What does 'epic' mean to you?

[Odhanan]

Funny you should ask about this. I was talking about this precise issue yesterday with my fiancee.

Epic for me is just like Crothian said: it can be low level or high level according to D&D's guidelines. So what makes an adventure "epic" ?

According to the dictionaries, there would be a question of scale, hence the "world changing events" we are so used to, but I feel this is not the real answer.

Epic means drama. The greatest epic situations are those with the most drama involved. The scale comes with it, but isn't the primary element. Hence all the critics of Star Wars versus Lord of the Rings. It's all about what in our human nature affects the destiny of the whole human race, of the whole world surrounding us. This is epic at its best, and that's why Tolkien is so good.

 

[mythusmage]

Epic for Me?

30 seconds of belch on one can of soda.

 

[Shemeska]

Wombat mirrored many of my views earlier: Epic tends to be defined and split between two nearly mutually exclusive takes.

Take #1: There is [booming voice]EPIC!!11!!!11!1111!![/booming voice] which tends to be immature players with poor DMs running 400th level Monty Haul campaigns, having started their PCs at 400th level, with characterization and plot, if present at all, being entirely secondary to killing Deities and Archfiends and taking their stuff. Somewhere in here I'm sure some might find reason for frontal lobotomy, though that might be redundant.

Take #2: Campaign plots that have consequences and end reults that affect worlds, pantheons, or entire planes. These campaigns tend to be long term, have experienced players and DMs (though not necessarily), and the depth of these games tends to transcend the numbers.

For instance, [booming voice]EPIC!![/booming voice] might have a few level 200 PCs that gate into Nessus and kill Asmodeus in two rounds, then get bored and go fight Zeus because the DM rolled him up randomly in the next dungeon they went to. The next game the PCs fight eight gods and an overpower and gain divine rank themselves while getting kewl loot to brag about.

By comparison, Take #2 for an Epic game might have PCs, over the course of months to years of game play attempting to foil the grand schemes of a power mad Archfiend whose own ideas regarding the purity of Evil have already caused massive upheavals in the power structures of the lower planes, and even leaked into the concerns of the upper planes as well. The PCs start small, knowing little, having interactions with this fiend and his concerns that are tangential at first. Eventually they grow in power and knowledge, till eventually they can affect things, bit by bit, without being obliterated in the process. They don't march into Oinos with +38 vorpal exalted blades of kewlness, they go about things in less direct, more rational ways, that ultimately manage to turn the tide of events.

 

[DragonLancer]

Epic is not game mechanics. Its not 145th level characters with hundreds of HP and AC's likewise.

Epic is about grand sweeping campaigns, full of stalwart heroic characters battling against dark and sinister powers and villains. It involves the fates of nations, wars and sprawling battles.

Lord of the Rings. If those movies/books were a D&D campaign they would be Epic in this sense of the term.

 

[Zappo]

An epic adventure has a great impact on the world. You can have epic adventures at any level, though they tend to be much easier to run at mid-levels and above, because low-level characters are subject to being killed easily by anything that can cause "a great impact on the world" if they get in its way.

 

[sniffles]

I guess for me Zappo's description of "epic" works best. I would consider LOTR an epic story, for example, not because the characters are tremendously powerful, but because they are out to save the world from disaster, and the events occur over a fairly extended period of time. I don't think that the characters have to be endowed with great power to make it an epic story, although of course that helps. I don't think they have to follow the 'hero's journey' either; I don't think Frodo or Sam really learn a lot about themselves while making their way to Mt. Doom. It's more about overcoming seemingly-insurmountable obstacles and remaining true to a goal or value, at least for me.

 

[Fists.o.Fury]

I mostly agree with dragonlancer and zapoo. Except there is one thing about dragonlancer's description of epic. Epic doesn't have to be good vs evil it could just as easily be neutral versus neutral, evil/evil or even good/good given the proper circumstances.

On the same note 'Epicness' for me tends to come out of devotion to a character/story/idea for a long period of time. It's hard to have an epic story with somone who isn't involved from the beginning or without a true reason to take part. Likewise just because somone is in the story doesn't mean they are contributing to that 'epic' feel. It takes a balance of time and contribution from all players and the GM both to create an epic story.

 

[Krypter]

Involving the fate of entire nation-states or even the whole world, played out over a long-ish period of time (months to years in game). Possibly travel to other worlds (underworld/overworld), possibly involving the gods, since they are often enmeshed in the affairs of nation-states and worlds. Non-trivial threats.

 

[barsoomcore]

I know what the Epic Handbook calls epic, and that's fine with me.

I know what critics of Homer call epic, and that's fine with me, too.

I know what Hollywood calls epic, and that's perfectly alright with me.


I know what Infinite: Epic Modern calls epic, and that makes my toes curl.

 

[Mystery Man]

I chose all of the above.