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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Challenger RPG" data-source="post: 6028836" data-attributes="member: 6701020">@<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=6684526" target="_blank">GreyICE</a> : Ha ha, that was freaking amazing! I haven't had such a good chuckle reading something in a long while. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Thanks so much. I think we could probably hand the column over to you.  @<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=79141" target="_blank">gideonpepys</a> : I've always thought that rule was a great guideline too. I've always applied it to my own games. What I never knew was that it originated with Monte Cook. Just one more reason he's awesome.  @<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=6700506" target="_blank">Stouthart</a> : Thank you very much! I also enjoyed reading your article, particularly the part about guano and fireballs on the quitters. Reminded me of the time I went in a real cave. Very true! The dialogue was pretty sweet.  @<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=18507" target="_blank">kitsune9</a> : One of my very best players (and role-players) is a total powergamer and min/maxer. He loves creating one-trick ponies as well, and I have to admit I 'stole' some of his secrets to use in this article. I apologize about the personality traits. I was running out of ideas at the end of the list so I just put in loud, obnoxious, and annoying for no good reason. As a player, I'm a pretty serious powergamer myself. I guess you could say I was exaggerating, assigning random (bad) personality traits, and making fun of myself as well.  @<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=6688858" target="_blank">Libramarian</a> : Warning: Long Answer!Great question. I'm afraid it mostly offers only GM advice to address the problem. I added in an extra 60 pages of generic GM advice to the book to deal with all sorts of issues the GM always runs into. It takes a more moderate approach than the article implies, simply recommending handing out extra magic items/powers to particularly weak characters so everyone can feel they can legitimately play the character they want to rather than the most powerful one. Challenger has close to 40 classes and a couple dozen races so options are rather high. This makes powergaming Challenger a bit easier than tighter systems, but if a GM follows the recommendations to help out the 'weak guy' characters everyone should be encouraged to go for what they want (whether a character concept, or power) without being too worried about being left behind everyone else or useless.I'm still shuffling things around in the book a bit. I think I need to make multi-classing a wee bit pricier (you can take 2 classes by default and pay powers for additional classes). I recently added in one free power for each class (by reader request) so the cost of losing one power to play an additional class kind of inadvertently lost its sting. Mostly everyone plays how the game was meant to be played (by taking two classes for a good mix of abilities) but the occasional smart player now takes 4-5 classes simply for the free powers and ignores the loss of power points (ugh). 4-5 classes is kind of ridiculous, in my opinion, but 2 gives you a lot of options (40x40 Classes multiplied by Races). Broad subtypes such as Warrior, Magic, and Stealth keep things from being totally random, but you can still play a telekinetic warrior if you really want to (at a price).I've had some really great people help me with the book over the years. Many fine powergamers among them (they're the best at fixing unbalanced things). Challenger was meant to let you play any character you want. However, this led to a bit too many classes and races for my tastes, in retrospect. Ah, well, you live and learn, right?Thanks for asking! I love questions about my games, so feel free to ask me any! However, I tend to get a little long-winded. Also, if you happen to get the free Challenger e-book, I'd love to know about any problems you find in it. I'm always on the lookout for things to fix. I'm not one of those crazy authors who will get mad at you if you point out how crappy my book is. In fact, I find it improves the most when that happens (provided whoever it is can explain what's wrong with it).******  Anyone: Any ideas for the next article(s)? I was kind of thinking about "X number of Secrets to being a Good Player that No-one Ever Told You". Kind of like a spoofy list of all the things good players end up doing which no book ever tells you about (10' poles, checking everything for traps, randomly saying, "I search for secret doors", ignoring carrying capacity, looting everything but the loin cloth from all bodies, etc.)Anyway, really appreciate the article by GreyIce. That was freaking hilarious (and much better than mine). I recommend everyone read that one. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Best Regards,</blockquote>

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