How do you "power up" the PCs?

[Psion]

I use Action Points and Magic Items. And I have always been pretty generous with the stat rolling methods.

For my next campaign, I think I will use some of the methods in the Advanced GMs Manual, including the heroic stat arrays (3 different arrays) and the bonus ECL (cannot be used for actual class levels, but defrays level adjustment. If you play non-LA races, you can select three bonuses, which can include bonus feats or statistics bonuses.)

 

[AntiStateQuixote]

I am starting a new Drow War campaign shortly, and I am using the following "non-standard" rules/changes to "power up" the PCs:

1. Non-standard point buy: 28 points instead of 25.
2. Action Points as per Eberron Campaign Setting.
3. Regional Feats as per Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting and Player's Guide to Faerûn.
4. Starborn power: each character chooses a star under which his/her character was born. This star grants a minor game effect bonus once per game session such as +1 luck bonus to a single attack roll or +2 luck bonus to AC for one round.
5. Starborn template: grants minor game effect abilities to PCs, and makes Raise Dead, Resurrection, and True Resurrection work on the PCs. These spells do not work on normal characters in this game world.
6. Characters with a "Level Adjustment" race can buy off the Level Adjustment as per Unearthed Arcana rules.

I am notoriously niggardly with treasure, and the Drow War campaign seems to fit my style as far as treasure goes . . . so, the extra PC power makes up for lower treasure level.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Oh yeah, as a reward for retrieving a relic, I also gave the PCs all +2 Wisdom as a side effect of the relic's power on them.

 

[Crothian]

I'm doing the feat a level thing

 

[sniffles]

I voted 'other'.

We recently began a new campaign in which the PCs are all somehow blessed by their deity. Rather than playing all aasimars or using one of the bloodlines from Unearthed Arcana, we decided to combine several methods to give them a special "oomph". First the GM let us all have lots of bonus starting feats to flesh out our characters - non-combat feats that gave us skill boosts or spell-like abilities. Then we each randomly rolled to get a Heroic Path (from the Midnight setting). Oddly enough, everyone got a path that was really appropriate to their character despite the random choice.

In another campaign the GM went for a much smaller way to give the PCs some heroic abilities. When we rolled for ability scores, we rolled 4 sets of 4d6, and two sets of 5d6. This gave every PC two ability scores that had a chance to be slightly higher than average.

 

[sniffles]

I'm doing the feat a level thing

Sorry about the double post.

How do you keep that balanced? Do fighters still get more feats than anyone else?

 

[Zjelani]

In nearly all of our campaigns, we start above 1st level - usually 5-8th, though we did once start a campaign at 15th for kicks.

However, in our current one (the first in a while to actually start at 1st), I decided to try giving each PC an "archetype" (best term I could think of). It's an Eberron campaign based around Morgrave University, so each character is either a student, professor, "freelancer" (basically mercenary working for university), journalist (for Sharn Inquisitive), or a spy (in which case they pose as one of the other roles).

I gave each one some bonuses and in some cases mild penalties to help integrate those roles into the game play. The thought of 2e kits really frightened me, but I made sure to keep them relatively balanced between, and as long as each PC got one, they'd all be equal. Students get a human-like extra skill points, and a couple ability score points at first level. Professors get Skill Focus any knowledge or craft, some academic ocntacts, and can borrow magic items from the university. Journalists get contacts, and a slight chance of knowing a secret about random people in Sharn. And, it's funny, I worried that the freelancer was too powerful (start with free masterwork item, a bonus feat, and some action point bonuses), but NO ONE choose that one. They all choose based on concept, not bonuses - which is why I love my group. (FYI - We wound up with 2 students, a professor, and a spy posing as a journalist.)

 

[Ferret]

Are you insane? Power them up? Crazy! CRAZY!

 

[Whimsical]

I have three DMs that grant our characters significant power-ups. They all have us be PCs "...of destiny"

The first one lets us increase a stat point every level (although not the same one twice in a row,) and on the 4th, 8th, 12th, we get a special ability instead. At 4th we had the ability to roll against a new skill to grant ourself a die reroll once a day. The DC is based on the time we take to activate it. 15 for standard action, 20 for move action, 25 for swift, and 30 for immediate. At 8th, we have the ability to "go home early" and yank our character out of reality for the rest of the game session (which makes perfect sense in campaign; I know that's wierd.) At 12th, we are immune to divination (as Mind Blank,) and boy are we happy to get that as divinations are used heavily against us. We are Anakah--the fateless; thus we threaten the gods themselves.

The second DM has every four levels get a bonus feat, a +1 bonus to one save, a +2 to bonus to a save, then the regular stat increase that already exists in the rules. Plus we have all been going around colleting minor artefacts that grants us kewl powerz.

The third DM is a power gamer, and he loves having his players wield power. It's an Eberron game and we are all "incarnates." Of course, we are questing to find out what that's all about but at first level we got to add a bonus 1d6 to our hit points, after that...

-Incarnate Abilities-
-Odd Levels – (Number of times can be taken)
1+ :+1 Stat Point inherent ( 5 )
2+ :+2 Action Points ( 1 )
4+ : Energy Missile - 1d4, R-short, ( 3 ) (add bonus energy damage of your choice to your ranged attacks, or shoot it by itself as a ranged touch attack within short range)
1+ :+10 skill points ( 2 )
4+ :Energy Melee - 1d4 ( 3 ) (add bonus energy damage to all of your melee attacks)

- Even Levels – (Number of times can be taken)
3+ : +1 insight to a save ( 5 )
3+ : +1 insight armor class ( 5 )
5+ : +1 enhancement to Base Attack ( 3 )
4+ : +1 feat ( 3 )
5+ : +1 caster levels, <all caster levels> ( 1 )

The number in front is the CHA + CON modifiers that is required to be able to select that ability. Lucklily, I'm playing a Warlock. I have taken the +10 ranks of skill points twice already and the bonus feats.

But...that's not all! We also all have items of legacy! Mine's a spiked gauntlet that looks like a scorpion stinger that was slammed onto my hand from a "dead" balor while he exclaimed "I will not be denied!" after we pulled a sword of legacy out of his "corpse". Right now it's a +1 item that does a triple strength Mage Hand 3/day. And I can't remove it, of course. Turns out that it used to belong to my paladin dad whom I don't know much about.

Well, I'm definately getting my "power gamer" emotional kick sated.

Me? I don't have any power ups for the players of my one shot adventure--except that players create a 21st level character with 1,000,000 gp of items.

 

[Crothian]

Sorry about the double post.

How do you keep that balanced? Do fighters still get more feats than anyone else?

Fighters still get there bonus feats. Balance is just about knowing what the characters and players can do and being able to give them appropriate challenge, and that's easy for a DM that pays attention. Sometimes I goof a little like when they run into 4 goblins with fighter levels but for the most part it works well. I also think people worry too much about balance of characters. I'm always more concenered with balancing the players as with different play styles and different amounts of time invested some players just get more out of my games then others. I like to balance the fun.