Help Challenging Tank PCs

[Mark Chance]

In combat, if you want him to take damage, there's always roll fudging....

No. Never. Really, really bad idea.

...introduce series of separate encounters. inquisitors really benefit from the 15 minute workday. so 4 encounters a day will really push his spells and judgements.

Better yet, abandon the 15-minute-workday and the 4-encounters-a-day tropes entirely. You're the GM. You control the game's pacing.

My suggestion? Let him kick ass. The player obviously thought it'd be fun to have a character like this. He has a high AC because the player wants him to be hard to hit in combat and all that. Let him enjoy it.

...if everyone's having fun, go with it and don't punish the player for using the rules.

Hear, hear!

 

[concerro]

Transbot9- Indeed. : )

Mojo_Rat - Not bad advice. I'm starting to think that it's not going to be a huge deal in the long run, though. I suppose once the party is able to come by 900+ GP on a regular basis, 'Rich Parents' will have become a wasted trait for the player who took it. It doesn't seem to have any long-term benefits... So he's got a +1 to hit for now, and later... nothing to show for it. Took me awhile to think of it in those terms.

I agree that I need to find a way to deal with the 15-minute adventuring day. I think the setting takes care of that - food is hard to come by, and it's dangerous in the jungle at night... Can't afford to sit around too often. Plus, I hear there are ghosts on the shore... ; )

Concerro - His reflex save is rather low. I don't really want to punish him for having a strong character, but I'm curious at to how other DMs run their non-spellcasting monsters in combat to deal with such a foe.

Pming - You make a good point. I simply don't have enough experience DM'ing Pathfinder to know if this is going to be an issue or not. For all I know, the rules may in fact be messed up. It just seems like this one character is going to outshine the rest of the party for a long time, and I'm not entirely sure that the player would enjoy a game where every encounter is a walk in the park. I'll have to wait and see how it plays out for a bit before I make any changes.

Specifically, I was looking for some advice on combat tactics more than anything. Perhaps I should have clarified that sooner, but I'm interested in different ways that already-existing creatures would choose to attack a heavily-armored opponent.

I could be reacting too strongly, so I appreciate your perspective.

I normally let my guys kick butt if they make a decent build, and are not making bad combat decisions, unless I throw in the occasional tough encounter or it is a boss fight.
How I challenge them when I want them to have a tough fight depends on the specifics such as what is his AC, the party level, and how do they work as a team.

You can try aid-another, and flanking to get higher attack bonuses.

 

[Scott DeWar]

from quote on roll fudging:
No. Never. Really, really bad idea.

from quote by pming on having fun:

Hear, hear!

I agree with mark chance and pming, with the caveat on fudging in this:
have an advance simple template monster handy that the tank gets to fight. it give a +1 to the cr with some stat and ac boosts to the monster applied.

another idear is that nefarious rust monster mentioned above, I am simply endorsing this idea.

Ranged touch attacks area always a good thing to have handy. A conjurer with dimension door or teleport and improved initiative can send in his basic troops )monster summon spells) show up and cans ranged touch attacks and then *poof* before he dies. run away to fight another day.

I am really not liking the rich parents trait, as you have firsthand experience with here.

 

[Dingo333]

You know, I also hear there are looters in the area who sneak up on a sleeping camp and steal their gear, just a thought for solving the "his equipment is too good" problem, just remember to add replacements for stolen goods and a chance to recover them later

another option is to increase the treasure found slightly, will make the trait useless sooner

In all, most people don't think the inquisitor is very strong at all (I disagree with them) so I am happy to hear of a powerful inquisitor being used

I am not familiar with the modual you are using but I know of some nice druid spells, chill metal and heat metal, the party druid might not use them on the inquisitor, but there is always the local druid who might

 

[Samurai]

Combat tactics: Have monsters use the Combat Maneuvers. They have been much improved and simplified in Pathfinder, and they completely ignore armor class. So have the enemies grapple him, disarm him, trip him, and all the other moves. Once he is grappled or prone, it becomes easier for other creatures to hit him, and if he's disarmed as well, that Masterwork sword will do him no good. And spellcasting while grappled isn't very easy!

Imagine a group of Goblins surround him, one yanking his feet out from under him, another knocks his sword away, a 3rd tries to grapple to keep him down, and the last hacks gleefully at the prone, weaponless target!

 

[redboxrazor]

I am very happy with the feedback I've gotten for this. We start our first session tonight, and I"ll post the results after we're done.

 

[Scott DeWar]

it is over 10 hours, what is the result!

 

[thundershot]

My players FEAR rust monsters...

 

[Leopold]

I'm very prone to using CMD based attacks including Sunder, Bull Rush, and Trip. The inquisitor has a d8 hit point. That's not tank worthy, they can and will take damage. They are a support class more so than a 'tank' class. There's lots of ways to take him down that have been listed and as long as you keep him isolated and contained you will easily beat him down to nothing.



/runs an Inquisitor NPC
//PCs run in fear with his Combat Tactics ability