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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gfunk" data-source="post: 1230414" data-attributes="member: 1813">Re-posted from the WotC Board for "Character Optimization" Q: What is CO?A: That’s not as easy and straight forward as you might think. Here are some ways of describing CO.Description 1: Min/Max – Character Optimization is when you Maximize a characters advantages and minimize their weaknesses.Description 2: Math – Character Optimization is the part of character development that is mathematical in nature. Attack Bonus, Armor Class, HP and so forth are the parts of a character that this board is concerned with.Of course it’s not that simple. Min/Maxing has rules, guidelines and customs. First off, let me tell you that there is no ultimate gaming authority. Therefore the exact definition of most gaming terms does not exist. Instead the definition is based on a group consensus. (I am going to largely use the term Min/Maxing in this section. Since the term CO is exclusive to these boards, and CO=Min/maxing, it makes more sense to refer to min/maxing than CO when talking about the community in general)It is generally agreed by min/maxing aficionados that min/maxing must follow certain guidelines:Min/Maxing…1) …is always constrained by the rules at hand.2) …must have some kind of numerical advantage.3) …is not the opposite of role-playing.1) The rules are vital to min/maxing. If you ignore the rules you are cheating, not min/maxing. Anyone can just cheat on a character and give them powers and skills just by writing them down on a character sheet. A min/maxer will attempt to find a perfect blend of race, class and equipment that gives them everything they want. Changing the rules is kind of a sticky subject for min/maxing. Technically if you just change the rules then you are not truly min/maxing. Then again if your DM has made the changes and you are just exploiting them, then that should be considered min/maxing. To make things even more murky there are some common house rules included in discussions of min/maxing. So how do you tell the difference between cheating and min/maxing? Well, here are some cases:If the written rules allow for some combination, then it is min/maxing.If by changing some rule you can do something really cool, then that is cheating.If you can convince you DM to change a rule based on the rule itself being bad or unfair, and it allows you to do something really cool, that is min/maxing.2) Even if something is really cool, it is not min/maxing unless it grants you some kind of numerical superiority. In other words simply getting a power that allows you to shoot fire out of your fingertips is not min/maxing. But being able to cause the most damage with fire fingers is min/maxing. As far as anyone interested in min/maxing is concerned that is enough justification. Making the ultimate “read lips” character is reason enough to maximize read lips.3) Have you ever gone camping? You can only fill up one backpack so you have to decide what you will take. You know you need to be comfortable, safe and fed. So you try to put together the best combination of gear given your limitation of space and weight. Now, because you have taken the time and effort to put together a really effective kit, do you enjoy nature any less?That is the best analogy of min/maxing and role-playing I can think of. Just because you put together a really cool fighter are you now going to role-play him badly? No of course not. You may play him badly anyway but that is not related to him being min/maxed."</blockquote>

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