pukunui
Legend
Hi all,
I am running Dungeon of the Mad Mage for one of my groups. The PCs are pretty close to hitting level 13, and one of my players has found an annoyingly effective combination of class features and combat tactics that make his PC something of an unkillable one-trick pony who makes fights too easy more often than not. The other players all love how effective his PC is at making fights easier, of course, so I'm looking for some ways to shake things up so he can't always rely on the same tactic.
The PC in question is a dwarf forge cleric 7 / watcher paladin 4 / storm sorcerer 1. He has an AC of 23 thanks to his plate armor, shield, cloak of protection and class features, and what he likes to do is wade into melee next to the fighter and the barbarian, cast spirit guardians, then dodge to impose disadvantage on anyone trying to attack him to disrupt the spell. He also has the Protection fighting style, so once per round he can reduce incoming damage to one of the other PCs standing next to him. If he doesn't use that, he also has the option of casting either shield or absorb elements to further protect himself (and lessen the likelihood of losing spirit guardians).
One way I could deal with this is have the group face more enemies who can cast dispel magic. Another way might be to use the same tactics against the PCs and see how they like a taste of their own medicine. Has anyone got any other ideas?
Again, I'm not looking to punish my players or take away their cool toys. I'm just looking for ways to shake them out of their habits and get a little more variety into the way they approach combats in the dungeon.
In case it matters, the other PCs are a human evoker 12, a dwarf berserker 12, a half-orc samurai 12, and a half-elf swashbuckler 7 / hexblade 5 (who likes to use the other annoyingly effective darkness + Devil's Sight combo).
Your thoughts would be most appreciated.
EDIT: I forgot to mention previously that the PC also has the Lucky feat, so even if I do manage to roll well enough to get through the disadvantage and the high AC, three times per day at least he can just force me to reroll (which generally means I'll miss).
On top of that, the PCs have just leveled up to 13, and I see that the player has finally taken War Caster, so now the PC has advantage on his Con saves to maintain spell concentration on top of everything else. Sigh ...
I am running Dungeon of the Mad Mage for one of my groups. The PCs are pretty close to hitting level 13, and one of my players has found an annoyingly effective combination of class features and combat tactics that make his PC something of an unkillable one-trick pony who makes fights too easy more often than not. The other players all love how effective his PC is at making fights easier, of course, so I'm looking for some ways to shake things up so he can't always rely on the same tactic.
The PC in question is a dwarf forge cleric 7 / watcher paladin 4 / storm sorcerer 1. He has an AC of 23 thanks to his plate armor, shield, cloak of protection and class features, and what he likes to do is wade into melee next to the fighter and the barbarian, cast spirit guardians, then dodge to impose disadvantage on anyone trying to attack him to disrupt the spell. He also has the Protection fighting style, so once per round he can reduce incoming damage to one of the other PCs standing next to him. If he doesn't use that, he also has the option of casting either shield or absorb elements to further protect himself (and lessen the likelihood of losing spirit guardians).
One way I could deal with this is have the group face more enemies who can cast dispel magic. Another way might be to use the same tactics against the PCs and see how they like a taste of their own medicine. Has anyone got any other ideas?
Again, I'm not looking to punish my players or take away their cool toys. I'm just looking for ways to shake them out of their habits and get a little more variety into the way they approach combats in the dungeon.
In case it matters, the other PCs are a human evoker 12, a dwarf berserker 12, a half-orc samurai 12, and a half-elf swashbuckler 7 / hexblade 5 (who likes to use the other annoyingly effective darkness + Devil's Sight combo).
Your thoughts would be most appreciated.
EDIT: I forgot to mention previously that the PC also has the Lucky feat, so even if I do manage to roll well enough to get through the disadvantage and the high AC, three times per day at least he can just force me to reroll (which generally means I'll miss).
On top of that, the PCs have just leveled up to 13, and I see that the player has finally taken War Caster, so now the PC has advantage on his Con saves to maintain spell concentration on top of everything else. Sigh ...
Last edited: