Anti-munchkin rules?

[0-hr]

I guess my main concern is that all of the players be able to contribute without having to design uber characters. I plan to run a lower power game and I don't want one or two players coming in with their smackdowns and dominating the action. Though I am going to rule zero half a dozen obvious abuses, I will rely more on my player's integrity than on a thick tome of restrictions. And if that doesn't work, then I'll just fall back on xp penalties

 

[bensei]

If you ask for a rule contra munchkin and pro roleplaying, the clear answer is:
XP-Reward

Reward XP not (only) for bringing down foes, but (also) for roleplaying, danger and risk, character interaction, completing complicated tasks, solving puzzles, etc. What ever you want your campaign to be.
This will force your players to make a lot more interesting characters, and min-maxing will not really help them, when you confront them with situations (mostly non-combat), which are in their min-field.
And players, which still want to min-max, will soon be one or two levels behind, bringing everything to balance again.

<EDIT:>
Do not give XP-penalty later, make clear XP-rules before character generation, such that players know what they'll get, when they still mant to min-max.

 

[Spenser]

Forrester,

I don't think the troll-form is all that bad, even if one ignores the RP aspects.

First, if we're dealing with "munchkin" fighters, they probably have an 18 or 20 base strength anyway. So a bump up to 23 isn't so overpowering.

Second, if you add the -2 disorientation penalty and the -1 size penalty, a high-STR fighter's attack bonus might even be *worse* than when he started.

Third, the disorientation penalty applies to saving throws and ability checks, too. Buffing up your fighter while weakening his will save is not a great combo in my book.

So for an 18 Str fighter, you've got -1 to hit, +2 damage, +6 AC, -2 to all saves, and 10' reach. In my opinion that's good (particularly the reach) but not overpowering. However, if you wanted to tone things down more, you could always houserule that equipment does not instantly expand or morph to handle large and exotic body types. So your troll-paladins would still be able to wield their holy longswords or whatever, but they would be running around naked (no armor, cloaks, boots... and if you really wanted to be mean, no rings). Anyway, that's just a humble suggestion. The other option is to keep whapping your troll-PCs with holds, charm monsters, dominates, etc. until they wise up. This second option, at least, could be kind of fun.