Anyone ever actually played Epic levels?

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More than once? God, they should pay me to DM once the APL hits 18,
much less 21. D&D becomes incredibly unfun at these levels, at least
for the DM.

1st level next week! I'm so happy.
 
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Martin Feller wrote:
> More than once? God, they should pay me to DM once the APL hits 18,
> much less 21. D&D becomes incredibly unfun at these levels, at least
> for the DM.
>

Why do you say that?

I've never actually run epic rules (except pre 3e). Was going to run
some pre game battles just to see how it works, but I haven't been able
to get everyone togeather for a game for almost a month now.

They rules look pretty clunky to me, and there just don't seem to be
enough challenges at that level. Speaking of that, any know of any 3.5
epic modules?

- Justisaur
 

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Alien mind control rays made Martin Feller <martinfeller@sxfxcxgxlxoxbxaxlx.nxext> write:
> More than once? God, they should pay me to DM once the APL hits 18,
> much less 21. D&D becomes incredibly unfun at these levels, at least
> for the DM.

my group's just reached level 18 in the last couple of sessions. so
far, its not really that much different than 17. :p i've never paid
much attention to tailoring challenges to the party's level, and see no
reason for that to change now. some melees are cakewalks, some are
brutal (though these are obviously fewer). i've been trying to force
them into more big-picture playing, but so far that's only resulted in
one uber-artifact falling into the hands of the last demon of the
cosmos. oh well, at least one of them seems motivated to clean it up,
so that'll be fun, too.

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My group just hit 16th-17th level, and we're having a great time. We
like the campaign plot. We like the roleplay. We also like all the
neat things we can do. Our wizard was thrilled she was casting
Prismatic Spray and Chain Lightning. She's now ecstatic she can cast
Mordenkainen'd Disjuction. Our tank is happy he's "finished" his War
Mind Prestige Class. Our rogue loves all his sneak attack dice and
rogue special abilities like crippling strike and improved evasion.

As for myself, I'm happy my cleric can Heal and Harm for a change. I
can now cast Holy Aura. With GM permission of 3.0 Persistant Spell, I
now have Persistant Divine Favor/Persistant Divine Power to back up the
tank when needed. This is the first time any of us have reached such
levels of play. We can dish out and get dished back. We love it.

A few sessions ago, when I was only able to cast up to 7th level
spells, while I was away for a session, the party did have a TPK. Two
characters were dead, one Imprisoned, and one taken captive. My
character "wasn't there", so I was able to do something about this when
I got back. I had access to special scrolls such that I could cast
spells above my allowed level without a problem, but I had to spend any
XP cost or expensive material components. I used a Greater Planar Ally
scroll to call for an Astral Deva and a scroll of Miracle to save my
party. It cost me 5,500 XP, but it was worth it. It was a thrilling
feeling to save my party and to do so with such powerful means.

I can't wait for Epic Levels. I'm excitedly waiting for when I can
have Persistant Find The Path!

Gerald Katz
 
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Martin Feller wrote:
> More than once? God, they should pay me to DM once the APL hits 18,
> much less 21. D&D becomes incredibly unfun at these levels, at least
> for the DM.
>

My last game couldn't USE D&D rules because epic isn't powerful
enough. I may drop down far enough to use them the next time I run.


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"Sea Wasp" <seawaspobvious@obvioussgeinc.com> wrote in message
news:4320BB9C.9090909@obvioussgeinc.com...
> Martin Feller wrote:
>> More than once? God, they should pay me to DM once the APL hits 18,
>> much less 21. D&D becomes incredibly unfun at these levels, at
>> least for the DM.
>>
>
> My last game couldn't USE D&D rules because epic isn't powerful
> enough. I may drop down far enough to use them the next time I run.

I didn't say high-powered games aren't fun... I like a good cosmic
storyline myself. I just don't think D&D is at all an appropriate
system to run them.
 
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Martin Feller wrote:
> Most depressing moment from our last game: the party's cleric got
> three crits and two regular hits in on an advanced solar. He's huge,
> was enlarged to gargantuan, using power attack and a greatsword. He
> did over 700 points of damage before DR. I just goggled.

Well, in and of itself ~700 damage is quite nice at levels around 20 -
30. But look at what you wrote: three critical hits, and two regular
hits. That means five attacks, that all hit, plus three confirmation
rolls that also all succeeded.

