NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Vaalingrade" data-source="post: 9194523" data-attributes="member: 82524">It's not that high level adventures are harder, it's that D&D DMs have been conditioned to not want to design high level adventures that are super open-ended to account for the huge number of options available and the idea that at this point, it's more about the story than traditional challenge.It's a different type of storytelling that the community ignores because it doesn't fit with the vision of high level stuff that's meant to hyperbolize and malign it.And it goes back to the latest scare term people use: superhero, and in particular Superman. Outsiders to the genre still see Supes as the 1970's Silver Age version where he's literally juggling planets and saving the day with super basket weaving and that's all the stories are about. That or they're seeing the constant big empty events where the world/universe/multiverse/Venomverse is in danger and think that's the only kind of story you can tell with high powered individuals.However, those aren't the good superhero stories and not the ones people should be looking to emulate for high level play. The best Superman stories are about his effect on the world; how he inspires others and brings them together. There's a recent story where he takes the day off and everyone in Metropolis pitches in to make sure the city is in good hands without him--including ordinary people and even some villains. Imagine a late stage of an episodic campaign when the characters the PCs helped come back and work together on something for them; something that needs more manpower than just high level spells can solve.The other best Superman stories are about the emotional impact on the character, especially dealing with problems that can't be punched; addressing personal issues, societal issues, institutional issues. Once the PCs are at a place where they can drop kick a Balor, maybe the normal people around them (heroes need a good supporting cast! Who are your PC's supporting cast?) ask what they're doing for the world at large.Moving away from Superman, why not pit them against threats they can't fight directly? The X-men traditionally fight to protect a world that hates and fears them. And while this means they fight Sentinels sent by people who hate how they were born, and the Brotherhood, made up of people who are fighting the good fight the wrong way, the ultimate enemy is the hatred held for them by the public and they can't morally beat that out of them.The Runaways features a sorcerer who can cast Wish at-will (but only once per specific wish), a hardlight entity, and someone wielding an alien war machine meant to take on armadas-- they spend their time cleaning up the petty messes left over from the villains they took down and trying to live a peaceful life. How is that not a seed for an awesome campaign? The fights aren't the challenge, the balance of them with life is.Or let them have fun. In the 80's you'd have whole sections of X comics would be Mutant Ball episodes where they try to do a sport of activity 'normally' which devolves into them just having fun with their powers. Why not let them run wild and have an adventure where they can cut loose where the challenge is problem solving with Phenomenal Cosmic Power?TL;DR: The focus of a high power story isn't about the high power. It's about how people deal with that power, what it means to them and the world. It's not about the fights, it's about using those fights to tell a story. And that's a concept that can translate down to the lower levels too. We don't need 8 fights a day to tell a compelling narrative; we can focus on character, theme and implication instead OR alongside.</blockquote>

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