Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="3catcircus" data-source="post: 2896083" data-attributes="member: 16077">All I've got to say to this is:&nbsp; Bulls**t.You do *not* have to min/max&nbsp; if a game doesn't try and balance.&nbsp; In fact, I would argue that if you are not chosing a character based on what you *want* vice what you *think* you need, then you aren't doing your job as a player - regardless of game system. As a DM - I don't *want* min/maxers, munchkins or powergamers.&nbsp; For games that have non-balanced rules, *I* ensure that obstacles and encounters are matched up to the PC's power level.&nbsp; The players set the pace and determine how challenging things will be by the choices they make when developing and advancing their characters.&nbsp; In inherently balanced systems like d20, the rules themselves ensure that this occurs.&nbsp; When someone decides to min/max, it can ruin things for the other players who may now feel that they *have* to min/max to &quot;keep up with the Joneses&quot; instead of letting their personal choices shape their PC development -&nbsp; and it definitely ruins things for the DM who now has to work twice as hard to challenge the min/maxers and not outright kill the non-min/maxers.In my current campaign I am running into this problem because I let one player chose a race/class that combined with a specific set of feats, is way overpowered.&nbsp; My current campaign has a kobold wizard, a human wizard, an aasimar cleric, a halfling rogue, a dwarven fighter/ranger, and a githzerai monk/psionicist.&nbsp; Based on each players' character background, the possibility of the gith being in the campaign world was possible, so I allowed it (I disallowed him playing a xeph because they don't exist in my Forgotten Realms).&nbsp; The player playing the halfling rogue wants to change his character and I suspect it is because the monk/psionicist can scout better than he can.&nbsp; If I disallowed the gith, *or* the monk, *or* psionics, I don't think I'd have this problem. As it is, I don't (and never have) explored how to min/max a PC, so I didn't see this possibility beforehand.&nbsp; Now I know better.I think that if a DM limits player choices to some degree, players can still min/max while not being able to MIN/MAX and it will make the game go smoother for everyone.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="3catcircus, post: 2896083, member: 16077"] All I've got to say to this is: Bulls**t. You do *not* have to min/max if a game doesn't try and balance. In fact, I would argue that if you are not chosing a character based on what you *want* vice what you *think* you need, then you aren't doing your job as a player - regardless of game system. As a DM - I don't *want* min/maxers, munchkins or powergamers. For games that have non-balanced rules, *I* ensure that obstacles and encounters are matched up to the PC's power level. The players set the pace and determine how challenging things will be by the choices they make when developing and advancing their characters. In inherently balanced systems like d20, the rules themselves ensure that this occurs. When someone decides to min/max, it can ruin things for the other players who may now feel that they *have* to min/max to "keep up with the Joneses" instead of letting their personal choices shape their PC development - and it definitely ruins things for the DM who now has to work twice as hard to challenge the min/maxers and not outright kill the non-min/maxers. In my current campaign I am running into this problem because I let one player chose a race/class that combined with a specific set of feats, is way overpowered. My current campaign has a kobold wizard, a human wizard, an aasimar cleric, a halfling rogue, a dwarven fighter/ranger, and a githzerai monk/psionicist. Based on each players' character background, the possibility of the gith being in the campaign world was possible, so I allowed it (I disallowed him playing a xeph because they don't exist in my Forgotten Realms). The player playing the halfling rogue wants to change his character and I suspect it is because the monk/psionicist can scout better than he can. If I disallowed the gith, *or* the monk, *or* psionics, I don't think I'd have this problem. As it is, I don't (and never have) explored how to min/max a PC, so I didn't see this possibility beforehand. Now I know better. I think that if a DM limits player choices to some degree, players can still min/max while not being able to MIN/MAX and it will make the game go smoother for everyone. [/QUOTE]

Verification