Hail adventurers! Once again I've taken up my sword and begun DMing a campaign! Unfortunately, three sessions in, our resident Monk has become overpowered and nothing I throw at him (at his level) seems to do any damage!
I (as the care-free and absent-minded DM) let the players choose anything from any D&D book to create their character. A terrible mistake... The monk has dipped into forbidden powers and now runs around the world with an incredible 28AC, an aura called 'Vow of Peace' (making the monsters who fail a Will save of 10...'calm'), and his skin as hard as mithril (weapons must succeed a Fortitude save (can't remember what the save was) or shatter and become useless). He literally jumped from lv2 to lv5, leaving the other players 3 levels behind, and now the challenge rating for everyone has changed to about 3-4. What should I do to even the playing field?!
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You should be extremely careful when allowing splatbook material in your games. Some books are fine and some are .... problematic. Book of Exalted Deeds is one of them.
Book of Exalted Deeds
Complete PsionExpanded Psionics Handbook
Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords
Frostburn (there are one or two horrible spells that are game deforming in here)
Libre Mortis (Nightsticks + others make clerics a powerhouse)
These are the more notorious ones...
Talk to the player and tell him where the problem is. You could either try to tone his character down, or pull the other characters up to the same power level. I don´t think you will find an in-game solution to this without looking like an arbitrary decision.
I think the level jump is more meant as a comparison than a true level jump XP-wise, right?
Stefan
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As a rule of a thumb: never ever allow a player a completely free choice of splatbook stuff.
Explain to your group that while it's very nice that they look out for extra material to supplement their characters (the carrot), several non-core books include potentially game-breaking material, and in order to keep it all under control any splatbook stuff will be allowed on case by case basis (the stick). This way you can let the players have new shiny stuff while avoiding problematic issues such as Vows.
Actually, of all the wotc books the only one that I allow to be used as it is without any review is the PHB2 - it has a very balanced and tested set of classes/feats/spells. Almost every other book has its' problems.
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Use high fortitude creatures. A two-hander barbarian with a jacked up Fort save is going to deal damage.
Use natural weapon creatures. Dire animals. Claws and bites don't shatter. Turn it around on him, use monks to pummel him.
Use mind-affecting immunity creatures. Constructs and undead, which he can actually fight normally. Use intelligent antagonists that are going to calmly smash his face in if he interferes, regardless of his calming aura. Calm does NOT mean friendly.
If he has Vow of Poverty for the bonuses to Vow of Peace, start handing out nifty magical items to the party. He can't use them, so the cooler they are, the more they hurt.
I have played with VoP monks. Yes, they are great fun and powerful in most situations. But there are drawbacks for you to highlight.
He does know that with Vow of Peace he can't hurt anyone right? Also, it provides a bonus to AC and produces an aura of Calm Emotions. Enemies intent on fighting the monk are still going to go for it, Calmed or no.
Also, I'd check his AC, see if anything stacks. Collectivly, the Vow of Peace feat provides a +6 bonus to AC, but only 2 points of that stack with everything else. The other 4 points become worthless if the monk is hoping to have amulets of natural armour or rings of protection.
Monks also generally do have high AC, that is going to be a problem, overpowering feats or no.
Though quick question. He went from 2nd level to 5th? He had Vow of Peace at 2nd level? That's physically impossible since it requires two other feats to take, and even humans only have 2 feats by 2nd level.
I'm willing to bet he's breaking a few rules, intentional or not. Before you do anything else, you should read over all of the abilities he has, and make sure he meets the prerequisites and is using them correctly.
I feel the OP's pain. I have a monk in my game with the broken-as-hell Feral template, who has an AC of 24+ at 3rd level. If, for some reason, any of the monsters are lucky enough to even hit him, he has Fast Healing. Blah.
I'm willing to bet he's breaking a few rules, intentional or not. Before you do anything else, you should read over all of the abilities he has, and make sure he meets the prerequisites and is using them correctly.
Definitely audit his character sheet, and the feats/templates/etc that he is using on his Monk character.
