Epic-Level Handbook FAQ
Q: What levels does the Epic Level Handbook (ELH) cover?
A: ELH is designed to handle “characters of levels 21 and up.” That is, there’s no built-in upper limit for character progression. Obviously, any campaign (if it goes far enough) may “run out” of new material to use from ELH, but I’m pretty confident that the book can handle at least 20 levels worth of play, if not many more.
Q: Is epic progression limited to the core classes, or can I become an epic-level character in a prestige class too?
A: In developing the character progression rules, I soon realized that anyone who’s taken 10 levels of assassin or loremaster doesn’t think of themselves as a rogue or wizard anymore, they think of themselves as an assassin or a loremaster. Therefore, ELH fully supports the advancement of prestige classes into the realm of epic. In addition to clear guidelines for advancing the prestige classes in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, the book shows the DM how to construct epic-level progression for other prestige classes as well.
Q: Are there be epic prestige classes?
A: Yes. Because of some differences in the way epic-level characters progress, these look slightly different from the prestige classes you’re used to seeing, but there are prestige classes in this book that can only be achieved by characters of epic levels.
Q: Are there any new feats in ELH?
A: At last count, I think there were about 150 new feats, all of them targeted at epic-level characters. That’s twice as many feats as there are in the entire Player’s Handbook!
Q: Are there spells above 9th level?
A: Yes. Bruce Cordell designed a system of "spell seeds" that allow epic-level spellcasters to create spells more powerful even than 9th-level spells.
Q: Can epic-level characters build artifacts?
A: No, but they can, with the right feats, build magic items more powerful than those available to non-epic characters. (Artifacts, by definition, remain as unique or near-unique items whose secrets of creation are lost to time.)
Q: Does ELH include any DM advice?
A: Absolutely. ELH combines key elements of the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual all into one book, and DM advice on running an epic campaign is one of those key elements.
Q: You said Monster Manual. Are there new monsters in ELH?
A: You bet. The designers put on their thinking caps to come up with some of the nastiest creatures you can imagine. There are even a couple of epic dragons . . .
Q: Does ELH include any adventure or campaign material?
A: Yes. While it’s not a huge part of the book, the designers felt it would be unfair to drop all this new game material on a DM without showing him or her how to use some of it. The highlight of this section is a brand new “super metropolis” that incorporates elements of ELH to create a city unlike any other, where epic-level characters can involve themselves in adventure and intrigue.
Q: How do epic-level characters compare with deities? Can Elminster beat Vecna in a fight?
A: Since ELH and Deities and Demigods (DDG) were in development at about the same time, many epic elements were incorporated into DDG. Thus, Pelor, Thor, Zeus, and the rest of the deities come fully equipped with epic feats and the like. As for an epic-level character taking on a deity—well, I suppose anything’s possible, but just because your odometer rolled over to “21” doesn’t mean that you should start crank-calling Loki.
Q: How does character progression in ELH differ from the system presented in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting?
Q: Is the epic-level system in the FRCS compatible with the ELH? (jsaving)
A: An epic-level character created with the FRCS sidebar may well look similar to the same character created using ELH, but the sidebar can’t hope to describe the wide variety of options available in ELH (a 320-page book). The two characters are “compatible” in that they’ll both work just fine in the game, but ultimately, you’ll want to decide on one system or the other for your game.
While the system that appeared in the FRCS (cobbled together by Rich Baker, Jonathan Tweet, and myself, among others) was undoubtedly the seed for the ELH, Bruce and I realized early on that we’d have to go way beyond the guidelines in that little sidebar. After all, we had what was then a 224-page book to fill (which grew to a mammoth 320-page tome by the time we finished). The FRCS sidebar was primarily designed to allow for iconic FR characters such as Elminster to exist within the D&D system, rather than to allow unfettered PC progress beyond 20th level.
Q: Will future Forgotten Realms products use the ELH or its own sidebar rules?
