| This paradigm represents
a generic Epic Fantasy implementation, which is a
"Lower" form of Fantasy. In general this means that characters
are less capable, Magic is less plentiful, mortality is higher,
and play tends to be "grittier". |
| Epic Fantasy lies
somewhere between Sword & Sorcery and High Fantasy in both
tone and power level. A key point is that Magic is generally
easier but about as prevalent as it is in Sword & Sorcery, and
not as easy or as prevalent as in High Fantasy. |
| EXAMPLE SOURCE
MATERIAL |
| Most Fantasy literature
falls into this category to some extent. The classic example is
of course Tolkein, and his many direct imitators such as Brooks
and McKiernan. However, there are many more original writers
such as Martin, Feist, J.V. Jones, Duncan, and a long list of
others that aren't terribly original but at least don't just rip
Tolkein off such as David Eddings and perhaps the master of
gritty Fantasy David Gemmel. Some roleplaying settings have more of an Epic feel
to them, including the Dragonlance and Ravenloft settings from
D&D, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game, the Paladium
Fantasy Roleplaying Game, and Rolemaster. Several of these are
more Dark Epic, but Epic nonetheless. |
| KEY NOTE: THE QUEST |
| The primary difference
between
Epic Fantasy from other similar paradigms is more one of
format and tone than anything else. Epic Fantasy
generally focuses on a quest or overarching theme, and is more
story driven; in fact this subgenre is often called Quest
Fantasy. |
| KEY NOTE: TREKKIN |
| Many examples of Epic
Fantasy include a good deal of traveling through the
countryside. A GM that intends to follow this trend should make
a point of getting very familiar with the Environment section of
the rules. |
| Another key consideration
is how the GM casts travel in relation to the characters. Is the
Journey a passive antagonist, something to be overcome by the
characters? Or is the Journey a metaphor, paralleling the
characters' progression and growth? Or is the Journey more of an
adventure, a fun and challenging source of interesting events?
Of course hybrids are possible, but regardless a GM should give
some consideration to this idea before deciding on how heavily
to enforce Environmental effects and how much focus to spend on
the sundries of travel. |
| KEY NOTE: REMAINS OF
BETTER DAYS |
| Many examples of Epic
Fantasy include the idea of a long history filled with bygone
empires and powerful events that have littered the setting with
remnants and relics. Crumbling architecture and old "places of
power" are common expressions of this trope. |
| To model this the GM
might consider sprinkling the landscape of
their setting with ruined structures that have
an actual Power,
typically sensory but perhaps healing, obfuscating, or
some other subtle and passive effects,
bought via an Immovable Focus.
This can add a lot of flavor to a campaign, and allow for some
powerful but immobile Magic. |
| KEY NOTE: MIXED
LETHALITY |
| Due to its story driven
focus, this paradigm favors longer story arcs, and character
mortality is much rarer than in Sword & Sorcery. The heroes of
the story generally lead charmed existences and somehow manage
to scrape through even the most desperate circumstances. Part of
this comes down to the GM's handling of events in play, but part
of it can be shoved off into mechanics. |
| KEY NOTE: UNDEFINED
MAGIC |
| The focus of the subgenre
isn't on flashy effect and raw power, it is generally on
character development, and thus Magic
tends to the subtle rather than big flashy effects
and often isn't very refined.
Frequently in many examples of Epic Fantasy magic seems
to act more as pure willpower being exerted upon events
than some kind of structured mystical practice. |
| KEY NOTE: TRAGIC
WEAKNESSES |
| Being more of a literary environment, where
the book is about the journey of the characters rather than an
account of battles and fights, the opposition in this subgenre
are rarely very powerful in objective terms because they can all
be taken out by a single event, the better to move the story
along. |
| A group of three
Ogres in the woods may be a major danger, not just a brief
encounter requiring a little sword sharpening after the fact,
but conversely somehow manage to defeat themselves via sheer
stupidity in a literary reversal. Even a major threat like a
Dragon might be killed by a single arrow in the literature,
which is clearly ludicrous within the scope of most
Fantasy RPGs, even in HERO System games using
hit-location multiples. The greatest evil in all the land cant
survive having a piece of jewelry cut off of their finger; etc.
etc. |
| If a GM wanted to model
this trope, they should consider building most opponents with a
major flaw or weakness which defeats them utterly if exploited. |
| ASSUMPTIONS |
| The following options are
assumed to be in effect for this paradigm. |
| No
Formal Race Package or NCM |
|
X |
Formal Race Package with NCM |
| END
Cost = Active Points / 10 |
|
X |
END
Cost = Active Points / 5 |
|
Knockback |
|
X |
Knockdown |
|
Generalized Damage |
P |
N |
Hit
Location Damage |
| No
Long Term Damage |
|
~ |
Injury & Impairment Damage |
|
Literacy Standard |
|
X |
Literacy Not Standard |
| Super
Skills Available |
~ |
|
No
Super Skills Available |
|
Combat Luck Allowed |
~ |
|
No
Combat Luck Allowed |
| No
Deadly Blow Allowed |
|
~ |
Deadly Blow Allowed |
| No
Armor Proficiency |
|
X |
Armor
Proficiency |
| No
Skill Maxima |
|
15- |
Skill
Maxima |
| No
STR Minima |
|
X |
STR
Minima |
|
Equipment Costs Points |
|
X |
Equipment Doesn't Cost Points |
| Bases
& Vehicles Cost Points |
|
X |
Bases
& Vehicles Don't Cost Points |
|
Followers Cost Points |
|
X |
Follower Don't Cost Points |
|
Superheroic CSL Conversion |
|
X |
Heroic CSL Conversion |
| No
Encumbrance |
|
X |
Encumbrance |
| No
Long Term Endurance |
|
X |
Long
Term Endurance |
|
Normal Damage Default |
|
X |
Killing Damage Default |
|
~: Used in moderation |
|
P: Player Characters, perhaps significant NPC's |
|
N: Non Player Characters and "monsters" |
|
| HEALING: RARE |
| Epic Fantasy characters
get hurt occasionally and will sometimes have some residual
damage from previous encounters. Magical Healing is rare for the
mainstream, but somewhat more accessible to heroes. However, it
is not uncommon for characters, particularly warrior types, to
have a lot of BODY and the Rapid Healing Talent. |
| As a side note, some
popular source materials for this subgenre seem to
have a penchant for "wounds that will
never heal completely", but which don't really seem to have any
actual effect on a character's
performance beyond acting as an occasional story element.
