Unlocking the Full D&D 4th Edition Experience
A Look at Why Paragon and Epic Tier Adventures are Something Special
I’ve received a lot of great feedback from those that responded to the survey. The majority would like to see more videos and more content about 4th edition rules and history and such. I cannot make promises on the videos. I would like to, but they take more time to put together. I’ll do more when I can. I will definitely focus on the 4e content. There was also interest in encounters and creating 4e content like characters, monsters, NPCs, and items. I have some of those in my plan.
The survey is still open so please head over and add your thoughts.
We’ve all heard the stories of D&D games that run for years with the same characters. I know some have even left comments about such games that they have been a part of. But, sadly, those are the exceptions. According to a number of polls, most D&D games never move beyond level 10.
There are a few reasons for this.
The group was running a published campaign that peaked at that level
The group had real-world events come along that forced them to abandon the campaign
The group wanted to try something new
Or any number of other reasons.
What is unfortunate is that 4th edition in particular had some really amazing rules for the different tiers of play. Those groups that never make it past level 10 are missing out on some content that truly made 4th edition something special.
Let’s take look at those tiers.
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Heroic Tier
Anyone that has ever played D&D is familiar with this tier. This is those early levels when the adventurers are first starting out. They are struggling to make their way in the world. They have training and powers beyond those of the average citizen, but they are still learning and are not as strong as they might think.
The Heroic Tier in 4th Edition emphasizes letting the player make decisions that build the foundation for their character. Obviously, your initial choices about race and class and ability scores and equipment are key to this. Each level of this tier then gives you access to new powers to further expand your skillset. As you get experience and learn about your character, you can make choices for new powers that lean into where you want to go.
This fast growth is evidenced by the sheer number of powers you get as you level-up. At first level, characters start with 4 powers. By the time they finish the Heroic Tier at level 10, your character will have 11 powers at their disposal. This is in addition to the 5 feats they will also pick up along the way.
Heroic Tier characters are fun because they are constantly changing. The rules are front-loaded so there is always something new to experiment with at these lower levels and new decisions you get to make about where you want to go with your character.
It is understandable why some players might prefer to simply run through the Heroic Tier over and over with different character combinations rather than advance to the higher levels.
But let’s look at what they might be missing.
Paragon Paths
While the Heroic Tier was about laying the groundwork for your character, the Paragon Tier is where you refine your character and start to build an identity.
You are no longer just another face in the crowd. Instead, you find that you are revered in the towns that you call home and you’ve heard songs written about your exploits. Well, it was just that one song sung by the drunken bard in the local tavern, but it was appreciated nonetheless.
Simply choosing new powers at each level is no longer a sufficient way to advance your skills. Your choices in the Paragon Tier are now about quality over quantity. In fact, between levels 11 and 20, characters only gain 3 additional powers.
Instead of growing your list of powers at each level, you now have four opportunities to swap powers from your lower levels with new powers at your current level. Your fighter might have gotten a lot of use out of Spinning Sweep when you selected it at 1st-level, but at 13th-level, you can exchange it for Giant’s Wake (or one of several other options) and make yourself an even more imposing threat on the battlefield.
This allows you to have more amazing things that you can do while also keeping the number of choices you have to make on your turn manageable.
But that is not all.
The coolest thing is that you now get to choose a Paragon Path. This is like choosing a specialty. Every class has several path options available to them. A Ranger can choose between Battlefield Archer, Beast Stalker, Pathfinder, or Stormwarden. Warlocks can select Doomsayer, Feytouched, or Life-Stealer. Each class has different paths you can choose from as you develop your character.
These paths then unlock new features. You will get two new class features at 11th level and another at 16th level. And you also get new paragon path powers at levels 11, 12, and 20.
While the Heroic Tier was about, “Hey, look at all the different things I can do”, the Paragon Tier is more about, “Hey. Check this out!”
And the great thing about 4e is that we are not done yet. We still have 10 more levels to go. Our characters are already amazing. What could we possibly do now? Let’s find out.
Epic Destinies
It would have been easy to create a game with 30 levels of play where characters follow the same formula of earning XP, leveling up, and getting new abilities until they reach the end. Lather, rinse, repeat.
But 4th Edition did not do this.
We already saw how different the Paragon Tier was from the Heroic Tier in the choices you would make as you advanced your character. The Epic Tier is just as unique. No longer are characters content to simply grow their abilities and earn favor in the world. The drunk bard was fine for a time, but now they want to become the legends that towns will build statues for after they are gone.
Epic characters will only add 2 additional powers to their repertoire between levels 21 and 30. As with the Paragon Tier, they will also have four opportunities to swap out lower-level powers for better powers. And they will continue to get feats at the same intervals as before.
But Epic Destinies are what makes this tier special.
Epic Destinies are not specific to the different classes. They have prerequisites, but there are few destinies that are tied to a specific class. Instead, these destinies are about how you want your character to ‘go out with a bang’ as they conclude their adventuring lives.
The first Player’s Handbook has only four Epic Destinies to choose from, but the subsequent Player’s Handbooks, the Powers books, the campaign setting guides, and the Player’s Option books all add a ton more that you can chose from.
Each destiny provides a feature at 21st, 24th, and 30th level. These are not trivial abilities. An Archmage gets Arcane Spirit at 24th level. With this feature, if your character dies, they become a spirit and can cast spells and perform rituals in spirit form. When the encounter ends, the spirit returns to the body and they essentially resurrect themselves!!
A Demigod’s Divine Miracle at 30th level allows them to never run out of Encounter Powers. When Sage of Ages reaches 30th level and drop to 0 hit points during an encounter, they instead regain maximum hit points and move in the initiative order to the spot following the creature that made the attack. Talk about karma.
These are some pretty awesome abilities.
Oh, by the way, at 26th level you also get another Epic Destiny power—as if you needed something more.
While you do not need to play the campaign this way, the intention with Epic Destinies is for the DM to provide a final epic quest for the party that allows the characters to show off everything they have become after 30 levels of play. At the conclusion of this quest, the characters either die or otherwise ride off into the sunset as heroes that will never be forgotten.
D&D 4th Edition was not just about playing D&D. It was not built to just get players a bunch of levels of play. The idea was to provide the tools to make each campaign something really special.
Very few games even make it to the Paragon Tier and, even fewer characters get to choose Epic Destinies. But those that do are definitely worth it.
What do you think?
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