DeAnno
2011-08-22, 04:41 PM
A week ago, I was starting to think about the ramifications of standardizing Epic Levels in this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=211591). My goal is to standardize levels 21+ by adding a minimum of new content and using the rules and patterns the game has already established to form the Epic Level rules.
The base ideas of this I'm already pretty settled on are:
BaB, Saves, and Epic Class Abilities
-BaB and Saves continue to increase with the same pattern as before, and the game is trusted to keep geometric scaling working as properly as it has for the past 20 levels
-Class Abilties that follow a set pattern are continued into Epic Levels. This includes Bonus Feats and spellcasting-like progressions
-Casting Classes continue to gain spell slots, spells known, etc, etc in Epic Levels at the same pattern they were gaining them already, if possible. Due to lack of 10th level spells and similar, some improvisation may be required to avoid the necessity of infinite content.
Gear
-Standard gear bonuses such as enhancement to abilities, deflection to AC, and all other things dependent on a set formula are not capped, and there is no "Epic" price modification for them. (Ie: a Cloak of Charisma +10 is a 100,000gc item)
-Resistance bonuses to Saves are repriced at 2000gc*Bonus^2. This is to avoid serious scaling issues that would occur otherwise.
One difficulty that we ran into is that Magic as a whole is a pretty finicky thing, and has a hard time scaling logically without new levels of spells. Psionics on the other hand is built for the job: individual powers have multiple scaling effects based on Manifester level, including their save DCs in many cases.
So I looked at the two most used Power Point progressions and tried to divine what exact pattern was being used, so I could then extend it on indefinitely. Psychic Warriors were pretty easy: every 5 levels, the amount of PP gained per level increases by 4 points. Psions didn't seem to follow an exact pattern, but I was able to come up with a formula which followed their total PP fairly well and never deviated by more than 4 points from it.
Exact Formulas
Psion PP gained per level = roundup(32*NewLevel/20)
Psy War PP gained per level = rounddown((NewLevel-1)/5)*4
So without further ado, this is what the progressions for Psychic Warrior and Psion look like in this system. Both can choose any Power on their lists for new powers known.
The Epic Psychic Warrior
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Power Points/Day|Powers Known
21st|
+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+7|
+7|-|
143|
21
22nd|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+13|
+7|
+7|-|
159|
22
23rd|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+13|
+7|
+7|Bonus Feat|
175|
23
24th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+14|
+8|
+8|-|
191|
24
25th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+14|
+8|
+8|-|
207|
25
26th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+15|
+8|
+8|Bonus Feat|
227|
26
27th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+15|
+9|
+9|-|
247|
27
28th|
+21/+16/+11/+6|
+16|
+9|
+9|-|
267|
28
29th|
+21/+16/+11/+6|
+16|
+9|
+9|Bonus Feat|
287|
29
30th|
+22/+17/+12/+7|
+17|
+10|
+10|-|
307|
30
31st|
+23/+18/+13/+8|
+17|
+10|
+10|-|
331|
31
32nd|
+24/+19/+14/+9|
+18|
+10|
+10|Bonus Feat|
355|
32
33rd|
+24/+19/+14/+9|
+18|
+11|
+11|-|
379|
33
34th|
+25/+20/+15/+10|
+19|
+11|
+11|-|
403|
34
35th|
+26/+21/+16/+11|
+19|
+11|
+11|Bonus Feat|
427|
35
36th|
+27/+22/+17/+12|
+20|
+12|
+12|-|
455|
36
37th|
+27/+22/+17/+12|
+20|
+12|
+12|-|
483|
37
38th|
+28/+23/+18/+13|
+21|
+12|
+12|Bonus Feat|
511|
38
39th|
+29/+24/+19/+14|
+21|
+13|
+13|-|
539|
39
40th|
+30/+25/+20/+15|
+22|
+13|
+13|-|
567|
40[/table]
The Epic Psion
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Power Points/Day|Powers Known
21st|
+10/+5|
+7|
+7|
+12|-|
377|
37
22nd|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+7|
+13|-|
413|
39
23rd|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+7|
+13|-|
450|
40
24th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+8|
+14|-|
489|
42
25th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+8|
+14|Bonus Feat|
529|
43
26th|
+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+8|
+15|-|
571|
45
27th|
+13/+8/+3|
+9|
+9|
+15|-|
615|
46
28th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+9|
+16|-|
660|
48
29th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+9|
+16|-|
707|
49
30th|
+15/+10/+5|
+10|
+10|
+17|Bonus Feat|
755|
51
31st|
+15/+10/+5|
+10|
+10|
+17|-|
805|
52
32nd|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+10|
+10|
+18|-|
857|
54
33rd|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+11|
+11|
+18|-|
910|
55
34th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+11|
+11|
+19|-|
965|
57
35th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+11|
+11|
+19|Bonus Feat|
1021|
58
36th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+12|
+12|
+20|-|
1079|
60
37th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+12|
+12|
+20|-|
1139|
61
38th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+12|
+12|
+21|-|
1200|
63
39th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+13|
+13|
+21|-|
1263|
64
40th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+13|
+13|
+22|Bonus Feat|
1327|
66[/table]
The base ideas of this I'm already pretty settled on are:
BaB, Saves, and Epic Class Abilities
-BaB and Saves continue to increase with the same pattern as before, and the game is trusted to keep geometric scaling working as properly as it has for the past 20 levels
-Class Abilties that follow a set pattern are continued into Epic Levels. This includes Bonus Feats and spellcasting-like progressions
-Casting Classes continue to gain spell slots, spells known, etc, etc in Epic Levels at the same pattern they were gaining them already, if possible. Due to lack of 10th level spells and similar, some improvisation may be required to avoid the necessity of infinite content.
