I remember when the Deities And Demigods book was used as a sort of Monster Manual for high level play. The attitude of the players was that if something had hit points, they could kill it. Hunt down Oden, take away his spear, ride off on his horse and kill Thor for his hammer.
The game really does break down as you approach the top end. What monsters will be a challenge to players who can take on gods? What do you fight after you kill the Demi-draco-arch-lich and his cadre of balrogs? A 5th Edition Fighter, without feats or subclass features, can take 4 attacks per Attack action. If they are using a second weapon they get a bonus attack so that's 5, and they still get a Reaction so if something tries to get away they get another shot. So add Haste and they get 6 attacks plus Reaction if triggered. I'm sure there are plenty of nifty ways to squeeze in more attacks.
The combat system breaks. A Natural 20 always hits, and crits, but some weird maneuver may mean that you just seriously, utterly, and totally destroyed the Kobold over on the other side of the Dragon you were fighting. The Dragon roasts you with its breath weapon, the Kobolds are firing arrows from elevated positions all around you, the Rust Monster just ate your sword and is after your armor, and you need to make a Dex save or the Green Slime that just fell off the roof eats you. At level 20 that's round one, and you'll probably still win the fight. Alone.
How many times can you save the entire world before that gets old? What is a suitable reward? Maybe a nice statue, to put in the forest of other statues (many of them your own) of people who have saved the world in the last two years? You have your own empire, kings from distant lands ask you for advice on a regular basis, you've been offered the hand of every royal blooded person of every race in the land, and you can't spend your gold fast enough because you did a favor for the goddess of wealth some time ago. You have mastered every skill, every profession, and own all the tools needed to build anything you can conceive of. What's next?
Your passive perception is so high you can see through walls. Your smile is so bright it causes vampires to turn to ash. You can't cut yourself shaving even if you use your Vorpal sword and get a natural 20. That's ok though, you don't need to grow hair you don't want. You took care of that long ago when you made a Wish granted by one of the Djinni nobles. You couldn't think of anything better to use it on.
Just take the ship to Valinor, sail off into the sunset, and become a legend that inspires people for generations to come.
There have been a couple of treatments of epic level play in D&D history. Some have been successful and some of them less so. The D&D 3.5 incarnation of epic level rules was probably the most unbalanced. Even though WoTC released these rules as Open Game Content, when Paizo converted them to Pathfinder they jettisoned 90% of the OGC to produce the Mythic Adventures sourcebook. This says something about how problematic the best-known incarnation of the Epic rules were.
The best treatments of Epic Level play come from early in D&D history. The classic BECMI edition of D&D laid the groundwork. The Basic Rules Set supported character levels from levels 1 to 3. The Expert Rules Set supported character levels 4 through 14. The Companion Rules Set supported character levels 15 through 25. The Master Rules Set supported character levels 26 through 35. The Immortals Rule Set supported characters who achieved godhood, transcending mortal limitations. The Dungeons & Dragons Rules Compendium of 1991 codified this approach. Even today, it remains the best single-volume introduction to D&D. The assumption was that once you passed Level 30, you embarked on a quest to join the ranks of the Immortals. The Wrath of the Immortals boxed set (1992) provided detailed rules for immortal-level play and offered a decent campaign for new godlings.
One reason why the approach of these older products worked better than the approach adopted from 3.5 onwards was the assumption that play styles would change at different levels. At low levels, player characters were ordinary adventurers. They explored dungeons and protected civilisation from monsters. By the time they reached 10th level they were famous individuals. At this point, they transitioned to community leadership roles. Some built strongholds to expand the frontiers of civilisation while others became enmeshed in political intrigue. At these levels, there was less dungeon crawling and more roleplaying. Action often involved mass battles. Beyond level 20, adventurers got involved the eternal conflict between cosmic forces. They drew the attention of the Higher Powers and started to explore the multiverse. This was an interesting transition as they went from being big fish in a small pond to tiny minnows in a vast ocean. At this power level, they started to rub shoulders with Demon Princes and minor godlings. By the time they reached level 30, they were figures of myth and legends. At this point, characters sought the secrets of immortality. A lucky few would achieve divine ascension (or infernal transformation, depending on alignment). The part to immortality was deliberately difficult - adventurers needed to find an existing immortal willing to sponsor their claim, fight off rivals from other planes, and avoid retribution from gods and demons they had thwarted in the past. The rare individuals who achieve immortality don't become gods overnight - they serve an apprenticeship as servants of their divine sponsor while learning the ropes. One thing the Wrath of the Immortals Boxed Set did very well was explain how divine-level politics worked. The Higher Powers rarely intervene directly in the mortal world, preferring to act through servants and minions. They tried to avoid direct conflicts with one another as this was one of the rare things that could destroy them. Even the most ambitious demon lord would think twice before risking their immortality in a direct conflict with a rival power. As a consequence, new godlings spent most of their time performing missions and errands for their superiors. It was a fascinating look at how divine-level play might work in practice.
The lack of official high player character level campaigns seems to be based mostly on the player's lack of interest and TSR and antiwizards of the coast desire for sales.
