Resenting a DM for giving other players homebrew/UA powers (CoS)

[Guillaume777]

I'm currently playing Curse of Strahd campaign as a level 9 vanilla Tempest Cleric.

I feel my character should be doing alright but it seems I've having trouble pulling my weight through the campaign.

Other party members are a Feral Tiefling 1.05 Dawnforged Alchemist of the Metamorph specialization, and a V3 Mystic (UA).

They can heal, buff, and do damage much better than I ever can. As such, I feel pretty useless as a character.

The Mystic can heal much more effectively than me, cure diseases, can do 7d10 + melee damage at will against a single enemy through Lethal Strike, can do 8d8 to a large cone through Psychic Blast, and can attack twice per turn. In addition, he has all kind of neat abilities and buffs such as: Telepathy, attack rolls against him can't gain advantage, he gets a +10 bonus to initiative, etc.

The DM also improved the Mystic by granting him additional powers:

- Lethal Strike stays active until the Psionic hits something with it, so it isn't removed at end of turn in case of a miss.
- When Soul Knife is used to do two attacks, both benefit from the ability modifier bonus, and the second attack doesn't take any bonus action

Meanwhile, the DM improved the Alchemist by granting her additional powers beyond what's in the pdf:

- She gets 3 attacks per round while Metamorphed instead of 2
- Her buff potions (extracts) don't use concentration
- Her buff potions can be used by others in the party
- Her buff potions can be used while she is Metamorphed
- She gets proficiency in both Herbalism kit and Poisoner’s kit instead of just 1
- She can use swift alchemy once per short rest instead of 1 per day
- Bite attack heals 1/2 of damage dealt

We play Curse of Strahd so we face a lot of Eldritch Horror themed monsters. They all seem to have powerful psionic powers, such as Psychic Pulse (All enemies within 30 ft must make an Intelligence saving throw of 16 or gain the Confused status for 1 round), and Mind Blast (Each creature in a 60-foot cone. must succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw or take 22 (4d8 + 4) psychic damage and be stunned for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns). I have 8 Intelligence since it is my dump stats, so I almost never make these checks, spending my turns confused or stunned. Both the Alchemist and the Mystic have high Intelligence (their abilities depend on it) and have proficiency in Intelligence saving throws, so they don't have that issue.

I feel I am struggling to have an impact to the battlefield. My buffs seem pointless since the Alchemist just prepares batches of extract that we all drink before combat - the buffs don't take concentration and she can use multiple of them at a time. Both teammates can heal pretty good (Alchemist can craft Potions of Healing (4d4+4) regularly and Psionic can heal for 7d8, both can heal diseases, and the alchemist can remove curses). Both can completely outdamage me in combat, and both have higher AC than me.

We also face a lot of single enemies, and never face random encounters on the map, so my AoE / outdoor Tempest spells are of limited use. The DM also ruled out that Dispel Magic cannot remove the Bestow Curse and Contagion spells, so I have to prepare Remove Curse and Lesser Restoration to deal with these conditions.

I wouldn't take too much offense but I feel like many of their abilities are unearned and unbalanced. At the same time I don't want to be the jerk that asks the DM to take away their shiny toys. Still, I'm growing a bit resentful from the state of the game.

I guess I also have to take part of the blame for creating a low intelligence character in Curse of Strahd, as I did not realize we would face so many psionic enemies targeting Intelligence saves.

[Blood of Gaea]

Talk to your DM, you could perhaps suggest they give you something to bump up to your parties effectiveness.

This is a problem that has no chance of being solved without communication.

[Unoriginal]

Have you explained your concerns to the DM? How did they react?

[KOLE]

Since he’s handing out additional abilities, why not come to the DM and ask them for some help? Either grant you some features to pump up some parts of your build like he sid for the Alchemist, or see if he’ll let you roll something new. I’m not saying fight fire with fire, but maybe look into some UA yourself and see if there’s something you like.

[DarkKnightJin]

As was said: talk to your DM about this.

The options I can see for them to solve this are either toning down what the Mystic and Artificer can do.. Or giving your Cleric some homebrew buffs to bring 'em on the same level as their characters.

Otherwise you might as well not come along, or start playing your guy ad an NPC.
"Hey, why aren't you doing anything?"
"What's the use? The Mystic and Artificer are doing everything I can do, except better."

