Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 3326062" data-attributes="member: 177">If that really is the problem, then the solution is simple.&nbsp; However, I think it is probably more complicated than you state here.&nbsp; It sounds like you're facing the basic problem of differing playstyles.&nbsp; You've got some people who like playing with the rules, andothers who don't.&nbsp; How do you mix them in the game?This is an old problem, but it has not been solved, because the solution depends very much on the players involved.&nbsp; Different solutions work for different groups.&nbsp; For some groups, there is no good solution.In my game, I have one player who is far more a master of the rules than others.&nbsp; He could, if he chose, build a character that would far outshine all the others.&nbsp; But he doesn't.&nbsp; He chose, instead, to play a bard (and one that wasn't optimized, at that).&nbsp; He has a great time, but leaves his min-maxing at the door.&nbsp; This won't work well if a main part of the fun for some players is optimizing.In other games (ones in which balance among the PCs is even less assured than D&amp;D) I've spent some extra time and work in adventure design.&nbsp; This can be a burden for the GM.In yet other games, I've more strongly enforced the &quot;party role&quot; aspect of things.&nbsp; It does not matter if the character is optimized - if he's the only party cleric, he'll have stuff that only he can do.&nbsp; This doesn't work well with larger parties, unless the players agree to play along and restrict their character types a bit.Yet another solution is to decide that the work required to deal with the disparity is too great, and split the large group into two smaller ones of more similar players.Or, you can have the DM and/or other players help those who are not so rules-minded.&nbsp; Sometimes the rules-minded folks feel this is &quot;cheating&quot;.&nbsp; Sometimes the less rules-minded ones feel like their character is being imposed upon them.&nbsp; Or, even more commonly,the player who isn't so into the rules will find the resulting character confusing, because they don't grasp the fine details that make the efficient build work, and they need to be told what actions to take each and every time...In the end, what you probably ought to do is bring this up to the group in a neutral way.&nbsp; No accusations of fault (because there is no fault - they just like to play a little differently), but a discussion of the ways to help deal with the situation.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 3326062, member: 177"] If that really is the problem, then the solution is simple. However, I think it is probably more complicated than you state here. It sounds like you're facing the basic problem of differing playstyles. You've got some people who like playing with the rules, andothers who don't. How do you mix them in the game? This is an old problem, but it has not been solved, because the solution depends very much on the players involved. Different solutions work for different groups. For some groups, there is no good solution. In my game, I have one player who is far more a master of the rules than others. He could, if he chose, build a character that would far outshine all the others. But he doesn't. He chose, instead, to play a bard (and one that wasn't optimized, at that). He has a great time, but leaves his min-maxing at the door. This won't work well if a main part of the fun for some players is optimizing. In other games (ones in which balance among the PCs is even less assured than D&D) I've spent some extra time and work in adventure design. This can be a burden for the GM. In yet other games, I've more strongly enforced the "party role" aspect of things. It does not matter if the character is optimized - if he's the only party cleric, he'll have stuff that only he can do. This doesn't work well with larger parties, unless the players agree to play along and restrict their character types a bit. Yet another solution is to decide that the work required to deal with the disparity is too great, and split the large group into two smaller ones of more similar players. Or, you can have the DM and/or other players help those who are not so rules-minded. Sometimes the rules-minded folks feel this is "cheating". Sometimes the less rules-minded ones feel like their character is being imposed upon them. Or, even more commonly,the player who isn't so into the rules will find the resulting character confusing, because they don't grasp the fine details that make the efficient build work, and they need to be told what actions to take each and every time... In the end, what you probably ought to do is bring this up to the group in a neutral way. No accusations of fault (because there is no fault - they just like to play a little differently), but a discussion of the ways to help deal with the situation. [/QUOTE]

Verification