I also play monk with vow of peace in one of our games. I play it by the book, except for calm emotions aura and shattering skin. I thought they were lame abilities, so I just took the AC bonuses. My AC is now 34 in that game and Dm's monsters are nearly killing me every session. So biggest of your problems is the level cap between players, how did that happen? You should find a way to bring other players to same level and talk with your monk player and try to convince him to ditch the calm emotions aura, it doesn't make the game any more fun in my opinion. Book of exalted deeds isn't so broken when you alter it a bit. In our games my monk isn't the overpowered one, our wizard is. And he's done with core only.
I do think somthing may be wrong. I've always known monks to have high AC, but it seems like quite an amount at such a low level. How exactly are they doing it?
As for splatbooks, please don't be so hasty to just throw them out. For the most part, splatbooks aren't bad, but more like they simply don't take each other into account that much. Persistant Spell and Nightsticks aren't that bad on their own, it's only when you bring Divine Metamagic to the table and combine them do you have issues.
For things like the spell compenduim, I think many of the spells are reasonably balanced (if not better balanced than core). However, the problems arise when classes like clerics and druids automaticcally know these spells.
I wouldn't outright just ban a book though. Have a look, see why the player has so many bonuses and how. It'll help alot if the player is mis-reading somthing (in fact, if that is the case, looking yourself might be the only way to really resolve it) and what's more, it'll also show possible weaknesses. Some non-core abilities are designed under the assumption that some weaknesses might be played on as well, with the vows having pretty obvious ones.
In fact, unlike making a paladin fall or draining a wizard's intellegence to 10, making a PC lose the benifit of a vow has no comeback. Once a vow's gone it's gone - Feat wasted, no chance for attonment. This means the monk really has to play careful, since a bit of lethal damage is enough to cause him greif, which also rules out certain abilities and class features.
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How has he gained 3 levels? Has he taken the Saint template or something? (If not, don't give him ideas ...)
If you don't have the Book of Exalted Deeds, then you need to borrow it and read up on the vows. They all have limitations that players sometimes "forget" in the heat of the moment.
If he breaks the vow the character loses all his exalted feats and becomes pretty much worthless - which is why the DM and the player need to sit down beforehand and ensure they are in agreement as to how an exalted character needs to behave.
Ideally, you should also never play an exalted character without clearing it with the other players, as having one in the party can be a strain if he starts to limit the behaviour of everyone else.
Talk to the player.
Banning splat books will only make a power gamer look elsewhere for their fix. And they will get it.
Going after the weaknesses of the character will only encourage more power gaming. Now they will look to shore up the weaknesses you exposed.
If you really want to get to the root of the problem, talk to your player. Most people do not want to get into an arms race from either side of the screen. It detracts from the game itself. The player needs to understand that their fun should not hamper anyone else's fun. Ultimately, it is in their best interest to understand this. Otherwise, they become that person no one wants to play with.
Once you have the player onboard, then the entire group can find common ground where you enjoy providing challenges for the entire group and no one feels like they are being overshadowed.
The only real power level that matters is that between players. If one player is out shining the others, then there is a problem. If the whole group is overpowered compared to another group, then who cares, this is the only group playing.
From your description it sounds like the biggest issue is the disparity in levels between this PC and the others in the group (there is a HUGE power difference in lvl 2 and lvl 5 characters even when not optimized). You need to figure out how this happened and fix it. We would need more info to chime in.
The other two issues here are handled very well by the suggestions above.
-Talk to the player. Let him know your concerns and ask for his input, suggestions and cooperation.
-Review the character sheet. Make sure everything is actually what it is supposed to be. The player may be inadvertantly making errors in his favor. You also need to understand how all of his abilities work to properly adjudicate them.
You may also find ways to use the limitations of his build against him. (Power Gamers often become quite annoyed when the weeknesses of their Uberbuilds are highlighted.)
Umm... I am hoping the goal is not to annoy your players but to make sure they are ALL having fun (including this one). I would recommend against doing things to specifically target the weaknesses of one character on a regular basis (individual encounters certainly could be made this way to keep things interesting, but don't repeatedly target one player).
As someone who enjoys including all of the splatbooks from WotC in my game, I have yet to find them unbalancing. I have had to make some calls on things in RAW that vary from RAI in my opinion (like divine metamagic only working if the metamagic would bring the spell up to a level you could normally cast if it were applied normally or night sticks not stacking... right now I am considering changing psychoactive skin of armor to actually count as heavy armor when applied). Overall the important thing is that you as DM understand the rules as well as your players and that you work to make sure you players feel responsible for keeping the party balanced and everyone having fun.
