The Inside Scoop on Gaming

After 1 year and 11 months, the Epic Level Handbook is finally available. The day the PHB was released, I remarked to a fellow gamer than I believed they made a mistake in limiting the levels to 20th, as AD&D 2nd edition had done before. A mistake because a book was later released detailing high level campaigning, proving that there was an interest in "epic" adventures. Thankfully, the Epic Level book was announced shortly thereafter, making munchkins everywhere salivate with anticipation.

It's difficult to judge the worth of the Epic Level Handbook (ELH for now) without looking at it both objectively and subjectively. From a purely "publishing" standpoint, it's a fairly nice book, greatly resembling Deities & Demigods, both in layout/text size and writing style. I had heard both books were produced side-by-side, so this seems to make sense. At 320 pages long, it doesn't quite seem worth the $39.95 price tag. The Forgotten Realms campaign book was the same page length and price, but with an excessively small typeface. Still, it seems priced comparably to Deities & Demigods, so if you thought that book was worth the money, you won't be disappointed with volume of content in the ELH. Art is sparse, with probably an average of less than one picture per three pages (very rough estimate). Almost all of it is good, and fits appropriately to the text. The writing is mostly flavorless, which fits the content perfectly. This is a very rules-heavy book, and the writers do an excellent job, being both clear and concise. I will say that the writing isn't *boring*, either, so be assured it's not like reading stereo instructions. Overall, the book is very well produced and attractive.

All that means absolutely nothing if the content is useless, and the usefulness of the ELH rests squarely on the shoulders of the DM and his players. I consider myself a "roleplayer" as opposed to a hack-n-slash type gamer, but I will admit to a bit of power-gaming-itis every so often. The ELH has a lot of material I feel would add fun to a D&D game, if handled properly. Unfortunately, there are those (munchkins) who would rapidly go unchecked and lead a game to oblivion if the ELH material was used improperly. If you're running a group of 13 year olds, you will want to keep the ELH as far away as possible for the time being (unless you enjoy ludicrous game sessions, which some people actually DO like). Pure roleplayers (why you'd be playing D&D is beyond me) are also advised to stay far away. There is nothing in the ELH that you'll probably find useful. For those of you who are like me (somewhere in the middle), you will likely find much in the ELH that will be useful for your game.

As a point of criticism to the ELH, I was an avid D&D player many years ago and used the boxed sets (Basic, Expert, etc). The Immortals boxed set, as well as the follow-up Wrath of the Immortals, portrayed "power gaming" in its most logical form, that of characters becoming gods. Once your character reached a certain point, they could retire, or strive for immortality, at which time you basically started all over with a whole new set of challenges. The power level of characters using the ELH rivals some of the minor gods and demigods, yet the characters remain mortal, blurring the distinction. I would have really liked to see a revision of the old Immortals set with emphasis on having characters become gods instead of acquiring further levels, with a definitive spike in power level. As it stands, the gods are merely an obstacle for a group of epic level characters, not forces of nature. A minor beef, but I thought WotC could have used some of their old Primal Order material and made a *truly* epic campaigning experience.

The book itself is divided into six chapters and three appendices. The first chapter deals with character levels, feats, skills, etc. The tables only go up to 30th level, but have the progressions listed for characters past that. Each character class is detailed, with information about how epic level advancement works. Most of the information is duplicated from the PHB, except for the listing of Epic Level Feats each character is eligible for. Skills are expanded, with descriptions given about excessive difficulty levels. Someone making a DC 100 Climbing roll could cling to a smooth ceiling, for instance. Feats, there are at least 100 or so. Most are older feats taken to their logical extreme, such as Item Creation feats that allow 10k gp worth of work to be done per day. The power curve indicated by the feats and skills seems to be in check with levels 1-20, but with a dramatic jump between 20th level characters and Epic level characters. By this I mean that Epic level characters are powered appropriately with relation to each other, but vastly more powerful than normal characters. The Prestige classes found in the DMG are expanded upon, along with Psychic character classes. Also included are Epic Prestige classes, which are a travesty to anything resembling game balance. They are essential "super" characters of normal type (The Perfect Wight is basically a super Rogue for example). These should be a lot of fun.

