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Newer DM needs help with budding power gamer
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<blockquote data-quote="Kzach" data-source="post: 5712984" data-attributes="member: 56189"><p>A trap that a lot of DM's, new and old, fall into with 4e is the concept of resources. It can take a bit of getting used to and requires a fairly decent understanding of the underlying mechanics of the system.</p><p></p><p>So when you say, "...like a hot knife through butter..." in reference to how easy the encounters were, you need to step back and instead of evaluating combat ease or difficulty by the perception of how the combat went, you need to look at what resources were spent in overcoming the challenge.</p><p></p><p>For instance, if they spent a healing surge or two each and used up all their encounter powers, that's about right for most balanced encounters. It might APPEAR as if they breezed through it, but when you consider that they expended a good deal of their resources to overcome it, it puts the challenge more into perspective.</p><p></p><p>Now, if they only ever used at-wills, spent no healing surges and made comments like, "Did you see how that kobold exploded when I hit him for six points of damage?!" well, then maybe you've got a point and they really did breeze through it.</p><p></p><p>As for powergaming, I've never had a problem with it as long as it wasn't the focus. I like to optimise my characters and encourage my players to do the same because... it's fun. It's fun to hit. It's fun to use your cool powers effectively. It's fun to pull off some whacky stunt that you could only do because of how your character is built. As long as there is still roleplaying going on at the table and everyone is having fun, I just don't see a problem with it.</p><p></p><p>As a counter-point, I sometimes experience the opposite effect. People optimise and then one or two others complain about it and make out like the optimisers are the bad people doing a bad thing. In this situation, I feel it's the odd-man out who's the one that should either conform to the group's expectations, or be quiet.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kzach, post: 5712984, member: 56189"] A trap that a lot of DM's, new and old, fall into with 4e is the concept of resources. It can take a bit of getting used to and requires a fairly decent understanding of the underlying mechanics of the system. So when you say, "...like a hot knife through butter..." in reference to how easy the encounters were, you need to step back and instead of evaluating combat ease or difficulty by the perception of how the combat went, you need to look at what resources were spent in overcoming the challenge. For instance, if they spent a healing surge or two each and used up all their encounter powers, that's about right for most balanced encounters. It might APPEAR as if they breezed through it, but when you consider that they expended a good deal of their resources to overcome it, it puts the challenge more into perspective. Now, if they only ever used at-wills, spent no healing surges and made comments like, "Did you see how that kobold exploded when I hit him for six points of damage?!" well, then maybe you've got a point and they really did breeze through it. As for powergaming, I've never had a problem with it as long as it wasn't the focus. I like to optimise my characters and encourage my players to do the same because... it's fun. It's fun to hit. It's fun to use your cool powers effectively. It's fun to pull off some whacky stunt that you could only do because of how your character is built. As long as there is still roleplaying going on at the table and everyone is having fun, I just don't see a problem with it. As a counter-point, I sometimes experience the opposite effect. People optimise and then one or two others complain about it and make out like the optimisers are the bad people doing a bad thing. In this situation, I feel it's the odd-man out who's the one that should either conform to the group's expectations, or be quiet. [/QUOTE]
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