It’s interesting to note that, while Netheril: Empire of Magic has very little to say about using 10th-level spells after the fall of the titular Netheril, The Fall of Myth Drannor outlines that casting 10th-level spells in the Forgotten Realms is a process restricted only to the highest-level spellcasters, and is subject to divine review. Note that the 10th-level spells from the Dark Sun setting are listed under “Psionic Enchantments,” below.ġ0th-Level: Lefeber’s weave mythal, mavin’s create volcano, mavin’s earthfast, moryggan’s mythaleash (The Fall of Myth Drannor), proctiv’s move mountain, the srinshee’s spellshift (The Fall of Myth Drannor), tolodine’s killing wind, valdick’s spheresail.ġ1th-Level: Mavin’s worldweave, proctiv’s breach crystal sphere.ġ2th-Level: Karsus’s avatar (reprinted in Powers & Pantheons with some changes). Only 10th-level spells were usable after that, as demonstrated by the two 10th-level spells found in The Fall of Myth Drannor. Even there, it was made clear that spells of level 11 and above were allowable only during the specific time specified in that sub-setting. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are rather few of them, most being found in Netheril: Empire of Magic, part of the Forgotten Realms’ “Arcane Age” line of products. The most straightforward understanding of epic-level magic, these are the wizard (i.e. Forms of magic that are meant to be plot devices, and as such have no game rules – such as the Last Word from the Planescape adventure Dead Gods – are not covered here.)Īs such, let’s take a look at the “epic-level magic” of AD&D 2E. What that means is that these are all systems that are meant to be (potentially) utilized by PCs, and so have game rules that depict and regulate them.
(Also, keep in mind that all of the systems covered here are “player-facing” in their presentation.
Whether by scope of effect, exceptional requirements to cast, or sheer power, this is magic that cannot be represented by traditional spells and spellcasting. What follows is not meant to be an overview of all alternative systems of magic in AD&D, but rather is a listing of spells and magic systems that “go beyond” what conventional magic can achieve in AD&D. While most earlier incarnations of D&D didn’t really have “epic-level” magic anyway, AD&D 2E had quite a few – several of which could be used before you hit 20th level! While there’s little problem with maintaining that “epic” characters are those above 20th level – despite most earlier editions not placing any special emphasis on 20th level as a stopping point – this becomes more difficult when applied to magic. Naturally, this term has since been retroactively applied to earlier editions of D&D.ĭoing so, however, brings up some interesting issues. level 21+) were “epic” in what they could do. While the mechanics were brief and somewhat dissimilar from how their finalized form would look, that was where we were told that characters of great power (i.e. While most people ascribed that to the eponymous Epic Level Handbook, in truth the term had been introduced roughly a year prior, in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. The concept of “epic” levels – and all of the accompanying features therein, such as epic-level spells, magic items, etc.