[Guillaume777]

The options I can see for them to solve this are either toning down what the Mystic and Artificer can do


She's not an Artificer, but instead an Alchemist (port of the Pathfinder Alchemist by Dawnforgedcast)



"Hey, why aren't you doing anything?"
"What's the use? The Mystic and Artificer are doing everything I can do, except better."

Something like that happened last session. Constant aoe psionic attacks kept me stunned for most of the fight. When my turn finally came I had been damaged down to 14 HPs so I spent my actions running away from the fight. The DM thought that was pretty funny.

[Guillaume777]

Either grant you some features to pump up some parts of your build like he sid for the Alchemist, or see if he’ll let you roll something new.

What should I roll, then? I thought a Cleric would be a good fit for CoS but I've been apparently wrong. Are there any UA classes that would be considered OP?

The DM also said any late joiner would have to be native to Barovia, which limits options.

[Unoriginal]

Pretty sure your DM is homebrewing most of those psionic enemies, or at least is modifying the adventure to include them.


Again, have you talked with your DM or the rest of the group about your issues?


If you want a character concept: why not one based on Star Wars' Sith, except without the evil? I wouldn't play an evil PC in that kind of campaign, personaly, but it can be fun to have a PC who does the theatrics of the Evilbad(TM) while not being evil.

[Guillaume777]

Pretty sure your DM is homebrewing most of those psionic enemies, or at least is modifying the adventure to include them.


Are you sure?

We faced various "Elder Things", and a Morchia. Aren't these monsters in CoS?

[Blood of Gaea]

What should I roll, then? I thought a Cleric would be a good fit for CoS but I've been apparently wrong. Are there any UA classes that would be considered OP?

The DM also said any late joiner would have to be native to Barovia, which limits options.
A Lore Mastery Wizard has potential to be very good, so long as it's used properly to avoid resistances and target weaknesses.

If you get to higher levels, plain 'ol vanilla Illusion Wizard has control power that simply cannot be matched by the other two PCs in your party, unless your DM goes crazy with enemies casting Dispel Magic.

But really, talk to your DM first, that's the important thing.

[Unoriginal]

Are you sure?

We faced various "Elder Things", and a Morchia. Aren't these monsters in CoS?

Elder Things and Morchias aren't even monsters in 5e. Your DM is either homebrewing or refluffing things. Probably both.

In any case, while it is his right as a DM, he's indeed modifying the adventure.

CoS isn't Cthulhu-like.

[Guillaume777]

If you want a character concept: why not one based on Star Wars' Sith, except without the evil? I wouldn't play an evil PC in that kind of campaign, personaly, but it can be fun to have a PC who does the theatrics of the Evilbad(TM) while not being evil.

Do you have a pre-made class for it? I think making a new class would be a lot of work for the DM & me.



If you get to higher levels, plain 'ol vanilla Illusion Wizard has control power that simply cannot be matched by the other two PCs in your party, unless your DM goes crazy with enemies casting Dispel Magic.

But really, talk to your DM first, that's the important thing.

As far as I know, the campaign will probably end at level 10-12


A Lore Mastery Wizard has potential to be very good, so long as it's used properly to avoid resistances and target weaknesses.


Lore Wizard would be really cool to play, but I fear the DM will argue that Lore Wizards aren't native to Ravenloft. But maybe we can work something out.

[Cespenar]

Ask your DM to retrain one of your ASIs/feats for Resilience: Int.

Other than that, the cleric spell list should suffice, even if the others are overshadowing you.

[Wartex1]

If Lore Wizard doesn't work out, see if you can get that ridiculous Archivist archetype or whatever it's called for the Wizard. You're a wizard and a cleric, basically.

[Dungeon-noob]

So let me get this straight. Your DM decided that it was a good idea to take UA and third party classes, and massively buff them by giving them extra attacks and removing all kinds of limiters, you're almost exclusively fighting opponents that use sav-or-sucks against your dump stat, and you're wondering if you're allowed to be miffed?

Part of me wants to say to just clock that DM over the head for this stuff, because it's just such an obvious bad idea. Of course, the actual constructive thing to do is to talk it out. If he wants to buff the others, fine, but he better give you comperable advantages so you can actually keep up. Otherwise he's just playing favorites.

