Inexperienced DM vs. MIN/MAX druid

[Grandpa]

I am starting a home brew campaign world (nerve-wracking!) and some of the players have been working on their characters for it. One player in particular loves to squeeze every little advantage out of play that he can. I have no problem with this mentality. It makes for fun metagaming, and extends the life of the game for him.

My concern is my own inexperience. Every day he asks if I could make slight (seemingly reasonable) adjustments to the rules, but each one is another step in his favor in play. I typically want to provide so he can make the character he would like (he really does have fun characters), but I am afraid the game will become imbalanced in his favor. I also fear it could make the other players feel like he is "pampered by the DM" (when he is actually the only one with some initiative).

Am I being too paranoid? Too inexperienced with the rules? He plays a druid. Here is his current request list:

- can his animal companion stats be rolled (so he can eventually get a really rocking animal companion from good rolls)?
- can his animal companion raise levels? (I'd like to implement this just to offset the first request, so I can "simulate" a bond of friendship between him and his animal.)
- can he make armor other than hide out of critter skins (like plate mail from monster x) (he could use the AC, but is there a reason other than flavor for this restriction)?
- can he have weapons outside of his druid weapon restrictions (he reasons that the current restrictions are just flavor, and I worry that some are meant to keep damage low)?

So tell me... would this throw him off-balance? Were the restrictions there for a good reason? Hopefully Masters of the Wild will be a help.

Thanks ahead.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

He isnt a min/maxer, he is a munchkin. A min/max guy at least has the courtesy to stick to the rules.

Id tell him no rules changes and let him max it from there.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Rolled animal stats? I agree with you on this one - they're too much potential for abuse.

I wouldn't let an animal companion gain levels, but I'm not opposed to having it gain HD (couinting against the limit, of course).

No armor out of critter skins as described - hide armor is generally described as being the hide of creatures like elephants, and you're unlikely to find many monsters with better natural armor. The only real options here are dragon hide (MM page 63) and ironwood (PH page 218).

The restrictions against other weapons for druids is not just for flavor; it's a balance issue. Still, I'd be willing to work with him on this one - most poeple think it's a silly restriction.

 

[Pielorinho]

I think everything he's asking for is fairly reasonable, with the following notes:

-As for rolling stats on animal companions, it's very reasonable for a druid to go out in the woods and look for the toughest bear he can find to help him on his travels. A druid whose companion is a little bit tough isn't unreasonable. You may want to roleplay through this encounter, though: if he befriends a wolf who is the alpha of his pack, it's going to leave the pack leaderless, and the wolf might howl at night thinking of his lost companions. This won't be such an issue for a wolf who's near the middle of the pack structure, and who can adjust without too much trouble to a new "pack".

--Hide armor kind of assumes you're making it out of a reasonably tough critter, like a bear or something; if you want a better AC than that, you'll need to go way fancy, like a dragon or a giant preying mantis (dangit, what are those burrowing giant mantis-like critters called?) And it should be really difficult to work with the hides of these creatures: they are really tough, after all.

--Having animal companions level up is, IMO, a really good idea: otherwise, a druid is almost obligated to drop his companions whenever he levels up. Doing otherwise will needlessly endanger the companions.

-If you allow weapons outside of his normal restrictions, you may want to set up one of a few different corollaries: either his oath forbids him from using metal weapons, or he simply isn't proficient with any weapons not on the list. Or you could even expand his list to include weapons similar to ones already on it, and allow him to use (but not start off proficient in) the kama, the war scythe, the falchion, the great club, etc.

At the same time, remember the RP restrictions druids have: encourage him to spend time being Dr. Doolittle, or a treehugger, or something like that.

Daniel

 

[RaZZer99]

I am starting a home brew campaign world (nerve-wracking!)

I feel for you

Am I being too paranoid? Too inexperienced with the rules? He plays a druid. Here is his current request list:

You are not paranoid. There will always be players who see it more of a game of numbers and try to play it as so. You have to be wary of them. You as the DM can one over any munchy combo they can throw at you, but controlling the situation with a sense of fairness is sometimes hard. I don't have hoards of DMing experience, but I can share my honest (and hopefully fair) opinions.

can his animal companion stats be rolled (so he can eventually get a really rocking animal companion from good rolls)?

