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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gizmo33" data-source="post: 4832330" data-attributes="member: 30001">The first thing I would do is acknowledge that there's no one around to actually tell you not to use house rules.  Especially something relatively simple like banning certain magic items. The second thing I'd do is question how suitable the challenges are that you're facing.  +8 damage is nice, but you're taking 3 pts of damage each time you swing the weapon, which is a bigger deal if you don't hit all the time.  If you hit all of the time, and are always facing the same cookie-cutter monsters with the same powers (and always close melee, I would assume) then *no wonder* all of the PCs start to look the same and choose the same equipment.  There's no reason for flexibility and variety if the encounters aren't requiring it. Theoretically, a striker is supposed to do more damage than the rest of the party.  IME a striker also gets *pounded* if he steps out of the protective zone of the defenders.  PCs need to be able to find/engage lurkers and artillery.  They need to avoid being slid into traps and flanked by adversaries.  They need to shake off debilitating conditions (for example, the petrification of a basilisk which is a very appropriate challenge for the level).  The damage that a rogue does is completely unimportant when facing minions.   And that's just combat stuff, which IME relies on much more than just damage output at the expense of everything else.  Skills should be important in the game and AFAICT it sounds like they're not.   There are tons of issues in combat that IME are more important than raw damage.  Then again, if you're always able to engage your opponent and hit, and never have to worry about being hit yourself or deal with conditions (or heal) then I guess damage becomes all important.  But in that case I think it's really obvious that the problem is not the bloodclaw. Some DMs have certain fallback approaches to encounter design.  For example (and this was an issue in earlier editions) some DMs like the simplicity of the PCs battling one powerful BBEG, but can often be surprised at how well a party of PCs can deal with a single opponent.  Yes, it would be nice if a game existed that would assure the DM that any thing you threw against the PCs would be a challenge.  But until such a game system comes along I think it would really help if the DM studied the problem. Take the level 12 encounter listed under "stone eye basilisk" for example (I chose level 12 because of the bloodclaw level).  Now if your rogue got trapped by a briar cage, was inside the slow aura of the basilisk and was getting hit by petrifying gaze each round I'm not sure if that +4 net damage is really looking that good.  A briar witch with 262 hit points is going to lose sleep over your rogue's +8 to damage?  Her plant minions do +5 damage themselves just from being around her.</blockquote>

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