Epic Level Handbook

CHAPTER 3:RUNNING ANEPIC GAMETABLE 3–6: EPIC COMMUNITY MODIFIERSCommunity Size Community ModifierThorp –3 1Hamlet –2 1Village –1Small town 0Large town +4Small city +8 (roll twice) 2Large city +2 (roll three times) 2Metropolis +16 (roll four times) 2Planar metropolis +20 (roll six times) 21A thorp or a hamlet has a 5% chance (d% roll of 96–100) toadd +10 to the modifier of a ranger or druid level.2Cities this large can have more than one high-level NPC perclass, each of whom generates lower-level characters of thesame class, as described in the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide.MANAGING WEALTHYour players tell you, “If I cash out all my wealth in gold,I’ll have a metallic lump the size of a small moon.” Well, ofcourse, that is an exaggeration, but not by too manyorders of magnitude. It may be that much of an epic character’swealth is tied up in nonnegotiable assets, such asarmies loyal only to the character, private demiplanes,and custom-built strongholds. But that only accounts fora portion of all his or her wealth.The fact is, the wealth that high-level and epic charactersstand to gain is obscene. Is there even that much goldin existence on any one world? Probably not. But sometimescharacters need to be able to transport large sumsof wealth without the hassle of moving several tons ofvolume. Enter the favor.Epic Economics: An enterprising temple to a god ofwealth has a sideline that has grown into a major componentof the economy in epic communities. Essentially,the Temple of Favors backs special pieces of parchmentcalled favors with the promise of spellcasting: Each noteguarantees redemption in the form of a spell (eitherdivine or arcane). However, few favors are ever actuallyredeemed but instead form the basis of an epic currency,if you use this option, any community with a Temple ofFavors in or near it honors favors as legal tender.Favors as Currency: Favors come in three denominations:f1 (sometimes called a psalm), f10 (sometimescalled a prayer), and f100 (sometimes called a benediction).Each f1 is equivalent to 1,000 gp. Thus f10 is equivalentto 10,000 gp, while f100 is equivalent to 100,000 gp.A temple will never redeem favors for gold (though itwill redeem gold for favors), but some merchants mayredeem favors for gold, for a percentage.MORE USE FROM OLD MAGIC ITEMSEven in an epic game, the magic items in the DUNGEONMASTER’s Guide, or special versions of them, are still useful.What really limits the effectiveness of many of theseitems is the DC that these items provide—for reasons ofcost, the item is usually described at its lowest possiblecaster level. However, items created with higher casterlevels and judicious use of the Heighten Spell metamagicfeat work well in an epic game. Of course, this makes theitem cost more, but epic characters have the resources tobear the higher price.For instance, a staff of hold person created by a wizardnormally grants a DC of 14: 10 (base) + 3 (3rd-level spell)+ 1 (caster’s key ability score must be at least 13). The costto create this staff would be 375 × 3 (spell level) × 5(caster level), or 5,375 gp.However, a staff of hold person with caster level and spelllevel increased to the maximum would provide a DC of23: 10 (base) + 9 (9th-level heightened spell) + 4 (caster’skey ability score must be at least 19). However, the cost tocreate this staff would be 375 × 9 (for the spell heightenedto 9th level) × 17 (the lowest level the caster couldbe to cast a 9th-level spell) = 57,375 gp.Consider using the nonepic Enhance Item feat detailedbelow for an additional method of raising the DCof a magic item.Enhance Item [Item Creation]You can increase the minimum DC for saving throws ofmagic items you create.Prerequisite: Any other item creation feat.Benefit: Choose any item creation feat you alreadyknow. When you create an item with that feat, adjust theDC for saving throws required by the magic item, if any,by your key ability modifier.Normal: When a character creates a magic item, sheuses the minimum key ability score necessary to imbed aspell of a given level, and the associated modifier toadjust the DC for saving throws, regardless of her actualkey ability score, which could be higher.Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Eachtime you take the feat, it applies to a different item creationfeat that you already know.REUTILIZING IMPORTANT NPCSIt is probable that over the course of the campaign, thePCs met and talked to many important creatures andNPCs who were obviously much more powerful than theSCARCE EPIC NPCSAs an alternative to using the Epic Random Town Generationtable, you might decide that epic NPCs shouldn’t be placedrandomly. They generally aren’t a naturally occurring part of thecampaign, so you should place epic NPCs specifically asneeded for your world.Not every metropolis necessarily has an epic wizard, and notall epic characters prefer to hang out in civilized areas (orindeed on the Material Plane at all). It’s your choice.114