Your Prc gets nerfed!!! what to do?

[Gundark]

So IMC one of the players is playing a weretouched master from the Eberron book. He's gone thru all 5 levels of the Prc and is on to another. Lately I've found out that his class got nerfed in a big way, and I mean a big way (according to the Eberron errata).

So the group is divided, some are claiming that he should have to abide by the errate (his character was pretty strong and did take some spotlight), some are claiming that it's not fair that he should change as we have played this long with the character. The player himself is possibly going to ditch the character and may make another as this one is not so effective (he doesn't know what the changes are, only there is changes).

Normally the group plays according to the letter of the law (ie. what the books sez), however I feel bad as I know that the player in question is going to be dissapointed with how much of a nerf we're talking about. OTOH the weretouched master is nasty according to the Eberron book, and did take some of the hitting spotlight away from the otehr melee characters. The errata will put him back on par with the rest of the melee characters.

I'm considering a nerf that isn't quite so dramatic.


Suggestions?

 

[Vanuslux]

The fact that he's willing to abandon the character before even knowing what the changes are other than that he's not going to be as powerful as he was before shows that he's only in that class for the power advantage anyway and I personally certainly don't make accommodations for that.

 

[GeorgeFields]

Kick the player out of the group and find a new player.

Just kidding.

I agree with Vanuslux about the power play. If power is the only raeson he took the class in the first place, NERF him to the fullest extent of the errata. If he makes a new PC, save the old one for an NPC to bring back later. Possibly for the other side?

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

Definitely identify the player's playstyle, discover what he finds fun, and pick the solution calculated to eliminate said fun. :missing rolleyes smiley:

Seriously, you should do whatever is the most fun for your group. It sounds like some of the other players had a problem with the class before you discovered the errata - you arguably should have nerfed it somewhat when those problems first surfaced. Doing it because you happened to stumble across an official fix seems like a bad idea.

In the abstract, the Weretouched Master is a poorly designed class, particularly in that certain options within the class are vastly mechanically better than others. It's not a game-breaking class or broken next to the most powerful options in core, for example, but its internal balance is obviously wrong. If you had two WMs, one of whom took the optimal choices and one who didn't, the break would become painfully apparent.

Personally, I would suggest a partial nerf to the strongest WM choice (bear, IIRC) to bring it in line with the second-strongest (tiger?) and buff the weaker choices to match that level. That's a considerably smaller 'fix' than Wizards put out, but perhaps a more palatable one.

 

[billd91]

I generally don't abide by any guideline of "that's the way we've been playing it, we should continue to do that" if it's just a mistake on my part. Rather, I say we don't do tagbacks or rewinds, we just move on from here doing things right (at least with respect to that particular issue). That's a basic rule of the game in Advanced Squad Leader as well. You make a mistake and realize it late, you move on rather than replay.
But in this case, since it was the class as published, I'd be tempted to leave things as they are rather than force an unwilling conversion. A willing conversion I'd prefer.

 

[frankthedm]

The fact that he's willing to abandon the character before even knowing what the changes are other than that he's not going to be as powerful as he was before shows that he's only in that class for the power advantage anyway and I personally certainly don't make accommodations for that.

yep.

 

[irdeggman]

Do the players use errata that "benefits" them?

If so then they should likewise use errata that "hinders" them.

To do otherwise leads to the dark side. . . .

 

[pawsplay]

Kick the player out of the group and find a new player.

Just kidding.

I agree with Vanuslux about the power play. If power is the only raeson he took the class in the first place, NERF him to the fullest extent of the errata. If he makes a new PC, save the old one for an NPC to bring back later. Possibly for the other side?

I disagree. Playing something you find interesting and then later finding the game is punishing you for it is certainly disappointing, and sometimes even dispiriting.

 

[GeorgeFields]

I disagree. Playing something you find interesting and then later finding the game is punishing you for it is certainly disappointing, and sometimes even dispiriting.

As is gaming with a character that is thought overpowered enough to cause errata for it.

 

[Vanuslux]

I disagree. Playing something you find interesting and then later finding the game is punishing you for it is certainly disappointing, and sometimes even dispiriting.

If the player is that hung up on the power of it that he's going to toss it without even knowing yet the details of the changes, just that they make him less powerful, then I'm certain that he's not playing it because it's interesting.