Powergaming, who is on board?

[ThePublic]

Ok, quick example.

Young male, age 24 comes into the game to play a cleric of an old aristrocratic family that has been compelled to 'spread the word of his faith. Thin story for start up, but we needed a cleric in the party so i said fine( as they fit the other logistic criterion).

Three levels come and go, and the roleplay is pretty flat, but shines on occasion. At fourth level, having rolled poorly on HP the last two levels and itching to make a bigger swing in batlle he says "I want to take a level of Barbarian this level." My eyebrow raises and I ask why, and he states the d12 and special beans and rice as a barbarian class. I smile and say, how would you fit this into your history or current situations (there was a barbarian in the party already but he failed to even mention this) he stated "Oh, I figure that he would just have the 'wild' in him that was latent from before.

I shook my head and asked if he could come up with something better, he pouted and said, and I quote, "Darn it 9rated down for this board) I have been playing for 4 years and you are the only m f that rides me so much to have a reason for everything. Why do you have to be such a ____?"

This is the powergamer mentality that I have come up against, complete with real time example for you that want specifics. and I ask, why is this still happening (yes, I understand that before I was sheltered in a community that actively made folks come up with reasons for alot of things for their PC, but it was a good thing. Why do I come in conctact with this more frequently (maybe just the region, but I feel it may be something more. Hence the post.

If that is trolling, then i guess honesty is just out of fashion here.

The Public

 

[Seeten]

This particular player is not happy with his characters survivability, and he doesnt seem to care enough to be bothered with an ingame exploration of it.

Personally, I would go ahead and pray to my deity for guidance on why I am so squishy, and once it was revealed that I needed to learn to channel my rage and toughen my body, I'd take a level of barbarian, to show the god's influence.

Well, actually, since this is NOT powergaming, a level of barbarian is ALWAYS worse than a level of cleric, this is just an example of a player who doesnt seem to care much about RP, and has no clue how to optimize his character.

Powergaming gets used a lot around here, but most people have no idea what it means.

Try this on:

Half-Dragon Sorcerer
Thri-Kreen Psion
Half-Fiend Wizard

and compare to:

Human Cleric
Human Wizard
Human Druid

Three of these six characters are far more optimized than the other 3. If you said, OMG! HALF-FIEND and HALF-DRAGONS are so overpowered! You munchkin! Then you just failed the test.

There is a difference between powergaming and being a lousy player. In fact, I'd posit its a polar opposite.

I *AM* a powergamer. I dont play suboptimal characters. I don't even feel guilty about it. I wouldnt touch a barbarian level on a cleric with a ten foot pole. I might take divine metamagic though, and the travel domain.

Further, being a powergamer does not prevent a backstory, nor does it prevent a logical progression to a character. If I plan out my pirate from level 1 to 20, you can be sure I have looked ahead to what I want to do, and where I want him/her to go from the start. THIS DOES NOT MEAN it isnt optimized to the nine hells and back, it simply means I care about the bonuses, AND the roleplay. I also care enough to know the rules and to pay attention to whats good and what is not.

So, in essence, it sounds like your player is lazy, and not terribly able with the rules. It also sounds like he doesnt care about RP.

NONE of these are powergamer traits.

 

[Drowbane]

Up, Down, Up, Down, Up, Up, Down, Down, A, B?

Up, down, up, down, up, up, down, down, b, a, b, a, select, start? (dang, been too long to be sure )

 

[Drowbane]

.....snip....NONE of these are powergamer traits.

Did you ever know that you are my hero?

 

[mvincent]

he pouted and said, and I quote, "Darn it 9rated down for this board) I have been playing for 4 years and you are the only m f that rides me so much to have a reason for everything. Why do you have to be such a ____?"

This is the powergamer mentality that I have come up against

It seems this gamer was:
1) having problems making an effective character
2) averse to taking extra effort to make his character better
3) not responding well to challenges
4) making a sub-optimal choice by reducing his caster level

This does not seem like a powergamer. The actual powergamers in your group are likely the ones mopping the floor with your bad-guys, but you haven't noticed and/or minded (possibly because they've figured out how to play your game). You've probably instead been referring to them as good 'role'-players.. and you might be right

 

[ThePublic]

Considering that I boot metamagic feats in general (really, are they needed- no) and many of the things that folks would do to slant their character (it is truly an ask and recieve setting in my house for options).

The issue maybe should have been

Rollplayer vs Roleplayer What are we doing to improve the quality of our groups?

So how about that one?

You got answers for that (a good topic none the less)

The Public

 

[Seeten]

Metamagic feats are in no way necessary to powergame a wizard or sorceror.

Certainly not a Druid or Cleric.

Rollplay vs Roleplay?

How cliche is that?

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Metamagic feats are in no way necessary to powergame a wizard or sorceror.

Certainly not a Druid or Cleric.

Rollplay vs Roleplay?

How cliche is that?

It's got ability focus (cliche), that's how cliche it is !


I agree with you: Metamagic are absolutely no indication of powergaming. They are quite often part of a character concept. Wizards, for example, are supposed to be smart and prepared. A spell that can get you out of a tight spot, changed so you don't need to make any movements, can be a life safer. Just one of a million examples.