Tell him to either reapply some of the limits he removed (they're there for a good reason!), or give you similar boosts. maybe you can have up to three concentration effects going at once. Maybe you can multiple attacks per round as well. Maybe you can get more divine aid, either from others in your church, or straight from the heavens. Maybe you can add 2*WIS mod to all your spells/cantrips that do thunder or lightning damage. Maybe you can use Wrath of the storm ad infinitum, or it becomes a free action. Maybe you can start fighting some enemies that are actually not build to hardcounter you while playing to the others' strengths. Like undead, seems like a common enough enemy in Barovia.

Anyway, talk it over with him, ask him why he buffed the others (so much), and ask him to help you solve this problem, in any way you're both okay with. If he won't....well, i guess other playing groups are always an option.

[Sjappo]

Part of me wants to say to just clock that DM over the head for this stuff, because it's just such an obvious bad idea. Of course, the actual constructive thing to do is to talk it out. If he wants to buff the others, fine, but he better give you comperable advantages so you can actually keep up. Otherwise he's just playing favorites.
Full Cleric casting (off CHA) on a Paladin chassis sounds like a good start. Get that feat where you do everything with CHA and you'd be golden.

Gah, did that DM go for a high powered game.

For the record, CoS is not an eldritch horror module, it's gothic. So ghosts, vampires and various other undead.

[Unoriginal]

For the record, CoS is not an eldritch horror module, it's gothic. So ghosts, vampires and various other undead.

And Werewolves, witches, dark curses, etc.

You know, the kind of things Clerics are supposed to be great at handling. I get the impression your DM doesn't like Clerics.

[MaxWilson]

As was said: talk to your DM about this.

The options I can see for them to solve this are either toning down what the Mystic and Artificer can do.. Or giving your Cleric some homebrew buffs to bring 'em on the same level as their characters.

Otherwise you might as well not come along, or start playing your guy ad an NPC.
"Hey, why aren't you doing anything?"
"What's the use? The Mystic and Artificer are doing everything I can do, except better."

Before you do this, consider the source of your resentment:

Are you annoyed at the power imbalance, or at the fact that the DM is running a different game than the one you signed up to play? Would home-brewed power boosts for your PC actually make you happy, or would they just make your annoyance worse while also locking you into continued play so as not to seem ungrateful to your DM?

[Guillaume777]

Before you do this, consider the source of your resentment:

Are you annoyed at the power imbalance, or at the fact that the DM is running a different game than the one you signed up to play? Would home-brewed power boosts for your PC actually make you happy, or would they just make your annoyance worse while also locking you into continued play so as not to seem ungrateful to your DM?

I talked with the DM and he let me swap one of my cantrip for Booming Blade.

It's not much but it will increases my melee damage a bit. DM told me we are about to reach a point in the campaign where we can receive extra powers, so I'll re-evaluate the balance after a few sessions.

You are right though, I'm not really satisfied with the inclusion of homebrew powers. It feels like the power of your character depends mostly on how well you can argue for a power boost from the DM.

[JNAProductions]

Yeah, talk to the DM. Explain that you're not having a fun time, and tell him that you're considering leaving. As a side note, consider not playing. No gaming is better than bad gaming-although this doesn't sound THAT awful. Not GOOD, definitely, but could be worse.

[Zanthy1]

I talked with the DM and he let me swap one of my cantrip for Booming Blade.

It's not much but it will increases my melee damage a bit. DM told me we are about to reach a point in the campaign where we can receive extra powers, so I'll re-evaluate the balance after a few sessions.

You are right though, I'm not really satisfied with the inclusion of homebrew powers. It feels like the power of your character depends mostly on how well you can argue for a power boost from the DM.

You think Booming Blade is going to offset this power imbalance he created? Thats stupid. Your DM is obviously changing the campaign, which is fine, but is also throwing ridiculous powers at the other players and all he did for you was let you swap a cantrip and a "potential" for "more power" later? He is doing the bare minimum to try to keep you docile, if I were you I wouldn't play this campaign anymore. Like straight up tell him that you're gonna sit out the rest of this campaign and maybe next one you'll try again, but teh way he is running that game sounds awful.

[Beelzebubba]

Agreed. That sounds seriously lousy and you're being far too patient.

You deserve to spend your time on better things.Find another game.

[mephnick]

Tell your DM to actually understand the system before he decides to take too much in. I've been running games for 20+ years and I'm still wary of my ability to judge unofficial material. That he thought any of this was a good idea at any point is..revealing.