I do not know the exact numbers involved, but with three criticals and
two hits from a greatsword, each "normal" greatsword blow has to be
doing 90-ish damage on average to reach 700+ damage total. Let's
speculate. Give him, say, Str 50? He was Gargantuan after all. That's
+20 Str bonus, so +30 damage right there on a double-handed weapon. A
Gargantuan greatsword does, what, 6d6 damage? (A Large greatsword =
3d6, Huge 3d6 -> 3d8, Gargantuan 3d8 -> 6d6. I think.) Another expected
~21 damage (and 8 x 6d6 = 48d6 really WILL average out to ~168). Give
him, say, +20 damage from various sources (enhancement, luck, morale,
whatever). Meaning he needs another ~20 Power Attack damage, so, say, a
-10 penalty. Give or take.

If a Gargantuan (-4 size penalty) Cleric (medium BAB) takes a -10 Power
Attack Penalty and still manages to hit 5 times in a row (out of which
at least 3 have to be 17+ even IF he has Improved Critical or a Keen
weapon) plus 3 confirmations, even with his lowest iterative (-15)
attack, either something really IS wrong with the ACs involved, or he
was just lucky. In which case, more power to him!

> isn't *anything* you can throw at that... short of giving the players
> a menu of deific beings and letting them put together a couple
> courses. Sure, some of the higher CR monsters have big enough ACs that
> power attacking isn't as viable, but then you've just switched, "The
> PCs need to not roll ones" to, "the monsters just need to not roll
> ones." It was literally the last dice throw of the campaign, as I
> deus-exed an ending to the campaign on the spot.

*shrugs* Of course you can throw things at that. ACs need not be *so*
friggin' high that only a carefully-timed charge by the main melee
character (who can then not afford to take any Power Attack / Combat
Expertise penalties) when an ally is flanking would require 'only' a 19
instead of a natural 20 to hit. On the other end of the spectrum, if
with -20 penalties even the Wizard is still hitting on a 5+, you might
want to make some adjustments.

Use hit-and-run. Full attack with Mr. Solar, THEN Greater Teleport away
(using Quicken Spell-Like Ability). Be immune to criticals (saving you
~250 - 300 damage right there). Impose a miss chance of some kind
(Greater Blink from Complete Arcane for example, or concealment of some
kind). Trap the Cleric in a Forcecage. Up your AC. Use Mirror Image.

That said... you're completely right, preparing for high-level really
DOES take a lot more time than preparing for low-level, especially if
you have combat oriented games. My players just hit ECL 20, and with
some 'extras' and the fact there's 5 PCs and an NPC in the party, an EL
21 - 22 encounter is a 'normal' one for them. I expect to throw four of
those at them in a row without them breaking a sweat. Too bad each one
requires quite some preparation on my side (but then again, I love
doing that).
 
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Urrgghhhh - I always feel that uber high level books/mods are more for
reading on the toilet than actually playing.

I been at DnD since, errrrr, 1981 ish, and the highest PC I have ever
had was a 16th level Paladin (started in about 1982, still "on hold
btw)

In the Campaign I am currently DMing, we play for a few weeks then have
breaks and do other campaigns. Its the 1st 3ed campaign I have run -
the PCs are all 4-5th level.... I will let you know what happens when I
get to use my eouc handbook.
 
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Martin Feller wrote:
> "Sea Wasp" <seawaspobvious@obvioussgeinc.com> wrote in message
> news:4320BB9C.9090909@obvioussgeinc.com...
>
>>Martin Feller wrote:
>>
>>>More than once? God, they should pay me to DM once the APL hits 18,
>>>much less 21. D&D becomes incredibly unfun at these levels, at
>>>least for the DM.
>>>
>>
>>My last game couldn't USE D&D rules because epic isn't powerful
>>enough. I may drop down far enough to use them the next time I run.
>
>
> I didn't say high-powered games aren't fun... I like a good cosmic
> storyline myself. I just don't think D&D is at all an appropriate
> system to run them.
>
>

I don't see any particular problem with it -- though I'm strongly
tempted to mod it by using the Slayers d20 rules, mostly.

Long combats are appropriate if the foes are worthy.

--
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Murf wrote:
> Urrgghhhh - I always feel that uber high level books/mods are more for
> reading on the toilet than actually playing.

Well, yes and no.

