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<blockquote data-quote="Aethelstan" data-source="post: 2050853" data-attributes="member: 14304">Your definition of the term &quot;power creep&quot; strikes me as curiously narrow.&nbsp;&nbsp; Power creep may mean something specific in collectible games but surely the term, used in a general sense (i.e. the gradual increase of player power), applies to D&amp;D.&nbsp; The fact that PrCs are both optional and open to alteration does not prove that there is no power creep in D&amp;D.&nbsp; Not every DM is rules-savy enough to ferret out over-powered PrCs before letting them into his game and many DMs hesitate to tinker with &quot;official&quot; WotC PrCs.&nbsp; Thus even though PrCs are not mandatory, they can cause power creep in a campaign if a DM lacks the skill or confidence to regulate them. &nbsp; &nbsp; And for the record, I do think the new wave of PrCs, coupled with new feats, are causing power creep.&nbsp; For the sake of argument, I propose the following scenario: Two groups of experienced gamers are each asked to create parties of five 15th level PCs (excluding magic items) and then compete both in head to head combat and against a tournament style dungeon.&nbsp; Group 1 may only use feats and PrCs from the 3.5 PHB and DMG.&nbsp; Group 2 may use the same plus all feats and PrCs from official WotC books published since 3.5.&nbsp; Is it your contention that Group 2, with the wide array of feats and PrCs at their disposal, could not create PCs more versitile, survivable and lethal than Group 1?&nbsp; I may be wrong but if a large cash prize went to the victory, I strongly suspect that most expert D&amp;D players would choose to be in Group 2.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Aethelstan, post: 2050853, member: 14304"] Your definition of the term "power creep" strikes me as curiously narrow. Power creep may mean something specific in collectible games but surely the term, used in a general sense (i.e. the gradual increase of player power), applies to D&D. The fact that PrCs are both optional and open to alteration does not prove that there is no power creep in D&D. Not every DM is rules-savy enough to ferret out over-powered PrCs before letting them into his game and many DMs hesitate to tinker with "official" WotC PrCs. Thus even though PrCs are not mandatory, they can cause power creep in a campaign if a DM lacks the skill or confidence to regulate them. And for the record, I do think the new wave of PrCs, coupled with new feats, are causing power creep. For the sake of argument, I propose the following scenario: Two groups of experienced gamers are each asked to create parties of five 15th level PCs (excluding magic items) and then compete both in head to head combat and against a tournament style dungeon. Group 1 may only use feats and PrCs from the 3.5 PHB and DMG. Group 2 may use the same plus all feats and PrCs from official WotC books published since 3.5. Is it your contention that Group 2, with the wide array of feats and PrCs at their disposal, could not create PCs more versitile, survivable and lethal than Group 1? I may be wrong but if a large cash prize went to the victory, I strongly suspect that most expert D&D players would choose to be in Group 2. [/QUOTE]

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