Power Gamers What Do You Do With Them?
February 7, 2010 by shent_lodge
Filed under rpg
I have been gaming with some power gamers that are extremely good at the 3.5e rules especially at all the different ways to exploit them so that they have fun. I found that I too like to beat the bad guy down, especially when I can do it without fear of getting hurt; just not every time, because that gets boring. What draws me to role-playing games is the random chance that no matter what I do to beat the odds, the dice have the final say. Leaving a weakness for my character is my way of leveling the odds.
I like to balance things so that my PC, by itself, is not perfect. I like that my 12th level 3.5 edition character has 7 for his will save. I spent all my money on some great armor to get a final AC of 31. My group of power gamers get frustrated with me, because I will not buy any magic to improve my Will save. I feel, I need a weakness and they laugh at me when I die. They don’t die. They also make fun of the fact that my AC is too low, and that I don’t have medium fortification armor; apparently every armored PC should have medium fortification armor by 9th level. I died in the last game when two genies with improved critical feat and falchions both hit and confirmed their power attack modified, attacks of opportunity, on me when I tried to move 10 feet. Whoops, on my part. Honestly, I did not even know they had falchions, or that they were super powerful cheese. I don’t mind dying 11th level 12th level is great place to be in 3.5 D&D.
We are playing Living Greyhawk (LG) modules left over from the big change from 3.5e to 4e at WotC. Our group refused to give up on 3.5 and LG, we play following the original guidelines for the campaign which are biased toward cheese. The power gamers in the group, are extremely good at the rules and all the different ways to exploit them to make the game fun for them. The key here is that they are having fun. The RPGA games we play are designed for power gamers; who else would enjoy being locked in a 40ft square room with two power attacking improved critical falchion swinging genies that can reach every square in the room, oh and they are both 20HD and we are 12level. The Pen Paper and Pixel said the encounter was unbeatable. Three of us died in the encounter and I was the only one that was not pissed about it. So basically the games are built for power gamers.
The group wants to continue on with this style of play until we run out of modules which at this rate is sometime around 2015, but I think we should think this through, and modify things to match the dungeon to the party better instead of following the module as written. I mean, now that their is no higher authority to complain to if you don’t run the mod correctly, we the DMs should be allowed to toss in our own special knowledge of the the players abilities and give them a challenge, just like in a home game, and if the dice roll bad for them, then they die. I see this as an easy fix on the DMs side, but what about the players that build perfect characters that can survive on their own without the help of the others; these guys disturb the balance of the game; they are the power gamers.
What are the options? Allow power gamers to pick through the rules freely and the expense of the other players fun? Make the group vote on each character that a player brings into the party? Build dynamic encounters that empower both types of players? The fact that we are playing through some disturbingly abusive modules written for RPGA play, which makes the last option hard, I as a DM, I do tweak things when it is my turn to run, to make the challenge to the party more interesting and more than just a blurb with three encounters and sheet with XP at the end.
I have been tapped to run the next dungeon, and I hope to make it fun for all by trying a dynamic approach to the encounters, because it is the only thing a I can adjust without changing the story too much.
I know in my home game, I don’t allow power gamers, and screen potential players in advance before allowing them to play. If they still get through, I ask for the group to vote on whether a player can continue to game at my table. Those two steps usually help me keep a group active for several years, in some cases decades.
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While I enjoy a good tactical combat now and then and everyone likes to have an effective character, the group you decribe just does not sound like much fun to play with. Building super characters is a fun mental exercises but I do not see much point in it beyond that. As you say, it is far more interesting to play characters with weaknesses.
Sean Holland´s last blog ..Curse – Traitorous Tithe
What is cool about the group is I really get to iron down the rules. I did hook up with a whole new bunch of players for Pathfinder and the emphasis in the PF game is on fun and role play. So I am balanced as a gamer too.
The only good solution I’ve found is to not game with peoples whose play style is dramatically different than yours.
Norman Harman´s last blog ..North Texas RPG Con
I think Norman has a point. You don’t describe the entire group, but if you’re the only one who isn’t “power gaming” then maybe you’re playing in the wrong group.
Everone gets something different out of the game, and for some people it is the mental exercise of trying to optimize their characters within the limits of the rules. There’s nothing wrong with this, it’s a fairly natural reaction to having rules in the first place. When most people are given a set of rules, they immediately try to think about how to do what they want to do (which might just be killing things) as effectively as possible within the constraints of those rules. Adding an additional constraint to the game, such as “requiring” each of them to have a weakness, is really just changing the rules.
That being said, if you’ve got “power-games”, there are two problems. The first is a way to accomodate players with different styles at the same table. A good DM writing their own material can usually manage this as long as the players aren’t polar opposites (which it doesn’t sound like they are in this case). For example, the DM could generally direct high-crit attacks towards the players who are expecting them (opportunity attacks aside). He could direct other types of challenges at players who enjoy more RP and less mechanics.
The second problem is how to challenge players who build very mechanically strong characters. This is really fairly easy if you’re a DM writing your own material, you just make harder monsters for combat encounters, and also add encounters that stress non-combat weaknesses of the characters (“The thief flees across the scorching dessert. What? you follow him in your plate armor?, a trickle of sweat drips down your brow”).
However, wishing aside, the fact is that (in my opinion) D&D is not a good system for people who enjoy the RP aspects more than the mechanical ones (I think what you’re really looking for is something like the disadvantage systems in RPGs like L5R or White Wolf, which make it mechanically rewarding to play a character with flaws). The RPGA modules compound that problem in that they shove the DM into a box that’s geared only toward certain types of gamers. Modifying the modules is probably a good start, but keep in mind that the other players may feel that you’re “cheating” them out of the challenge of playing it as written. Running different modules will help as well, I’m not personally familiar with the high level LG modules, but I’d guess that they were written by different authors, some of whom emphasized role-playing more than combat prowess.
However, overall, I’d say that it sounds like you should either find a gaming group where the other players are interested in the same things as you or stick with your current group, but alternate the D&D/LG game with a system that better supports your style of gaming.
@Ryan You hit it on the spot. Some of my players have told me this before “you’re “cheating” them out of the challenge of playing it as written” when I said I can modify the module to run better. Then they grumble when the Dervish monk barbarian vampire attacks… Something I clearly would never allow to exist, ever, but that was the monster as written.
I think I just found a group that I am more in sync with. The group I write about here are all DMs, 3 out of seven are moderates and play the RPGA mods just to get a chance to play once in a while. The other 4 players are hardcore; I think a couple of them play 8days week, I am not sure, but I believe they found a way to power game time itself… They are all decent people just some days the power gaming takes away from the fun of playing the game.