Character Problem

[TwoSix]

Also, none of your other players have a 32 AC, even at 12? What are your other characters and defenses? Given the attack bonuses most monsters have at that level, 32 should almost be expected.

I don't know, it takes a decent level of op-fu to get a non-melee class to have a 32 AC at level 12. Alter self shenanigans, at the very least. Real casters shouldn't be worried about AC that much anyway. (fly, mirror image, invisibility, displacement)

 

[Empirate]

Even 26 Cha and 32 AC don't strike me as much overpowered. 26 Cha lets him cast his single known 3rd level Sorcerer spell 5 times/day, big deal. His save DCs are hampered by the fact that he's casting 2nd and 3rd level spells while the enemies he's supposed to fight are scaled to save against 5thh and 6th level spells. AC 32 makes him kind of a turtle (although strong opponents will still be able to hit him, and savvy ones will attack a different defense, like touch AC, saves etc.), but as long as he isn't able to proactively do something useful, that doesn't make him overpowered.

 

[Greenfield]

Hang on a sec. By the reasoning there, it looks like you guys allow any character created to hang out "for the moment" while you chat about how to deal with it. Is this correct? If so, you should probably work on it since allowing a character in the door is only going to cause more problems if you kick him out of the house so to speak.

I was saying that I wasn't going to do more than complain a bit in the post.

Normally I'd sit down and ask for some justification/rationalization, but in this case I don't think the character's going to be there to worry about.

He mentioned that his character was wearing armor under his silks. As a Cleric that's all fine and dandy. As a Sorcerer that can be problematic. Arcane Spell failure and all of that fun. I suspect that he has something exotic to minimize that, such as Fey Leaf or perhaps Mythrll. Which runs afoul of his Vow of Poverty (no magic, no master worked).

So his AC is probably going to drop by 4 or more, he's going to lose his extremely specialized weapon (Dark Metal can only be safely handled by undead types), he's probably going to lose his Familiar (Ghostly Visage is available to Dread Necromancer, not True Necromancer), and he's going to lose either his Cleric abilities or his Exalted feats, possibly both.

At that point we won't need to ban the character. I expect that he'll withdraw it.

As for other ACs: We're in the mid 20s for the most part, prior to buffs.

 

[Elf Witch]

I was saying that I wasn't going to do more than complain a bit in the post.

Normally I'd sit down and ask for some justification/rationalization, but in this case I don't think the character's going to be there to worry about.

He mentioned that his character was wearing armor under his silks. As a Cleric that's all fine and dandy. As a Sorcerer that can be problematic. Arcane Spell failure and all of that fun. I suspect that he has something exotic to minimize that, such as Fey Leaf or perhaps Mythrll. Which runs afoul of his Vow of Poverty (no magic, no master worked).

So his AC is probably going to drop by 4 or more, he's going to lose his extremely specialized weapon (Dark Metal can only be safely handled by undead types), he's probably going to lose his Familiar (Ghostly Visage is available to Dread Necromancer, not True Necromancer), and he's going to lose either his Cleric abilities or his Exalted feats, possibly both.

At that point we won't need to ban the character. I expect that he'll withdraw it.

As for other ACs: We're in the mid 20s for the most part, prior to buffs.

The problem with handing it this way is that that he does know that this character was an issue and whats to stop from bringing another one that is not made using the rules. Granted this way makes no one unhappy and saves on potential drama for the moment but can just delay until further it down the line.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Wow, this guy is hitting a lot of my warning bells for 3.5 character creation.,

 

[Neonchameleon]

Vow of Poverty isn't actually overpowered; it just gives up a whole lot of flexibility to keep up with the straightforward power curve (meaning you still end up behind). At least in games where you are keeping near the wealth by level table. That said, he's violating the spirit of VoP (seriously, how much is that hammer worth? And silk robes?) and VoP is incompatable with True Necromancer. Ask him why he wants this combination.

 

[the Jester]

The problem with handing it this way is that that he does know that this character was an issue and whats to stop from bringing another one that is not made using the rules.

The dms shaking their collective finger at him and uttering a warning "Now, now!"

 

[Greenfield]

The problem with handing it this way is that that he does know that this character was an issue and whats to stop from bringing another one that is not made using the rules. Granted this way makes no one unhappy and saves on potential drama for the moment but can just delay until further it down the line.

I'm presuming that this is the usual rough spot when a player is new to a group, and doesn't yet know how rules-tight they are.

As has been pointed out, his character is illegal, but not munchkin, nor even particularly overpowered. So I could easily see this being a case of him being a bit rules-ignorant, or having played in a game where they house-ruled things differently.

As I've mentioned a few times, I'm a rules guy, whether it's in my favor or not. House rules vary from group to group. Creative interpretations come and go. The written rules are the only source that everyone has equal access to. Additionally, as a DM, when someone disagrees with a ruling, I find it very convenient to be able to point to the rule in the book, in black and white, that supports my decision, and while I respect "Rule Zero", I try not to resort to it.

So I suspect that, once he knows the score for our group, he'll build something that fits in better. He seems like a good player. His character looks like it was built based on what someone else told him was cool or legit. I mean, I made the error, earlier in this thread, of confusing Command Undead and Control Undead. It's conceivable that he legitimately confused True Necromancer with Dread Necromancer. It's possible that he mistook "No Magic, No Master worked" for just "No Magic".

It's also possible that, in other campaigns he's played in, they didn't care about or enforce alignment restrictions.

I'm hoping that this is just a case of opening issue learning curve.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

If he is a cool guy and a good player, I'd expect this will all work out nicely, regardless of the details & steps to get there.

 

[Greenfield]

As a general note, I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to this topic. When I started it I was kind of venting. You good friends provided the feedback and sounding board I needed to get comfortable with the situation.

I still don't know how this is going to work out, but at least the conversation won't begin with me being upset. I'm better informed than I was, which is always the best way to wrap up a topic.

PS: I will let you know what the explanation/outcome is.