The Make Up Of the Epic Party

Last time I mentioned that some games might be better off starting at a higher level.

But what types of characters can make up such a party?

Long Lived Races or Races that Reincarnate: Depending on what edition of the game you are running, the rules for aging on the dwarves and elves allow a very long life span. In the various books that make up the Last Mythal, the elves within are often over five hundred years of age.

Heroes from the past: One of the things that surprised me about the series is that one of the main characters is an elf hero from the original battle of Myth Drannor. Resurrection actually used in a gaming novel! Other possibilities include a hero trapped in ice or in status or in a different state of being such as a stone statue. In some instances, the hero may sleep away the ages such as the original Druid in the Shanarra series.

Legacy Heroes: This series boasts a couple of different types. First, we have an apprentice of one of the original character's friends showing up. Next we have a former student of the same character show up. the Druids of the Shanarra series work well here as well since when one falls, another often crops up to take his place.

Children: Similair to legacy heroes, but with a direct tie or link to the heroes that may have walked the land previously.

Experienced adventurers: If you look at Rand from the Wheel of Time at the start of the series and Rand at the latter books, it is a comparission of completely different power levels. This is true in books like Raymond Feist's Magician series as well as a host of others where the character initially starts off small but gains vast power. Running the campaign when the character is at this vast power level is by far the more challenging aspect of the game.

When making it epic, don't forget to bring a little something extra to the character creation process as well.