Do you ever worry your character is too powerful?

[astralpwka]

I voted Yes and I like it that way.

My characters are always far behind because I spend so much time DMing, but he benefits from great gear he gets from hanging with the characters on adventures when I don't DM. So, he's more powerful than characters of the same level, but relatively weaker compared to anyone in the rest of the party.

 

[Technik4]

I played a CN Sun Elf from level 1 with 6 Str and 20 Int. I didn't take Spellcasting Prodigy (This was Realms, after 3e Realms had just come out) I took Mind over Body. I multiclassed ineptly (Wiz3 then Rog3) and eventually eschewed weapons altogether. However, I was the only person with the same character by level 8, I avoided 2 party wipes (one a hideous trap where most of the PCs gallantly tried to save each other, the other against a Gelatinous Ooze that the DM was just rolling really well for - I beat the ooze and took everything inside, PLUS the entire party's gear. I didn't even res them (most of them wanted to reroll), but did distribute the gear to my new adventuring crew ). I tried to play up his weaknesses as well as his strengths, but my wiz/rog was godly Flaming Sphere allllll the way with some sneaked/feinted Rays of Frost!

Technik

 

[DragonLancer]

I voted "no" since I don't min/max or powergame. I play average or even weaker characters for the most part.

 

[Romnipotent]

Depends on the game, I used to be the ring in saviour... had a hero worth the notes his face was printed on!
Sometimes I'd make a character and the DM would just say "Hand it over, they just got divinified. Make a new Character." Although he and I had an understanding, then I'd make something a little more toned down.

Sometimes I make a bard... and thats so Im not overpowered.
Then again I've always maintained "A great character is just a stat block with a smart player."

 

[Bront]

Often, due to my generaly greater capacity to crunch numbers as well as rules knowledge, I tend to have characters that are slightly more powerful than the other players. However, the idea is to have fun, and I try to help other players to have fun.

For example, my Mageblade is generaly built to tweek himself then kick butt. I've recently been looking to tweek the other party members as well or even before myself. I've also looked to do a few more maneuvers besides just swing and hit (Which has been an interesting learning experience in the Disarm and Trip rules, which haven't been used much by our group before).

Generaly, our players are open to options, and the GM and I will occasionaly make an open suggestion if the player isn't quite sure what to do in combat or isn't being as effective as he could be. Given we will sometimes discuss tactics openly, it's not out of place at our table, and the player is always the final say as to what he does..

However, not every character is a combat monster, and some of the game balance is that they have uses outside of combat. So, a generaly pasifistic rouge is still usefull and powerful, just many situations outside of combat.

 

[drothgery]

The only time I was seriously worried about this was in my previous game, where I was running an XPH Kineticist on a 3.25e Dark Sun. Psions are very, very good in low-magic, high-psionics worlds. We never had a pure fighter (well, we had a Thri-Kreen for a while, but he had the typical problems of a character with a level adjustment before he died). The cleric's player wasn't especially tactics-oriented. And since I missed fewer sessions than most of the PCs, and avoided getting killed, my Kineticist was of higher-level than the other combat-oriented PCs. By the end of the game I was making power stones and handing them to characters with Use Magic Device, mostly to make myself less of a target...

 

[Von Ether]

I'll answer for most players in my game.

"Ha ha ha ha ha, hee hee hee hee."
A moment of giddy silence.
"Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho, Ha ha ha ha ha, hee hee hee hee, ha ha ha ha ha, hee hee hee hee, ha ha ha ha ha, hee hee hee hee, ha ha ha ha ha, hee hee hee hee, ha ha ha ha ha, hee hee hee hee, ha ha ha ha ha, hee hee hee hee, ha ha ha ha ha, hee hee hee hee."
*snort*
"'Do I worry about being too powerful?' Hee hee, that was good."

On a more serious note, with the recent exception of my current group, most of my players must be compensating for something. Not only do they try to out power each other. Even when they see what they are doing is ruining other people's fun, they won't stop themselves unless I intervene -- that's the part that annoys me. Putting their enjoyment above everyone else, even if it means someone else suffers.

My current group is much, much cooler. Everyone has their niche and wants to excell at it. But they are happy to let someone else get the spotlight when another niche is called for.

 

[MonsterMash]

Not in the current campaign I'm playing in, due to various reasons my cleric tends to level ahead of the other characters so for odd sessions is one level higher than the other PCs, but this is not a big problem as one level does not make colossal power differences. Also the cleric class has no overwhelming ability area (apart maybe from healing, which most of the other party members need often) so possibly doesn't dominate the game in the way a min/maxed fighter or wizard can.

 

[megamania]

Nearly all of my game play is as a DM. My rule is- what ever a player gets the bad guy gets.

I push for the 32 point but but 1/2 of the players roll. Or should I say, have 1 person roll for him. Even if I give this guy my miniature starter dice he rolls better than a 15.

As a result, if the stats they have were bought by points, they have an average of 40.

So, the villians will become just a bit better from now on to keep it balanced.

 

[Haradim]

No. My characters are never more powerful - they are either about average, or weaker than the others (most of the people I play with are fairly power-oriented, though I don't care for it much anymore). In fact, they also tend to be fairly passive, so any mechanical power is virtually irrelevant in many sessions.