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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Barastrondo" data-source="post: 5510923" data-attributes="member: 3820">The thing about the superhero model for epic is that the superhero model is built on recurring characters, especially villains, and D&D... isn't. The players could expect to fight the same characters again and again over the course of, say, ten levels, and that's considered a feature. D&D, on the other hand, is about disposable enemies. You don't usually expect to cross swords with a Black Hand type seven times over the course of a long story, him escaping each time. In a superhero game that's part of the genre; in a D&D game it feels like plot immunity and railroading, because you expect to kill enemies dead in D&D. (Which is another reason I tend to run epic games in a superhero mold; I'm expected to reuse stat blocks, and the PCs are delighted by villains that survive instead of frustrated. Makes some things easier.)I suspect that an unrelated part of the trouble epic tier seems to face with many groups is that it lasts exactly as long as each of the other tiers, but is usually inspired by a dramatic tradition that relies on quicker pacing as you approach the climax. When things are much higher-stakes in epic than they were in heroic, it's often a natural reaction to expect the thrilling climax to take place more quickly. The larger the threat, the more pressure there is to have it resolved ASAP. And ten levels is a lot of time to apply fate-of-the-world pressure. It's something a good epic campaign would have to resolve, at least if it wants to woo the kind of players who enjoy spending at least as much time socializing and community-building in character as they do racing against the clock.</blockquote>

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