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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 1573321" data-attributes="member: 151">IME, that kind of damage at 20th level is nothing terriby amazing.    It has already been pointed out that leveling versus instant creation tends to create dramatically different characters.  A 23rd level cleric with a wisdom of 20 is pretty badly hobbled, really.  One thing to consider is that after 16th level, the game becomes very subjective as far as challenges are concerned.  Case in point: in my game, the 18th level party was stymied by a CR 23 creature, but as a 19th level party had little difficulty dispatching two CR24 creatures a few weeks later.  As a 20th level party, they eliminated an entire cadre of elite Githyanki warriors and spellcasters, including a dozen CR20 creatures, but nearly had their clocks badly cleaned by a CR 21 creature a week later.   The exact nature of such challenges vary dramatically.  For example, throwing a high-powered golem at the party may completely stymie the casters in the group, while throwing a super-advanced Beholder or roper may cause the melee characters no end of trouble, but may only require a single spell to incapacitate.  At epic levels, maintaining such challenges is more of an artform than a science, to be sure.  If this particular character seems more puissant in combat, you have several options.  First, mix up combats more to play to individual members strengths.  Don't prevent this player from having his day in the sun...just give others a shot at the same thing.  A creature with high DR certainly qualifies for some instances, as does a creature with spell resistance, depending on the target in question.    Mix up the environments they battle in, as well.  You'd be suprised how devastating an underwater combat can be, even to a 23rd level party that isn't prepared.  Throwing up magical effects that require someone to take them down, such as Depeer Darkness or a wind wall, can change the aspects of combat.  Sometimes one of the most rewarding aspects is to make the combat large enough so that everyone has something to do.  For example, have a BBEG, but also have some subordinates who must be taken out, or some sideline crisis to be dealt with simultaneously.  Fighting a powerful Xorn sorceror who's summoned an earthquake causing the whole dungeon to collapse about the party's head could be a significant problem.  Part of the party must defeat the Xorn, while the other part either has to protect the group, secure an escape or prevent the cave-in.    Having multiple opponenets is often a good idea, too.  A single opponent is too prone to going down fast, and will often be an unassailable target for one or more party members.    Share the love. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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