Chapter Two covers Epic spells, which seems to be the designers way of not having to use spell levels for epic campaigns. The Epic spells are now given DC numbers (usually in the range of 50, to near 100 for some very powerful spells) that the caster must roll against his Spellcraft skill to cast. Specific spells are listed, as are spell "seeds", allowing a caster to customize a spell for a particular situation. Anyone familiar with Ars Magica will recognize the premise immediately. A caster simply selects "seeds" that will result in the desired effect, then calculates the DC of the spell. I think the DC idea with epic level spells is a good one, as it eliminates the worry of "level" while allowing higher level characters to do more than lower level ones. I would be curious to see a system like this adapted to the current D&D spell system, but then I guess I could just play GURPS or something. Overall, good stuff.

Chapter Three is Dungeon Master information. If you found the help sections of the DMG useful, this will be as well. If you thought the DMG was useless, you will find this useless. Nothing here of great importance, but still some good advice for DMs who have little experience running groups of excessively high power levels. I found some of the information on Demographics insightful, but still lacking in actual application.

Chapters Four and Five deal with magic items and monsters respectively. Two words: artifacts, and Hecatoncheires (yes, THOSE hecatoncheires). Essentially, the only magic items powerful enough for epic level campaigns are artifacts, and characters can now create them. In reality, this is not true, as the ELH states Epic level spells cannot be stored in physical items (unless created by gods I'm assuming), and artifacts *can* cast those spells. Basically what this means is characters can now create and get insanely powerful magic items (bonuses beyond normally allowed in the DMG) that aren't quite on the level as true artifacts. These uber-items greatly resemble their more "commonplace" counterparts, so no real surprises (an epic rod of absorption can absorb any spell except epic level spells and stores up to 150 spell levels for instance). There are a few true artifacts detailed in the book, but these seem to be plot devices. The Codex of the Infinite Planes basically makes you able to summon and dismiss most major planar entities, not to mention the ability to soul bind and open gates at will. I wasn't very impressed with the magic items, as it appears to be nothing more than the base magic system with a few more plusses. As far as the Hecatoncheires go, their challenge rating is 57, which is ludicrous. These things are so powerful I'm surprised they haven't subjugated all the gods yet. As expected, Epic Dragons are not to be trifled with, and will clean the clock of any epic level party. There are also Primal Elementals, Elder Titans and Treants, and Demiliches. I was very happy with the monster selection and treatment of each, as they are *forces*, not merely bigger/nastier monsters. The inclusion of Legendary Animals really gives a true epic feel to the book and reminded me of Greek mythology in some regards.

Chapter Six is basically an outline of an epic setting. Well, it gives bits and pieces of ideas to formulate an epic setting along with hints on how to incorporate them into the existing game world. There are two full mini-adventures included and examples of organizations/antagonists. Not a bad starting point for ideas, but there's not enough material here for a DM to rely on for very long.

The Appendices are character write-ups of Epic level NPCs, including Elminster, the Cat Lord and Mordenkainen. Also included are charts for generating generic epic level characters (similar to the charts in the DMG for generating NPCs of a particular level). Nothing useful unless you like Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk, or need to randomly generate a character (we ALL use custom NPCs, right). I do appreciate the inclusion of this information as it provides a good outline of how to (not) design epic characters. For all the FR fanboys out there, an epic level dragon would wipe the floor with Elminster...

In conclusion, the ELH is a good book to extend a D&D campaign beyond 20th level and has enough information to last a long time. Personally, I think that the epic level campaign has little to do with power as much as it has to do with style. You can have epic games with 1st level farmers...still, it IS possible to have a legitimate gaming experience using the ELH, and I don't think munchkins will be the only ones to buy the book. I suggest at least browsing the book, however, before you part with forty bucks to be sure the content density it high enough for you.

