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DM Resources

Epic Level Encounter Design – Part 1: Cut the Fat

Recently I’ve been charged with the task of running the first epic level campaign for the Dungeon’s Master crew. This series of articles will outline my process and some of my ideas for creating that high level campaign you’ve always wanted to run. This first article is about trimming down the game of D&D so that it runs well at the epic tier.

Picking the Right Tools for the Job

The game of D&D is like any other device in that it’s designed with a purpose in mind, and as per the demands of the design it meets some needs and not others. I think of these things along the lines of automobiles, where a station wagon and a race car can both be very effective though not at all compatible. Likewise 4e D&D is very different at level 2 and level 22. Heroic tier D&D is like your mother’s station wagon, if you put another dent in the bumper there’s a good chance that she won’t notice, where epic D&D is like a fine Italian F1 land rocket, which you can destroy in an instant by using the wrong fuel and oil.

Heroic tier D&D has a lot of features that make play interesting at that level that don’t really translate well to later play. We’ll review some of them now and you can decide if you want to cut them or not in favour of a more high performance and race worthy game.

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Player Resources

Choosing An Epic Destiny Is Harder Than You Think

No matter what level my current character happens to be I’m always looking ahead to the next level. Usually I’m looking even farther ahead that that. Every time Wizards releases a new product – be it the next PHB, one of the Powers book, or an issues of Dragon – I scour through it to look for that next great “something” that will help my character become truly awesome. But as the characters in my regular game approach the epic tier I find that even though I’m still eagerly looking ahead at powers, feats, items and epic destinies, the criteria by which I judge those things is really beginning to change.

Usually when I look ahead I’m trying to discover the things that will help my PC the most – and when I say “help” in this context it’s always a number crunch. The feat that will give me the best attack score modifier, resistance or way out of a jam, or the power that will target the most enemies, deal the most damage or instill the most debilitating effects. It’s always a numbers game.

But as I look ahead at the epic destinies that my PC qualifies for, I find that the number crunching suddenly seems less important. Of all the criteria I’m using to decide upon which epic destiny to take for my PC, the numbers have become significantly less important. My priorities as a player have changed.

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Editorial Player Resources

The 2010 D&D Open Championship

Last weekend at GenCon a new champion was crowned at the D&D Open Championship. Regretfully it was not us. We didn’t even make it to the finals, which was sorely disappointing. However, we still had a lot of fun playing and a lot of fun preparing for the competition. We like to think of this as a learning experience and want to share our findings with you.

This year’s Championship was an adventure called A Hole in the World. Five level 25 pre-generated PCs, were provided. Each team had to complete five encounters, each encounter with a 45-minute time limit. If you didn’t complete an encounter in 45 minutes you were eliminated. If the party decided to take an extended rest you were eliminated. It was designed to challenge the best and most experienced D&D players and it certainly did just that.

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Player Resources

Improve Your Defenses With Energy Resistance (Epic)

At heroic tier energy resistance is nice to have. At paragon tier it becomes a little bit more important. And at epic tier energy resistance is a must. If a party wants to have any chance at surviving multiple encounters between extended rests then they need to avoid damage, and energy resistance will help you there.

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Editorial

Tiers Of Play: Epic

One of the joys of 4e Dungeons & Dragons is that the various tiers of play open the game up, changing the flavour subtly so that it always stays fresh. Recently my regular gaming group decided to try some epic tier Dungeon Delves. In fact, we decided to go for broke and take on the level 30 delve.

It was a blast and no where near as tough as I thought it would be, which is good because it increased my enjoyment factor.

Each of the tiers in 4e D&D adds an additional layer of complication to the game and as you can imagine the epic tier has highest level of difficulty. This is mainly because you have so many options. Not too many options, just lots of options.