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<blockquote data-quote="HeapThaumaturgist" data-source="post: 2428821" data-attributes="member: 12332">I'm a tactic-junky.&nbsp; As I'm usually the GM, where-upon it goes badly for the players.&nbsp; Since I'm mostly playing right now, it goes well for the PCs.&nbsp; Especially since the other players are largely people who've regularly played in my games and have well-honed senses of planning.We've been pretty frustrating for the GM.&nbsp; I've been trying to scale our effectiveness BACK, actually, before he messes something up and slaughters us trying to make an &quot;appropriate&quot; challenge.&nbsp; I'm playing an item-creating wizard, myself, abusing the heck out of Craft Wand and frontloaded 1st level spells.&nbsp; I concentrate almost exclusively on buffs and debuffs.&nbsp; Wand of Ray of Enfeeblement, Glitterdust, Pyrotechnics, etc.&nbsp; I don't deal much damage (unless it's an obvious mob of low-level mooks who can all be slaughtered with Fireball) and instead maximize the effectiveness of the other characters.&nbsp; Several combats were cake-walks because of Pyro flashbangs (keep everybody but me out of LoS and let the party handle the rest while I'm blind, say), glitterdust-blinded enemies, weakened Big Bad Melee Monsters, etc.&nbsp; One player has a melee-beast Bbn1/Clr6.&nbsp; Strength and Destruction domains, Extra Rage and Extra Smite feats.&nbsp; He's the damage-dealer.&nbsp; I Enlarge, he Bull's Strengths, then rolls in with Rage and Smite and Strength Domain on the biggest apparent threat ... which usually ends the threat immediately.&nbsp; Last session he plowed a 70hp crit in the second round with a CR 6 dragon and killed it before it had done more than use its breath weapon once.&nbsp; He is our Hammer.Then we have a dwarf Fighter7, all about the specialized war-axe and armor.&nbsp; He is our Anvil.&nbsp; We pin things against the big AC and he and the cleric beat it to death.&nbsp; Both of them have cleave, and can go through mid-level creatures quickly.Then the rogue-types ... one Scout, one Rogue/Assasin.&nbsp; The Scout skirmishes around with ranged attacks, the Rogue skulks around getting into flanking for TWF double-fisted Sneak Attacks.&nbsp; Last session he used his new Death Blow ability to end a combat with a 7th level NPC in the first initiative count.&nbsp; They keep the party safe by scouting ahead, getting the lay of the land, and letting us plan for combats.&nbsp; It's really been relatively sick.&nbsp; We never have long combats and they've all been entirely one-sided.&nbsp; As I said, I think it's been a little deflating for the GM.&nbsp; It's not that he's a poor GM (in fact, this is the most fun and story-rich game I've ever been part of) it's just that four of the players have had long experience with one another and we're all planners ... and I love it when a plan comes together.--fje</blockquote>

[QUOTE="HeapThaumaturgist, post: 2428821, member: 12332"] I'm a tactic-junky. As I'm usually the GM, where-upon it goes badly for the players. Since I'm mostly playing right now, it goes well for the PCs. Especially since the other players are largely people who've regularly played in my games and have well-honed senses of planning. We've been pretty frustrating for the GM. I've been trying to scale our effectiveness BACK, actually, before he messes something up and slaughters us trying to make an "appropriate" challenge. I'm playing an item-creating wizard, myself, abusing the heck out of Craft Wand and frontloaded 1st level spells. I concentrate almost exclusively on buffs and debuffs. Wand of Ray of Enfeeblement, Glitterdust, Pyrotechnics, etc. I don't deal much damage (unless it's an obvious mob of low-level mooks who can all be slaughtered with Fireball) and instead maximize the effectiveness of the other characters. Several combats were cake-walks because of Pyro flashbangs (keep everybody but me out of LoS and let the party handle the rest while I'm blind, say), glitterdust-blinded enemies, weakened Big Bad Melee Monsters, etc. One player has a melee-beast Bbn1/Clr6. Strength and Destruction domains, Extra Rage and Extra Smite feats. He's the damage-dealer. I Enlarge, he Bull's Strengths, then rolls in with Rage and Smite and Strength Domain on the biggest apparent threat ... which usually ends the threat immediately. Last session he plowed a 70hp crit in the second round with a CR 6 dragon and killed it before it had done more than use its breath weapon once. He is our Hammer. Then we have a dwarf Fighter7, all about the specialized war-axe and armor. He is our Anvil. We pin things against the big AC and he and the cleric beat it to death. Both of them have cleave, and can go through mid-level creatures quickly. Then the rogue-types ... one Scout, one Rogue/Assasin. The Scout skirmishes around with ranged attacks, the Rogue skulks around getting into flanking for TWF double-fisted Sneak Attacks. Last session he used his new Death Blow ability to end a combat with a 7th level NPC in the first initiative count. They keep the party safe by scouting ahead, getting the lay of the land, and letting us plan for combats. It's really been relatively sick. We never have long combats and they've all been entirely one-sided. As I said, I think it's been a little deflating for the GM. It's not that he's a poor GM (in fact, this is the most fun and story-rich game I've ever been part of) it's just that four of the players have had long experience with one another and we're all planners ... and I love it when a plan comes together. --fje [/QUOTE]

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