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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nisarg" data-source="post: 1771054" data-attributes="member: 19893">Well then in this case you'll be pleased to know that it actually means powergaming."powergaming" herein being defined as "taking feats or PrCs not because they make any sense for the character concept or fit your role, but because they grant you Kewl powerZ".No, in this case it has to do with PrCs and feats. Specifically with how publishers have lost all sense of balance in the case of feats (with things like the "complete book of feats" just being made as a cornucopia for powergaming badness), and their sense of purpose with the PrCs.PrCs were originally intended to represent specific allegiances to groups or specialized career paths for a character, that gave you an emphasis in one activity to the detriment of the whole.Example:  A "Bunny Wizard" prestige class, who gets bonuses relating to bunny magic but is generally poorer at other forms of magic. This being justified by the fact that to be in the class he must be part of the Grand Bunny Wizard Lodge,  or have gone on a bunny-related quest, or something like that.Today, PrCs AS THEY ARE FOUND IN THE PUBLISHED MATERIAL are just excuses for more powerful versions of classes. Either the people who are writing the books these days are completely ignorant of how PrCs were supposed to have worked, or they are willfully pandering to the powergamers who want more and more powerful stuff in the game.Example: The Uber-wizard. Exactly like the wizard, only he can kill way more stuff. Justified by the fact that you want to kill way more stuff.Many of the Forgotten Realms books, and especially the new Eberron setting, are unbelievably guilty of this mentality (especially in Eberron, where the "warforged juggernaut" is nothing more than a super-powerful warforged. It is as justifiable as having the "Really powerful Elf" PrC). And don't get me started on the abominations some of the third-party publishers come up with for PrCs and feats.So no, when I talk about "power creep", I'm not talking about a problem with players. There always were, are and will be powergamers.  The problem of "power creep" is created when a publisher starts pandering to those powergamers in order to sell more books, leading to a collapse of the overall mechanics of the system.Nisarg</blockquote>

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