Gear
-Standard gear bonuses such as enhancement to abilities, deflection to AC, and all other things dependent on a set formula are not capped, and there is no "Epic" price modification for them. (Ie: a Cloak of Charisma +10 is a 100,000gc item)
-Resistance bonuses to Saves are repriced at 2000gc*Bonus^2. This is to avoid serious scaling issues that would occur otherwise.
One difficulty that we ran into is that Magic as a whole is a pretty finicky thing, and has a hard time scaling logically without new levels of spells. Psionics on the other hand is built for the job: individual powers have multiple scaling effects based on Manifester level, including their save DCs in many cases.
So I looked at the two most used Power Point progressions and tried to divine what exact pattern was being used, so I could then extend it on indefinitely. Psychic Warriors were pretty easy: every 5 levels, the amount of PP gained per level increases by 4 points. Psions didn't seem to follow an exact pattern, but I was able to come up with a formula which followed their total PP fairly well and never deviated by more than 4 points from it.
Exact Formulas
Psion PP gained per level = roundup(32*NewLevel/20)
Psy War PP gained per level = rounddown((NewLevel-1)/5)*4
So without further ado, this is what the progressions for Psychic Warrior and Psion look like in this system. Both can choose any Power on their lists for new powers known.
The Epic Psychic Warrior
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Power Points/Day|Powers Known
21st|
+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+7|
+7|-|
143|
21
22nd|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+13|
+7|
+7|-|
159|
22
23rd|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+13|
+7|
+7|Bonus Feat|
175|
23
24th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+14|
+8|
+8|-|
191|
24
25th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+14|
+8|
+8|-|
207|
25
26th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+15|
+8|
+8|Bonus Feat|
227|
26
27th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+15|
+9|
+9|-|
247|
27
28th|
+21/+16/+11/+6|
+16|
+9|
+9|-|
267|
28
29th|
+21/+16/+11/+6|
+16|
+9|
+9|Bonus Feat|
287|
29
30th|
+22/+17/+12/+7|
+17|
+10|
+10|-|
307|
30
31st|
+23/+18/+13/+8|
+17|
+10|
+10|-|
331|
31
32nd|
+24/+19/+14/+9|
+18|
+10|
+10|Bonus Feat|
355|
32
33rd|
+24/+19/+14/+9|
+18|
+11|
+11|-|
379|
33
34th|
+25/+20/+15/+10|
+19|
+11|
+11|-|
403|
34
35th|
+26/+21/+16/+11|
+19|
+11|
+11|Bonus Feat|
427|
35
36th|
+27/+22/+17/+12|
+20|
+12|
+12|-|
455|
36
37th|
+27/+22/+17/+12|
+20|
+12|
+12|-|
483|
37
38th|
+28/+23/+18/+13|
+21|
+12|
+12|Bonus Feat|
511|
38
39th|
+29/+24/+19/+14|
+21|
+13|
+13|-|
539|
39
40th|
+30/+25/+20/+15|
+22|
+13|
+13|-|
567|
40[/table]
The Epic Psion
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Power Points/Day|Powers Known
21st|
+10/+5|
+7|
+7|
+12|-|
377|
37
22nd|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+7|
+13|-|
413|
39
23rd|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+7|
+13|-|
450|
40
24th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+8|
+14|-|
489|
42
25th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+8|
+14|Bonus Feat|
529|
43
26th|
+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+8|
+15|-|
571|
45
27th|
+13/+8/+3|
+9|
+9|
+15|-|
615|
46
28th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+9|
+16|-|
660|
48
29th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+9|
+16|-|
707|
49
30th|
+15/+10/+5|
+10|
+10|
+17|Bonus Feat|
755|
51
31st|
+15/+10/+5|
+10|
+10|
+17|-|
805|
52
32nd|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+10|
+10|
+18|-|
857|
54
33rd|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+11|
+11|
+18|-|
910|
55
34th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+11|
+11|
+19|-|
965|
57
35th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+11|
+11|
+19|Bonus Feat|
1021|
58
36th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+12|
+12|
+20|-|
1079|
60
37th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+12|
+12|
+20|-|
1139|
61
38th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+12|
+12|
+21|-|
1200|
63
39th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+13|
+13|
+21|-|
1263|
64
40th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+13|
+13|
+22|Bonus Feat|
1327|
66[/table]