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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tzarevitch" data-source="post: 3332268" data-attributes="member: 1792">I play with powergamers and I am a bit of one myself. There are simple tricks you can use to up the challenge without making the opposition too powerful for the non-powergamer in your group.1. You can't hit what you can't see: Enemies should make use of spells, effects and terrain that obscure visibility. Alchemical smoke is quite cheap and little other than blindsight/blindsense goes through it very well. Illusions, invisibility, and darkness also work. Use Cover and Concealment as well. Anything you can get that grants a miss chance, blocks sneak attacks and/or improves AC is good. It isn't cheesy or cheap using these because in the real world combattants ALWAYS try to make use of these. 2. If you can't get to it you can't hit it: This is related to #1. Use terrain. It doesn't just grant you miss chances and improved AC, it also prevents your enemy from getting to you quickly. There is a world of a difference between a barbarian moving and hitting you with 1 attack and a barbarian standing next to you and hitting you with 4. Use terrain control spells: web, wall spells, ice storm, sleet storm, solid fog etc.. Your NPCs can control the flow of the battle by preventing players from approaching to attack or support their allies. Sometimes you can prevent characters from targeting anything at all.3. Don't allow casters to operate unopposed: Dispel liberally. PCs will tend to have a lot of magic on them. Powergamers absolutely will. Dispel often. Also, counterspell when possible. Improved Counterspell and Reactive Conterspell are godsend feats. I can't remember what book they are in but Improved allows you to use any spell of the same school or lower to counterspell. Reactive allows you to counterspell when it isn't your turn and without readying an action to do so. Even without these spells, adding a spare caster who does nothing but counterspell will make powergaming casters' lives difficult. 4 Damage isn't everything: Powergamers can be hard to attack. Don't get too set on physical damage. Special attacks work wonders. Disarm, Bull Rush and Sunder have lots of applications and can make any PCs day pretty rough. 5. Wing it: Just because you don't know everything there is to know about xx doesn't mean your NPC doesn't. If it is a trick that the NPC probably saw before, assume that he has what he needs to block it (within reason) provided it is something that the character could actually have on him. You'd be surprised what simple alchemical equipment can do. Lastly, just let the PCs (including the powergamer) show off sometimes. Sometimes they SHOULD be able to outclass their opposition. Let them have their time in the sun now and then, so they can remember why they worked so hard.Tzarevitch</blockquote>

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