Since we have not yet developed the rules for the proposed "high-level handbook," we want to provide you with basic rules that you can use. These rules, while unofficial, are compatible with the rules we intend eventually to publish. Of course, you can run 21st-level play however you like. These rules represent our best guidelines.

Basic Rule Concepts

1. Improvement per level slows down. If you don’t decrease benefits per level, characters become hard to use. In 1973, D&D was designed to work up to about 10th-level. The new edition takes pains to make the game work more smoothly up to 20th level. Simply extrapolating the classes past 20th level, however, can give you problems.

2. Levels past 20th scale infinitely. The 21+ rules don’t have a natural cap the way the Player’s Handbook rules do.

3. No level charts. Past 20th level, you don’t look up your abilities based on your character or class level. If we charted features by level, we wouldn’t be able to scale infinitely.

4. Scale XP normally. As with levels 1 to 20, the number of extra XP you need to go from one level to the next equals your current level times 1,000 XP. (We won’t however, be printing an XP table for levels 21 to 10,000,000,000. Figure it out yourself.)

Level Benefits

At each level past 20th, you gain one benefit of your choice. The four basic benefits are:

Increased Ability Score: Add +1 to any ability score. Since this benefit is available at every level, you no longer gain +1 to an ability score automatically every four character levels.

Increased Attacks: Add +1 to all attacks. This increase does not give you additional iterative attacks (as increases to base attack bonus do).

Increased Spellcasting: You gain the ability to cast a spell one level higher than your highest level spell (which might allow you a bonus spell of that level, as well). You have to already be casting spells that are the highest level for your class in order to take this benefit. You fill these higher-level spell slots either with metamagicked spells or simply with lower-level spells. Thus, a 21st-level wizard can have a 10th-level spell slot. (If she has an Intelligence of 30 or higher, she gains a bonus 10th-level spell, giving her two per day.) She can fill these slots with spells of any level or with (for example) an empowered (+2), maximized (+3), quickened (+4) magic missile. Such a spell deals about 33 damage as a free action.

Increased Class Features: Gain the skill points and class features one level higher than your current effective class level. For example, when an 11th-level wizard/9th-level fighter achieves 21st-level, she can select "increased class features" as her benefit for that level. With that benefit, she could gain the skill points and improved spell progression of a 12th-level wizard. The "increased class features," however, doesn’t give you increased saves, increased attack bonus, ability increases, or feats. Classes, however, only go to 20th level, so you can’t use this benefit to increase your effective class level to 21 or higher. Note: A single-classed character can’t use this benefit. The "improved class features" benefit allows a multiclassed character to get class features all the way up to 20th level in each class.

Other Level Benefits

The design team isn’t finalizing other benefits yet, but we intend that the high-level handbook will include lots of other benefits. Other benefits could include:

+1 to all saves
+20 hit points
+10 skill points (spent as any class you have)
Gain two feats (replacing the automatic one feat per three levels)
+1 DC on all class features (including spell saves)
10 levels of new spells known (great for sorcerers)
Create or enhance an artifact or signature magic item

The high-level handbook probably will also include powerful feats (including new metamagic feats) to give high-level characters more options.

Treasure

The Dungeon Master’s Guide tells you the average value of an NPC’s gear by level. This chart scales up with level the same way past 20th.

Level	Gear GP
20th	220,000
21st	290,000
22nd	370,000
23rd	480,000
24th	630,000
25th	820,000
26th	1,100,000
27th	1,400,000
28th	1,800,000
29th	2,300,000
30th	3,000,000
31st	3,900,000
32nd	5,100,000
33rd	6,700,000
34th	8,700,000
35th	11,000,000

High-level characters tend to have fewer items, each of which is more powerful. For example, a cloak of perfection could have the following powers: +10 armor (force); +5 resistance, deflection, and natural armor; +6 to each ability; SR 21; and damage reduction 5/+5. Its value would be a mere 1,114,000 gp, about a tenth of what a 35th-level NPC would have.

Very high-level characters may also have resources other than gear. For example, in the Forgotten Realms, the Simbul rules a kingdom. These resources can have at least a nominal value to balance them against other resources.

About the Author

Jonathan Tweet, a senior designer at Wizards of the Coast, led the 3rd Edition D&D design team and authored the new Player’s Handbook. Since 1986, he has freelanced, self-published, and worked full time in the adventure game industry. His other design credits include Ars Magica, Over the Edge, Everway, and support material for AD&D, Magic: The Gathering, Netrunner, RuneQuest, and Talislanta.