Is my character too powerful for the campaign? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Is my character too powerful for the campaign? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
AesirRaven
03-19-06, 12:31 PM This is something that's been gnawing on the back of my brain for a few weeks, and I'm going to discuss it with my DM and my fellow players eventually, but I'm curious what you all will think.

Our DM believes in very tight control over magic items. His belief, which I respect, is that magic items should be rare, wonderful things. Our characters were created at 5th level and were not permitted to purchase magic items. We recently obtained our party's first magic item, a powerful sword which allowed us to slay a ravening vampire. This mighty weapon which we cherish so much... is a simple +1 blade.

My first character, to put it simply, was boring. I created a party-face cleric with little to no melee ability who would rely on summoning in a combat situation. This would have been a fun challenge, only I couldn't get into the role, and eventually I asked permission to make something else.

My current character is a level 7 Soulknife. I can almost see the psionics lovers grinning, and the knowledgeable non-psionics people rolling their eyes. For those who don't know what this implies, the Soulknife's mind blade increases in power as the Soulknife goes up in levels. We have a single magical item among the entire party -- yet I can manifest a "magical" +1 weapon (which I can also enhance with things like keen!) with a mere thought. I can also split it into two no-plus "magical" weapons.

So far there haven't been any problems, but we haven't entered combat since I gained the ability to add enhancements to my mind blade. I prefer to operate by splitting my mind blade into two, so the next time we go into combat, I will be weilding two +1 keen short blades. Given my +2d8 Psychic Strike, if I make one PS attack in a round rather than a full-attack with both blades, I can still lay in with 1d6 (base) + 2d8 (PS) + 2 (Str) with a threat range of 17-20. Our archer ranger/rogue averages 1d8. Our fighter averages 1d10+4. Our druid stands back and tends to summon hippogryphs.

This brings me back to my question, and the purpose of my post. Given the comparative lack of magic items as compared to a RAW campaign, would you consider my inate abilities to be too powerful for the campaign?
Ameture Expert
03-19-06, 12:41 PM No, not really. All classes have their perks and down falls. I usually play the rouge, and my DMs usually love monsters that are immune to criticals (which in turn means sneak attack is moot in those encounters). It isn't your job to keep the campaign in balance, it's the DM who needs to do that.
ShadowDragon8685
03-19-06, 12:47 PM No, not it's not. Your character is precisely fine.

The rest of the characters have been gimped, however, as a result of the DM being a stingy bastich. Tell him not to mess with the treasure tables in a game that predicates 70% of it's balance upon the wealth the characters possess.

Watch out, however, because he's probably going to penalize your Soul Knife when he realizes you have access to powers that the other PCs don't. When he does that, make a new character. Make an ordinary CoDzilla, a Monk, anything and everything that gets to deal it's damage without relying on magical weapons, and that can buff it's own defense without relying on magical armor.

Maybe he'll see the light. Or maybe he'll kick you out, but TBH you're better off without this loser.

This is Dungeons & Dragons, 3.5 edition. Not Blue Book-Red Book edition. Not 1e, AD&D, or 2e. It's not bloody Chainmail, it's not 7th Sea. Magic is not only common, it's ABUNDANT, and the game's balance takes that into account.
epifreak
03-19-06, 01:40 PM Maybe he'll see the light. Or maybe he'll kick you out, but TBH you're better off without this loser.

This is Dungeons & Dragons, 3.5 edition. Not Blue Book-Red Book edition. Not 1e, AD&D, or 2e. It's not bloody Chainmail, it's not 7th Sea. Magic is not only common, it's ABUNDANT, and the game's balance takes that into account.

Alternately, rather than freaking out about the fact that someone wants to play a low-magic game, you could just acknowledge that everyone has his or her own style of play and allow others to enjoy what they want to play. The accounting for magic items problem is simple: class-leveled NPCs are simple. They're equally gimped as the players by being in a low/no magic world. The approach for monsters is also fairly simple. Depending on the amount of magic needed to bypass the enemy's defenses, add CR. For example a CR 2 swarm would probably be CR 4-6 b/c the most effective tactic against them is AoE spells.

To the original poster, the important question is: do you enjoy playing in this campaign? If you do, then try going to your DM, pointing this out to him, and asking about it. If he okays it, then play this soul-knife to your heart's content. If not, try working with him to see how you could equalize the balance in the game. IMHO, you probably aren't that overpowered for the party, but you might be a tad. Perhaps you could balance this by taking a few slightly sub-optimal but flavor-fitting feats/skills for your character.
AesirRaven
03-19-06, 03:08 PM Depending on the amount of magic needed to bypass the enemy's defenses, add CR. For example a CR 2 swarm would probably be CR 4-6 b/c the most effective tactic against them is AoE spells.

As the most experienced d20 player in the group I already had this chat with the DM, so I believe he's aware and will try to balance the encounters appropriately. Thanks for the reminder, though. I'll probably bring it up again.

To the original poster, the important question is: do you enjoy playing in this campaign? If you do, then try going to your DM, pointing this out to him, and asking about it. If he okays it, then play this soul-knife to your heart's content. If not, try working with him to see how you could equalize the balance in the game. IMHO, you probably aren't that overpowered for the party, but you might be a tad. Perhaps you could balance this by taking a few slightly sub-optimal but flavor-fitting feats/skills for your character.