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I remember when the Deities And Demigods book was used as a sort of Monster Manual for high level play. The attitude of the players was that if something had hit points, they could kill it. Hunt down Oden, take away his spear, ride off on his horse and kill Thor for his hammer.
The game really does break down as you approach the top end. What monsters will be a challenge to players who can take on gods? What do you fight after you kill the Demi-draco-arch-lich and his cadre of balrogs? A 5th Edition Fighter, without feats or subclass features, can take 4 attacks per Attack action. If they are using a second weapon they get a bonus attack so that's 5, and they still get a Reaction so if something tries to get away they get another shot. So add Haste and they get 6 attacks plus Reaction if triggered. I'm sure there are plenty of nifty ways to squeeze in more attacks.
The combat system breaks. A Natural 20 always hits, and crits, but some weird maneuver may mean that you just seriously, utterly, and totally destroyed the Kobold over on the other side of the Dragon you were fighting. The Dragon roasts you with its breath weapon, the Kobolds are firing arrows from elevated positions all around you, the Rust Monster just ate your sword and is after your armor, and you need to make a Dex save or the Green Slime that just fell off the roof eats you. At level 20 that's round one, and you'll probably still win the fight. Alone.
How many times can you save the entire world before that gets old? What is a suitable reward? Maybe a nice statue, to put in the forest of other statues (many of them your own) of people who have saved the world in the last two years? You have your own empire, kings from distant lands ask you for advice on a regular basis, you've been offered the hand of every royal blooded person of every race in the land, and you can't spend your gold fast enough because you did a favor for the goddess of wealth some time ago. You have mastered every skill, every profession, and own all the tools needed to build anything you can conceive of. What's next?
Your passive perception is so high you can see through walls. Your smile is so bright it causes vampires to turn to ash. You can't cut yourself shaving even if you use your Vorpal sword and get a natural 20. That's ok though, you don't need to grow hair you don't want. You took care of that long ago when you made a Wish granted by one of the Djinni nobles. You couldn't think of anything better to use it on.
Just take the ship to Valinor, sail off into the sunset, and become a legend that inspires people for generations to come.
<Insert clever signature here>
There have been a couple of treatments of epic level play in D&D history. Some have been successful and some of them less so. The D&D 3.5 incarnation of epic level rules was probably the most unbalanced. Even though WoTC released these rules as Open Game Content, when Paizo converted them to Pathfinder they jettisoned 90% of the OGC to produce the Mythic Adventures sourcebook. This says something about how problematic the best-known incarnation of the Epic rules were.
The best treatments of Epic Level play come from early in D&D history. The classic BECMI edition of D&D laid the groundwork. The Basic Rules Set supported character levels from levels 1 to 3. The Expert Rules Set supported character levels 4 through 14. The Companion Rules Set supported character levels 15 through 25. The Master Rules Set supported character levels 26 through 35. The Immortals Rule Set supported characters who achieved godhood, transcending mortal limitations. The Dungeons & Dragons Rules Compendium of 1991 codified this approach. Even today, it remains the best single-volume introduction to D&D. The assumption was that once you passed Level 30, you embarked on a quest to join the ranks of the Immortals. The Wrath of the Immortals boxed set (1992) provided detailed rules for immortal-level play and offered a decent campaign for new godlings.
One reason why the approach of these older products worked better than the approach adopted from 3.5 onwards was the assumption that play styles would change at different levels. At low levels, player characters were ordinary adventurers. They explored dungeons and protected civilisation from monsters. By the time they reached 10th level they were famous individuals. At this point, they transitioned to community leadership roles. Some built strongholds to expand the frontiers of civilisation while others became enmeshed in political intrigue. At these levels, there was less dungeon crawling and more roleplaying. Action often involved mass battles. Beyond level 20, adventurers got involved the eternal conflict between cosmic forces. They drew the attention of the Higher Powers and started to explore the multiverse. This was an interesting transition as they went from being big fish in a small pond to tiny minnows in a vast ocean. At this power level, they started to rub shoulders with Demon Princes and minor godlings. By the time they reached level 30, they were figures of myth and legends. At this point, characters sought the secrets of immortality. A lucky few would achieve divine ascension (or infernal transformation, depending on alignment). The part to immortality was deliberately difficult - adventurers needed to find an existing immortal willing to sponsor their claim, fight off rivals from other planes, and avoid retribution from gods and demons they had thwarted in the past. The rare individuals who achieve immortality don't become gods overnight - they serve an apprenticeship as servants of their divine sponsor while learning the ropes. One thing the Wrath of the Immortals Boxed Set did very well was explain how divine-level politics worked. The Higher Powers rarely intervene directly in the mortal world, preferring to act through servants and minions. They tried to avoid direct conflicts with one another as this was one of the rare things that could destroy them. Even the most ambitious demon lord would think twice before risking their immortality in a direct conflict with a rival power. As a consequence, new godlings spent most of their time performing missions and errands for their superiors. It was a fascinating look at how divine-level play might work in practice.
The lack of official high player character level campaigns seems to be based mostly on the player's lack of interest and TSR and antiwizards of the coast desire for sales.