A: Since ELH isn't be a “must-have” book for D&D or FR play (as the core three rulebooks are), I expect that few if any FR products will rely heavily on the rules within it. That said, if the fans demand that future FR products use ELH rather than the FR sidebar, I’m sure that we’ll find a reasonable solution. (And for those jonesing to see what the “real” epic Elminster, the Simbul, et. al. look like, the appendix of epic-level FR characters in ELH should prove satisfactory.)
Q: Does ELH include support for psionic characters?
A: Yes. Thanks to the hard work and dogged determination of ELH co-designer Bruce “Psionics Handbook” Cordell, the ELH has rules for advancing psionic characters beyond 20th level, epic feats for psionic characters, rules for epic psionic powers, and more.
Q: What about Oriental Adventures? Does ELH cover rules for advancing samurai, for example? (Mad Monk)
Q: Will there be any support for the class handbook prestige classes beyond the “general guidelines” in ELH? (jsaving)
A: ELH only gives detailed epic class progressions for those classes found in the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Psionics Handbook. However, ELH has clear guidelines on how to create epic class progressions for other classes, such as those found in Oriental Adventures, or other prestige classes, such as those from the class books. In addition, check out my Epic Insights column on the Wizards of the Coast website for guidelines on advancing characters from books other than the core rules to epic levels.
Q: Does ELH allow characters to attain godhood or demi-godhood?
A: While divine ascension is something that many powerful characters aspire to, ELH doesn’t give any rules or strict guidelines on how to handle that. Basically, we reasoned that if you were still playing your character at 21st level, chances are you wanted to keep playing that character, rather than sending him off to become a deity.
Look to Deities & Demigods for more information on how to handle the interaction between deities and player characters.
Q: Will ELH be released into the SRD (that is, made part of the d20 “open source document”) as was the Psionics Handbook? (Charles Gray)
A: Wizards expects to include the epic rules in the SRD, but I don't know the timeframe.
Q: Does ELH use an additive or logarithmic increase in epic characters’ power? (Charles Gray)
A: Way back when we first started discussing what it should mean to be an epic-level character, we knew that we had to nail down what we thought players of such characters would want. Certainly, there are merits to a system of dramatically escalating power increases, as would be provided by a logarithmic system.
But ultimately, we decided that if you’ve been playing your D&D character for 20+ levels, you probably wanted to keep playing your D&D character, rather than some dramatically altered version. After all, if you’ve been enjoying the game for that long, why would you want to change the game significantly? So in the end, we chose to keep the power curve much like it is in the Player’s Handbook, with some tweaks here and there for playability’s sake.
That’s not to say that epic-level characters can’t achieve levels of power undreamed of by non-epic characters. Believe me, there’s plenty of wahoo in here.
Q: Do NPC classes rise above 20th level? (Shamus P. Nicholson, Chris Davies)
A: No. By definition, the NPC classes found in the Dungeon Master’s Guide (adept, aristocrat, commoner, expert, warrior) really aren’t epic. If a 20th-level commoner (which seems a contradiction in terms already) wants to become epic, he’ll just have to start gaining levels in a PC or prestige class.
Q: How powerful are epic-level characters compared to deities? Is there a point at which an epic-level character could expect to win a battle against a deity? (jsaving)
A: Strictly speaking, a deity is more powerful than an epic-level character of similar level/HD. That said, since there’s no real limit to an epic-level character’s power (except that which a DM may place in his campaign), then yes, eventually an epic-level character can expect to win battles against (some) deities.
Q: Are there be rules for generating treasures and encounters above 20th level? (Shamus P. Nicholson)
A: ELH is designed to support a nigh-infinite range of levels. The book includes explicit guidelines for assigning XP and treasure rewards through at least 40th level, and shows the DM how to extrapolate beyond those numbers (if we went much farther than that, the book wouldn’t have anything in it except enormous tables of numbers).
Q: Does ELH include rules for mass combat? (Jon Woll)
A: No. That’s a topic we briefly considered, but decided ultimately that such a topic deserved better coverage than a book like ELH (which must, by necessity, focus on level 21+ gaming) could provide.
Q: Will any of the upcoming “super adventures” feature epic-level play? (Jon Woll)
A: Not likely. Look to Dungeon Magazine and the Wizards of the Coast D&D website for your epic-level adventure support.