LoneStranger said:
Actually I saw something, I forget exactly where it was that said that characters only get 5 attacks per round. I think it was in the DMG but I think they were trying to keep characters from having the attacks score that Baraendur mentioned. Don't ask me where it is since I don't know, I just blundered across it while making a higher level character for another game.
You are correct. In the official epic rules, every class gets a +1 epic attack bonus at every level. What's the difference between an epic attack bonus and a regular attack bonus? You get no additional attacks. The official rationale behind this is that the more attacks you get, the less worthwhile the later ones become. If you have a +35 attack bonus, then chances are that your +5 attack will have no chance of hitting your opponent.
lastbesthope said:
Realistic? We're playing an SF game
Yes, this is a SF game, but it is one that puts a lot more emphasis on realism than most other D20 games. Even the most advanced characters are still mortal.
Buit remember, B5 is not primarily a combat game, and it ttakes Sheridan 8 years to become 20th level from being 12th level at the start of Season 2. And by then he is no longer a combat character, he is a political force more than anything.
That is exactly why you wouldn't want to use the epic level rules from the standard D20 game. Epic level characters are absolute powerhouses. Those rules take what is already a high powered game, D&D, and make it into a power gamer's wildest dream. Epic feats are far all far more powerful than their non-epic counterparts. The +1 bonus to attack per level allows most classes to advance much faster than they did before becoming epic. For all intents and purposes, they become superheroes. My system allows Babylon 5 characters to continue increasing their skills, which are really more important in this game anyway, rather than turning them into combat juggernauts.
As for compunding the problem, what problem? You need to come up woith tougher objectives every time they level up anyway, and if your GM still has them intrigued at level 20 then you should have no trouble keeping them interested beyond that. but by the time your characters get to those sort of levels you've got to wonder what more does your character really have to do, they're probably running at least one planet or major corporation by then and have not so much time for adventuring through the galaxy.
This really depends upon the campaign. I could easily see 20th level characters stationed aboard a starship. If tthe characters become too politically powerful, throw something like the Drakh plague their way and cut them off from their base of power. Or change the politics and put them on their own, much like Sheridan was when B5 seceeded from Earth. There are always situations that allow high level characters to become directly involved with the world. They don't all have to go their separate ways and un some prestigious organization like they did at the end of the show.
If you want to use the Epic Level handbook to progress your characters past 20th, you can. That's the first rule of RPGs, it's your game, do with it what you will. Personally, I am nowhere near this becoming a problem, by the time AotR gets to that stage I will either come up with something spectacularly devious, or just kill them all for being dumb enough to go adventuring when they are persons of such significance Twisted Evil
Oh I agree, the games master should absolutely be the master of their domain. That means tweaking the rules, or blatantly disregarding some in favor of systems that work best in their game. It wouldn't take much doing to make B5 a combat oriented game, in fact I have an article slated for an upcoming issue of S&P that does exactly that.
