Quote Originally Posted by Winter View Post
Actually, I think that is what level 9 spells are supposed to be. They are not really for "player" hands, they are there to show players that "there is always a bigger fish in the water".

It seems to me the rules work perfectly up to level 15, then it all somewhat breaks apart, which indicates to me the "higher" powers are more for NPCs to keep them "challenging" and scary.
I find this proven by the epic rules as they are a tad strange and imo are there to scare PCs with access to level 9 spells.

It's cool to hit the peak, but that must, I think, be the end of the told story.

Just see this webcomic "The Order of the Stick", it pretty much implements my philosophy in this regard. Adventuring happens between level 1 and level 16ish, the higher powers are in possession of NPCs (means the evil guys have them and if you "need" access to it, you need to convince someone to give it to you) and if the PCs near that point (which will probably happen in the next arc) the story told also is going to end soon.
Once you reach those levels, there are almost no further ways that a DM can steer an adventure. Players simply have too many tools at that point to get around anything that is thrown in their path. Power gaming is no real fun since there is little or no challenge to it.

The Giant's explanation is correct. Story telling is absolutely wrecked by high powered spells and abilities.