Epic Level Handbook
Epic Level Handbook Capsule Review by Brad Everman on 12/07/02 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) Official Munchkin's Guide to D&D 3rd Edition. Product: Epic Level Handbook Author: Andy Collins & Bruce R. Cordell Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Wizarss of the Coast Line: Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition Cost: $39.95 Page count: 320 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 0-7869-2658-9 SKU: 881690000 Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Brad Everman on 12/07/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	After 1 year and 11 months, the Epic Level Handbook is finally available. The day the PHB was released, I remarked to a fellow gamer than I believed they made a mistake in limiting the levels to 20th, as AD&D 2nd edition had done before. A mistake because a book was later released detailing high level campaigning, proving that there was an interest in "epic" adventures. Thankfully, the Epic Level book was announced shortly thereafter, making munchkins everywhere salivate with anticipation. It's difficult to judge the worth of the Epic Level Handbook (ELH for now) without looking at it both objectively and subjectively. From a purely "publishing" standpoint, it's a fairly nice book, greatly resembling Deities & Demigods, both in layout/text size and writing style. I had heard both books were produced side-by-side, so this seems to make sense. At 320 pages long, it doesn't quite seem worth the $39.95 price tag. The Forgotten Realms campaign book was the same page length and price, but with an excessively small typeface. Still, it seems priced comparably to Deities & Demigods, so if you thought that book was worth the money, you won't be disappointed with volume of content in the ELH. Art is sparse, with probably an average of less than one picture per three pages (very rough estimate). Almost all of it is good, and fits appropriately to the text. The writing is mostly flavorless, which fits the content perfectly. This is a very rules-heavy book, and the writers do an excellent job, being both clear and concise. I will say that the writing isn't boring, either, so be assured it's not like reading stereo instructions. Overall, the book is very well produced and attractive. All that means absolutely nothing if the content is useless, and the usefulness of the ELH rests squarely on the shoulders of the DM and his players. I consider myself a "roleplayer" as opposed to a hack-n-slash type gamer, but I will admit to a bit of power-gaming-itis every so often. The ELH has a lot of material I feel would add fun to a D&D game, if handled properly. Unfortunately, there are those (munchkins) who would rapidly go unchecked and lead a game to oblivion if the ELH material was used improperly. If you're running a group of 13 year olds, you will want to keep the ELH as far away as possible for the time being (unless you enjoy ludicrous game sessions, which some people actually DO like). Pure roleplayers (why you'd be playing D&D is beyond me) are also advised to stay far away. There is nothing in the ELH that you'll probably find useful. For those of you who are like me (somewhere in the middle), you will likely find much in the ELH that will be useful for your game. As a point of criticism to the ELH, I was an avid D&D player many years ago and used the boxed sets (Basic, Expert, etc). The Immortals boxed set, as well as the follow-up Wrath of the Immortals, portrayed "power gaming" in its most logical form, that of characters becoming gods. Once your character reached a certain point, they could retire, or strive for immortality, at which time you basically started all over with a whole new set of challenges. The power level of characters using the ELH rivals some of the minor gods and demigods, yet the characters remain mortal, blurring the distinction. I would have really liked to see a revision of the old Immortals set with emphasis on having characters become gods instead of acquiring further levels, with a definitive spike in power level. As it stands, the gods are merely an obstacle for a group of epic level characters, not forces of nature. A minor beef, but I thought WotC could have used some of their old Primal Order material and made a truly epic campaigning experience. The book itself is divided into six chapters and three appendices. The first chapter deals with character levels, feats, skills, etc. The tables only go up to 30th level, but have the progressions listed for characters past that. Each character class is detailed, with information about how epic level advancement works. Most of the information is duplicated from the PHB, except for the listing of Epic Level Feats each character is eligible for. Skills are expanded, with descriptions given about excessive difficulty levels. Someone making a DC 100 Climbing roll could cling to a smooth ceiling, for instance. Feats, there are at least 100 or so. Most are older feats taken to their logical extreme, such as Item Creation feats that allow 10k gp worth of work to be done per day. The power curve indicated by the feats and skills seems to be in check with levels 1-20, but with a dramatic jump between 20th level characters and