D&D 5E Are powergamers a problem and do you allow them to play in your games?

[Corpsetaker]

I've been a gamer for over 30 years now and in all the time I've been gaming I've tried to accommodate everyone's playstyle. Well I'm afraid I don't look at powergaming as a playstyle anymore, I see it as a problem. I no longer allow powergamers at my table, nor will I play in a game with them. Every time I have ran games with a powergamer it always, and I mean always, ended up falling apart. I'm not talking about someone who arranges their states to fit the race and class perfectly, I'm talking about those that really go out of their way to find every game breaking combo they can find.

I actually class this as disruptive behaviour and I do not tolerate it. I had been in a on going 5th edition game where we had a powergamer who ended up making all encounters a cakewalk and the DM started handing out magic items left right and center to try and balance things but it only ended up getting out of control, like it always has no matter the edition. I decided then and there that I had enough.

To me powergaming is just another form of disruptive behaviour and I will not allow it in my games anymore.

Anyone else have this kind of problem?

 

[The Crimson Binome]

What's powergaming? How do you define it?

 

[Corpsetaker]

What's powergaming? How do you define it?

Please don't respond unless you have actually read the post. Don't just read a sentence or two and then post a response.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

5e has very few outright game breaking combinations. I've had a few optimisers, but never a powergamer as you define it.

I've generally found that if a player is being disruptive to the game in any way, whether through character build or behaviour, actually having an OOC chat with them where you point out the problems that they are causing will solve it.
If a player was made aware that they are impacting the other players' enjoyment of the game, but wasn't willing to change their behaviour, then that would be the point at which they don't get invited back. However its never actually come to that.

 

[machineelf]

These kinds of threads start arguments, but yeah the real answer is to play the kinds of games you like to play with the kinds of people who like to play the same kind of play-style you do.

"Powergamers" as you define them can still have a lot of fun, and if they are, then fantastic. But I am similar to you, in that I prefer to play with players who put role-playing as their chief aim, and will even sometimes choose a less-ideal tactical decision if it fits in with the character they are playing. They still will choose benefits and new abilities that make them stronger of course, but that generally takes a second-seat to being in character and developing a story.

To each their own, however.

 

[Lanefan]

Yes. No.

Lan-"shortest post ever"-efan

 

[pming]

Hiya!

I don't play with powergamers either. No point. I, as DM, can/will "always win". When I do, the powergamer inevitably gets more and more frustrated and outright angry. Usually they just stop coming to the game, but on at least two occasions I've had them outright stand up, throw papers on the floor, swear up a storm, and then loudly exit the room.

The easiest way to "get" a powergamer is to use his/her 'builds' against him/her. In 1e AD&D, the old "Mirror of Opposition" was always a fave of mine ever since I saw it in action in module L2, The Secret of Bone Hill. Still brings a smile to my face when one particularly obnoxious powergamer saw his 'double' step out of the mirror, and then heard me say "roll for initiative". He lost. And his OP character died in the first round, before even getting a chance to do anything. It was glorious! (Powergamers hate it when they have to fight equal opponents, overall, even more so when the player knows that the monster/NPC is his PC's Achilles Heel).

Had one overpowered 5e character in the second to last campaign; iirc, a 7th level Goliath Barbarian with ridiculous Str, Dex and Con (like, 20, 18, 20 or some such nonsense; we roll random stats, btw)...but had a 6 Int. He never really had a challenge, physically, (go figure!) until 7th level. Where he encountered an Intellect Devourer. Again, round one and a failed save and lucky rolling from the ID and POOF! Dead as a door nail. The player was a bit upset...but he knew it was only a matter of time before his Achilles Heel got the PC killed. Player isn't exactly a powergamer anymore...but he used to be. Still has the desire on occasion though. I guess it's like being addicted to something.

Anyway, yes. I see "Powergaming" as usually an indicator of someone who doesn't really play/share well with others. Not always, but usually. As I said, the Goliath Barbarian player used to be a PG, but ever since playing in my game (he started with the group in about 2001), he's evened out almost completely.

My thoughts on it is simple: If you are primarily a powergamer, go start your own group. No point in playing in a game where you are not going to have 'fun' the way you want, and no point in upsetting/annoying the players in a game that doesn't do the powergame thing. Different strokes and all that.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Rhenny]

I see what you mean. However, there may be different classes of powergamers, one who plays the game and contributes to the story and fun, and the other who is hyper competitive and doesn't play well with others. The first type isn't a problem. The second one surely is. That's the one you are probably talking about.

I've only had one such player. He was a rule freak who always wanted to out do everyone and win at all costs. He ended up having a temper tantrum when another pc got a magic item and he stopped playing. I think it was his personality rather than his powergaming that was the problem.

I won't ban powergamers, but I will let them know that they must play nice with others and my games are about story and character building rather than mechanical mastery.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Please don't respond unless you have actually read the post. Don't just read a sentence or two and then post a response.

Don't make unfounded assumptions.

It certainly reads that you define powergaming as, "Too much optimization"; you don't have a problem with optimization, in principle, or else you would object to perfectly arranging stats to suit race and class. That means you have an entirely arbitrary line somewhere that delineates between acceptable optimization and unacceptable optimization.

Without knowing exactly where you draw that line - which combination of feats and classes is okay, and which one is not okay - I can't say whether I allow that level of optimization into my games. I can say that I don't allow optimization to such an extent that it's disruptive... because it would be disruptive. Too much of anything is bad, because that's how you define too much. It's a meaningless statement. Is the optimization at my table more than what you would be comfortable with? I have no idea. Your rant is too vague to permit definitive conclusions.

 

[Corpsetaker]

Let's be clear that just because you don't like powergaming doesn't mean your games are more about story. The game assumes a healthy balance of the two. I like the mechanics and story to go hand in hand, not one over the other.