There's nothing wrong with epic-level campaigns in general. But D&D
just falls apart at Epic levels. The power curves of the various
classes diverge wildly after level 20 (well, after level 15, really,
but it becomes really ridiculous after level 20), and the design of the
Epic level stuff is of much lower quality than the rest of the D&D
rules.

If you want to play with characters of truly earth-shattering power, I
really do suggest a different system. I like Exalted, for instance
(haven't had much experience with it, but it looks a lot better than
D&D at that power level). Shadowrun is pretty good for epic cyberpunk
(though it does have its own set of balance issues). And Mutants and
Masterminds looks interesting for epic superhero stuff (haven't ever
played it, though).

Laszlo
 
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Hadsil wrote:
> My group just hit 16th-17th level, and we're having a great time. We
> like the campaign plot. We like the roleplay. We also like all the
> neat things we can do.

Anyone cast the Time Stop spell yet? If so, do you find it a problem at
all?
 
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"Hadsil" <forumite@netzero.com> wrote in message
news:1126242706.728349.158470@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Our wizard was thrilled...

> Our tank is happy...

> Our rogue loves all his...

> I'm happy my cleric can...

See, there it is. I'm pretty sure my players were having fun as well.
How's your DM holding up?
 
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Martin Feller wrote:
> "Hadsil" <forumite@netzero.com> wrote in message
> news:1126242706.728349.158470@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
>
>>Our wizard was thrilled...
>
>
>>Our tank is happy...
>
>
>>Our rogue loves all his...
>
>
>>I'm happy my cleric can...
>
>
> See, there it is. I'm pretty sure my players were having fun as well.
> How's your DM holding up?
>
>

Can't speak for his, but every time my players have been having fun,
I have fun. That's one of the major points of the game, you know.

--
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chaoslight@gmail.com wrote:

> If you want to play with characters of truly earth-shattering power, I
> really do suggest a different system.

Probably wise. For experienced groups that trust each other, I
strongly recommend using the AMBER system (just tweak/add powers as
appropriate). It's what we've based our really high power games on.




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"Sea Wasp" <seawaspobvious@obvioussgeinc.com> wrote in message
news:43217D41.4050707@obvioussgeinc.com...
> Martin Feller wrote:
>> "Hadsil" <forumite@netzero.com> wrote in message
>> news:1126242706.728349.158470@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
>>
>>>Our wizard was thrilled...
>>
>>
>>>Our tank is happy...
>>
>>
>>>Our rogue loves all his...
>>
>>
>>>I'm happy my cleric can...
>>
>>
>> See, there it is. I'm pretty sure my players were having fun as
>> well. How's your DM holding up?
>
> Can't speak for his, but every time my players have been having fun,
> I have fun. That's one of the major points of the game, you know.

Well, I'm not exactly sitting there with a look of pain on my face...
just eyeing the boardgames and wargames on the wall, looking wistfully
at orcs and minor undead as I page past them in the MM, pining for the
smell of freshly printed characters sheets, etc.
 
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Justisaur wrote:
> Martin Feller wrote:
> > More than once? God, they should pay me to DM once the APL hits 18,
> > much less 21. D&D becomes incredibly unfun at these levels, at least
> > for the DM.
> >
>
> Why do you say that?
>

Try building several NPCs and their possesions at the epic levels. It
takes a while in paperwork to build them up, which in some campaigns
can be a major drain of time for the DM.

Also, as you said in this post, making challenges which don't extend
into fighting gods and such is pretty tough. Some things (like the
hecontiares (sp?) and prismatic dragons) have insane stats which are
even tougher than many deities. Killing a god might seem fun in an
action game like _God of War_ for Playstation 2 (where simple traps can
kill what is no doubt an epic character), but in D&D, the characters
(if their players are half smart) are effectively unkillable at 18+
level.

> I've never actually run epic rules (except pre 3e). Was going to run
> some pre game battles just to see how it works, but I haven't been able
> to get everyone togeather for a game for almost a month now.
>
> They rules look pretty clunky to me, and there just don't seem to be
> enough challenges at that level. Speaking of that, any know of any 3.5
> epic modules?
>
 
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DougL wrote:

> WotC PRODUCED The Primal Order, which was an entire game-
> meta system for playing characters more powerful than
> D&D3.x Epic characters!

