I have a GM who does everything in his power to deny bonuses. If a ranger selects undead as a favored target after a few levels of nothing but undead then the GM never uses undead again. If we have a paladin then all the enemies are neutral. If we have a rogue with too much sneak attack dice the enemies have uncanny dodge or fight in pairs so they can't be flanked.
We're about to start another campaign where I'm highly considering a paladin (we are all required to play a divine class) and the budget of a paladin seems to be smite evil. A bonus I know I'll never use because nothing but mooks will be evil.
I just need some advice on an archetype or something to help not feel like I'm wasting my time. Suggestions are more than welcome.
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Find a GM who's not a dick?
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You have the "Counter" type of GM. It doesn't matter what you play he's going to counter your strength. You can't have nice things, and he's going to make sure of it.
As such I suggest:
Talking to your GM about his behavior and how it's ruining people's fun. Find out why he is doing this and see if it's something he is willing to change or at least work on not doing so much.
If not find a new GM.
Your friend clearly has misunderstood the role of the GM. The job of the GM isn't to beat the PCs but to work with you to craft a fun and interesting narrative, largely by losing graciously 19 times out of 20.
I would steer your friend into listening to some podcasts on how to be a good GM and have fun while you're doing it. Happy Jacks podcast is probably my favorite although there are other good ones that I'm sure other posters will suggest.
edit: Ninja'd by Abraham Spalding. Also, it might be worthwhile having someone else step in for the role of GM for module or two to demonstrate good GM behavior: Keep the game going, keep it fun, describe things in interesting ways, adjust encounters and details of the material you're running to make it fun, lose graciously, and sometimes lose hilariously.
Do what those above have said. If you can't talk to your GM or do not want to find a new table, then play a character with very non-specific abilities that can't be easily countered:
Fighter or barbarian who just hits really really hard
Divine caster who heals very well
Divine or arcane caster who buffs allies very well
Alternatively, play a character who can easily change tactics - who can wildly change tactics. Such as a summoner caster who can bring a wide variety of summons to different situations. Casters tend to have a lot of variability, but similar things can be done with a martial class and a bt of creativity. Plan for changing tactics so when he counters one, you move to another. When he counters that, move to another. And again and again and again.
Again, this is only if you cannot do what those above me have advised.
The first two won't work if he's a real 'counter' type GM. He'll simply fudge numbers or keep grabbing bigger monsters until it balances back to where he wants things. DC is always going to be 50/50 -- if your skill is 4 you'll need a 10, if your skill is 34 you are still going to need a 10.
The last one will still run into the above problem -- he'll simply grab bigger things and assume the buffs will be in place to get back to his balance point.
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This may be one of those instances where showing a better way by example could go a long way.
Like Humphrey has said, maybe they just don't understand how important it is to realize that the GM and the players are actually on the same team.
Sometimes it can be frustrating as a GM to see carefully constructed obstacles easily overcome by experienced and innovative players. When I find myself feeling this way, I remind myself to celebrate with the players when they use a cool ability to melt through a foe that should have been difficult (or so I thought). Every player needs the opportunity to showcase a strength at every session.
I do think that players can reduce the oppositional tendencies of GMs by avoiding comments that suggest hubris. In-character comments of bravado are fine, of course. I'm referring to those comments made out of character that betray an "I'm untouchable so bring it on!" attitude. No thanks. Makes me want to hard counter the player to cure some of that hubris. This is no good, as it can lead to the type of oppositional gaming that really isn't suited to this type of game.
I think what bothers me about players who display arrogance (again, not referring to an arrogant character, but the players themselves), is that it feels like oppositional play to me. A type of trash talking on the court that offends me as the person putting more time into the game every week than the players combined. I'm not suggesting that the OP suffers from this, but I get the impression that many on these boards feel that they need to make characters to get under the skin of the GM. How does this create better games?
If we have a paladin then all the enemies are neutral.
Maybe he's not changing their alignment to screw the Paladin, maybe they're just mostly Neutral, like the rest of the population.
If we have a rogue with too much sneak attack dice the enemies... ...fight in pairs so they can't be flanked.
Seems like the enemies are just not idiots.
The rest of your examples seem pretty valid, except maybe the Ranger one, you shouldn't metagame your favoured enemy.
Maybe offer to GM instead if you don't think he's good enough. Show him how it's done.
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I don't see it so much as metagaming the favored enemy. If you are suddenly fighting a ton of psycho halflings for several levels, wouldn't you go "Ok, I'm done getting punched in the knees by a bunch of short people with anger management issues" and add them to the list of races you absolutely hate? But that's sort of how I see it so far as metagaming.
But I think maybe Abraham is right in this and the GM may think that countering is the only way to challenge us. I'm looking at a Freebooter Archetype for a ranger now. Maybe passing out buffs to hit and damage that can't be turned off or avoided might help.
I don't see it so much as metagaming the favored enemy. If you are suddenly fighting a ton of psycho halflings for several levels, wouldn't you go "Ok, I'm done getting punched in the knees by a bunch of short people with anger management issues" and add them to the list of races you absolutely hate? But that's sort of how I see it so far as metagaming.