This sort of attack can be treated as a
Drain vs. Body with the Fade rate
bought down to per Century (or some suitably
long time). It's use should be limited
to major villains
however. Thus a "Bracelet-Wight"
might have a "Dagger"
bought as a Drain vs. Body, OAF:
Dagger rather than as an HKA for
example. |
| STARTING POINTS: 50+50 |
| It is assumed that new
characters in this paradigm start with 50 Base Points and up to
50 points from Disadvantages. This value can be altered by the
GM at will. |
| This paradigm is expected
to be mid powered but cap out quickly due to a lower power level
and slower progression. A GM can easily
kick start the campaign to a higher level of play by granting
Experience to characters to represent their
status as veteran adventurers when the campaign starts, but this
is not as common in this paradigm.
Similarly the GM could downscale the characters to represent
that they are somewhat green when the campaign starts |
| Another idea common to
this paradigm is that not all characters start as equals; it is
very common for members of a questing group to have widely
different experience and backgrounds. A GM might consider
allowing some characters to start with more Experience than
others and then adjust for this over time in game by giving them
proportionately less Experience. |
| The following chart
vaguely indicates relative status levels by adjusted character
points. The status titles are not intended to have any literal
meaning; they are just intended to give an idea of the status of
a character with that many character points. |
|
Sheltered Neophyte |
25 |
25 |
0 |
50 |
|
Neophyte |
50 |
25 |
0 |
75 |
|
*Youngblood |
50 |
50 |
0 |
100 |
|
Seasoned Youngblood |
50 |
50 |
25 |
125 |
|
Veteran |
50 |
50 |
50 |
150 |
|
Seasoned Veteran |
50 |
50 |
75 |
175 |
|
Hero |
50 |
50 |
100 |
200 |
|
Champion |
50 |
50 |
150 |
250 |
|
Famous |
50 |
50 |
200 |
300 |
|
Legend |
50 |
50 |
250 |
350+ |
|
* Assumed Default |
|
| RACES: HUMAN CENTRIC FANTASY |
| This paradigm tends to be
more Human centric. This isn't to say that there aren't more
fantastic Race in existence; but if they do exist they tend to
be more rare than in higher echelons of Fantasy. However, unlike
Sword & Sorcery, if exotic Races do exist they tend to be
definitely advantaged compared to Humans. |
| When exotic Races do
exist in this paradigm, there tends to be a good deal of weight
attached to one's Race; being an Elf or a Dwarf or something
similar has a somewhat monolithic connotation. It is common for
individuals to be thought of as being representative of their
entire Race, and for Races to have well defined stereotypical
behavior. |
| When exotic Races aren't
prevalent, or less rarely when they are, this same pattern of
group identity often is seen in the idea of Nationality, or else
Humanity is separated into distinct subraces with identifiable
attributes and flaws, or both. GM's might consider representing
subraces of a key Race with separate Package Deals. |
|
|
| MAGIC SYSTEMS:
ADEPTOLOGY |
| Numerous Magic Systems
are appropriate to this paradigm; also many Magic Systems can
be mixed and matched to good effect as well. |
| The Adeptology,
Magecrafting, and Metier Magic Systems defined on this site are
flexible and scaled at a range more or less appropriate the
paradigm. The Spellweaving and Aldenari Magic Systems described
on this site are also suitable to this paradigm, and there are several useful Magic Systems in print from
other sources that are good fits for this paradigm as well.
However, for convenience this paradigm assumes that Adeptology
is in use by default. This form of Magic is very flexible and
can be used to suit several in-game traditions of Magic, both
Arcane and Divine, but has a high cost of entry and a
requirement for access talents appropriate to a paradigm with
few Spellcasters. |
| Optionally Magecraft
is effective as a more aggressive and combat oriented Magic
System, while the Metier Magic System is more structured and has
the idea of many distinct styles of Magic built in to it. GM's
desiring a more structured Magic System could swap in either one of those
Magic Systems without effort, or even incorporate any two or all
three into their setting. |
| Finally, Runeforgers are
sometimes appropriate to this paradigm, but the GM will have to
decide how prevalent he wants to make them since they do
represent a source of Magic Items, which can be a concern to the
overall tone of the setting. |
|
|
| PROFESSIONS: ILL DEFINED |
| The concept of Profession
is usually not very marked in this paradigm, or when present
used more as a background idea than as a definitive part of a
character. A character's Race and Nationality is usually much
more important than their Profession. This paradigm also has less
focus on combat in general; characters tend to be more Skills
and Characteristics oriented. |
| Generally character's in
this paradigm will tend to use the various Extension Packages,
which are topically oriented, and the Base Packages which are
more generic, rather than the Composite Packages presented on
this site. Also, Epic campaigns usually involve a lot of travel,
so characters tend to become adapted to travel and various
environments. |
| The GM is encouraged to
make Cultural Packages appropriate to their setting, and to make variations on generic
Professions to model their distinctness across cultures. |
|
|