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<blockquote data-quote="NexH" data-source="post: 5570622" data-attributes="member: 15200"><p>Didn't want to derail the thread <em> Rule-of-Three for May 23</em>, so I opened this new one to share some experiences from my campaign. Hopefully they will be of use to someone, or others could share their experiences/advices for Epic play.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Something I have been using in my campaign since Heroic Tier is the following equivalence: Standard monster = Minion of level +8, Elite of level -4, or Solo of level -9</p><p>At epic level I have used this mostly to make minions or standard monsters out of monsters that were once a considerable threat to the PCs, showcasing the growth in power the PCs have experienced since. </p><p>So for example you could model a fire giant (level 18) as a level 26 minion, a medusa archer (elite 10) as a level 22 minion, or even an hydra (solo 10) as a level 27 minion.</p><p>So you can easily populate epic level with hordes of "paragon level" enemies.</p><p></p><p>Taking that a step further is another idea from EN World's user Upper_Krust, which suggests that a unit of 10 creatures can be modelled as a single "creature" 6 levels higher. By multiple applications of the rule you have: 100 creatures = +12, 1000 = +18...</p><p>I have used this method a few times, the most spectacular (and experimental) being one in which the level 26 PCs protected a sacred dwarven city against an army of seven hundred thousand hobgoblin warriors and legions of goblins. This was represented by a change of space/time scale in the gameboard/turn system, in which the main of the army was a high level solo "swarm" and legions of goblins were considered minions. It went well, but we took various narrative liberties to describe the combat.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Something that I implemented very recently, but I wish I had earlier, is changing the way PC resources are replenished. Basically: what used to be replenished each day is now gradually recovered through progress in the adventure.</p><p>This requires the players to submit clear warranties in favor of some DM adjudication... but IME has worked wonderfully to expand narrative liberties in adventure creation. For example: in a 3 month journey through the Astral Sea and the Elemental Chaos, I was able to put a few flavourful encounters for the PCs along the way, without worrying about these encounters being mechanically irrelevant for the adventure.</p><p>I think doing this change is particulary useful for Epic Level, since I find artificial and difficult creating many adventures at this level in which the time limit is mechanically restricting (and trivial encounters aren't fun for anyone).</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well, I think that's it for now. If anyone has other ideas or tools he/she has used successfuly for epic level gaming, please post!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="NexH, post: 5570622, member: 15200"] Didn't want to derail the thread [i] Rule-of-Three for May 23[/i], so I opened this new one to share some experiences from my campaign. Hopefully they will be of use to someone, or others could share their experiences/advices for Epic play. Something I have been using in my campaign since Heroic Tier is the following equivalence: Standard monster = Minion of level +8, Elite of level -4, or Solo of level -9 At epic level I have used this mostly to make minions or standard monsters out of monsters that were once a considerable threat to the PCs, showcasing the growth in power the PCs have experienced since. So for example you could model a fire giant (level 18) as a level 26 minion, a medusa archer (elite 10) as a level 22 minion, or even an hydra (solo 10) as a level 27 minion. So you can easily populate epic level with hordes of "paragon level" enemies. Taking that a step further is another idea from EN World's user Upper_Krust, which suggests that a unit of 10 creatures can be modelled as a single "creature" 6 levels higher. By multiple applications of the rule you have: 100 creatures = +12, 1000 = +18... I have used this method a few times, the most spectacular (and experimental) being one in which the level 26 PCs protected a sacred dwarven city against an army of seven hundred thousand hobgoblin warriors and legions of goblins. This was represented by a change of space/time scale in the gameboard/turn system, in which the main of the army was a high level solo "swarm" and legions of goblins were considered minions. It went well, but we took various narrative liberties to describe the combat. Something that I implemented very recently, but I wish I had earlier, is changing the way PC resources are replenished. Basically: what used to be replenished each day is now gradually recovered through progress in the adventure. This requires the players to submit clear warranties in favor of some DM adjudication... but IME has worked wonderfully to expand narrative liberties in adventure creation. For example: in a 3 month journey through the Astral Sea and the Elemental Chaos, I was able to put a few flavourful encounters for the PCs along the way, without worrying about these encounters being mechanically irrelevant for the adventure. I think doing this change is particulary useful for Epic Level, since I find artificial and difficult creating many adventures at this level in which the time limit is mechanically restricting (and trivial encounters aren't fun for anyone). Well, I think that's it for now. If anyone has other ideas or tools he/she has used successfuly for epic level gaming, please post! [/QUOTE]
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