I'd say no. People come in all shapes, sizes, and skills, but animals tend to be more around their genetic medium. The animal companion is not some sort of secondary character the player gets to control like a mindless henchmen. As a suggestion, make sure you have the final say over the animals actions and make him role play his role as its master.

can his animal companion raise levels? (I'd like to implement this just to offset the first request, so I can "simulate" a bond of friendship between him and his animal.)

I'd allow the animal to grow, but not level in the normal sense. Maybe something along the lines of advancement as indicated in the monstrous manual. Again, the animal companion is not a PC and doesn't have a class to level in the exact sense.

can he make armor other than hide out of critter skins (like plate mail from monster x) (he could use the AC, but is there a reason other than flavor for this restriction)?

I would allow it. But first he'd have to obtain the appropriate material to do so like the hardened shell of an Ankheg. Then he would have to pay someone to fashion into armor, and then he would need the Heavy Armor feat to wear it. It would take alot to invest into.

can he have weapons outside of his druid weapon restrictions (he reasons that the current restrictions are just flavor, and I worry that some are meant to keep damage low)?

I wouldn't allow him anything other than simple weapons, and perhaps proficiency in one martial weapon (to replace scimitar). If you want to keep with the flavor of natural weapons, then don't allow anything too mechanized like crossbows or anything that couldn't be plausible made of stone. I think javelins and spears would be fine, and perhaps a stone hatchet.

 

[DM with a vengence]

Rolled Stats: This is a very bad idea. Think of the number of animals he encounters over time, think how long it will be until he runs into a wolf with 3 18s, think what happens then.

Advancing Animals: This one is okay, just don't advance them beyond the limits presented in the MM and don't let him rolls stats for the animals, otherwise you'll be dealing with that wolf with 3 18s forever.

Armor: As others have said, only ironwood and dragon skin can get him a high AC than hide. Tell him to get a good dex and use a shield.

Weapons Restrictions: Get rid of the oath, but leave him nonproficient in them, he'll have to multiclass, which is a killer for spellcaster and others who have class level dependant benefits.

(Remember to dock him XP if the other class is not his races favorites.)

Good Luck DMing, and remember, don't let them screw you around, and go by all the charts in the DMG and everything should be OK.

 

[Pielorinho]

The rolling stats thing could be dangerous, depending on the player and on you.

My DM handled my first useful animal companion at fifth level by having me encounter a wounded bear in the woods. We RPed through the first scene, and have RPed through several others involving the bear; her appearance was important to the plot (her previous druidic master had been murdered, and we went to investigate).

Each time I level, I advance her one hit die, and modify her stats, and roll her HP. I've rolled astonishingly badly, so she has near the minimum HP for a bear of her size. But rolling is a lot of fun.

If I wanted to munchkin out, I could go searching for another bear, one with better HP. But that wouldn't be any fun.

So maybe you could just let him roll HP. And if he drops an animal for poor HP once, that's probably not a game-killer. But if he does it twice, he may find that animals resist his animal friendship spell better than they used to.

Daniel

 

[Creamsteak]

Here is one of my developments about the weapon proficiencies of a Druid. I say cut them all out first and say "proficient with any weapon created entirely out of natural, once living, materials."

Remember that doesn't mean he can't have a greatsword, he just has to make it out of cruder materials (wood, bone) and therefore it suffers a -2 to hit and a -2 to damage.

Just an idea, up to you man. I feal your pain, I have twelve of these guys all wanting to play with me.

 

[Moleculo]

I thought the spell awaken animal or whatnot was ment to take care of the advancement of creatures, since it allowed them to advance in levels? I know that a level 5 spell does take a while to get to, but still, he should be able to buff his creature up enough as it is.

jake

 

[UnDfind]

Eeesh...

Wooh. I'm not sure I'd allow anything that blatantly breaks the rules. It's a tough choice, but for sure familiars can't raise levels...says that right in the book, but I'm not sure about animal companions. But the thing is (all rules aside), imagine the level 7 druid with a level 5 beastie...that would suck AND it would steal the thunder from other players (something the Druid class is already very good at). Remember the other players when answering requests like this.

It's hard to explain, but it's a politics thing as well. Everybody gets around the table, and they're all feeling really good about their brand new characters. They've got personalities, backgrounds, and cool bad-ass skills for them. Then the game starts.

If during the first encounter, one of the characters wipes out the baddies in one hit, where does that leave the others? They're usually sitting there wondering why they chose what they chose, instead of what the other guy chose. Just keep in mind that game balance makes the game fun and challenging for everyone (DM included), and choices like this won't be as bad to make.

But that's just my opinion