Has anything ever broken your game?

[just__al]

Especially the heavy catapult.

From out of sight on the other side of a hill .....

The frenzied berserker tends to hog the limelight, so I'll only allow the class if everyone in the party takes it. Somewhere there must be a group of players gullible enough to fall for it

That would make a very fun one-shot, even if you didn't want a one shot.

 

[Psion]

It seems like you can't hit the refresh button without finding a thread about how 'X and X is broken.' Well, I'm curious, we all read about how something looks broken, but has anyone ever had a PrC, a feat, or a combination of rules that just totally destroyed a game?

I have often said on these very boards that there is a weak correlation between what various ranters with fear and loathing declare as "broken" and those that prove to be so.

The wizard in a game about three years ago abused 3.0 Haste like you wouldn't believe. It got to the point that I had to have enemy spellcasters abusing Haste in order to challenge him and that made me feel really, really bad (especially since I was kinda screwing over the other PC's who weren't abusing the spell).

Yep. That's a great example of something that actually was, arguably, broken. I think it caused immeasurable damage to the acceptance of metamagic as a mechanic, and became a must have in many groups. Any option that is selected to the exclusion of other options of the same cost is one of my litmus tests for mechanical imbalance.

 

[Jarrod]

I'm not sure "broken" applies. How about "the prepublished modules were unable to cope" instead - we're running the Shackled City.

Half-ogre with a reach weapon. 20' reach, _owie_. The modules really expect you to have 5', maybe 10' reach... and nobody could get near him. Oh, and did I mention he had Large and In Charge as a feat? Not broken, but made it difficult to run fights that weren't "Okay, the big guy eats a Hold Monster, and...."

Rogue archer with a Ring of Blinking. Every attack a sneak attack (he counts as invisible, right?). 20% miss chance, but _man_ is it worth it. And an archer so he never has to get up close and personal himself. And it's hard to smack down the archer when he's always 20' away from the guy with a spear.

And Quillblast. Man, is that a nasty spell. Wowza. Anything size Large or bigger is going to be in a _lot_ of pain.

My hyper-DC wizard is actually a lightweight by comparison... though Grease, Black Tentacles, and Telekinesis are pretty painful

 

[Tinner]

In d20 games? Not really.
We had a few problems with the Forcecage spell, but we eventually worked around it.

In other games? Oh yeah!
2e Shadowrun's Tactical Combat Computer was waaaaayyyyyy broken.
For a little cash, and a small outlay in Essence, a PC essentially doubled or trippled his dice pool for combat. He also tripled the number of dice rolls needed to resolve any encounter, which slowed down combat far too much.
When we playtested for 3e SR, that was the first piece of gear that we reccomended nerfing.

 

[Numion]

Since anything the players do I can do (as a DM) nothing could ever " break" my game.

W3RD As long as I'm behind the screen, there's very little possibility of the game breaking.

Now, I admit that 3.0 Archmage my player had was pushing the limits with insta-kill DCs in the forties, but that PC took an early retirement.

 

[eris404]

Me. I'm broken.

 

[VirgilCaine]

Half-ogre with a reach weapon. 20' reach, _owie_. The modules really expect you to have 5', maybe 10' reach... and nobody could get near him. Oh, and did I mention he had Large and In Charge as a feat? Not broken, but made it difficult to run fights that weren't "Okay, the big guy eats a Hold Monster, and...."

Archers, Chasms, spiked pits (make a spell that creates them, maybe balance vs. Evard's?), archers, flying enemies, Will saves, Reflex saves, lots of archers, areas of caltrops (another spell)...small spaces...

 

[Mercule]

Nothing. I've even run a game with a demigod PC. Sure, they couldn't kill him, but the right group of high level psions and wizards can fight him to a standstill. The most amusing part was watching another PC try to be front line with the god. Wizard casts disintegrate. Demigod raises PC. Wizard disintegrates. Demigod raises. Repeat until the other PC makes his save and the demigod decides to teleport everyone out because mortals are just too frail.

 

[diaglo]

as the old saying goes:

it ain't a party (of 4 stereotype PCs) until something gets broke

 

[WayneLigon]

There has been only one spell I've ever seen that came close to 'breaking' a game: Muddy Ground from Arcana Unearthed. It requires a creature to make a Balance check to move in the area. You know how many things normally have Balance checks? None, that's how many. So it became a Dex check for them to stand, and then move. Not such a problem for some creatures but most things that move on the ground are affected by it to an inordinate amount. When I do AU again, that spell won't be on any lists

Otherwise, not really ever had a problem with anything others say is broken. We liked the 3.0 Haste just fine, as well as the 3.0 buff spell durations.