Pathfinder 1E Pathfinder Epic level conventions?

[fireinthedust]

Another point: you're basically inventing a totally new game called "EPIC", since you're re-doing all characters in these (however broad) Epic classes.

1) You lose the character in that they're not the same. ie: take one for team balance. Also potentially losing particular abilities, like membership in some elite guard unit or racial paragon path, during this process.

2) You allow for New characters to be invented immediately, without having to be built the way other characters do. ie: Quickstart Epic.

Pros and cons to either take, depending on how they work out.

 

[Sepulchrave II]

You lose the character in that they're not the same. ie: take one for team balance. Also potentially losing particular abilities, like membership in some elite guard unit or racial paragon path, during this process.

I think that a flexible and well-designed set of rules could minimize the discontinuity; I also think that what appeared on paper to be a different character, might in practice play the same.


Powers can be broad and inclusive: let Clerics with the Fire Domain just cast any spell with the [Fire] descriptor at will; the most important currency - the number of available actions - assumes greater and greater importance at higher levels. Whether you can cast 9 3rd-level spells or 11 in a day is irrelevant; it is no longer a balance issue. Tracking it is annoying.

Assume all characters get an SR of CR+10; give all fighters Devastating Critical; have a mechanism which incorporates ubiquitous +5 inherent bonuses, blanket +6 enhancement bonuses and blanket +5 resistance bonuses - tracking this stuff is annoying. Just let everyone have all of it (to a certain point), and use this as the basis of the rebalance.

Let a new set of divergences between characters begin from this point. It can be balanced and controlled.

 

[Hrothgar Rannúlfr]

E6 style of levelling beyond 20 gets my vote.

I.e. levelling via feats, nothing else.

Regards,
Ruemere

I think this is the best option... But, then, I'm a huge fan of E6, anyway.

Then, all we'd need is a nice variety of feats that are truly worthy of 20th+ level characters.

 

[fireinthedust]

I think that a flexible and well-designed set of rules could minimize the discontinuity; I also think that what appeared on paper to be a different character, might in practice play the same.


Powers can be broad and inclusive: let Clerics with the Fire Domain just cast any spell with the [Fire] descriptor at will; the most important currency - the number of available actions - assumes greater and greater importance at higher levels. Whether you can cast 9 3rd-level spells or 11 in a day is irrelevant; it is no longer a balance issue. Tracking it is annoying.

Assume all characters get an SR of CR+10; give all fighters Devastating Critical; have a mechanism which incorporates ubiquitous +5 inherent bonuses, blanket +6 enhancement bonuses and blanket +5 resistance bonuses - tracking this stuff is annoying. Just let everyone have all of it (to a certain point), and use this as the basis of the rebalance.

Let a new set of divergences between characters begin from this point. It can be balanced and controlled.

Okay, this sounds good for characters who've got a single concept, or have reached the peak of their Spellcasting: archmages, head clerics, rogues/assassins, warriors.

What about mixed-concepts and multi-classed characters? For example, I have an eldritch knight I'm fond of.

Another example: A character with only a few levels of Cleric and the rest are, say, Monk.


In theory you could have a number of traits and a menu for things the character qualifies for (ie: combat, magic, divine, skills, druids, bards, rage, summoner, etc.). Then they have a limited number of things they can choose, but it's stuff like access to Fire domain spells at will, or healing at-will, etc.

The problem is it's instant mastery where it only lip-service was paid before. That's not bad, if the Epic setting is exaggerated in all things (ie: anyone who's a Rogue could potentially have all sorts of rogue traits; and they all operated at Epic bonuses/ranks).


How far have you gotten with this idea? And is it Pathfinder-based? (feel free to PM me)

Ultimately, however, this is a different setting with totally new conventions and scale. In theory you could do the same by just re-skinning every Bestiary monster as an "epic" monster, and all the equipment as "epic magical hemp rope"; that's what you'd be doing, but with bigger numbers.

And lots of automatic successes (ie: you auto-kill all non-epic creatures in 1d4 hits max; or you auto-stealth or auto-climb the walls).

 

[fireinthedust]

I think this is the best option... But, then, I'm a huge fan of E6, anyway.

Then, all we'd need is a nice variety of feats that are truly worthy of 20th+ level characters.

E6 does rock. And it is Epic, after all. Less Mutants and Masterminds, but still Epic.

The trick is not finding feats (as E6 just uses the ones they can qualify for; 6th is already Epic enough). E20 would just use more feats, but no mathematical bonuses.