I've thought about using Primal to beef up Epic types. Something along
the lines of 1 point of base per level squared maybe (i.e 21st gets 1,
22nd has 4, 23rd has 9, etc.) This would easily have a nice progression
up through 30 or 40th lv. Powerful gods would have to be something
rediculous though like 100 or 200th lv (assuming I made base only
gained through levels). Not that that's necessarily a bad idea.
Wouldn't really work very well with typical Monster HD though,
generally that's as much as 2x CR So a CR 30 monster might have 60 HD
which would give it 2500 base compared to a lv 30 4 person party with
400 each or 1600 total - that would be pretty hard to overcome
(although they might be able to get more flux with woshipers or
something depending on how you want to deal with that mechanic).

I did use primal back in 2e days, I rather liked it. I never really
liked the 'owning a plane' requirement though so dropped that and came
up with other methods of gaining it.

- Justisaur
 
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Martin Feller wrote:
> "Hadsil" <forumite@netzero.com> wrote in message
> news:1126242706.728349.158470@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> > Our wizard was thrilled...
>
> > Our tank is happy...
>
> > Our rogue loves all his...
>
> > I'm happy my cleric can...
>
> See, there it is. I'm pretty sure my players were having fun as well.
> How's your DM holding up?

No problem at all. A few sessions ago he had a face the epic monster
Devastation Beetle, a bit toned down, just to see what we were capable
of. There was no way we could defeat it at our level and we weren't
even close when the combat ended (NPC used a Wish from a staff to call
forth the Tarrasque to fight it. A bit Deus Ex Machina but acceptable
and appropriate for our particular game circumstances.)

In any case, we weren't really meant to defeat it. What he was
impressed was with what we did and the fact that no one died. He liked
out tank dishing it out. He liked our wizard goin all out casting her
spells doing what she can. He liked our rogue thinking outside the box
trying to find who was controlling the Devastation Beetle. He liked me
dishing out the spell as well but more for my playing support. He was
imressed with my Shield Other on the tank. It literally saved his life
on all attacks the beetle made against him, even though both of us
still had to make saving throws for taking over 50 points of damage
from one attack.

Last session we fought an Epic Fighter. Our rogue was killed (later
Resurrected) but we did well enough to force the fighter to retreat.
Biased and bragging I may be, but our group has excellent team work.
We're not perfect, but we do quite well.

The DM does agree this campaign is quite high powered even before we
reached our current levels. Everyone was fine with it and having fun,
which is the whole point. Next campaign he is going to tone it down a
bit. We're ok with that too. We are going to play into epic levels
this campaign. It will be relaxing to start over at 1st level with new
characters the next campaign when the time comes.

Gerald Katz
 
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chaoslight@gmail.com wrote:
> Murf wrote:
> > Urrgghhhh - I always feel that uber high level books/mods are more for
> > reading on the toilet than actually playing.
>
> Well, yes and no.
>
> There's nothing wrong with epic-level campaigns in general. But D&D
> just falls apart at Epic levels. The power curves of the various
> classes diverge wildly after level 20 (well, after level 15, really,
> but it becomes really ridiculous after level 20), and the design of the
> Epic level stuff is of much lower quality than the rest of the D&D
> rules.
>
> If you want to play with characters of truly earth-shattering power, I
> really do suggest a different system. I like Exalted, for instance
> (haven't had much experience with it, but it looks a lot better than
> D&D at that power level). Shadowrun is pretty good for epic cyberpunk
> (though it does have its own set of balance issues). And Mutants and
> Masterminds looks interesting for epic superhero stuff (haven't ever
> played it, though).
>
> Laszlo

Not with my group when it comes to combat. Yes, the wizard is throwing
Prismatic Spray and Chain Lightning like there's no tomorrow. My
cleric has his Destruction and Harm. However, our tank,
barbarian/psychic warrior/war mind, can dish out 40+ points of damage
per attack at four attacks per round thanks to Power Attack and Rage.
Our rogue can dish out 12d6 + something damage with sneak attack per
attack at five attacks per round (Improved Two Weapon Fighting). When
sneak attack is not possible, he's resourceful enough to do other
tactiful things.

Yes, the tank and rogue have magic items that help them. The rogue did
15d6 + a lot of something damage on a critical hit last session. That
is the nature of D&D. It is unfair to deny a fighter magic items while
a wizard can still use all his spells. That's why the fighter vs
wizard arguement is a false one.