Another suggestion might be to have this player help the others with character build ideas.
Sean Mahoney
He had Vow of Peace at 2nd level? That's physically impossible since it requires two other feats to take, and even humans only have 2 feats by 2nd level.
It could be done through the use of flaws in the SRD or Unearthed Arcana easily enough... of course, that means he has yet another (on top of the draw backs from the vows) flaw that you should be aware of and imposing fully.
I would very interested in going over this guys build though... I think he is doing some 'creative' math.
Sean Mahoney
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I used to worry about overpowered characters. Right from our first 3.0 game, the half-orc barbarian with a Strength 20 gave me trouble. Then I found ways to make a challenging game in spite of character strengths (or overstrengths).
It's not about the DM vs the players. Players want to have the occasional cake-walk, but most of them want to be challenged, and pushed to their limits.
1) Got a bruiser that can kill everything? Give them dozens of goons, so the rest of the PCs can deal with him. My favorite -- a chess board with 32 tiny animated marble objects. Sure, they only do 1 point of damage, but they have a hardness of 8...
2) If they are strong, use their strengths against them. That half-orc barbarian? Dominated by vampires. Suggestion spells to inhibit his fellow adventurers.
3) Use terrain. Sure the two-weapon fighter can moulinex through goons, but can he balance on a crumbling cliff?
4) Finally, use roleplaying and skill checks. Anybody can build a bruiser character. But can they convince the Archduke to give up a prized painting? Or get a canny merchant to give up some information? Ask the barbarian for a diplomacy check ... It doesn't matter how much damage their greatsword does in those circumstances.
Try not to hamper or harm characters, take away their magic items, steal their gold, or permanently alter their stats. That's mean, and is player vs GM mentality. Look at your players' character sheets and see what challenges them.
But occasionally, give them a cake-walk. It makes them feel heroic, and it changes the pace, so they know that after the cake-walk, the scary scenario is coming up ...
If a human character takes Sacred Vow/Vow of Poverty at 1st level, they get their first bonus Exalted Feat at 2nd level.
You had best be willing to take the character's alignment and feat restrictions to task before permitting them in the game - if you use the Book of Vile Darkness, then it is fair to permit the Book of Exalted Deeds. However part of permitting the Exalted Feats as the book reads (to me) is that the behavioral requirements - as one or more others have pointed out - are very significant, enough that it could be onerous to GM when the rest of the group is the more 'standard' 'mercenaries with hearts of gold'.
The gear restrictions of the Vow of Poverty are nearly total, especially combined with the Peace restrictions of the Vow of Peace. The character gets his full share of the loot - and then has no easy means of hauling out said loot. He would probably be - for the hack-n-slash players - a pain in the derriere endlessly talking about tithing, attempting to redeem the bad guys (instead of fragging them), and on and on and on. What constitutes an Evil act in game terms (by the use of the BoED) is actually fairly broad in scope - and run of the mill adventurers brush into the purview of the Evil alignment pretty regularly - even 'guilt by association' is a problem.
Keeping in mind that the monk has four non-retrievable feats invested in acquiring the Vows of Poverty, Nonviolence and Peace ...
His unarmed strikes and stunning blow abilities require that nonlethal damage be dealt. Rather importantly he penalizes his allies within 120 feet that slay a defenseless or helpless foe. If the monk leaves a helpless foe to be fragged by his erstwhile buddies, the monk has broken his vow. (However, he can secure an oath from the surrendered creature in exchange for its miserable life - if that critter goes back on its word, death becomes an option - but not for your monk, who still doesn't get to kill anything.)
Odds are reasonably good that his "allies" could well stuff the monk in a sack and toss him down a well - unless he has convinced them to somehow act quickly to stabilize foes as soon as they fall over. Inevitably they will kill something alive (unless the campaign is construct and undead-heavy), quite possibly without actually intending to do so, and the pain begins.
Long rambling story short, the Exalted monk needs truly Vile foes that do bad things to their pets and generally do Bad Guy stuff. I suggest that if you're not willing to "go there" as a GM that you rescind the BoED (while permitting a 'rebuild' of that monk with gear equivalent to the rest of the player characters) and BoVD - and of course explain why.
