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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Riastlin" data-source="post: 5636522" data-attributes="member: 94022">My home campaign is about halfway through 13th level at the moment so I'm getting to see the early stages of paragon and the PCs all started at level 1 (except for the late arrivals to the group).  I have also played quite a bit at heroic, but to date, have no experience with epic, so I'll limit this to just heroic vs. paragon.The main thing that I've noticed as the DM in the paragon game is that the PCs have a far higher degree of a) survivability and b) kick-arsedness.  The paladin, on a single turn, was able to bring the avenger from unconscious to about 3/4 HP and then attack the big bad monster (as an example).  Simply put, the party just has far more options at the moment, from interrupts to reactions, to action points, to magic items.While this can be frustrating as a DM, its also somewhat liberating.  Its given me the freedom to push harder and take bigger risks with my encounter designs.  Even without a true leader in the group (the paladin is pretty much the only source of healing though he did take a lot of healing powers), the party just has a ton of tricks up their sleeves.  For me, its fun because I can get away with so much more than I could before.  In heroic tier, if I tried some of the things I've been doing in paragon, I'd have a tpk on my hands in a heartbeat.  Now, nobody dies (or even really comes close -- the ranger who went off to explore the enemy occupied tower by herself excepted of course).  I do though actually shudder to think what a pacifist cleric would do to this group.I do have to say though that part of this is no doubt due in part to the party getting better with each session at working together.  They've had close to two years now running together so they tend to know what they'll do most of the time.  All in all, I really like the transition.  To me, the two tiers definitely feel different -- if not necessarily unique.  I think any redundancy would be at least in part a problem of the DM.  In fact, I think one of 4ed's greatest strengths (the ease of making encounters) is also a weakness.  Sure, its easy to whip up a quick encounter now, but doing it quickly will likely result in a feeling of sameness.</blockquote>

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