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<blockquote data-quote="Lord Zardoz" data-source="post: 3369679" data-attributes="member: 704">The two options you seem to be considering are to either let him continue as is or to nerf his characters.You dont want the present situation to continue because its breaking your sense of verisimilitude.&nbsp; He is also able to pretty much destroy your combat encounters.&nbsp; You dont want to nerf him because you prefer not to be the DM that took away gaming options.&nbsp; There is no way to 'win' this situation.And nerfing never works.&nbsp; Just read any video game forum after a patch that nerfs something players used to win / kill stuff.If your getting your arse kicked in Poker, its time to change to Roulette.So if you cannot change the player, change the game.&nbsp; Your best option is to start a new campaign with a strict limit on available sources for feats and spells.&nbsp; Core books only plus other feats / spells / classes on a case by case basis.&nbsp; Never permit an entire book at a time.&nbsp; And make the player explain in detail what he intends to do with a given spell or power.And now the short term solution.Throw the players through long dungeons where a combat optimized PC is not an asset.&nbsp; Heavy roleplay, lots of traps and skill checks.&nbsp; Bust out every puzzle and riddle you can.&nbsp; If you cannot stand up to him in combat, run away or surrender.&nbsp; Dont make them defeat the BBEG, make them stop his evil plot for which the survival of the bad guy is not important to stopping it.&nbsp; Make the player pay for his over focus on combat.Also, to correct an earlier statement made in this thread, any Dm can win any arms race.&nbsp; A Tarrasque able to cast time stop at will with unlimited uses will win pretty much every fight.&nbsp; The problem is that your not trying to play &quot;Lets TPK the party&quot;.Just be aware that if you nerf or reset, you need to explain why your doing it.&nbsp; Tell him flat out that you are not able to create balanced encounters with the kinds of character builds he uses without doing some cheesy things in game.&nbsp; Let him either generate a new character or accept a nerfing.Or go for plan C.&nbsp; Tell the powergamer to DM and check out the view from the other side of the DM screen for a while.END COMMUNICATION</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lord Zardoz, post: 3369679, member: 704"] The two options you seem to be considering are to either let him continue as is or to nerf his characters. You dont want the present situation to continue because its breaking your sense of verisimilitude. He is also able to pretty much destroy your combat encounters. You dont want to nerf him because you prefer not to be the DM that took away gaming options. There is no way to 'win' this situation. And nerfing never works. Just read any video game forum after a patch that nerfs something players used to win / kill stuff. If your getting your arse kicked in Poker, its time to change to Roulette. So if you cannot change the player, change the game. Your best option is to start a new campaign with a strict limit on available sources for feats and spells. Core books only plus other feats / spells / classes on a case by case basis. Never permit an entire book at a time. And make the player explain in detail what he intends to do with a given spell or power. And now the short term solution. Throw the players through long dungeons where a combat optimized PC is not an asset. Heavy roleplay, lots of traps and skill checks. Bust out every puzzle and riddle you can. If you cannot stand up to him in combat, run away or surrender. Dont make them defeat the BBEG, make them stop his evil plot for which the survival of the bad guy is not important to stopping it. Make the player pay for his over focus on combat. Also, to correct an earlier statement made in this thread, any Dm can win any arms race. A Tarrasque able to cast time stop at will with unlimited uses will win pretty much every fight. The problem is that your not trying to play "Lets TPK the party". Just be aware that if you nerf or reset, you need to explain why your doing it. Tell him flat out that you are not able to create balanced encounters with the kinds of character builds he uses without doing some cheesy things in game. Let him either generate a new character or accept a nerfing. Or go for plan C. Tell the powergamer to DM and check out the view from the other side of the DM screen for a while. END COMMUNICATION [/QUOTE]

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