Gerald Katz
 
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IHateLashknife@hotmail.com wrote:
> Hadsil wrote:
> > My group just hit 16th-17th level, and we're having a great time. We
> > like the campaign plot. We like the roleplay. We also like all the
> > neat things we can do.
>
> Anyone cast the Time Stop spell yet? If so, do you find it a problem at
> all?

Upon just reaching 17th level last session, the wizard took Disjunction
and Wail of the Banshee both because of the character's personality as
well being a victim of such spells. She wanted them more than Wish.

When I get my first 9th level spell, it's going to be Mass Heal before
Miracle as well.

Gerald Katz
 
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On 9 Sep 2005 03:46:43 -0700, chaoslight@gmail.com carved upon a
tablet of ether:

> If you want to play with characters of truly earth-shattering power, I
> really do suggest a different system. I like Exalted, for instance
> (haven't had much experience with it, but it looks a lot better than
> D&D at that power level).

From what I've seen on the webforums, it's very easy to build sub-par
exalts that just don't stand up at high power levels. It looks like
there are some charms that are 'must have' for any particular type of
build, and others that look good on the surface, but actually aren't.

--
Rupert Boleyn <rboleyn@paradise.net.nz>
"Just because the truth will set you free doesn't mean the truth itself
should be free."
 
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DougL <lampert.doug@gmail.com> writes
<snip>
>Epic characters can't blow up planets, much less make new ones.

<snip>
>Epic characters can't create new species without GM fiat.

>They can't
>change the level of magical power across the entire
>universe. Hech they have real trouble changing natural
>law at all.

<snip>

>Epic characters can't invent and cast a new spell in a
>matter of seconds with spontanious magic (one down on a
>STARTING Ars Magica character).

<snip>

>They lack any Divine attributes, and can't send forth
>avatars or invest their followers with significant
>additional power except by giving their followers toys.
>The D&D3.x Gods have powers they can't match.

Good bloody hell :| I thank grief they can't!

Epic characters aren't, and shouldn't be, equivalent to gods, with
god-like abilities. Otherwise, the entire premise of divine salient
abilities goes flying out of the window. Also, IMO, if you're using
epic rules, the gods themselves should have epic levels in addition to
their divine abilities, so the gulf between mortal and non-mortal is
maintained (a sidebar in DDG discusses something along these lines).

If you want to play at such far-reaching, campaign setting altering
power levels, you could devise an advancement system for divine rank,
which might allow a PC to advance by, say, multi-classing into divine
rank and thereby gaining access to divine salients. But in general, the
power scope you're on about is outside both the nature and the concepts
behind D&D, so it's not surprising you can't find epic equivalents to
the character capabilities you cite. Those kind of power levels leave
the idea of heroic fantasy far behind, and head into the realms of, in
equivalence, using Galacticus as a PC in a super-hero game.

--
Ian R Malcomson
"Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box"
 
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Ian R Malcomson wrote:

> If you want to play at such far-reaching, campaign setting altering
> power levels, you could devise an advancement system for divine rank,

The Primal Order. Not powerful enough, though.

Those kind of power levels leave
> the idea of heroic fantasy far behind, and head into the realms of, in
> equivalence, using Galacticus as a PC in a super-hero game.
>

ITYM "Galactus". And he's not powerful enough, either.




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In message <4322247F.1040909@obvioussgeinc.com>, Sea Wasp
<seawaspobvious@obvioussgeinc.com> writes
>Ian R Malcomson wrote:
>
>> If you want to play at such far-reaching, campaign setting altering
>>power levels, you could devise an advancement system for divine rank,
>
> The Primal Order. Not powerful enough, though.
>
> Those kind of power levels leave
>> the idea of heroic fantasy far behind, and head into the realms of,
>>in equivalence, using Galacticus as a PC in a super-hero game.
>>
>
> ITYM "Galactus". And he's not powerful enough, either.

Right, yes, him. I think I'll walk away from this thread now, muttering
something along the lines of "pangalactic megalomania" :|

--
Ian R Malcomson
"Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box"
 
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Kaos wrote:
> On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 21:04:14 GMT, Sea Wasp

>> I STARTED with AMBER as the base for that campaign. Then I ramped the
>>power level up. WAY up.
>
>
> And you've got a 3' schlong.
>

Hong does this better than you. Usually involving titanium.



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