Is Power Creep Real? If so, how do you fight it?

[RFisher]

The odds are stacked against the PCs in a lot of WotC adventures. They are difficult and can result in a TPK. This is not new; the very first encounter in Sunless Citadel can kill the PCs.

(O_O) The Citadel was a cakewalk for my group. & this was just when 3e came out, so they didn't have the benefits of any of the supplements or even experience at optimizing 3e PC builds. My best tactics & gradually beefing up the monsters only barely started to challenge them.

'Course, that was probably just the incompetence of their DM. (^_^)

& the next campaign I killed a PC with an ad hoc encounter with a small viper throw in just as a diversion. (I fudged the death away since it was only meant as a diversion.)

...which makes me think that whether something is a challenge or not is a whole lot more complicated than the CR system would like you to think. Too many axes to sum into a single number.

 

[Doug McCrae]

It's supposed to be "Let's make this adventure challenging and interesting enough to be entertaining." Just my 2 cents.

Yeah, but one man's challenge is another man's cakewalk. And another man's TPK.

 

[gizmo33]

Powerful character classes sell splatbooks (so do interesting ones, but they're harder to design) - but not if the DM rules out the class because it's too powerful. So the obvious sweetspot is a power increase that flys under the radar of the DM - hence the "creep" that's perceived rather than an all-out stampede. I think module designers are just reacting to the power increase by trying to make their adventures challenging to these new characters.

 

[Derren]

There is deafinatly a power creep. Partly because of specialized anti monster PRCs (feats). A challanging undead encounter for a group with a Radiant Servant of Pelor will look very different than one for a group with a normal cleric.

A other small part is overpowered stuff. Nearly every spaltbook has one or two things which are simply broken.
The biggest part of power creep are the expanded options and combos. The problem is that while the PCs gladly exploit new combo options the DM normally doesn't do that for monsters. Unless the DM rebuilds every monster to use splatbook material the PCs have a distinct advantage over monsters.

Now the adventure designers can hardly give monsters splatbook material as that would require to have a certain non core book. So to make it challanging they simply put in more monsters. That core only players get shafted that way is an accepted downside. And after all it is in WotC interest that you buy the splatbooks to stay competetive.

 

[Hussar]

It's funny. I used the World's Largest Dungeon. Pure SRD. No splat books, no additional rules. Nothing. I still averaged a PC fatality every 3 sessions regardless of what books the players used or monstrosities they created. By and large, equal EL encounters. Whacking PC's is easy and you certainly don't need a bunch of extra books to do it.

Sure, a specialized PrC is going to rock within his specialty, but, outside of that, he's a chump. The strongest PC's are the ones that keep within as broad a niche as possible without stepping into another niche. ((If that makes sense.))

 

[joela]

Adjust to the PCs

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How do you fight it? Specifically in D&D? I don't fight it. I don't have to. Whatever builds the players come up with, I just tailor the adventures' content so that challenges remain challenges. It makes the players feel like they can play what they really want to play and keeps the game entertaining. When in doubt, I modify my stuff instead of creating artificial barriers for the players. That's about it.

Same. One of my DMs, after realizing our party didn't have any weapon that could hurt the climatic fey opponent, made sure the necessary weapons were lying around in the dungeon. Still, it was a tough fight. Another DM that another fireball from an antagonist would have spelled TPK and he wasn't the main foe. (We had to negotiate to get away from that guy!)

#1 rule in my games: the PCs are the heroes. Challenge them as fair as possible, but don't deliberate kill them (unless they're either being real stupid or they really think you won't kill them in any encounter. Then the kid gloves come off )

 

[Doug McCrae]

One of my DMs, after realizing our party didn't have any weapon that could hurt the climatic fey opponent, made sure the necessary weapons were lying around in the dungeon.

Old school.

 

[joela]

???

Old school.

And this is relevant because...?

 

[IanB]

Old school.

Nah, old school would be killing the guy and finding the stuff you could use to hurt him in his loot, after he's already dead.

 

[shilsen]

Nah, old school would be killing the guy and finding the stuff you could use to hurt him in his loot, after he's already dead.

Damn you, IanB - you beat me to it!