I'm a little lost. Please help.

[Goldmoon]

Ok, lets say that three people are in a game. One playing a rogue, one playing a caster and one playing a cleric who wont heal people, but instead trys to be a frontline fighter and uses all his spells to buff himself. The DM tells me that a frontline fighter is needed. I bring in a frontline fighter. The very frst encounter is with 8 NPC's. Each is about a CR4 from what I can see and we are level 6. Between my greatsword good stats and lots of good rolls I could cleave off of, I killed every one of them. I didnt do all the damage but I got in the last hit on them all. The other players got pissed because they didnt actually drop anything and I did. They tried to cite various rules in an attempt to nerf my character and I responded with what I thought was right and the DM sided with me on almost everything. In the end, I was called both a powergamer and a rules lawyer and two of them quit. I feel pretty upset by this. In the course of the "conversation" they also said that I dominate all the role playing. I feel that they just dont roleplay much at all and its easy to dominate when youre the only one participating. I wont make underpowered characters with short life spans on purpose and I can't not roleplay to the best of my ability. I dont want this to happen again. Any thoughts?

 

[werk]

Probably would fit a little better in general...

It sounds to me like you are playing with some pretty selfish people, and you are maybe a little proud yourself.

I'd try to reach some sort of agreement with the other players via character interaction. Maybe have you character apologize to the cleric for 'stealing' his kill, but say that you did it so as to free him up so he can heal you or others. A cleric in melee is usually not a happy sight for a fighter tank.

As long as the XP splits the same, it doesn't matter who kills enemies. Just make sure they are having fun playing with you.

 

[shilsen]

werk makes good suggestions. Personally, I tailor my power level to that of the given group I'm playing with. I can powergame with the best (worst?) of them, but overshadowing other PCs isn't fun for anyone (including me).

That being said, anyone who'd quit the game just because your PC did more damage than them and dropped the enemies very likely has their panties way too much in a bunch.

 

[Magesmiley]

One thing to remember is that D&D is (at least usually) a cooperative game. There are times when one member of the party will shine and times when other members will shine. In your case, a fighter designed for frontline fighting is going to outshine most of the others when you're involved in frontline fighting. There are other times when other characters will shine.

The problem sometimes comes when there are multiple character who all use the same style of character. This can often end up with one character which is "inferior" to the other and never has a chance to shine. Players which are performing similar roles often will compare their characters, and this often leads to one feeling that their character (rightly or not) is inferior.

So, I'm guessing that the cleric is feeling this way - his role has been overshadowed by the new character. It sounds like he is feeling that your new character can do everything he can do, and much better as well. He's overlooking the fact that, well, fighters by their very nature are better at fighting than clerics are, and if both characters opt to specialize in a particular style of fighting, the fighter will almost always come out on top!

What he (and you) may be overlooking is that there are different styles of frontline fighting. A character concentrating on damage has a different style than one who concentrates on AC, which is also one balancing the two. As they are annoyed about you dropping enemies, I'm guessing that you probably built the two-handed damage dealer. I'm not sure what he is doing, but if he went with a balanced approach or high AC, he'll probably do better in some combats than your character will.

Another item I've observed in various games - when one player raises the bar (in terms of quality of play), the others tend to do one of two things: quit, or raise their level of play to match. I think this is the case in your situation. I don't have a lot of advice to offer here - sometimes you just have to continue on. Those that do stick around almost always end up better at the game for doing so.

So... in general, I think that the other players are overreacting. You might try discussing the roles that various characters fill. The most harmonious parties I've seen are those where there isn't a lot of overlap between the various roles, or when there is, the players have different specialization styles. Hope this helps you some.

 

[Bad Paper]

Is this the new group that you found to replace your last group? You're having some tough luck!

 

[Goldmoon]

Is this the new group that you found to replace your last group? You're having some tough luck!

Yeah, Ive known the DM for about 3 years now but never knew he was a gamer. Small World! It seems that when I started roleplaying well, the othe pleyers feel threatened somehow and just shut down. I want to encourage them to "step up" and rise to the challenge. I have since scrapped the character because the DM scrapped the campaign. I am currently trying to play the Bard who will be a chameleon in an attempt to let everyone else be the best in their field. I will just fill in the gaps as needed. Hopefully this will work out, besides, I love my new character.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

I think it is important to put some effort into making sure everyone (DM included) is having fun, even if it means downplaying your own PC's abilities some of the time.

That said, complaining about a high Str fighter with Cleave dropping a lot of enemies in one particular session seems over the top. I am used to gaming groups that cheer when someone gets the Cleave, as these are spectacular and welcome events.

 

[Rel]

This is more of a General question than a Rules question. I'm moving it.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

To me it sounds like some of the players need to grow up a little bit. In my game everyone in the group is happy when anyone get a critical hit. One of the players gets a little frustrated that he can't seem to hit the broad side of a barn (he always rolls horribly in combat for some reason) but he doesn't get angry at the other players for stealing his kills.

In other games I have seen friendly gamesmanship between players as to who has the most kills but it has always remained friendly.

Out of curiousity how old are you and the other players?

Olaf the Stout

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Out of curiousity how old are you and the other players?

I mean no offense by this, but if I were to guess, I'd say the original poster and the DM are in their late teens and the others, around 13 years of age. :\

I don't have much to add in terms of advice other than what's been said so far. You could maybe talk with the DM so maybe next time he can fudge a few rolls so that the others get a time to shine (or at least drop an enemy)...

Hope everything gets better and you find a normal group...

AR