benefits of normal levels. Deities gain all the class features for all their levels. The deity also gains the normal Hit Die for that class, plus additional skill points as if the deity had a level in that class normally. The deity gains an ability bonus every four levels, and a feat every three levels.
Beyond character level 20th, deities’ attack and saving throw bonuses increase at new rates. Deities gain a +1 epic attack bonus at 21st level and every other level thereafter. No deity can have more than four attacks derived strictly from its base attack bonus. Deities also gain a +1 bonus on saving throws at 22nd level and every other level thereafter.
(Emphasis added.)
Already, you can see that the references contradict each other, and in some cases, themselves.
In the
ELH itself, NPCs began using the epic charts when their character levels hit 21, so in this instance it correctly followed its own rules. For example, Gerti Orelsdottr (
ELH 294) has a base Will save bonus of +11 (giant 14/clr 5/runecaster 1 + 1 epic) rather than the +12 she would have if her runecaster BSB had added normally. The many examples in
Deities and Demigods and
Faiths and Pantheons all follow these rules. (The corresponding SRD says in one place that ECL determines which progression to use, and in another that character level does, but the ECL ruling cannot be correct because deities have no official ECL.)
The
Monster Manual doesn't use the epic rules at all; every monster in that book uses nonepic advancement. Examples include the frost giant jarl on page 122, which is exactly the same type of creature as Gerti Orelsdottr from the
ELH. The monsters I've seen from other 3.5 supplements seem to follow the
MM's example. The eldritch giant confessor (
MM 57), a 25 HD giant, adds the cleric's normal BAB progression instead of the epic progression. There is no rule anywhere that I know of to justify this practice, but it's what the designers and developers consistently do.
Now, we get to the FAQ, which as always has the final and indisputable explanation.
4/26/06 D&D v. 3.5 FAQ said:
Use the character's ECL to determine starting equipment and how the character earns and benefits from experience (including when he gains an epic attack and save bonus; DMG p. 209), as noted on page 5 of Savage Species.
Page 5 of
SS actually says the direct opposite, as shown above. The
DMG reference contradicts both the book itself and every other source. And, on the very next page:
4/26/06 D&D v. 3.5 FAQ said:
A monster becomes an epic-level character when its character level hits 21, just like any other character. A monster's character level equals its racial Hit Dice + class levels. (See the second sidebar on page 25 of the Epic Level Handbook.)
A creature's ECL has no effect on when it becomes an epic character....
So, does that answer your question?
