The Dungeons & Dragons fans who were hoping to reach new levels and cast tenth-level D&D spells will be disappointed to learn that there are no plans for epic-level content for the game. The current 5th edition of D&D has rules for levels 1-20, but there is no content for what happens afterward.

In the old editions of D&D, there were books that had content for high-level play. The most famous of these was the Epic Level Handbook from third edition, which featured the nastiest D&D monster to date, in the form of the Great Wyrm Prismatic Dragon, which had a Challenge Rating of 66. There were also books like Deities & Demigods in the older editions of D&D, which gave stats to the gods themselves. It was possible for players to throw down with the likes of Thor and Zeus, though they weren’t likely to survive the encounter.

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The current 5th edition of D&D has been around for nearly a decade, yet it still doesn’t have any content that goes beyond level 20. There is also little content for existing high-level play. It seems this won’t be changing anytime soon. Wizards of the Coast’s executive producer for D&D, Ray Winninger, was recently asked during a press event for Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons about new high-level content. According to Winninger, this isn’t on the cards just yet.

“So, we don’t have plans at present for a product that is fully devoted to high-level play. But, we’re going to support the full range of character levels in the products that we do produce. I think, on that score, what you’re likely to see is pretty much how we’ve handled high-level play to date. Nothing new to add to that, but we’re not going to move away from it either”.

Why Dungeons & Dragons 5e Won’t Have Epic Level Content For Now

It’s not surprising to learn that Wizards of the Coast isn’t too concerned with high-level content. Very few players actually reach high levels by playing a long campaign, as the demands of real life often cut campaigns short. The majority of D&D campaigns consist of low-level adventures that try to pack in as much content as possible. Wizards of the Coast has tried to make its adventures as easy as possible to run, with campaigns like Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden designed to be as easy for DMs to pick up as it is for players to play. Free time is a precious commodity for many adults, so lengthy and complex D&D campaigns are often the first thing cut from the schedule.

The high levels of D&D play often break down into Dragon Ball Z-style blasting encounters, with a heavy dose of altering the fabric of reality itself, in order to gain a momentary advantage. These epic quests are fun for one-shots, but many D&D games are about the journey, rather than the destination. Climbing up through the ranks and fighting powerful enemies is often more enjoyable than playing as archmages or epic heroes, so it’s understandable why Dungeons & Dragons books would focus on adventures on a smaller scale.

See also  Doctor Who: Why Peter Capaldi Played Two Different Characters

Next: D&D: Why Evil Adventurers Are The Best Villains A DM Can Use

Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons will be released on October 19, 2021.

Source: Wizards of the Coast

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Scott Baird
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Scott has been writing for Screen Rant since 2016 and regularly contributes to The Gamer. He has previously written articles and video scripts for websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, and TopTenz.
A graduate of Edge Hill University in the UK, Scott started out as a film student before moving into journalism. It turned out that wasting a childhood playing video games, reading comic books, and watching movies could be used for finding employment, regardless of what any career advisor might tell you. Scott specializes in gaming and has loved the medium since the early ‘90s when his first console was a ZX Spectrum that used to take 40 minutes to load a game from a tape cassette player to a black and white TV set. Scott now writes game reviews for Screen Rant and The Gamer, as well as news reports, opinion pieces, and game guides. He can be contacted on LinkedIn.

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