Why do you (they) break characters?

Flame Draconion

First Post
simple questions to everyone...
Why do you (or your players) break your (their) characters?

I do not understand why, besides wanting to always win....does it not remove some (most) of the fun from the game if you know no one will be able to hit you (them)?
Just curious b/c my player that always does just says he doesn't know any other way to play, and I think I've walked away after each session I DM just abit more never wanting to dm again.
 

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Not a simple question at all, because not everyone agrees about what would be "broken" and what wouldn't be. That's not because a character is very efficient at something that it will be considered "broken" by everyone.
 

Flame Draconion said:
simple questions to everyone...
Why do you (or your players) break your (their) characters?

I do not understand why, besides wanting to always win....does it not remove some (most) of the fun from the game if you know no one will be able to hit you (them)?
Just curious b/c my player that always does just says he doesn't know any other way to play, and I think I've walked away after each session I DM just abit more never wanting to dm again.

Really? Nothing can hit him? Zeus himself cannot come down in his chariot from heaven and smite him with a thundebolt? He's totally and completely unhittable by anything and anyone in your game world?

I doubt it.

So why don't you try to craft some scenarios and some opponents that can challenge this character?

Justin Alexander Bacon
http://www.thealexandrian.net
 

Justin Bacon said:
Really? Nothing can hit him? Zeus himself cannot come down in his chariot from heaven and smite him with a thundebolt? He's totally and completely unhittable by anything and anyone in your game world?

I doubt it.

So why don't you try to craft some scenarios and some opponents that can challenge this character?

Justin Alexander Bacon
http://www.thealexandrian.net

Not a terribly useful suggestion, Justin. In fact, it just compounds the problem - why not just say, in your best 3 year old style, 'Bang, you're dead, HAHA!'?

Because I'd guess that's not what we play RPGs to see. For the OP, though - learn to say 'no'. You need no better reason than it's not fun for you. If you've got a player that's in it purely for their own enjoyment and not everyone's, then you've got a problem player. Don't waffle - be straight up. Lay it out for the player, and take no excuses. Because your fun is just as important, if not moreso, and you're being ill used.
 


Odhanan said:
Not a simple question at all, because not everyone agrees about what would be "broken" and what wouldn't be.

Exactly. What's broken in one game would be merely decent in someone else's.

I've only seen one truly broken character in 4-5 years of D&D gaming, and that was a result of the DM and player using some of AEG's truly bad idea rules. That was a Half-dragon monk with tattooed monk; apparently, because he was of the Dragon Clan, he could take tattoos in his regular monk levels (I never saw this written down, but that's what the player and DM said; it may've been a house rule that went entirely too far). It got to the point where stuff that could challenge him would be death on the rest of the party. The player switched characters once this became clear to all.

Brad
 

Flame Draconion said:
simple questions to everyone...
Why do you (or your players) break your (their) characters?

I do not understand why, besides wanting to always win....
... I think that's the reason. Always wanting to win, never wanting to die...
 

Flame Draconion said:
simple questions to everyone...
Why do you (or your players) break your (their) characters?
The short answer is that they enjoy doing it. Might as well ask why some people want to be Superman, or like to imagine that they are some other ultra-powerful being, or play computer games with cheat codes or in God mode. Sometimes (or most times for some people) people want to feel that they are invincible, that they cannot be defeated, that they will always be able to "win". I know I find it a great way to blow off steam after a bad day at work. :D
 

Flame Draconion said:
...I think I've walked away after each session I DM just abit more never wanting to dm again.
That's unfortunate, but you came to the right place - I've no doubt that you can get some helpful advice on (1) ways to challenge the 'broken' character mechanically, (2) provide more and better non-combat challenges that encourage roleplaying and discourage one-dimensional characters, and (3) put the fun back in your game.

It would help to know more about the 'broken' build, but on a first read-through it sounds like the player's emphasizing AC, which means the character is still vulnerable to touch attacks that bypass armor, such as those made by incorporeal undead. Often these character builds are weak in other areas, such a Will saves, providing an exploitable weakness through mind-control magic and powers. Area attacks that force Reflex saves are also a useful tool for getting around some high AC characters, such as those relying on heavy armors.
Flame Draconion said:
I do not understand why, besides wanting to always win....
That's the reason for some players.
Flame Draconion said:
does it not remove some (most) of the fun from the game if you know no one will be able to hit you (them)?
Some players tend to be very risk-averse, robbing the game of some of its heroism and derring-do. As GM, you need to set a tone that encourages the players to be heroes - this means providing reasonable chances of success for heroic actions and creating encounters and environments that lend themselves to this goal: lava pools to jump over, ropes to swing from, walls to vault, roofs to race across, &c., &c.

That said, some players do see getting hit as a sign of weakness or failure - they are out to 'beat' the dungeon and its master, using whatever rules (and/or loopholes) they can. It's easier, in my experience, to solve problems of one-dimensional characters than it is one-dimensional players.
 

Well, my shadowdancer has ridiculously high hide and move silently scores and some nice equipment to provide bonuses to those rolls. About the only time that I get seen is when I roll a two or a 1, and an opponent rolls a twenty. And I like it this way. The game very rarely has to be about weather I don't manage to sneak up on opponents, or I'm overheard scouting. Instead we can get the info, stop the solo stuff and get to the team play.

Or, rather, I did it because the opportunity to sneak was less inticing than having already snuck and getting to do things with the gains.
 

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