The Exalted Monk is likely to become "squishier" at higher levels of play if it is any consolation...
The Vow of Peace is completely legal, I suspect. Under the description of 'Vow of Poverty' on Page 30 of the Book of Exalted Deeds, it describes a regular stream of Bonus Exalted Feats as one of the benefits of taking the Vow of Poverty. There's some discrepency between the description on Page 30, and table 2-3 on page 31, over whether or not you get such a Bonus Exalted Feat at first level (and I'm not sure what any official WotC errata has to say about this) but either way, if you take Vow of Poverty at first level, text and table agree you will acquire a bonus exalted feat when you level up to 2nd level.
This make's the DM's job infinately easier if Vow of Poverty is in play. Some vows are easy to keep, this one isn't. It means that the PC cannot use magic items. Put them in situations where they need to relay heavily on potions or wands. Or better yet, put them in situations where magic is needed, since a VOP monk lacks little in the way of utility or even manouverbility.
Well, if you have a fifth level character and a group of three 2nd level characters, of course he's overpowered. He should be. Start modifying how you hand out xp to reflect the fact that the others are facing harder challenges than he is and catch them up.
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I agree with those who think that talking to the player is your first starting point. Find out the moviations, are they "character based" or "mechanics based". Personally as a DM I kindly suggest those moviated by the mechanics of the game are completely missing the major point of a roleplaying game. As such I usually suggest that another group/DM would suit their "style" ( oh look Ican add) of play.
Needless to say I have almost zero time for power-games stuffing up a game I have spent time organising, that and they reduce the enjoyment of others. Level 5 vs level 2's. That must be heaps of fun for those other players.
Talk first... Splat books are the bane of RPG's...
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I'd recommend just asking him to take out the non-Core stuff that's causing the problems, in addition to making sure that he's actually abiding by the scary hefty penalties of whatever Vows he's taken.
I, in a fit of weirdness, avoid Vow of Poverty because I don't think it's very good. Ooh, ooh. Tons of bonus Exalted Feats, of which there is exactly *one* my Monk wants, Touch of Golden Ice, and I was never willing to abide by all the VoP drawbacks anyway.
The various Vows seem to take certain aspects of the game (in VoP's case, treasure), and take them away from you. Who needs that?
You could try to limit your player's options or powers, or you could try to target his weaknesses. I've tried that approach and the player in question protested, sensing that I was specifically targeting her character. I don't recommend that strategy; nobody likes it when their character's "coolness" is nerfed by invariably encountering foes that target his weak points.
You should audit the character, determining whether all his bonuses should stack and reviewing the requirements of his vows in detail.
I recommend that you speak with the player and explain that his character's abilities overshadow the rest of the party. Ask him to make a secondary character, to run for a few games until the others catch up to his power level.
In your shoes, I'd also plan some roleplay-heavy scenarios. Instead of combat, make the real challenges solving mysteries or dealing with moral dilemmas. I wouldn't eschew combat entirely: Just reduce its role. The vows that make him unbalanced can become roleplaying hooks, turning your problem into an advantage.
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I'm willing to bet he's breaking a few rules, intentional or not. Before you do anything else, you should read over all of the abilities he has, and make sure he meets the prerequisites and is using them correctly.
Definitely audit his character sheet, and the feats/templates/etc that he is using on his Monk character.
I too agree with this. When it feels like someone is too powerful, I've found that it's often because of a misinterpretation of the rules.
While you should audit his character, I'm curious as to how he got there. Can you post all of his abilities and splat books where they are found? I'd like to take a look at that.
I'm Willing to bet the lot of you are new to this game, First of all the most over powered Build In the Entire Game is Druid 20, With Natural Spell at Level 6. Full Divine casting and Dire Poler Bear Form. And Thats Core, A monk with Vow Of Poverty, Vow of Peace, And Vow Of Non Violence, can be easly done with 2 flaws. Also Vow Of Poverty Quickly becomes useless at level 12 when every one can fly Via the party wizard and Every has +15 Str thanks to the Buff crazy Cleric. And the Fighter has Like 3 +3 weps, The Ranger has a spliting Great bow with many shot making his +12 bab fire 4 Arrows Per Shot.