Obviously talk to him, if he'll let you re-roll a broken character to match the others then it might save the game.

Edit: Nothing RAW is going to match these guys. Tempest Cleric is a great class. You'll need to work with him to bastardize the system just a little more and get you something comparable.

[Guillaume777]

Tell your DM to actually understand the system before he decides to take too much in. I've been running games for 20+ years and I'm still wary of my ability to judge unofficial material. That he thought any of this was a good idea at any point is..revealing.


DM said it's a needless exercise to compare myself to other characters because the game is not a competition between us.

I guess that's why he doesn't seem to take balance seriously; he just doesn't see it as an issue in his campaign.

As far as I know he gave the Alchemist her extra powers because it makes sense to him for the class, not because she requested any of it (he thinks a proper alchemist should be a master of both herbs and poison, and that extracts once created should be usable by anyone at any time, etc.)...


You think Booming Blade is going to offset this power imbalance he created? Thats stupid. Your DM is obviously changing the campaign, which is fine, but is also throwing ridiculous powers at the other players and all he did for you was let you swap a cantrip and a "potential" for "more power" later?

I'll see. Next session, we are supposed to get a bunch of really powerful gifts from a temple (Amber Temple) that might change the balance of the game.

I already got the best gift. It does requires a specific trigger to be activated:

I need to kill someone who loves me, and it is implied that I will then become a Vampire

Since my character is evil and a native of Barovia, I'll be able to satisfy the condition relatively easily. Other players are outsiders to Barovia & don't have a clear way to do the same.



Obviously talk to him, if he'll let you re-roll a broken character to match the others then it might save the game.


Funny story - before I joined, the Mystic actually used to be an Eldritch Knight. It's my understanding that he switched to Mystic because he couldn't keep up with the Alchemist.


Edit: Nothing RAW is going to match these guys. Tempest Cleric is a great class.

Tempest Cleric has good AoE and battlefield control magic, but that's not very helpful to me because the DM is very fond of having us face 1-2 enemies at a time. Other RAW classes probably don't have this issue.

[sophontteks]

The DM broke the game by giving multiple game-breaking buffs to UA characters. His excuse doesn't make sense and the only solution is to now pile on even more game-breaking buffs hoping they kind of even out.

Its up to you now if this kind of game will be enjoyable to you. There is a lot of stuff that we don't know about the game yet and it sounds like the DM is putting a lot of extra work into customizing the story. If this extra work is translating into a more interesting experience for you, then stick around.

My fear is that the game is going to lose its luster when you guys are all superhumans. Like he said, its not a competition, but anyone who's played a co-op game knows that the fun is in, well, cooperating. Everyone needs strengths to make them shine and weaknesses that must be overcome. The fun is in emphasizing your strengths to great effect and depending on your teammates to cover your weaknesses as you do so. Its a great feeling when your buddy has your back, saving you from something you couldn't control, or combining your powers to do something bigger then the both of you.

By removing your weaknesses the DM might actually be turning it into a competition. He runs the risk of turning the game into nothing more then a bunch of solo players competing over the cool factor without any real risks and no real need to cooperate. The Alchemist has no weaknesses as presented, so why would he even care what you are doing? Are you really playing with him? Does he at any point depend on you for anything?

[Guillaume777]

Finished the campaign. I used every trick in the book and ended up doing pretty well.

Now DM wants to nerf Sanctuary because he argues I abused it. Lol, I am so done with this guy.

[sophontteks]

Finished the campaign. I used every trick in the book and ended up doing pretty well.

Now DM wants to nerf Sanctuary because he argues I abused it. Lol, I am so done with this guy.
Lol!
I'm so happy you checked back in. Thats hilarious. Sanctuary!?!

So, sounds like it remained a pretty adversarial relationship between you and the DM. How did your buddies do?

[AvvyR]

And Werewolves, witches, dark curses, etc.

You know, the kind of things Clerics are supposed to be great at handling. I get the impression your DM doesn't like Clerics.

Heck, with how specifically the DM seems to have designed the campaign to screw over the OP (Giving already OP non-official builds insane power bumps, with none for OP, re-writing the campaign to feature mainly enemies that specifically target a stat only the OP doesn't have, etc.), I'm starting to think the DM secretly hates the OP.