D&D 4E Odd emergent quality in Epic Level 4E

[MrMyth]

Yeah, my group just hit 24, and the Archlich has already started joking about how the best way to get him back in the fight will be to kill him. (Given the group is pretty much all strikers, with one defender and no leader, it could well happen...)

As it is, I've been trying to boost the difficulty / lethality a bit as we've been approaching this point, in anticipation of people gaining such powers. The Archlich ended up being the only actual personal 'don't die' power, compared to several that prevent dropping at 0 - but the defender got the power to die in someone else's place (and then come back to life), which pretty much covers the whole group.

 

[darjr]

OK, in certain circumstances it could be WAY cool. The lich in particular.

It'd be like the sci fi party with the cantankerous robot that needs to be 'rebooted' with a swift kick every once and a while.

the Lich needs to be killed periodically to remind him of why he doesn't want to die.

 

[Mesh Hong]

As it is, I've been trying to boost the difficulty / lethality a bit as we've been approaching this point, in anticipation of people gaining such powers. The Archlich ended up being the only actual personal 'don't die' power, compared to several that prevent dropping at 0 - but the defender got the power to die in someone else's place (and then come back to life), which pretty much covers the whole group.

Yes in Epic I am having to pretty much throw out the encounter/monster design handbook to present actual threats.

The thing with on death powers is that you need to kill a PC for them to be any use. So in theory that means that you have to regularly kill PCs, this would be alright if Epic PCs were easy to kill in the first place, they are not.

Also designing creatures or encounters specifically to kill PCs has always been seen as unfair, so your natural instincts guide you away from it. There is a fine line between an exciting, dangerous fight and an overpowered, TPK situation. Hopefully I am creeping up on it slowly enough not to step too far over the line before its too late!

As a side note: some Level 25 PC powers are insane.

 

[Nichwee]

As a side note: Level 25 PC powers are insane.

Depends on the ED chosen. I plan on being a Lorekeeper. So I get:
Better rolling on rituals.
Slow but cheap rituals.
Bonus to hit after a crit.
Not that insane if you ask me. But a lot of EDs seemed to go the "Have another go at life" option which is unimaginative and OTT.

 

[Mesh Hong]

Depends on the ED chosen. I plan on being a Lorekeeper. So I get:
Better rolling on rituals.
Slow but cheap rituals.
Bonus to hit after a crit.
Not that insane if you ask me. But a lot of EDs seemed to go the "Have another go at life" option which is unimaginative and OTT.

Point taken, I have edited my original post to more closely model the reality of the situation.