Well this is a surprise

Galeros said:
When they are captured they get most of their stuff taken away, then they are left for dead with little items.
That would anger me as a player. Let the players win but have them do so only be extending resources. If you do it over time they'll have fun because they're getting XP even though the fat loot is being taken away.

You might want to change the ogre mage's weapon to an adamantine greatsword, and his feats to power attack and improved sunder. That way you're sure to destroy a few weapons.
 

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Laurel said:
Cruel... so perfect :)
Minions with invisi. may also be able to unhand the weapons from the characters and take off with them in the raids. Slowly weaken them, and get rid of some stuff just in case they win.

one question back, that may help for the rest of the campaign: Have they gotten most of thier powerful stuff from treasured rolled or buying it? Increasing treasure found?

Feel free to ignore this last part but..... Also, I will say again I like the idea, but just cuz the one person feels this way the others may not. Make sure you feel they are overpowered also. Such as you said the cleric wasn't too bad.... but I don't know all the specifics, so just wanted to caution :)

They have gotten most of their stuff by browbeating me into giving it to them. The player who browbeated me the most was the one who admitted they were overpowered.

I like the idea of the admantine Greatsword. I will use it. :)

Most of my Players are pretty cool with most things I do. i dont think the enemies could physically disarm them as all the weapons are like on fire or are really cold. But I like the sundering idea as I said earlier. :)
 

Avoid anything that looks like GM fiat or railroading. Have them be hired to capture a series of strange magical beasts for a well paying client. Among the list can be Rust Monsters, Disenchanters, etc. The monetary rewards can be great, but they'll surely use and lose a few items during the hunts.
 

Tortoise said:
Avoid anything that looks like GM fiat or railroading. Have them be hired to capture a series of strange magical beasts for a well paying client. Among the list can be Rust Monsters, Disenchanters, etc. The monetary rewards can be great, but they'll surely use and lose a few items during the hunts.

Yes, but my players tend to have phenomenol luck with a lot of things. Which I why I am still working on my plan right now.
 

Challenge is in the eye of the Beholder

If your player(s) thinks they're overpowered, throw a tougher monster at them.

I'd love to read about what they do when you throw a Beholder at them.

I don't know if it's in the System Reference Document, but I know that there's a version in the MM 3.0. If their power is derived mostly from magic, there's nothing like a Beholder to send them running, and I actually don't think that it's so tough that the party stands no chance.

Another alternative is to simply stop giving them treasure for a while, and pit them against tougher monsters until their power level catches up with their treasure.

I've given many PC's much more loot than I should have, but it always works out in the long run when their level and the challenges they face increases to the point where their wealth is commensurate with PHB guidelines.
 

I was going to suggest the sunder option. I might, however spread out the item destruction over a period of time. Even if your players are keen on the idea(and it's good to know even munchkins have their limits) it would be less intrusive in the sense that it wouldn't so much reek of DM intervention. It might even be cool, provided the ogre survives, to make it his signature. For instance, each time they encounter him, he starts off with a baleful glare and a pointed finger at a PC. Uncertainty gives way to horror as each encounter leads to the signaled PC losing an item and a promise of future meetings. In any case, let us know how it goes.
 

What has happened to our culture!? Has the Ethereal Filcher really dethroned the Rust Monster as the ultimate anti-item creature? And what about those oozes?
 

The last time I needed to reduce the party's items, I used disjunction. But having a random enemy just cast disjunction in the surprise round can be perceived as unfair, or railroading. Instead, I had a full adventure centered around the fact that their main enemy was acquiring several scrolls of disjunction in order to destroy a few artefacts that held a great evil at bay. When they finally got the disjunction, they couldn't complain; they had been thoroughly warned.

The main problem with disjunction, though, is that you have no control over what items are destroyed, and the number of items destroyed depends on how good your Will save is.
 

A nice option that doesn't involve railroading and hosing the party would be to just emphasize high-xp, low-loot encounters. There are lots of great monsters that can be used without having them guarding a treasure room or something, and once the party puts on a few more levels the gear level should be more in line with the expected values.

--Impeesa--
 

Well, the Mage lost his items and the Barbarian(who was the strongest) died when he got knocked to -1 and the Mage was not careful enough with the aiming of his fireball spell, se he got toasted. The Mage lost his because he got knocked to -4 and the enemy took his stuff. The Dwarf and Rogue/Fighter still have all their stuff. But the Dwarf is not too bad in terms of power. The Barbarians player is now a Human Fighter. Heh, the big battle where they lost a lot was when they got attacked by a bunch of bandits who shot colleys of arrows at them. They were also accosted by a phantasmal Ogre Mage who is really an old friend in disguise. :] He is the one who took the mages stuff.
 

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