How do i deal with an overwhelming Mage?

[James Lockart]

Okay, our usual GM (who've I've mentioned before as being to dangerous as a PC to let do anything other than GM) is currently playing a mage controller in my current campaign. He targets Willpower mostly and uses a lot of illusion magic. He's also completely wiping the floor with my campaign. I want to knock this guy down a notch or two and i want to do this via the rules without killing the rest of the party. Any advice?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

One thing you can do is throw foes at the party who have decent will saves.

 

[Ryujin]

A couple of opponents run, instead of standing and fighting to the end. They tell the tale of a 'god among wizards' who wiped out their powerful group, without breaking a sweat. They tell about his powers. After that any group that goes up against him will be prepared. If he uses blinding, like the wizard in my group, then they'll have creatures with Blindsight and Tremor Sense at hand.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Tactics!

Nothing like a sneak attack from the rear to give a Wizard something to fear!

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

4e is quite balanced, so one wonders how this mage is kicking so much butt? Could someone be cheating?

Also, what level, and what powers and tactics does this illusionist favor?

 

[Al'Kelhar]

Sounds like the player is playing a typical 4E controller wizard. I too run a 4E wizard who primarily targets Will and has quite a few pyschic and illusion spells. I have no qualms about saying I optimise. But my wizard (now 15th level) rarely "ruins" encounters and the party as a whole frequently challenged by the bad guys.

Don't nerf the wizard or pick on him; that will breed resentment. Just design your encounters bearing a few things in mind.

Make sure you know the wizard's powers quite well and that the player is not "creatively over-reaching". Bear in mind range, burst areas, and effects, particularly. Very few non-blasty wizard powers actually have ranges over 10, for example.

Use Large creatures and large encounter areas that provide enemies with freedom of movement. Powers with bursts and blasts will not hit many Large or larger creatures, particularly if they're reasonably spread. Larger areas allow spreading of enemies, and make it difficult for controllers to control (what use is a wall 8 or a 3-square zone when the bad guys can still get around it?). (My DM is taking us through the Against the Giants series, and my wizard is hating it...).

Two words: blocking terrain.

And get your bad guys right up in the PCs faces. Although quite a few of the charm spells are ally-friendly, there aren't all that many. The wizard will need to work out whether to attack his allies or try some other tactic.

Use artillery that can pound the wizard from beyond his best range (see comment above). Intelligent, or intelligently-commanded, artillery will usually focus-fire on a ranged controller/striker.

Use lurkers that can sneak up on the wizard without being noticed. Similarly, have reinforcements arrive from the direction closest to the wizard.

Cheers, Al'Kelhar

 

[Ryujin]

Unfortunately Wizards now have a fair number of party friendly options. One of the 'worst' is Winged Horde, which is an at-will.

Anther tactic is the waved assault. In other words don't send all of your enemies into battle at once, but rather send in the cannon fodder to take all of the nerfs instead. Since such a Wizard will become rather famous, his tactics will be well known. The Wizard in the drop I DM for has massive initiative bonuses and adds blindness to his initial area attack, which makes many foes useless. If they aren't in the initial burst area, then they aren't blinded.

 

[James Lockart]

Okay sorry about being so vague but I was in the middle of the game when i posted. More information...
This guys combat prowess isn't whats bothering me. I've made him run twice now. Its the fact he's abusing the hell out of mage hand, magic missile, and prestidigitation. He thinks there's a trap? Magic Missile. He thinks something is dangerous to touch, mage hand. If he can't use magic, he shoves another party member into it (and they're okay with this which is even more bothersome.) Outside of combat his Diplomacy, Bluff, and Intimidation bypass just about everything short of an absolute "not happening." He's actually looked at me and said that he will take over the world before the campaign is over.
Call me vindictive, call me over zealous, but i despise people who think they can walking in, stomp all over something I've spent weeks piecing together and converting, and then essentially tell me that he's running the game. I've tried all sorts of things. Big monsters? He runs and trips his allies. Traps? Blasts them or shoves someone else into them. Anti-magic? he refuses to go. The rest of the party is so used to this behavior they just accept it. I'm tired of it.

 

[Ryujin]

Hmmmmm....... I hope that you don't mitigate against his abuse of his fellow party members. If he gets one killed, then maybe they'll stop taking it in stride?

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

This guys combat prowess isn't whats bothering me. I've made him run twice now. Its the fact he's abusing the hell out of mage hand, magic missile, and prestidigitation. He thinks there's a trap? Magic Missile.

Are you talking about a trap, or an ambush? Magic missile only targets creatures, not traps, and anyway, traps shouldn't be used by themselves. While he's MM'ing the traps for pathetic damage, some big brute is making him eat his own teeth.

He thinks something is dangerous to touch, mage hand.

Not a big deal. That's why the ten foot pole was invented.

If he can't use magic, he shoves another party member into it (and they're okay with this which is even more bothersome.) Outside of combat his Diplomacy, Bluff, and Intimidation bypass just about everything short of an absolute "not happening." He's actually looked at me and said that he will take over the world before the campaign is over.

Use hard DCs and multiple skill checks for a skill challenge. An example of what not to do: in one campaign, we were hoping to defeat a diplomat in a trade negotiation. We racked up a huge bonus to the next Diplomacy check, and unsurprisingly made it. Had the contest involved a skill challenge, we would have had to make multiple skill checks, and only gotten the bonus on one of htem.

In addition, Diplomacy doesn't make friends. It makes deals.

Big monsters? He runs and trips his allies.

And they let him? Problem isn't the rules.

Traps? Blasts them or shoves someone else into them.

That's why you use traps as part of an encounter, and not a whole encounter. He shoves someone into a trap? Well, the enemy controller uses forced movement to throw him into the trap too!

Anti-magic? he refuses to go. The rest of the party is so used to this behavior they just accept it. I'm tired of it.

Again, the problem isn't the rules. You need to talk to this person, and if that doesn't work, boot him.