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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Warpiglet" data-source="post: 7189746" data-attributes="member: 6689161">I am just thinking  that the game does not require this razor sharp efficiency with "game" referring the rules as written.The more I think about it, the more I realize games that require total optimization must be niche things.  Otherwise, wouldn't the published adventures also follow suit?  Wouldn't the encounter building rules, maligned as they are be geared toward this style if it was the intended level of difficulty?Reading responses so far suggests to me that perhaps the culture is not exactly new but that there may be more of an emphasis on this style that has always existed.It is hard for me to know for sure.  As a kid we always tried to power up but that was just the natural inclination of us as kids.  It never seemed "necessary" and even less so now.I am not knocking it if people like it.  Its not "inferior" or less worthy.  I just know I would feel too constrained if I had to focus on maximum optimization just to survive and have some progression.  I like a bit of variety.  Having played so many years I need more and not fewer options for viability.I am still scratching my head however.  If the margins are that thin, you sure have a brilliant DM!  The ability to make challenges with the degree of precision that a +1 means the difference between life and death is no small feat.  It implies  the wall between survival and TPK hinges on every single point of a bonus below which nearly certain death awaits!I am thinking that +1 in isolation will save a character and a party rarely in a super high challenge environment.  Here, instead of needing a 12 to hit and getting only an 11, the DM will often get a 13 and it probably will not matter a great deal in most situations.Further, if the champion MUST be a half orc, what do we say to parties that do not have a champion at all?  Not trying to be jerky, but really having a hard time seeing this is anything but assumption in 99% of cases.  How in the heck can a DM make that +1 be the lynch-pin of success vs. Death?</blockquote>

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