Epic Level (Dungeons & Dragons)
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In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, epic levels are levels past 20th level.
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[edit] History
Epic-level play was first introduced in the Companion Set for the original Dungeons & Dragons game. It covered play up to 25th level. It was quickly followed by the Master Set (allowing play up to 36th level) and the Immortals Set (which detailed play beyond 36th level).
The Third Edition introduced epic levels originally in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. These rules were quite simple, allowing a character to select from a short list of options with each epic level gained.
With the release of the Epic Level Handbook, an entire system was introduced for playing past 20th level. Each of the base classes was given an epic progression, as were some of the more popular prestige classes. The book introduced epic feats, epic prestige classes, and epic monsters to the game. In addition, it created an entirely new spell system to create epic spells, while still providing options for improving existing spellcasting into epic levels.
When Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 was released, many of the epic rules were included in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Other books, such as Complete Adventurer, Complete Divine, Complete Arcane, Complete Psionic, Complete Warrior and Draconomicon have included additional epic content.
Since the release of the Expanded Psionics Handbook, fans have been asking for a similar treatment of the Epic Level Handbook on various message boards, such as EN World.
Wizards of the Coast ran a series of articles on their website called Epic Insights which provided additional epic content. It ran from July 2002 through January 2004.
[edit] Epic Monsters
A monster begins to qualify for epic feats once its Hit Dice exceed 20. However, epic monsters generally have access to special abilities beyond the scope of normal monsters, such as the ability to use epic spells as spell-like abilities.
Some epic monsters include:
[edit] References
- Collins, Andy, Bruce R. Cordell, and Thomas M. Reid. Epic Level Handbook (Wizards of the Coast, 2002).
- Mentzer, Frank. Dungeon And Dragons Fantasy Role-playing Game Set 3: Companion Rules (TSR, 1984).
- Gygax, Gary with Frank Mentzer. Dungeon And Dragons Fantasy Role-playing Game Set 4: Master Rules (TSR, 1985).
- Mentzer, Frank. Dungeon And Dragons Fantasy Role-playing Game Set 5: Immortals Rules (ISBN 0-88038-341-0) (TSR, 1986).