This is probably what I will do, yes. The other players and the DM are all good friends of mine, and we've been through a couple different game campaigns as a group (with different people as GM) already. We always manage to have fun, but we also hold "group talk sessions" every once in a while to discuss the games and issues we may have. Sounds like it's time for such a session. I don't want to suddenly throw the dynamic off and start "outshining" everyone else too much. Having an inside track with the DM as something of an "advisor" should allow me to help keep everything balanced and fun for everyone, including me, by encouraging the DM to play to their strengths while not completely twinking myself out.

ShadowDragon did mention something that I had been holding in reserve. Part of my bringing this up with the DM is in order to pre-empt him nerfing my character. He's already nerfed the druid on a feat, and the moment he realizes that I'm a walking magic weapon that can't be disarmed he's going to start wanting to nerf me too. That'll lead to resentment and possibly an actual argument. I'd rather get it out of the way ahead of time.

As for some of the other suggestions, I appreciate the forthrightness and candor, but I'm not not having fun enough to be that drastic. The DM is a 2e holdout, yes, but I must admit I am using this as part of a "12 step program" to slowly introduce him to modern D&D. If I start demanding he change everything he believes about the game all at once, he'll just quit.

I'll probably be heading over to the DM's house to hang out -- no game this week, one of the players is working -- and I'll convene The Session to discuss this point. I'll report on the results either later or tomorrow. If anyone else has anything to add, by all means, please keep responding! :)
ShadowDragon8685
03-19-06, 03:24 PM Please see my signature for what I think of 2e holdouts.

'nuff said. If you succeed in bringing him over to modern times, congratulations. I woulden't waste my time, I'd just play Counterstrike with him or something.
Surgo
03-19-06, 05:50 PM Soulknives are generally weak anyway, so I'd say it's balanced out nicely.
20goingon1232
03-19-06, 06:18 PM In low magic campaigns, I have normal swords that has +1 to-hit, +2 damage because of balance and sharpness. They are not magical, but they do emulate simple +enhancements.

But I am presuming your DM won't be doing that.

Soulknife, in a normal campaign, is considered one of the weakest (I think it was second from the bottom in a survey on these boards) classes out there. In your campaign, it may be quite powerful. However, that is nothing in the range of the Druid or Cleric once they go nova.

