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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 5189463" data-attributes="member: 4937">The biggest problem it creates in my opinion is the presence of the absolute defence disguises the problems in the math.  If the PC's are totally hosed by a vampire's charm attack without protection from evil, it implies the vampires charm attack is not well thought out.  In particular, 3e saving throw DCs tend to scale too fast - scaling for example with both HD and charisma (which tends to go up with HD in most 3e monster designs) - with the result that it outstrips the ability of PC's to defend against it.  This problem is disguised by answers like, "Well, the PC's can just use 'protection from evil'.", but the problem with that answer is it means that the PC's must at all times have Protection from Evil up, and Death Ward, and Freedom of Action, and Mind Blank, and have eaten recently from a Hero's Feast, etc. or else they are hosed.  On upshot of this is that non-spellcasters lose the ability to protect themselves.  They still might be quite capable damage dealers, but without support from a spellcaster they are helpless to defend themselves.  Spellcasters by contrast can both deal damage and defend themselves.   IMO, this is the biggest source of caster/non-caster imbalance at 11th level and higher.Another problem is that if you have a absolute immunity like the immunity to fire damage which is so common with creatures with fire subtype is that this absolute immunity doesn't always seem to be so absolute after all when you think about it.  Sure, a fire elemental ought to be immune to fire, but is a fire elemental immune to being burned up by a fire deity or the wellspring of utter fire itself?  That is, when you think about it, most immunities of this sort actually only mean 'immunity to normal stuff of this type'.  Is it really the intention of the Freedom of Action spell to give you immunity to the God of Wrestling?  What happens this is that you start creating absolute attacks that overcome absolute defences.  The most obvious example I can think (though probably not the worst) of is the rule that things with Improved Grab don't draw attacks of oppurtunity when they initiate a grapple, except when the target has Close Quarters Combat in which case they absolutely do.This is all just bad design in my opinion.Flight is much less of a problem.  It's biggest problems in my opinion are out of combat.  The fact that it puts a burden on design that says things like, "Tyrannasaurus Rex is almost never an appropriate encounter, because at low levels its grapple/bite/swallow whole attack is too strong, and at high enough levels that the PC's could fight it they will just fly up and pound from an absolute secure positions." is a much lesser albiet still highly annoying problem.</blockquote>

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