How did 'Righteous Might' affect your game?

[Marimmar]

In our last two sessions our party cleric cast 'Righteous Might' and 'Divine Power' to annihilate the BBEG at the end of the sessions. I as the DM wasn't thinking much about it the first time she did it since the villain was actually CR+3 over the party and was deadly anyway. The second time she let those spells fly it was obvious that no melee was possible against such a buffed cleric without destroying the rest of the party. Now that her cleric hit 12th level it's even worse since the damage reduction reached 10/evil.
Combat against tough opponents is rapidly devolving into her buffed cleric being the one and only melee type with our fighter/cleric and the barbarian standing/dropping beside her and our wizard throwing some artillery. Very unbalancing IMHO since two other characters are removed from the spotlight.

The problem is not with 'Divine Power' here, it is with the obscene amount of stacking bonusses from 'Righteous Might'. I'm currently at a loss at what to do about it since next session I planned for them to attack a Frost Giant stronghold which is somewhat pointless with that much melee power.

How would/do you compensate for something like that?

 

[The Amazing Dingo]

As the DM, I wouldn't compensate anything.

I'd take the cleric casting the Righteous Might aside and tell her precisely what you've said here: you did not, at first, realize the power that the spell possessed when coupled with Divine Power and that, due to an unbalancing factor, you cannot allow her to further use the spell in the game. It is nothing personal or spiteful, however you're simply trying to keep the balance and the fun factor in the game for yourself and the other PCs.

Otherwise, you're going to either be buffing up the battles to points where the other characters, especially the melee characters, would just get wiped off the board. The other option is to just start nailing her with Dispels until one gets through.

I think the first way is the best answer since it is a permanent and truthful answer. Otherwise, it is just a temporary fix that constantly shafts her spell. As a PC, I'd get more pissed about the DM having the bad guys always doing the same thing (or handful of small things) just to shaft one player/PC.

Be truthful...its the best policy.

 

[FireLance]

Now that her cleric hit 12th level it's even worse since the damage reduction reached 10/evil.

Check latest errata. It's now 3/evil, then 6/evil, then 9/evil. Other aspects of the spell have also changed (generally, it provides half the bonus it used to provide).

 

[Paragon Kobold]

This is just a special case of the 'Clerics are to powerful' problem in 3.x. If one disallows or nerf this particular spell they will just come up with some other trick. If this is unbalancing the campaign I recommend altering (or even disallowing!) the Cleric class itself.

Good alternatives include the Cloistered Cleric, from UA, and the Healer,
from Miniatures Handbook. Both are wimps.

 

[Marimmar]

Now that's some just in time errata. I'll talk this over with our clerics and see if they are reasonable enough to see the 'wisdom' in this errata. At least they got rid of that annoying damage reduction. Personally I dislike 'nerfing' something because I perceive it as unbalanced but with WotC behind me I stand a much better chance of reducing the whining.

Let's see how they react...

~Marimmar

 

[d(sqrt(-1))]

The new description of Righteous Might seems clear enough, but I'm a bit unsure about Divine Favour - do you still get the STR bonus and the extra hp, or is the description given in that errata the entirety of the spell now?

As someone currently playing a cleric I'd have to agree that they were a bit overpowered...

cheers,

Mark

 

[uzagi_akimbo]

Two things about this - besides the obvious hint to use the errataed/corrected versions of the spell(s) in question.

For one, a targeted Dispel Magic or two (or three ) will strip the cleric of one or both his buffs, leveling out the playing field. Anti-Magic Aura or other magic suppressing effects might help as well. Hitting him with a simple first level ray of enfeeblement will take some of that deadly strength away, too. And of course, opposition of average or greater intelligence will focus their attacks and powers on the most damaging combatant, in this case the cleric.

Second, have the opposition use just the same combo on the party if someone feels the corrected version is "unfairly" weak. This approach usually helps players accept the wisdom of some game-balancing measures very quickly, unless, like it seems to be in this case.

Oh, and generally, just come up ith some BBEGs that do not play to the PCs strengths - like say, engaging in one-on-one melee combat. Or simply have the BBEG fight defensively or evade the cleric until the buffs run out....

 

[Marimmar]

Don't confuse 'Divine Power' with 'Divine Favor'.

~Marimmar

 

[Quinnman]

Or just play your monsters a bit smarter

Both Divine Power and Righteous Might lasts 1 rnd/lvl and both can be dispelled...

If the monsters sees the cleric suddenly become much tougher and twice as big, they are allowed to think: "hmm... maybe that cleric just used some magic... we´ll come back when the magic is gone"
All they have to do is wait 10 rounds (his effective time of munchkiness )

Or maybe they have a spellcaster who can then proceed to dispelling the two spells...

Another thought... the cleric is burning a 4th and a 5th level spell to get there... and he is out of combat for the first two rounds (rounds that the other so-called outshined players can use to deal damage!) - why shouldn´t he be allowed to shine? Unless he´s using all his spells to buff himself during the day and doesn´t heal his comrades, those 10 rounds are his only real shining moment! (unless some undead pop up along the way )

 

[Marimmar]

Well, I cannot always have some high-level spell caster stand in the rear casting 'Dispel' spells. Sometimes it's just some giants bent on stomping puny little humans. As Dingo said, I think the clerics would feel cheated when always confronted with someone dispelling their 'Righteous Might' spell. Nerfing and getting rid of the nuisance once and for all is more to my liking.

In the last battles I tried circumventing the 'Righteous Might' cleric by staying away from melee but had to accept that PCs have a lot of artillery in the form of two clerics and a wizard, more than even two blue dragons could muster. In the end it was either flee or get pounded at the distance of your choice.

~Marimmar