Larur Feldin

Justin Ricobaldi's page

Organized Play Member. 89 posts (97 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 1 alias.



1 person marked this as a favorite.

See a thread about the nature of power gaming? I can't help but put a pin on the problem that gets me most about it and others, even if they haven't figured out it is this. So here it goes:

The problem I encounter with most "power-gamers" is that their actual character that they role-play is un-informed by their game mechanic choices and vice-versa.

That is to say, their characters abilities, feats, powers, spells, gear etc. are all chosen based on being powerful at a particular task and reflect nothing of the character presented outside of the statistics.

I cannot, and will not, say that all meta-choices are bad. If you like a spell pick it, if your character needs to be harder to hit then get a feat or an item to help with that. Certainly there is some level of the knowledge of the rules that influences the choices we make for the statistical side of our characters.

However, I have seen many power gamers disregard letting a single one of these choices actually be reflected in their role-playing. Even if the choices are oddly specific and miss-matched to one another, they were purely chosen out of an end result of a powerful character and never addressed or mentioned by the offending player's character.

This dual nature between what is role-played and what is on paper creates an inconsistent character who's seem out of place due to their lack of connection to the abilities they possess.

The equivalent is like watching a pacifist speed construct an m-16 and fire it, hitting a bulls-eye. It's like watching a professional skate-boarder trip over his own feet while simply walking.

What's most hurtful is the fact that these "power-characters" have flat static personalities that you could copy paste onto anyone you wanted. Rather than having a character in mind and then choosing statistics to create that character, they create a powerful combination of numbers and then slip the character over it like a mask or costume. And while that is not a crime in and of itself, it is a lost opportunity to run a truly unique and dynamic character who could have been just as memorable for who they were as well as what they could do.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

I would name my Dhampir: Alucard Von MC-Satan B%~@+-slap the 3rd, esquire.

But no seriously, probably something like, Carvastan or Emelric. Something that at least tries to sound old and Romanian.


4 people marked this as a favorite.

Here is one a player told me:

-A dwarf walks out of a bar. (that is the joke)

blackbloodtroll wrote:
Red Wizards stuff is Faerun.

Hey man, don't Faeruin it for everyone.