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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 6715721" data-attributes="member: 6669384">And if Small Air Elemental came with Gust of Wind or Control Winds, that would work.At the same time a Water Elemental could also be an aid to a ship by providing a current that always goes where the ship is heading.  As far as the player is concerned:  I hate booting people from the game.  Hard feelings always follow.  That's why, in a way, I'm glad it isn't up to me.  Not my responsibility.In fairness, the DM dictated when his character spotted our group, so the decision to approach at night wasn't fully his fault.  He could have waited until morning, when he had a chance to observe from a distance and decide how to approach us, but that wasn't the scene the DM laid out, so...Using Darkness as a way to see in the dark is one of the cute paradoxes in D&D and I can't blame him for taking advantage.  I think he was an idiot for not thinking of the setting, and the over all first impression he was making, but the fact is I can't really blame him for that either.I know that last part sounds funny, but the fact is he isn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.  I call him the "problem child" not because of his age (he served in Desert Storm, the 1st gulf war), but because he acts like a child.  He can't help it.  If he was a bright person who chose to act like an idiot I could be mad, but the fact is he can't help it.  He thinks of himself, short sightedly so, and others second if at all.  I'm ticked at him over the blatant treasure grab.  He stacked us hip deep in loot, so his character could gear up. While we were discussing the overload, he put in that we could/should bump the treasure value by recharging some of the magic staves we'd found, to increase their resale value.  (I had to explain the math of crafting/recharging magic items to him, and how you never make any money at that.)  Everyone in the party, except him, kept the bulk of the treasure overload in cash, rather than powering up by buying magical gear.  He bought as much stuff as he could afford, to be as overpowered as he could be.And yes, I did take a dark delight in his character dying and losing all of his ill-manipulated Monty-Haul.  I took an equally dark delight in observing that, because of his wealth/power grab backfiring he was also going to stay on the lean side (meaning in balance, wealth wise) for a while.  Normally lower level character will tend to over-gear, since their fair share of treasure is the same as someone two levels higher, so their wealth will grow disproportionate to their level.  His won't.As for the "lie" about being the old character's brother:  He chose the last character's race because of a racial ability:  Add 1 to caster Level for spells with a Water descriptor.  He then asked for, and was granted, a variation on a Feat from Frostburn.  The original allowed a caster to add the Cold descriptor to any spell.  You had to add ice to the material components.  His variant allowed him to add the Water descriptor to any spell by adding water to the components.  The new character is Human with an aquatic template, rather than actually being Aventi.  He still gets the extra Feat and Skills for being Human, which the Aventi don't get.In both cases he optimized for advantage, but it's a choice we all make with every character, so i can't fault him for that.  He probably didn't think that the race difference would mean that he can't actually be the brother to the last character.  Again, short-sighted/stupid more than an intentional lie.He's planning on taking a Prestige Class that allows elemental specialization, and wants to go with air.  Odd choice for an aquatic, but it goes with his choice in Elemental familiar.But he hasn't taken that step yet.  No Prestige Class, no Elemental specialty, so the Improved Familiar choice was premature.  He could have taken the PRC, but wanted to start off with two levels of Rogue.  His goal with every character is to somehow end up with Freedom of Action, Evasion, Mettle, an AC 10 points higher than anyone else in the party, Save bonuses high enough to make him immune to pretty much all spell damage, and ideally some way of re-rolling the inevitable "1" that must eventually come up.That's not an overinflated concoction of power gaming traits, it's pretty much what he's said and demonstrated.When his choices made no sense for a character, and we asked how he justified them, he'd just give a big shrug and a stupid grin.  He didn't care that they were impossible, story wise, or unjustifiable by the rules, he was just happy to have whatever power or advantage he thought he was going to get.I'm unreasonably certain that his new character wouldn't pass an audit.  He'll have treated all the Rogue skill list as "In Class" for his Sorcerer levels, and so far he seems to have at least five of the four Feats a character of his race, class(es) and level are entitled to.  He'll have items from sources that we don't use.  (He loves Magic Item Compendium, despite being told over and over again that it's not an approved source.)  Unlike his race/familiar/treasure issues, or the Deity/Domain problems of his last one, these can't be written of to being not-too-bright.  He's pulled all of these before, been called on them, and tried them again at first opportunity.So yeah, I'm hard on him.  Yes, I'm looking for reasons to "pounce".  And he always provides them, blatantly, stupidly, and in abundance.</blockquote>

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