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Warcaster, polearm master and learning to love the optimizing?
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<blockquote data-quote="redrick" data-source="post: 6534094" data-attributes="member: 6777696"><p>Our players just reached level 6 and were announcing their level up decisions over the forum. Our F2/Warlock4 (newly minted 4), announced that he would be taking the War Caster feat. He explained that, combined with the polearm mastery feat, this allows him to cast spells as an opportunity attack against any creature that steps within 10' of him.</p><p></p><p>My immediate reaction to this was, "whoa now, that feels like a bit of a loophole. Would you do me a favor and give me an in-world, common sense reason why your polearm mastery would allow you to cast spells at creatures as they come within 10 feet of you?"</p><p></p><p>Disclosure at this point. I'm not an optimizer. I don't really get optimizing the way I don't really get mint-chocolate chip ice cream. My overall tendencies probably lean more towards banning multiclassing and banning feats, but I also appreciate that my tastes are not everyone's tastes, so I decided to leave everything in the PHB on the table. And the player running the F2/Wrlk4 is a valued member of our group and definitely somebody who loves optimizing. I mean, that dude could spend our whole session talking about the interactions of different feats, different actions, different spells, different class abilities. He also knows the text of the PHB front-to-back, and frequently steps in as a public defender on behalf of my poor monsters. He's good spirited about it, and, as somebody who doesn't have a whole lot of time to pore over the rulebooks, I'm happy to have a legal consultant in the group.</p><p></p><p>So our valued player responds, along the lines of paraphrasing the text of the two feats, reminding me that he spent two feats to get that combination, making a minimal narrative justification for the ability, and then finally, saying, "I built my character around this concept." That last line really put my hackles up.</p><p></p><p>So, here are my questions.</p><p></p><p>First of all, warcaster + polearm mastery loophole: is it actually gonna throw a lot of cheese on the table? Intentions or not, where does this stand in the whole Rules as Fun department?</p><p></p><p>But more importantly, what are some advices for a non-optimizer DM who wants to have a fun time in a group with an optimizer player? (Let me repeat, this player really is, in most respects, a perfectly delightful gentleman and I'm very happy to have him in my group.)</p><p></p><p>(My actual response elaborated on the player's narrative justification and then said, "So I'll allow it," but then also stated that, in the future, if he has any feat or feature combinations coming up in the future, he should please discuss them with me well in advance, so we can all be on the same page.)</p><p></p><p>Sorry, this is a really incoherent post.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="redrick, post: 6534094, member: 6777696"] Our players just reached level 6 and were announcing their level up decisions over the forum. Our F2/Warlock4 (newly minted 4), announced that he would be taking the War Caster feat. He explained that, combined with the polearm mastery feat, this allows him to cast spells as an opportunity attack against any creature that steps within 10' of him. My immediate reaction to this was, "whoa now, that feels like a bit of a loophole. Would you do me a favor and give me an in-world, common sense reason why your polearm mastery would allow you to cast spells at creatures as they come within 10 feet of you?" Disclosure at this point. I'm not an optimizer. I don't really get optimizing the way I don't really get mint-chocolate chip ice cream. My overall tendencies probably lean more towards banning multiclassing and banning feats, but I also appreciate that my tastes are not everyone's tastes, so I decided to leave everything in the PHB on the table. And the player running the F2/Wrlk4 is a valued member of our group and definitely somebody who loves optimizing. I mean, that dude could spend our whole session talking about the interactions of different feats, different actions, different spells, different class abilities. He also knows the text of the PHB front-to-back, and frequently steps in as a public defender on behalf of my poor monsters. He's good spirited about it, and, as somebody who doesn't have a whole lot of time to pore over the rulebooks, I'm happy to have a legal consultant in the group. So our valued player responds, along the lines of paraphrasing the text of the two feats, reminding me that he spent two feats to get that combination, making a minimal narrative justification for the ability, and then finally, saying, "I built my character around this concept." That last line really put my hackles up. So, here are my questions. First of all, warcaster + polearm mastery loophole: is it actually gonna throw a lot of cheese on the table? Intentions or not, where does this stand in the whole Rules as Fun department? But more importantly, what are some advices for a non-optimizer DM who wants to have a fun time in a group with an optimizer player? (Let me repeat, this player really is, in most respects, a perfectly delightful gentleman and I'm very happy to have him in my group.) (My actual response elaborated on the player's narrative justification and then said, "So I'll allow it," but then also stated that, in the future, if he has any feat or feature combinations coming up in the future, he should please discuss them with me well in advance, so we can all be on the same page.) Sorry, this is a really incoherent post. [/QUOTE]
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