Now Per calm Emotions From D20 SRD
"This spell calms agitated creatures. You have no control over the affected creatures, but calm emotions can stop raging creatures from fighting or joyous ones from reveling. Creatures so affected cannot take violent actions (although they can defend themselves) or do anything destructive. Any aggressive action against or damage dealt to a calmed creature immediately breaks the spell on all calmed creatures."
Creatures so affected cannot take violent actions (although they can defend themselves) or do anything destructive
This sentence is the most important wording of the spell. Too bad the Aura Affects Your party as well. Thats gotta be a big Turn Off for the Orc Barb/Frenzied B. You know the one who has no class powers when he is with-in 20 ft of the monk.
That brings me to my next Point, Make everything that attacks the monk Ranged! Holy crap now the Aura does nothing.
Oh and as for AC 28 thats little kids s#~#.
Take a Dwarf Druid18/Deep Warden 2
Now Shape Shift into a Shambling Mound, Now get 1000 lvl 1 commeners to poke you with electric arrows allowing them to so it moves past your AC, Shambling Mounds gain Con from Electric Dmg, and Deepwardens gain Con to AC, You now have Nigh Unlimated AC. this is core +1 splat book.
Wanna go more core, I pose this Wizard 17/Archmage 3, This character can Use Genesis. He can Creat his own Plains, Made of anything, Like Platinum, now we have all the money we need, and lets not get in to the Cheese with the spell "GATE"
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/gate.htm
actually read it, its long, however I can summon any thing. Like a planatar, now i am a wiz 20 and i control a cleric 20, Sow Wiz 20 and Clr 20 casting on 1 char.
or my favorite Core Item that spells broke.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Candle of Invocation
Each of these special tapers is dedicated to one of the nine alignments. Simply burning the candle generates a favorable aura for the individual so doing if the candle’s alignment matches that of the character. Characters of the same alignment as the burning candle add a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks while within 30 feet of the flame.
A cleric whose alignment matches the candle’s operates as if two levels higher for purposes of determining spells per day if he burns the candle during or just prior to his spell preparation time. He can even cast spells normally unavailable to him, as if he were of that higher level, but only so long as the candle continues to burn. Except in special cases (see below), a candle burns for 4 hours.
In addition, burning a candle also allows the owner to cast a gate spell, the respondent being of the same alignment as the candle, but the taper is immediately consumed in the process.
It is possible to extinguish the candle simply by blowing it out, so users often place it in a lantern to protect it from drafts and the like. Doing this doesn’t interfere with its magical properties.
Strong conjuration; CL 17th; Craft Wondrous Item, gate, creator must be same alignment as candle created; Price 8,400 gp; Weight ½ lb.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah I can now cast Gate for only 8,400 gp and use it to summon a noble Jinn, 3 wishes any one, oh one of them is for a seconed candle of invocation!
So now What splat books are broken.
Also monk 1 + unarmed swordsage 2 = WISx2 to AC noobs.
All of you need to read way more about all the classes before you decide what is broke and what is now, The Op ask for help and you did nothing but lie to him, mistakenly or not. Also you told him his chars were cheating, I know more about these rules then any of you and I looked over the Monks Char sheet myself. The only thing the monk can do is survive the first 10 levels Really well, Then he becomes useless when everything is immune to subdule damage, and he cant use Magic Items, Where as the Druid Kills everthing in 1 round Cuz She is a poler Bear and quickens a Summon Nat Ally, to bring in more poler bears, and then sudden quickens a twin save or die.
Remember Children While the Fighter is still playing DnD at level 20 The Wizard Cleric and Druid are playing, F-k Reality up the back side and Wand powered Versions of nuclear holocaust tag!
Also, as a side note to any one who think psionics are overpowered, Play a wiz, cleric or druid at lvl 20
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Jabsco,
I see you're new to the boards, so I'll excuse the perceived lack of tact your post generates as a side effect of text stripping context.
1) the party in question seems to be between 2nd and 5th level.
2) Please watch the profanity, it often indicates a lack of forthought.
3) Using a 20th level character against 2nd - 5th level characters. Congratulations for discovering this tactic. Most folks save the time of statting up a 20th level character and just say "Rocks fall, everyone dies."
Jabsco,
I see you're new to the boards, so I'll excuse the perceived lack of tact your post generates as a side effect of text stripping context.
1) the party in question seems to be between 2nd and 5th level.
