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Message: <blockquote data-quote="magnusmalkus" data-source="post: 6260803" data-attributes="member: 34915">I've got a problem.  (FastFoward to the BOLD to get to the point)I'm running a game with players who have created min/maxed munchkins.  Lately, they're busting out these HUGE combat-ending abilities/tactics and I'm left wondering why I bother planning combats at all?  What good was all the effort I put into developing conflicts if the combats aren't even a challenge? I want the game to be fun for everyone, even me.  I let the PC's have their choice of whatever they wanted to play so long as they run it by me first.  Everything was always presented individually and separate and seemed simple enough by themselves.  I believed I could encourage and/or trust them to build well rounded characters.  My casual attitude was abused, and I was hoodwinked by my own lack of desire to have to do the work to put 2 and 2 together to find out what they were 'building' towards'.  I do not study D&D resources the way a Dr. studies Gray's Anatomy.  Many munchkin-like PC ability combinations definitely pass beneath my radar.As a result of my casual attention towards their PC builds, I now have a party of min/maxed munchkins with many synergistic abilities and items.  As a result, they are dominating the game.  We're at 8th level now and I can't just make them put it all away and start over.  The game is starting to become a chore and not a joy, as now I've got to become a min/maxer myself when developing my NPC's/Monsters in order to foil the PC's 'big-stick' tactics.I'm not opposed to players being cunning/crafty/smart about their choices, but I no longer want to run a game with such imbalance.  Nor do I want to handicap players to the point where they loose interest.Must I enhance the NPC's/monsters with the appropriate foils to the PC's game-busting abilities (DR, SR, immunities)? I see that akin to opening Pandora's box:1) I can beef up NPC/Monster natural abilities, but that increases the XP award, which in turn levels up the PC's faster than the campaign was planned for.  2) I could beef up the NPC's/Monsters with items to help them be competitive, but then after the combat when the pc's inevitable win because we all want the game to go on, those same items now fall into the PC's hands serving to strengthen *THEM* even FURTHER...  3) But WORSE THAN THAT, finding foils to PC abilities means I need to take time out of my busy schedule to slice and dice their character sheets so that I can find out what their secret 'big-stick' tactics are in order to outfit the NPC's/Monsters and mitigate (NOT *NULLIFY*) PC 'super-powers', HOPEFULLY making the encounter a challenge worth plotting. (History has shown that they won't voluntarily say "what their character can do" when asked while presenting the DM new level-up additions to their PC... Instead, combat-busting actions are sprung on the DM with the explanation that they "just discovered they could do it" when asked why they didn't reveal this ability when asked previously.  I suspect they were just afraid their choice for their character would have been denied if they would have revealed the 'combat-buster' prior to the opportunity to use said ability+item/tactic.)In the end, I dislike custom foiling the PC's, it's just another form of min/maxing.  I'm not a min/max'er. I lack the skill and the desire to do so.  And besides... I want to AVOID an 'arms escalation'. That sort of behavior just encourages the players to try and exploit other player options in order to swing another, different big-stick, recycling the whole process over again.How do I deflate this situation?  How can I honor player choice when building their PC's, while limiting their ability to dominate the game by creating min/maxed munchkins and bring the game back to a state where PC's are actually challenged without resorting to 'DM tricks' and custom-built, imposed ineffectivity upon their PC's min/maxed abilities? </blockquote>

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