As for him nerfing the Druid's feat, how did he go about it? This maybe be the deciding factor as to whether you should tell him to go play with his left hand in his parent's bedro- err... basement, or not.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
AesirRaven 03-19-06, 12:31 PM	This is something that's been gnawing on the back of my brain for a few weeks, and I'm going to discuss it with my DM and my fellow players eventually, but I'm curious what you all will think. Our DM believes in very tight control over magic items. His belief, which I respect, is that magic items should be rare, wonderful things. Our characters were created at 5th level and were not permitted to purchase magic items. We recently obtained our party's first magic item, a powerful sword which allowed us to slay a ravening vampire. This mighty weapon which we cherish so much... is a simple +1 blade. My first character, to put it simply, was boring. I created a party-face cleric with little to no melee ability who would rely on summoning in a combat situation. This would have been a fun challenge, only I couldn't get into the role, and eventually I asked permission to make something else. My current character is a level 7 Soulknife. I can almost see the psionics lovers grinning, and the knowledgeable non-psionics people rolling their eyes. For those who don't know what this implies, the Soulknife's mind blade increases in power as the Soulknife goes up in levels. We have a single magical item among the entire party -- yet I can manifest a "magical" +1 weapon (which I can also enhance with things like keen!) with a mere thought. I can also split it into two no-plus "magical" weapons. So far there haven't been any problems, but we haven't entered combat since I gained the ability to add enhancements to my mind blade. I prefer to operate by splitting my mind blade into two, so the next time we go into combat, I will be weilding two +1 keen short blades. Given my +2d8 Psychic Strike, if I make one PS attack in a round rather than a full-attack with both blades, I can still lay in with 1d6 (base) + 2d8 (PS) + 2 (Str) with a threat range of 17-20. Our archer ranger/rogue averages 1d8. Our fighter averages 1d10+4. Our druid stands back and tends to summon hippogryphs. This brings me back to my question, and the purpose of my post. Given the comparative lack of magic items as compared to a RAW campaign, would you consider my inate abilities to be too powerful for the campaign?
Ameture Expert 03-19-06, 12:41 PM	No, not really. All classes have their perks and down falls. I usually play the rouge, and my DMs usually love monsters that are immune to criticals (which in turn means sneak attack is moot in those encounters). It isn't your job to keep the campaign in balance, it's the DM who needs to do that.
ShadowDragon8685 03-19-06, 12:47 PM	No, not it's not. Your character is precisely fine. The rest of the characters have been gimped, however, as a result of the DM being a stingy bastich. Tell him not to mess with the treasure tables in a game that predicates 70% of it's balance upon the wealth the characters possess. Watch out, however, because he's probably going to penalize your Soul Knife when he realizes you have access to powers that the other PCs don't. When he does that, make a new character. Make an ordinary CoDzilla, a Monk, anything and everything that gets to deal it's damage without relying on magical weapons, and that can buff it's own defense without relying on magical armor. Maybe he'll see the light. Or maybe he'll kick you out, but TBH you're better off without this loser. This is Dungeons & Dragons, 3.5 edition. Not Blue Book-Red Book edition. Not 1e, AD&D, or 2e. It's not bloody Chainmail, it's not 7th Sea. Magic is not only common, it's ABUNDANT, and the game's balance takes that into account.
epifreak 03-19-06, 01:40 PM	Maybe he'll see the light. Or maybe he'll kick you out, but TBH you're better off without this loser. This is Dungeons & Dragons, 3.5 edition. Not Blue Book-Red Book edition. Not 1e, AD&D, or 2e. It's not bloody Chainmail, it's not 7th Sea. Magic is not only common, it's ABUNDANT, and the game's balance takes that into account. Alternately, rather than freaking out about the fact that someone wants to play a low-magic game, you could just acknowledge that everyone has his or her own style of play and allow others to enjoy what they want to play. The accounting for magic items problem is simple: class-leveled NPCs are simple. They're equally gimped as the players by being in a low/no magic world. The approach for monsters is also fairly simple. Depending on the amount of magic needed to bypass the enemy's defenses, add CR. For example a CR 2 swarm would probably be CR 4-6 b/c the most effective tactic against them is AoE spells. To the original poster, the important question is: do you enjoy playing in this campaign? If you do, then try going to your DM, pointing this out to him, and asking about it. If he okays it, then play this soul-knife to your heart's content. If not, try working with him to see how you could equalize the balance in the game. IMHO, you probably aren't that overpowered for the party, but you might be a tad. Perhaps you could balance this by taking a few slightly sub-optimal but flavor-fitting feats/skills for your character.
AesirRaven 03-19-06, 03:08 PM	Depending on the amount of magic needed to bypass the enemy's defenses, add CR. For example a CR 2 swarm would probably be CR 4-6 b/c the most effective tactic against them is AoE spells. As the most experienced d20 player in the group I already had this chat with the DM, so I believe he's aware and will try to balance the encounters appropriately. Thanks for the reminder, though. I'll probably bring it up again. To the original poster, the important question is: do you enjoy playing in this campaign? If you do, then try going to your DM, pointing this out to him, and asking about it. If he okays it, then play this soul-knife to your heart's content. If not, try working with him to see how you could equalize the balance in the game. IMHO, you probably aren't that overpowered for the party, but you might be a tad. Perhaps you could balance this by taking a few slightly sub-optimal but flavor-fitting feats/skills for your character. This is probably what I will do, yes. The other players and the DM are all good friends of mine, and we've been through a couple different game campaigns as a group (with different people as GM) already. We always manage to have fun, but we also hold "group talk sessions" every once in a while to discuss the games and issues we may have. Sounds like it's time for such a session. I don't want to suddenly throw the dynamic off and start "outshining" everyone else too much. Having an inside track with the DM as something of an "advisor" should allow me to help keep everything balanced and fun for everyone, including me, by encouraging the DM to play to their strengths while not completely twinking myself out. ShadowDragon did mention something that I had been holding in reserve. Part of my bringing this up with the DM is in order to pre-empt him nerfing my character. He's already nerfed the druid on a feat, and the moment he realizes that I'm a walking magic weapon that can't be disarmed he's going to start wanting to nerf me too. That'll lead to resentment and possibly an actual argument. I'd rather get it out of the way ahead of time. As for some of the other suggestions, I appreciate the forthrightness and candor, but I'm not not having fun enough to be that drastic. The DM is a 2e holdout, yes, but I must admit I am using this as part of a "12 step program" to slowly introduce him to modern D&D. If I start demanding he change everything he believes about the game all at once, he'll just quit. I'll probably be heading over to the DM's house to hang out -- no game this week, one of the players is working -- and I'll convene The Session to discuss this point. I'll report on the results either later or tomorrow. If anyone else has anything to add, by all means, please keep responding! :)
ShadowDragon8685 03-19-06, 03:24 PM	Please see my signature for what I think of 2e holdouts. 'nuff said. If you succeed in bringing him over to modern times, congratulations. I woulden't waste my time, I'd just play Counterstrike with him or something.
Surgo 03-19-06, 05:50 PM	Soulknives are generally weak anyway, so I'd say it's balanced out nicely.
20goingon1232 03-19-06, 06:18 PM	In low magic campaigns, I have normal swords that has +1 to-hit, +2 damage because of balance and sharpness. They are not magical, but they do emulate simple +enhancements. But I am presuming your DM won't be doing that. Soulknife, in a normal campaign, is considered one of the weakest (I think it was second from the bottom in a survey on these boards) classes out there. In your campaign, it may be quite powerful. However, that is nothing in the range of the Druid or Cleric once they go nova. As for him nerfing the Druid's feat, how did he go about it? This maybe be the deciding factor as to whether you should tell him to go play with his left hand in his parent's bedro- err... basement, or not.