2) Please watch the profanity, it often indicates a lack of forthought.
3) Using a 20th level character against 2nd - 5th level characters. Congratulations for discovering this tactic. Most folks save the time of statting up a 20th level character and just say "Rocks fall, everyone dies."
I am in the Party in question, I only used a curse once, and it is because I missed it upon editing, Though I am sorry I did miss it because I do agree, Cursing does lead people to believe you are unable to muster the intellect to Bring proper vocabulary to the Table (no pun intended), How ever I was not Using the 20th level Characters to beat the 2-5th level ones, only to display how core is more broken then Splat. The reason I seam so Dismay is this type of response is the kind that will get Splat books Baned from my Game with no forethought.
And I believe a 5th level Character starts with 9000 gold, which is more then enough to buy one candle of invocation, which is one of the most broken things in DnD.
Also, I would like to know your Ideas about My post and not just The mater I posted it in.
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Also, I would like to know your Ideas about My post and not just The mater I posted it in.
Ok, your post does nothing to help the matter at hand. All it does is basically say "3.5 is broken". But you took a long time to say that.
If you are in the party in question, why are you trying to break the game rather than try and come up with a good character and have fun with it? You seem so bent on trying to find every possible problem with the system rather than enjoy a well thought out power or character.
Your "solution" seems to be that everyone in the group should make just as broken a character. When the whole point of gaming (usually for me) is to have fun with the story and simply get together with friends.
Also, I would like to know your Ideas about My post and not just The mater I posted it in.Ok, your post does nothing to help the matter at hand. All it does is basically say "3.5 is broken". But you took a long time to say that.
If you are in the party in question, why are you trying to break the game rather than try and come up with a good character and have fun with it? You seem so bent on trying to find every possible problem with the system rather than enjoy a well thought out power or character.
Your "solution" seems to be that everyone in the group should make just as broken a character. When the whole point of gaming (usually for me) is to have fun with the story and simply get together with friends.
I'm Playing a Half orc Barb 20, this is not my char, The problem I found with everyones posts, is that these post will scare my DM in to banning Splat Books, in which case the Barb Will Sink to the bottom of the group at about level 12 when the druid blossoms. And the monk only seams overpowered Because a Wizard Has not Cast Protection From X yet. AC wont matter by level 10, So all that is happening is My DM is being Given False information about the level of brokenness that each splat book has been awarded.
Yes, I own all the books. Why do you ask
Yes, I own all the books. Why do you ask
I was asking Moff, not you, hence the 'Moff:' I preceded my question with... :)
I was just about to edit, you ninja'd me sorry mate
Build Is as Follows
Dwarf
Monk 1/Unarmed Swordsage 2/Fighter 1/Warblade 1
Flaw: Sacred Vow
Flaw: VoPvrty
Level 1: VoNV
Level 3: VoPce
Level 4(ftr 1): Power Attack
Level 5: I dont know
Then He Has Many Exalted feats From VoPvrty
He will be Going in to Deep warden and Fist of the Forest as well
And toping it off with Apostle of Peace
this will net Him
Wisx2 to AC
Conx2 to AC
and Apostle of Peace will allow him to ware magic Items of Armor.
He will be a healing Tank something Akin to a Super Buddah.
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... The problem I found with everyones posts, is that these post will scare my DM in to banning Splat Books, in which case the Barb Will Sink to the bottom of the group at about level 12 when the druid blossoms. And the monk only seams overpowered Because a Wizard Has not Cast Protection From X yet. AC wont matter by level 10, So all that is happening is My DM is being Given False information about the level of brokenness that each splat book has been awarded.
First of all, it isn't "Everyone's" posts. I allow most splat books (within reason) and through this have learned what to avoid or what can create problems. But as I said earlier, a lot of it has to do with understanding and taking a good look at the rules.
For example - the candle you brought up -- in your example the cleric has to be a chaotic good cleric to gate in the noble Djinni in this way. So that eliminates 8/9 of clerics for that one specific example. In addition, the description for Noble Djinni states -- "A noble djinni can grant three wishes to any being (nongenies only) who captures it." The Gate spell has a limited duration -- in rounds. I would argue that the "caster" is the one using the candle in this case. So what you were describing would amount to a chaotic good character using this device to bring out a chaotic good djinni, then capture this good creature for the sole purpose of getting it to grant you three wishes all within a number of rounds equal to your level -- essentially a matter of seconds. And your DM would allow you to keep your alignment after that? (In addition, I might rule that a noble djinni counts as a "unique" creature being a full 1% of the total population.)
