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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Randomthoughts" data-source="post: 7841645" data-attributes="member: 6681248">So, if I was confronted with this situation, the first thing I would do is to mentally prepare b/c changing things (if it is possible at all) will probably take some time. It seems pretty messy, esp. if you don't have much choice and/or they're you're friends. Second, I'd try to game with just a couple of your friends. Some times the ones that were less engaged will flourish when there is only 2-3 players in total.Third, I'm a power gamer myself so here's what I would do:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Address power gaming by the selection of game system. Some mechanics are easier to power game than others. For example, FATE is pretty hard to "break" (I think). But I'm assuming you're running some version of D&D. I've found the design parameters in 4e to match perfectly with my comfort zone that allowed me to not even care what powers/feats/etc. a player took. It was a liberating experience. I'm assuming you're using 5e, which I understand is reasonably balanced.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Address power gaming during chargen. You have to have some level of system mastery to know if a build is truly "broken". But if so, have you said "no" to broken builds? It's perfectly legit to say that, even if that one player is intent on breaking the game (again, depends on game system). Sometimes it is hard to say no, but it would be better than a situation where (say) every encounter includes someone with Kryptonite (or equivalent). That gets old fast.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">On the flip side, are the other player builds too weak? They might not be super optimized, but are the playable? If so, as long as those players don't care, then it might not really be a problem. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Another solution is to actually construct their characters (with their input of course) mechanically for them. For example, since I subbed the Character Builder for 4e and most of my players really didn't care, I helped them make their own characters, ensuring that they were in a reasonable "power range" from each other.</li> </ul>Gonna stop there to avoid length post.</blockquote>

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