Anti-munchkins?

[Moe Ronalds]

Has anyone else here ever encountered people who make diliberately ineffective characters so as to not be labeled munchkins? But who still fail to provide a rational reason for why they keep their character ineffective, even after their character should have learned their lesson by now. (This example refers to players who intentionally use poor tactics or equipment over and over again, even though they have the means to do other wise, the experiences to show that what they're doing is inneffective, and the mental stats to comprehend it)

Feel free to give truly strange examples, advice, or ranting.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

My brother consistently plays single-classed Half Elven Fighters. That's not so bad in 3e, but he started that trend in 2e, even arguing in favor of demihuman level limits.

Of course, then he counters by playing up to his high Intelligence, using savvy tactics, and generally walking all over tough challenges by nullifying them. His idea of a Powerplay combination is a Kobold Commoner with maxed Intelligence and a couple useful skills.

 

[Spike]

what tactics are you refering to, Guk's refuseing to wear armor because he thinks armor is for wusses, even after he got shot by a cannon, or sarah's idea to kill the marchant?

-SPIKE

 

[Theuderic]

What's wrong with that?

 

[Spike]

dunno

 

[Geoff Watson]

It's not as rare as you might think.
A lot of elitist 'Real Roleplayers' do this sort of thing.
To them, having a weak character means you are a better roleplayer.

Geoff.

 

[Theuderic]

And are you an authority on this subject?

 

[Oni]

Yep I've seen it. I think Geoff Watson pretty much hit it on the head. Heck I would even say I've been guilty of it on occasion (though my play style tends to waffle a bit depending on when you talk to me and my mood), but hey, everyone's got their peculiarities.

 

[diaglo]

yep, i've seen it.

this other player in my group is playing an undead hunter and is using a whip.

he sacrificed like 4 feats to be effective with it and none for the sword he carries.

on a roleplay level it is great.

on a tactical level well...read my story hour. i haven't got to that part yet.

 

[tburdett]

I let one of my players create an Ogre character. This was back when they did the write-up in Dragon. I decided that it would be interesting to playtest for a while. If it didn't work out he could always try something else.

During character generation he dumped a ton of points into his Dexterity and Intelligence because he wanted to be a Master of Chains. A few of the other players tried to convince him to just be a Fighter who was really good with the spiked chain. They tried to convince him to put the points into Strength instead of Intelligence. It was no use.

He's now 12th level and he still hasn't taken Combat Reflexes yet. He has a list of feats to take and that feat is 4th or 5th down the list, even though he knows that it would be the most useful feat for him to take right now.

As the DM it is funny to listen to the other players point out every opportunity where the Ogre could have taken an AoO, "... IF YOU HAD TAKEN THE DARN* FEAT!".

* Not the word actually used, but, it's close enough.