EDIT: And don't forget about the 1,000 XP cost to gate a creature.
There are certain builds that are more powerful than others. Regardless of what books you use. When one character GREATLY outshines the other characters -- there is a problem. And at that point it needs to be addressed.
Build Is as Follows
Dwarf
Monk 1/Unarmed Swordsage 2/Fighter 1/Warblade 1Flaw: Sacred Vow ...
and Apostle of Peace will allow him to ware magic Items of Armor.
How does AoP does bypass the whole problem with magic items and Vow of Poverty?
If he tries to wear magic items of armor, there goes Vow of Poverty for him. Just because the PrC lets him wear those it does not follow that it exempts him from the limits of Vow of Poverty. After all, monks can wear rings of protection and bracers of armor, because they aren't armor but wondrous items that increase AC.
I'm Playing a Half orc Barb 20, this is not my char, The problem I found with everyones posts, is that these post will scare my DM in to banning Splat Books, in which case the Barb Will Sink to the bottom of the group at about level 12 when the druid blossoms. And the monk only seams overpowered Because a Wizard Has not Cast Protection From X yet. AC wont matter by level 10, So all that is happening is My DM is being Given False information about the level of brokenness that each splat book has been awarded.
I'm interested in the OP view of this. To me, this sounds like (and I apologise in advance for the presumption):
"I am playing a second level character that I must get up to level 20, as that is what my build is. I am currently sub-optimal and 3 levels behind, but wait until my feats or class abilities kick in. I will then be as good as or even better than the optimised monk. The druid is also 3 levels behind, but should be fine because of the CoDzilla effect. If I don't have splat books, then the CoDzilla will beat all of us in the 'party winners league tables' and I won't be having fun any more."
You need to tell the DM that this is intended, desirable and not pitiful. The other players also need to tell the DM this. Because at the moment your DM thinks its an issue. Maybe your DM isn't having fun? The splatbooks might be causing that.
Drake_Ranger: don't ban splatbooks because you think they're unbalanced.
Ban them if you think they're a pain in the bum to include or adjudicate.
And watch out for that druid character at about level 12.
Assuming the campaign lives that long.
Build Is as FollowsIs this the build of the character in question or a possible build for said character?
This is the build in question, I don't know to much past level 5, but you get the gist of it, I think he will be using the celestial Mystic To finish the Casting progression of the apostle tho.
Second to use the candle as a gate you don't have to be a cleric.
The cleric thing is only the second of three abilities the candle has:
1:Each of these special tapers is dedicated to one of the nine alignments. Simply burning the candle generates a favorable aura for the individual so doing if the candle’s alignment matches that of the character. Characters of the same alignment as the burning candle add a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks while within 30 feet of the flame.
2:A cleric whose alignment matches the candle’s operates as if two levels higher for purposes of determining spells per day if he burns the candle during or just prior to his spell preparation time. He can even cast spells normally unavailable to him, as if he were of that higher level, but only so long as the candle continues to burn. Except in special cases (see below), a candle burns for 4 hours.
3:In addition, burning a candle also allows the owner to cast a gate spell, the respondent being of the same alignment as the candle, but the taper is immediately consumed in the process. It is possible to extinguish the candle simply by blowing it out, so users often place it in a lantern to protect it from drafts and the like. Doing this doesn’t interfere with its magical properties.
Another question: why does this nonviolent person have Power Attack? Is he building up to some feat using this as a prerequisite?
Perhaps I missed it, but how did this guy end up 3 levels ahead of the rest of the party?
Another question: why does this nonviolent person have Power Attack? Is he building up to some feat using this as a prerequisite?
Perhaps I missed it, but how did this guy end up 3 levels ahead of the rest of the party?
Q1: Apostle of peace Requires VoPoverty as a pre req, its level one ability lets you use magic items for armor purposes only with out breaking the vow.
Q2: He is going into Fist of the forest PrC, Power attack is a pre req for it.
Q3: With no one around he Overcame an encounter with 5 bug bears. The are CR 2.