(A) Why would I use Epic 6 for NSR/DIYelfgame gameplay?
In previous post about Hearts mechanic https://vdonnutvalley.wordpress.com/2023/11/09/hearts-hd-system-and-what-does-it-entail/ I counted hit points up to 6th level. It wasn’t simplification. I do think Epic 6 idea https://www.enworld.org/threads/e6-the-game-inside-d-d-new-revision.200754/ and https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/50073/roleplaying-games/soloing-smaug-the-struggle-for-the-soul-of-dd from DnD 3.5 has some merit here. Short summary – Epic 6 is the mode of play where you utilize only first six levels of the game. On sixth level you are still a human and not superhero. Wizards (and in OSR Magic-Users) get their Fireball but nothing more. You may strike a crowd of people but you won’t decimate a whole village. You’re not a superhero.
And your view might be that you’re never a superhero in OSR-inspired game. But that’s not entirely true. Of course as a fighter or thief you don’t become one. The best a fighter can achieve is to be harder to kill than a dragon. A thief can be really good at their skills. I know it is not the same as in 3.5e but still you can be pretty tough and able. But cleric and magic-user? You get some pretty powerful spells, like really powerful. You can disintegrate creatures and structures. You can cause up to 32 creatures to die instantly with one spell. Move a hill to another place. Reincarnate dead person! Three times per day at 14th level! And as a cleric you can force someone to do a thing for you. Just straight up force someone to go on a quest, like to the end of the world and back! Raise dead! 14th level cleric can conjure food and water out of thin air for 336 people and animals Per Day! Or force a god to talk to you!
Also there is notion of domain play and how it is mechanically prohibited until like 8th or higher level for most basic classes. And starting domain play so late usually means not starting at all. Either due to not achieving such level – since characters can still die due to a spell or single snake bite – or just because it is so different from previous levels it is not as interesting. With Epic 6 you don’t have that issue. At sixth level you’re basically at the peak of your abilities and can only gain more perks to widen the repertoire, not strengthen it. There is nothing significantly more you can achieve besides long term projects (usually requiring a domain) and domains. You need to become involved with domain play in order to grow! And since it is only six levels for whole campaign you actually should do it earlier!
And you could ask – why would you even keep levels if you don’t like such growth? Because I like leveling at low levels. You can see your PC getting from a random societal wash off to an experienced specialist. But after that it becomes redundant, superheroic even. I’m not making a game which has to make a lot of money and have really long (assumed) playability. I can go for 6 levels cap. I would also pack these 6 levels with more bonuses.
It may also lead to better and more interesting abilities to be gained. On levels 6+ your only gain in terms of mechanics are abilities. These may be unspecific things like Alchemy for magic-users who would like to specialize in making their own potions or Scroll Use of thieves gated at 10th level in tegular game. Maybe fighter went to a monastery and helped monks fight off their eternal enemy – another monks. And learned their ways, being able to grapple with each successful attack. Or a whole subsystem of martial arts and martial artists you need to overcome in order to learn their techniques. You cannot get better at everything now and straight up level up. But it doesn’t stop you from learning new things.
This is why I would use Epic 6 in NSR/DIYelfgame. Would you?