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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BSF" data-source="post: 1136973" data-attributes="member: 13098">This is going to sound judgemental, but that really isn't my intent.  If you never advance the game very many levels, nobody will be able to appreciate the ways that specific character concepts & classes can excel.  By that same token, weaknesses with character builds are less important.  At low levels, the random factor of the dice is much more deterministic of how well any character does something.  Skill Ranks/Save bonuses/BAB have a smaller affect at 1-3 level than they do at 10-13. So, part of the issue might be that you guys never get to the point where his one-upped characters never begin to fall behind.  Do your games fall apart before you gain very many levels?  If they do, why?  Do you lose interest in the game before you gain very many levels?  If so, perhaps you are still looking for the environment that catches your interest.The one-up player often sees that they can outshine everyone and they like the attention.  Their character feels heroic.  You do not need to be heavy handed in "correcting" this problem.  You just need enough time in the game for everyone to have their moment.  I will offer a few suggestions on how you might help correct this situation.First option - Demand that every character have a concept before you begin making your characters.  There are several advantages to this.  As a GM, you are able to begin thinking about story hooks for the characters and ways to give them each an opportunity to shine.  If they are less familiar with the rules, this is also an opportunity to help the player make the character they want to play.  It also causes the player to really think about what they want to focus on.  There are some problems with this option.  Not everyone will want to invest much energy beforehand.  As well, you guys don't sound like you need a lot of guidance and hand holding through the rules.  I really don't think this approach would work well for you.Second option - Start the game at level 5, or higher.  Yes, you will lose a lot of potential character development.  Then again, if you aren't getting to the "5 levels later" point now, how much character development do you really miss?  The advantage to this is that you get to play with some of the higher level abilities of any given character.  Your one-up buddy will need to work much harder to one-up everyone and he may begin to appreciate the strengths of a focused character.  This sounds like the easiest method for you guys.  You already have characters, you just need to sit down at the next session and bump them up a few levels.  For an alternative, arbitrarily level 2-3 levels after each session and run it as a long episodic campaign.  I know there was a thread here at one point where the plan was to play the characters through 5 adventures for the campaign.  After each adventure, the characters would be advanced arbitrarily.  So, the first adventure would be at 1st level, the second at 5th, the third at 10th, the 4th at 15th and the 5th (and final) at 20th.  Your one-up player will have a difficult time outdoing a whole group and still remain really effective at 20th level.Third option - Start with a themed campaign.  Perhaps a military unit?  The DM will need to plan ahead for this, but then you can designate that you need specific character types for the unit.  Heck, let your friend have the first choice of what type he will play.  Everyone else can pick from the remaining types.  Build your characters and when the one-upsmanship starts, point out that the character needs to be acceptable to the commanding officer.  If you asked for a strong woodsman that needs to track through a forest, and the ranger has 0 ranks of Survival, he no longer fits the bill.  This one is a little harsher because you will be passing judgement on the character.  As well, everyone might not enjoy playing in that style game.  .</blockquote>

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