Post/Author/DateTime	Post
duncan_idaho 12-02-03, 03:03 AM	I was settin' down, contemplatin on the practicality & the wisdom (plus the int, stre, dex, con, & chr) of slapping together what I thought looked like a pretty bloody powerful character for a solo game online (I mostly GM in star wars)...this assuming I could con an old friend into taking the reigns... I had a semi-humorous concept which I apply to most of my over-powered inventions--make him a bit bumbling, always hapless, and frequently pursued by much nastier critters...spread the levels around--versatility without too much power, and a few interesting items, but mainly broke...I thought I'd start him at rogue 3/ex-monk 3/fighter 4/Sorcerer 6...like I said, a lot of this and that...the idea is that his great-grandfather on his mother's side (a major fiend of some sort) and his father (a dragon), keep on interfering with his life in such a way that usually involves immense property damage... With the bonuses such a character gets I figure I'd just use the 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 standard set and maybe fudge just a bit here and there after I fix the bonuses in...maybe an intelligent magic sword he doesn't get along with, some knick-knacks... But I still figure, will they buy into this guy or say no way... I start with stats (modified for 16th level & race) Str 20 Dex 16 Con 12 Int 18 Wis 13 Chr 15 I might contrive some whatzits to give him a couple extra feats...whatever...perhaps a couple levels of one of the more amusing prestige classes...nothing insane consider a 16th to 18th level character...maybe just something to get a little more acane casting ability... Now I'm used to star wars mind you, where a +3 mastercraft item is big news... I started the "Post Your Characters Here thread" partly to see what kinda meat folks be runnin in the realms these days...all I gotta say is, as Keaneu puts it, "whoa!" different world, eh? In SW-land I tend to be commander overkill...here, I'm a shirking violet, a purveyor of weak cheese... I LOVE high-level adventures...I see no reason why characters should be limited to 20 levels...I do wonder, however, if maybe some of the epic stuff isn't a bit, ah, overdone? I don't mean to be confrontational...I really do want to see what people actually play on that other thread and I also would like to here opinions on what folks in these parts consider appropriate to "high-level play" in D&D in particular & the realms specifically... Am I just a wimp? DI/G
Lashan 12-02-03, 05:43 PM	I have to admit that I don't really care for high level play that much. Most of the time, a campaign ends when characters get to around 15th level. I mean, there is usually a social reason for it. I don't just say "It's over!", but it always does seem to happen. I don't really mind that, though.
Fredegar The White 12-02-03, 05:59 PM	I don't like Epic level play. I agree with Lashan. We stop at 12-15 level. I find more amusement in 4-6 level campaigns. You are not a whimp but you are not powerfull so you tend to play more better. Charging when it is right and using caution and planning all the other times.
duncan_idaho 12-02-03, 06:07 PM	I guess it's not so much high (post-20th level) characters that bother me so much as the +7 weapons and massive stacking and lunatic fringe epic feats. I thought the FR Sourcebook had an excellent alternative for allowing high-level characters to continue playing without making them improbably powerful. I don't mean to criticize anyone in particular, btw...I was just a little overwhelmed, having an idea in my head as I did what I thought constituted a really powerful character... One thing WoTC might want to think about, one of the things that 1st/2nd edition AD&D did better than 3ED, was balance high levels against low levels in a sensible fashion. Lotta things it didn't do so good, but this was something they got right, I think. DI/G
Rian Lightblade 12-02-03, 06:29 PM	My alternate DM broke Epic. :( We all agreed not to use it anymore when he told us that we'd have to start facing WILL saves DC of 60+ at the begining of every round until we died. Soooo broken, but fun while it lasted.
Kuje31 12-02-03, 06:32 PM	I know in the games I DM I don't care for high level games and so I usually cap the levels between 20th to 30th level, which usually allows at least 1 10 level prestige class and 1 5 level one. After that it just don't interest me so much, because then it boils down #'s to much and the magic items and abilities just seems to get out of hand and it turns into a game I don't care to run. The one DM who runs the table top game, I play in, also cap's characters at 20th level for about the same reasons.
Folcoerr 12-02-03, 11:56 PM	We play the heck out of our characters, and we've been playing the same ones off and on for more than a year or a year and a half now, and we've finally crossed over to epic levels. It's working out fine for us, and I imagine it will continue to do so. It's really not even unbalanced, at least not when we're going against epic monsters and epic challenges, like destroying colossal constructs and gathering armies. I like the epic level system because it makes for more roleplaying and less dice rolling and straight battling. Plus, it makes the characters that much more interesting, becoming important members of the world community and having the powers and responsibility that come with it. For instance, one rogue has become the leader of the Shadow Thieves in a very interesting way, and my character, a half-elf ranger, found out that his family was a great family of dragon-battling elves, with a powerful name in the elven community, and is at the front of an army of elves that is going to fight alongside the armies of Cormyr and the many Shadow thieves (in a very strange twist) against Maztican invaders led by a powerful demon. We're still being challenged because we're facing greater evils, like entire invading armies with powerful allies, and yet we're becoming powerful members of the world community, and even smoking cigars with our friend Khelben Arunsen on one of our many occasional visits to Waterdeep. You get the idea. Then again, while it's a whole lot of fun, we've also got an awesome and forgiving DM, and understanding and reasonable players.