DM Needs Assistance

[Ramshack]

Hey guys, first time poster long time lurker. ;)

I'd like to call on your considerable skill in helping find a way to challenge a character design created by one of my players.

We are playing a monster campaign where I let players pick a race or template with up to a +3 LA. One player picked Werebear. He is then going Monk, Fist of the forest and Warshaper.

Giving him The highest possible saves across the board, his Con (which is massive) Dex and Wisdom bonus to ac and also to this touch ac. Evasion and improved evasion, and immunity to criticals. As well as DR and Fast Healing. As well as reach

At this point I don't know how to challenge his character while maintaining a fair balance for the others. I have relied on flanking and sneak attacks to cut his dex from his ac thus far as well as magic missiles.

Any help or advice is much appreciated.

[JeminiZero]

What exactly is the rest of the party?

You could send things that do ability damage/drain and level drain as their main attack. That pretty much circumvents DR and fast healing. (On a semi-related note, monk fists count as magic for the purposes of overcoming DR, but not for striking incorporeal. Which is why an Allip can take down a Tarrasque).

If he lacks flight, send in a bunch of flying archers with silver arrows.

And of course spells in general, and Arcane spells in particular provide plenty of ways to debuff with no save, especially since he is a living creature.

[Namfuak]

Flanking does not render a person flat-footed.



When making a melee attack, you get a +2 flanking bonus if your opponent is threatened by a character or creature friendly to you on the opponent’s opposite border or opposite corner.


If you are only interested in challenging him, toss duskblades and rogues with wands of truestrike at him, to get over his AC. Putting a bard or buff-aware cleric in the enemy ranks will also help keep up with his numbers. Also, keep in mind that while his defenses will be high, his damage output will not, so you can simply ignore him and let him AaO your melee while they run around to the casters.

Speaking of the casters, don't run to him, let him run to you (and eat AoOs). Heightened Baleful Transposition (SpC) can switch his caster/squishy rogue with your (big scary high-health melee), so your (big scary high-health melee) can go to town on whoever is left in their back ranks while your extra melee can threaten his squishy person you switched, forcing him to run at you. D&D combat is somewhat like chess - if you can force your opponent to move only as a reaction to your moves, you have already won.

Another thing to remember is that if he doesn't have 5 ranks in balance, simply standing in grease renders him flat-footed as long as he is in it, which may be useful information (especially since he will presumably be in bear/hybrid form and therefore large, put it directly underneath him after he is engaged by your melee so he is forced to make five-foot steps out instead of simply moving out next turn).

[Draig]

There is definitely a way to challenge this player, on top of the ability and level drains you could also have poisons to diminish his stats. Also a relatively low level cleric could hinder him greatly with Blindness/deafness. Its a low level spell that even my clerics still carry into battle against high level baddies. Also what about having him fight swarms? I had a pc monk before and when a swarm came around the corner I got majorly messed up. Unless he is carrying around some alchemists fire a swarm is just as deadly to him as anyone else in the party.

[Need_A_Life]

How's his Will save? :smallamused:
Dominate is by far the most useful thing to throw at a big brute...

Then there's Intimidate... demoralize can, when used right, send him (and, say, half the party) running for the hills, at which point the action economy will challenge the rest all by itself.

Forcecage doesn't allow a save either.

What about his ranged capabilities? Because flight is pretty easy to come by.

Squeezing rules are also useful. He can't move into Small-sized hallways in bear form and takes penalties when moving into Medium-sized ones.

[Malachei]

I think if you have to hand-pick enemies and tailor-make encounters to challenge a single PC, there's time to talk.

First of all, how do the other players experience the issue? Do they agree the wereboar outshines their characters? Some players are pretty sensitive to in-party imbalances, others are not.

Secondly, talk to the player and explain the problem. Basically, his optimization level has created a character that seems to push the campaign's limits. Explain the choices you have:

(1) Designing normal encounters and letting him single-handedly win the game
(2) Hand-picking opponents to challenge him
and
(3) Rocks fall, you are dead

All of these are pretty boring. Hand-picking, if done in every encounter, will feel strange and damage the game's credibility in the long run.

Perhaps he agrees to tone down his character somewhat, or perhaps he's already a bit bored and ready to play another?

Of course, you as a DM can always win every arms race brought to your door, but not every issue has to be addressed in-game. I'd suggest to talk about it DM-player rather than dealing with it in-game.

[Ramshack]

Hey Thanks for all the great responses guys.

The party is pretty straight forward.

A Wyrmling Dragon playing a Sorcerer. She is new to D&D and not min maxed at all and plays fairly straight forward with evocation.

A Rogue/Assassin also pretty straight forward. medicore damage but can shine with sneak attacks like all rogues. He is primarily the skill monkey and really works the social interaction and gets into the city politics. Definitely making the most of the world I created.

A straight Cleric, playing primarily as a buff bot and healer. He gets into melee combat when needed (he is playing as a half monkey. I gave him baboon stats. Think Wukong if you play LoL at all.)

And a Sorcerer/malconvoker. Not overly optimized. Isn't doing anything abusive. Usually summons a pair of monsters and casts Orb spells or enchantment spells.

I feel the party is pretty is pretty fairly balanced. He is also our only beefy melee player so it's good he is durable. I think someone brought up a good point. He doesn't do amazing damage so that counter balances a lot. It's just hard to make him feel threatened with his high saves, touch ac, ac and improved evasion. I think everyone can agree running through every encounter with out fear of losing gets boring pretty fast. I just don't want to make encounters too hard on his behalf and ruin the rest of my players enjoyment.

I will look more into status effects that debuff the characters . The grease spells was a great idea. This may be my best route without vamping up the gear they earn per encounter.

Also LOL at flying archers with silver arrows. Funny idea but fits no where in my plot line haha.

[Urpriest]

Be aware that while his LA may be free, his racial hit dice are not. He could have spent those racial hit dice on class levels instead and gained similar benefits.