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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Starfox" data-source="post: 5593045" data-attributes="member: 2303">These are interesting problems, the most substantial ones brought up in this thread. They are also pretty system-specific. #1 applies mostly to class systems like DnD but can limit viable "builds" in a points-based game like Gurps as well. It is definitely the worst of these problems and the hardest to get around.#2 applies specifically to 3E with all its lovely buff spells.#3 can be a real problem in point-bye games like Champions - in many ways it is the same as #1 but for points-buy.Many of these optimization problems are really rules problems.The lesson here is that the GM should pick a system and set the parameters of his game in such a way that the players know what to build for. I was in a 3E game set in Cormyr. All the players were knights, except me who was a wizard. I was under orders to make a wizard that would not outshine the knights too badly. I tried to, but I think that I failed in the end, largely because of the Cormyr War Wizard prestige glass that encouraged much more blasting than the divination/buff heavy Merlin type I originally envisioned - another example of how rules encouraged problem behavior.</blockquote>