Epic level characters. By this I mean that Epic level characters are powered appropriately with relation to each other, but vastly more powerful than normal characters. The Prestige classes found in the DMG are expanded upon, along with Psychic character classes. Also included are Epic Prestige classes, which are a travesty to anything resembling game balance. They are essential "super" characters of normal type (The Perfect Wight is basically a super Rogue for example). These should be a lot of fun. Chapter Two covers Epic spells, which seems to be the designers way of not having to use spell levels for epic campaigns. The Epic spells are now given DC numbers (usually in the range of 50, to near 100 for some very powerful spells) that the caster must roll against his Spellcraft skill to cast. Specific spells are listed, as are spell "seeds", allowing a caster to customize a spell for a particular situation. Anyone familiar with Ars Magica will recognize the premise immediately. A caster simply selects "seeds" that will result in the desired effect, then calculates the DC of the spell. I think the DC idea with epic level spells is a good one, as it eliminates the worry of "level" while allowing higher level characters to do more than lower level ones. I would be curious to see a system like this adapted to the current D&D spell system, but then I guess I could just play GURPS or something. Overall, good stuff. Chapter Three is Dungeon Master information. If you found the help sections of the DMG useful, this will be as well. If you thought the DMG was useless, you will find this useless. Nothing here of great importance, but still some good advice for DMs who have little experience running groups of excessively high power levels. I found some of the information on Demographics insightful, but still lacking in actual application. Chapters Four and Five deal with magic items and monsters respectively. Two words: artifacts, and Hecatoncheires (yes, THOSE hecatoncheires). Essentially, the only magic items powerful enough for epic level campaigns are artifacts, and characters can now create them. In reality, this is not true, as the ELH states Epic level spells cannot be stored in physical items (unless created by gods I'm assuming), and artifacts can cast those spells. Basically what this means is characters can now create and get insanely powerful magic items (bonuses beyond normally allowed in the DMG) that aren't quite on the level as true artifacts. These uber-items greatly resemble their more "commonplace" counterparts, so no real surprises (an epic rod of absorption can absorb any spell except epic level spells and stores up to 150 spell levels for instance). There are a few true artifacts detailed in the book, but these seem to be plot devices. The Codex of the Infinite Planes basically makes you able to summon and dismiss most major planar entities, not to mention the ability to soul bind and open gates at will. I wasn't very impressed with the magic items, as it appears to be nothing more than the base magic system with a few more plusses. As far as the Hecatoncheires go, their challenge rating is 57, which is ludicrous. These things are so powerful I'm surprised they haven't subjugated all the gods yet. As expected, Epic Dragons are not to be trifled with, and will clean the clock of any epic level party. There are also Primal Elementals, Elder Titans and Treants, and Demiliches. I was very happy with the monster selection and treatment of each, as they are forces, not merely bigger/nastier monsters. The inclusion of Legendary Animals really gives a true epic feel to the book and reminded me of Greek mythology in some regards. Chapter Six is basically an outline of an epic setting. Well, it gives bits and pieces of ideas to formulate an epic setting along with hints on how to incorporate them into the existing game world. There are two full mini-adventures included and examples of organizations/antagonists. Not a bad starting point for ideas, but there's not enough material here for a DM to rely on for very long. The Appendices are character write-ups of Epic level NPCs, including Elminster, the Cat Lord and Mordenkainen. Also included are charts for generating generic epic level characters (similar to the charts in the DMG for generating NPCs of a particular level). Nothing useful unless you like Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk, or need to randomly generate a character (we ALL use custom NPCs, right). I do appreciate the inclusion of this information as it provides a good outline of how to (not) design epic characters. For all the FR fanboys out there, an epic level dragon would wipe the floor with Elminster... In conclusion, the ELH is a good book to extend a D&D campaign beyond 20th level and has enough information to last a long time. Personally, I think that the epic level campaign has little to do with power as much as it has to do with style. You can have epic games with 1st level farmers...still, it IS possible to have a legitimate gaming experience using the ELH, and I don't think munchkins will be the only ones to buy the book. I suggest at least browsing the book, however, before you part with forty bucks to be sure the content density it high enough for you.