Cleric over balancing the game

[Elder-Basilisk]

Try casting Bull's Strength, Endurance, Magic Vestment, and Greater Magic Weapon on the barbarian/ranger.

That should go quite a ways towards making him more effective.

How is the barbarian/ranger constructed, BTW? If you've created an efficient character (and it sounds like you have) but he created more of a concept character (dual wielding daggers or something), that could be part of the explanation. (If he wears light armor, you could mention the possibility of using his Ranger TWF to dual wield a greatsword and armor spikes too--that should increase his damage output).

For the DM, more creatures with spell resistance, greater dispelling, or anti-magic shells should help even the score between you and the barbarian.

Hey all, I play at Dwarven Cleric in a plane hopping FR game. I've recently made 16th level. The current party consists of a 14 level Half-Orc Barbarian Ranger, and a 16th level Druid (The Half-Orc has died a couple times) I feel that my character is taking some of the fun away from the other players, especially the Half-Orc, because the cleric is so powerful. With Divine Power, and an Extended GMW my attacks are better than the Half-Orcs. And with my ability to cast some pretty nasty combat spells I'm geeking the combats. The Half-Orc just stands back, and rarely draws his sword. So here's my problem, what can I do as a player, and what can I suggest to my DM to keep the game a little more balanced? I really don't want to nerf my cleric, and hold back from casting harm, or flame strikes. And we buff the half-orc with spells so he can take a hit, and deal out some nice damage, but he pales in comparison to the spell casters.

 

[Henry]

Other suggestions:

The DM introduces more enemies aware of your "powering up" and focus their efforts on defeating you - after all, if the enemy has been made aware of your successes, who are they going to focus on, you, or your "ineffectual" companions?

Dispel magic spells work great on PC's who wish to thoroughly rely on "buffing" spells - especially if all the buffing spells are on the same guy. All it takes is a couple of 11th level clerics with Greater dispels to strip your character of buffing spells faster than paint stripper on crusty furniture.

Have the DM concentrate on more enemies of lesser power, not just one or two tough beings. If your party is faced with a group of, say 12 5th level fighters, you can't certainly take them all, but your compatriots would need to help keep you from being overwhelmed.

I hope that some of this advice assists your DM into kicking your PC's butt properly, as you asked. Good luck!

 

[Shard O'Glase]

The buffing ideas might of helped you a while back, when equipment was less potent. The two problems are one you probably buff him somewhat already, and two the barb probably has enough items that buff that your buffs would be useless. I cast bulls str on him he gets +5 str, yeah that's nice and all but if he has a belt of giant str either +4 or+6 it is a waste to cast the spell because at most you might boost him by one point.

The big thing is dispels. Buffs are really potnet in 3rd edition, virtually everyone has at least one on them. Virtually every fight we have starts off with a volley of dispel magics on both sides of the battle. I got in the habit of casting mislead so detect spells had me coming up as both neutral and non-magical to at least reduce the chance that a tageted dispel is thrown my way. Yet even then I would expect either a targeted dispel from thsoe who haven't had the chance to scope out the aprty with detects, and or be hit by at least 2 area dispels in round one or the surprise round. Now this requires the DM to throw you at some intellignet foes as opposed to big dumb monsters, but that's the way it goes.

 

[Zaruthustran]

what can I do as a player, and what can I suggest to my DM to keep the game a little more balanced? I really don't want to nerf my cleric, and hold back from casting harm, or flame strikes. And we buff the half-orc with spells so he can take a hit, and deal out some nice damage, but he pales in comparison to the spell casters.

Well, that's the nature of the game. Prepared spellcasters rule.

So, the DM can start taking your party by surprise, hitting you with magic-resistant enemies or swarms of enemies with elemental resistance, taking you underwater or into other areas where your spellcasting is hindered, or harrying you--preventing you from praying during your appointed prayer time period.

That last one is probably most effective. If your prayer time is "morning", the DM can just hit the party with skirmishing attacks (maybe volleys of long range arrow attacks) every half-hour until noon. Or maybe you're being pursued and must flee during morning hours. Or even just a really bad storm, anything to disrupt your "quiet contemplation or supplication". Poof--no spells for you. Without a Wizard's Rope Trick, Hut, or Mansion, you're in for some spell-less days. And a spell-less Cleric is not going to outclass a barbarian.

-z

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Re: Re: Cleric over balancing the game

If you really want to hinder a divine spellcaster, you need to hit them in the 8 hours before their preparation. Any spell slots they use can't be reprepared on the next day. Hitting them during spell preparation time simply forces them to put it off until the next possible opportunity.

That last one is probably most effective. If your prayer time is "morning", the DM can just hit the party with skirmishing attacks (maybe volleys of long range arrow attacks) every half-hour until noon. Or maybe you're being pursued and must flee during morning hours. Or even just a really bad storm, anything to disrupt your "quiet contemplation or supplication". Poof--no spells for you. Without a Wizard's Rope Trick, Hut, or Mansion, you're in for some spell-less days. And a spell-less Cleric is not going to outclass a barbarian.

-z

 

[Mistwell]

You are plane hopping, and your DM hasn't cut off, or decreased the effectiveness of, your spells on any of the planes? I would think a cleric runs this risk pretty often on the planes. I mean, Gods don't have the same degree of influence on all the planes, do they?

 

[Saeviomagy]

Under the standard 3rd ed cosmology, they do.

Hell, even in 2nd ed the only place there was a problem was alternative primes reached via spelljamming, or the phlostigon itself.

 

[mkletch]

You are plane hopping, and your DM hasn't cut off, or decreased the effectiveness of, your spells on any of the planes? I would think a cleric runs this risk pretty often on the planes. I mean, Gods don't have the same degree of influence on all the planes, do they?

That is from 2E, I believe. If you are running a straight 3E campaign with no contagion from previous editions, clerics can rule anywhere...

-Fletch!

 

[Spatzimaus]

Where are you getting this crazy idea?

Where does it say anything about the size of the weapon?

Sorry, I inserted a house rule there by accident. Rogues get weapon proficiencies based on their size (basically, they get all light weapons), so IMC we made it easy; any melee weapon you can wield one-handed can be used to Sneak Attack. You can't exactly sneak a greatsword underneath someone's guard, after all.
But, this frees you up to give more weapon proficiencies to the Rogues. Plus, we let Sneak Attacks and Favored Enemy work out to one range increment instead of the default 30', which really helps balance out the massive range advantage casters have outdoors.

 

[JChung2003]

It sounds like your DM needs lessons in how to fight spell casters. Think antimagic field and greater dispelling for starters and wave byebye to your divine power and greater magic weapon. Battle clerics tend to die quickly when their enchantments fade.