Ahh, I presumed that someone had made a new character mid-campaign and they chose undead because "well we've encountered lots of undead so far, so I'll pick that for zero background/RP/character reasons because mechanical benefits".
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Oh no. Even I think that's cheese. But if I run a game I make sure to give a list of "more common" enemies. I don't tell them which they'll see most, but I don't want someone picking Favored Enemy Gnome and never fighting a gnome. I just consider it good form.
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It's "cheese" to pick a class feature in the hopes of it being relevant in a campaign?
By that logic a Wizard preparing any spell that might conceivably be useful in a common scenario is "cheese".
Stop using that word if you're just going to slap it on everything. It has no meaning.
Yeah, I have to agree: favored enemy choices aren't cheese. Sure, the first one should be background focused; why not? But if I keep seeing Undead in a campaign, I'm pretty sure my Ranger is going to develop tactics specifically to fight the Undead.
I have a GM who does everything in his power to deny bonuses. If a ranger selects undead as a favored target after a few levels of nothing but undead then the GM never uses undead again. If we have a paladin then all the enemies are neutral. If we have a rogue with too much sneak attack dice the enemies have uncanny dodge or fight in pairs so they can't be flanked.
We're about to start another campaign where I'm highly considering a paladin (we are all required to play a divine class) and the budget of a paladin seems to be smite evil. A bonus I know I'll never use because nothing but mooks will be evil.
I just need some advice on an archetype or something to help not feel like I'm wasting my time. Suggestions are more than welcome.
Tell him that you've observed this behavior and ask him to stop, because it is bothering you. If he refuses, and can provide no good reason why, then find another GM.
-Nearyn
I don't see it so much as metagaming the favored enemy. If you are suddenly fighting a ton of psycho halflings for several levels, wouldn't you go "Ok, I'm done getting punched in the knees by a bunch of short people with anger management issues" and add them to the list of races you absolutely hate? But that's sort of how I see it so far as metagaming.Ahh, I presumed that someone had made a new character mid-campaign and they chose undead because "well we've encountered lots of undead so far, so I'll pick that for zero background/RP/character reasons because mechanical benefits".
I can think of plenty of reasons why a party that's mostly been fighting undead monsters might be joined by someone who specializes in hunting the undead.
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Play a character who focuses on giving bonuses. Because of their rarity in the game, your allies will love you even more than usual.
An Evangelist Cleric with Selective and Quickened Channel would be able to buff the party, and keep them on their feet. Toss in some good cleric buff spells, like Prayer and you have a recipe for a fantastic religious-themed character.
back to the op main problem. if your dm nurf specific abilities by denyig you the right oppssiosion go for something without spesifics.
paladin - > take Enlightened Paladin
ranger - > take Freebooter .
etc. do try and talk to you gm first about these nerfs.he might have a "reasnalbe" reason behind the nerfs. but just incase letting him know your up to his trand might make him change it.
I have been considering a freebooter. And I tried to make a Paladin archetype (homebrew) based on giving those same type of buffs as a Paladin. If I did a Freebooter I'm pretty sure I'd dip a level into Cavalier at around 7th level for Tactician. But that's what was baking in my brain
what i love about the freebooter is the mob mentality.
it's a a clear untyped bonus to attack and damage so it stack with itself.
it's one thing to have a group of people with one looking at you and mattering "get him boys".
it's a whole difent event when they are after you with EACH OF THEM yelling : "GET HIM!!!!" (think of it. if in a party you got 2 or 3 melee and they ALL take freebooter they all stack, and this class still has spells and other stuff to boot)
it's kinda wierd but i think the increase in attack bonus whne flanking will also stack with more free booters. it's untyped as well...
if this is true then 4 5th level freebooter cross flanking a target can get up to +18 to hit (+2 for the normal flanking bonus applayed) and +8 to damage , each.
I gotta agree with Rynjin on this one.
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Yeah, buffers like Bards are a good option.
back to the op main problem. if your dm nurf specific abilities by denyig you the right oppssiosion go for something without spesifics.
paladin - > take Enlightened Paladin
ranger - > take Freebooter .
etc. do try and talk to you gm first about these nerfs.he might have a "reasnalbe" reason behind the nerfs. but just incase letting him know your up to his trand might make him change it.
You may find getting him to allow the source of these options difficult as they clearly counter his style of DMing.
The stereotypical Aid Another Halfling setup would also work well in these situations. Cavalier + Helpful + Bodyguard + Swift Aid is a pretty standard route to go. Dirty Tricks to disable opponents help, too; specializing in them doesn't hurt. Take the Order of the Dragon and use the Honor Guard archetype for faster aiding power. (And make sure you have a decent DEX and Combat Reflexes.)
The sources are pretty simple (Advanced Race Guide, Advanced Player's Guide, and I think maybe Halflings of Golarion?). He should accept those, though he may shove the Halflings of Golarion companion away. It'd still work well enough.
EDIT: Ultimate Combat for Honor Guard.