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People like to argue about things on the internet. Film, as they say, at 11 :)

Because the difference between an optimal character and a non-optimal one is relatively low. A 20 is probably too expensive to be worth it, a 16 is perfectly reasonable, a 14 certainly can work but an 18 is often best. The difference between the 20 and the 14 though is only 3 points of hit and...

It certainly is workable concept, and indeed does work fine. The question is more whether or not the player *had* that concept, or was building their character at random. If they were building to concept, then fine, no problems. If they had no idea what they were doing, then offering help is...

Well, theres a variety of reasons why a group of PCs are not capable of beating an encounter and not all of them are their own fault. Its entirely possible that the DM is not very good at estimating encounter difficulty and has presented the players with a selection of options which are all...

Righto, sounds like you've got a good handle on how to deal with it, good luck!

Also this. I've seen this kind of thing for about as long as I've been online. Even then, the character isn't (or shouldn't be) that ineffective. We're not talking a Bard1/Monk1/Rogue1/Hexblade1/Soulknife1/Truenamer1 in a party of proto-CoDzillas here.

Yeah, while it is kind of corner-casey its a valid concern - I don't really see it as a rule 0 issue as mechanically its working fine (if a little ugly, and IIRC this was brought in late in development as a response to players building all-defender parties), it just requires a little more in...

Well, I'll agree that 14 is a little low, but its hardly game breaking. Given that they seem to have a respectable melee basic attack and the swordmage mark isn't dependant on a hit to apply, they will be perfectly capable of performing the job of a defender. Now, clearly they could probably...

Well, because if they don't, the fighter hits them - making them as much of a menace as the striker if they are ignored. The calculus seems clear - ignore the fighter and take two striker-level damage sources or ignore the striker and take only one. Personally, I don't see it so much as...

Why make dungeons central to the game in a game called Dungeons and Dragons?

Probably meant in jest, but sure, I think we can. If I turn up to a game of Vampire, say, where we've got beer, pretzels and Wotsits I'll probably play differently than if the host had laid on red wine and rare steak.

Generally, yes, with a few exceptions. If the acceptable limits of the campaign have been clearly explained, and a player deliberately creates an unsuitable character, then yes, they are at fault. If the limits are not clearly explained or the effectiveness/spotlight demand of the character...

Its not, no. It does however read somewhat as to how likely you are going to see a truly creative solution to a problem in play. In any case, my main thrust is that for any edition of D&D, creativity *is* always possible, just that it manifests in different fashions. Scry-and-die comes...

Sure, but if the issue is creativity, then maximum efficiency isn't always desirable. If a character has an at-will (however you manage this, power, wand, feat, whatever) "solve problem" spell then clearly you reach maximum efficiency. It also requires zero creativity to apply. -edit To...

Actually, I'm going to somewhat agree with this. Lets take a couple of old 8bit computers, the Sinclair Spectrum and the Commodore 64. These had extreme limitations on memory, processing power and so on. However, over time the software written for them steadily increased in scope and power...

I think there's a difference in what people are seeing as creativity here. Personally, I'm with Barastrondo here. When I think creativity, I'm thinking the scene in Apollo 13 where mission control has to figure out how to attach two incompatible components together with only the very limited...

I agree that its pretty much down to the group, and the nature of the ineffectualness. If you are presenting people with status-quo challenges or running a module, then there is more of an obligation to pull your weight in overcoming those challenges as the setting assumes that you are all...

See, we were having a productive discussion up till this point. Since it's back to the edition bashing I'm out.

Possibly (probably) I'm misunderstanding what you are meaning by DM fiat then. If you have a resolution mechanic already in place, (so in 4e this would be combat, skill challenges or application of page 42, for example) then you just use that. My perception of fiat is more "This fails" or...

Sure, sorry. As I see it, DM fiat has a useful place in a game, "Mother-May-I" is the degenerate case where it's overused to the detriment of the game. Doesn't happen under ideal conditions, but we were all bad/new/tired at some point. -edit Lawful Good rules lawyers do exist, even if they...