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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Matthias" data-source="post: 5718430" data-attributes="member: 3625">Regarding numbers 1 and 3, I don't have a problem with optimized characters, really. Epic and immortal characters are supposed to be uber. That's what those levels are for. They are to 20th level characters what 20th level characters are to 5th and 10th level characters. Not every campaign needs to take the uber-ness that far, of course.It seems to me that optimized characters tend to have glaring weaknesses which can take them down a peg if the GM so desires. Sure, it may be  possible to build a truly unstoppable character even "by the rules" and with conveniently high rolls for initial ability scores. I don't have to give the players everything they want and, in the end, I can make up some monster or quasi-deity with arbitrarily powerful stats that can take on the entire party and steamroll them, if I wanted to.But my philosophy is that, in the end, the PCs are meant to win. It is my job not to make it too easy (and therefore boring and a waste of time) nor too difficult (and therefore unfulfilling and un-fun). Within that, it's up to me to hand-pick the opponents the PCs fight and I (mostly) have control over what magic items they are able to acquire, assuming they don't delve into Item Creation feats or convince another player in the game to build magic items for them. There isn't a lot to be done about class synergy after the fact other than making up a (perhaps counter-intuitive) house rule or clarification to nerf a golden hammer that a player has created.I don't like to take away a player's new toy even if it's proving pretty effective against the existing challenges I've been creating to send against the PCs. (Unless it is the result of a misinterpretation of a rule on my, their, or our part, in which case I will readily reverse the situation and set it right.) To some extent players should be able to reap the benefits of their creative thinking so long as it's not at the expense of another player's enjoyment of the game. This is like the historical meme of someone acquiring a powerful tool or weapon or ability and coming to rely on it so much that they fail to consider the consequences of its sudden failure or loss, and this is just one way to keep the game from being dominated by this one aspect of a single PC in the group. Diverse challenges adjusted for the overall effectiveness of a party (by virtue of its players' intelligence and ingenuity) is the cornerstone of running an enjoyable game, even if the PCs are meant to win in the end. This being considered, it's a mistake to feel honor-bound to stick strictly to the CR system when creating challenges. Especially past the middle levels, a party's effective level can be more influenced by the skill of the players than by the rules-as-written abilities wielded by the PCs.There isn't really much to be done about "obsolete" class abilities like familiars. But then, every ability has its own proper time and place, and abilities go obsolete even by the standard rules. How much use can you get out of being able to cast Cure Light Wounds when you can cook up Heal spells on the field like it's popcorn? No one ever bikes to work if they can afford the gas to drive there, unless they just want the exercise. The bicycle gets repurposed from being a mode of transportation to a method of exercise. The obsolesced eidolon will simply have to find another purpose in life besides being a combat machine to help take on this session's random monster of the week. (Not that I could tell you what that purpose would be, since I have not studied Summoner in detail yet.)</blockquote>

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