From: ecrjbruce@economics.adelaide.edu.au
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Most powerful PC ever
Date: 20 Nov 92 11:25:29 ACST
Organization: Economics, University of Adelaide
NNTP-Posting-Host: eco.economics.adelaide.edu.au

In article <1992Nov18.093246.1@vaxb.acs.unt.edu>, wilsonm@vaxb.acs.unt.edu writes:
> In article <RANNOU.92Nov4022655@watson.info.polymtl.ca>, Rannou@info.polymtl.ca (Patrick Rannou) writes:
>> Let's hear from those POWERFUL PCs who where also:
>> 
>> - NOT munchkins
>> - Played intelligently
>> - Not played for laughs only (i.e. had a real roleplaying life)
>> - And most imortant, had a GM with a head on his shoulders.
>> 
>> I'm sure the stoopid 2years-in-the-head olds will continue to pleague us
>> with their "soooper PC" but hey, that's life...

My current character is reasonably powerful simply because of his situation. 
To set a little background, I wrote the "Bastard DM from Hell" threads at the
suggestion of the DM as a way to get relatively impartial input.  Anyway, we
started the spelljamming series (seemed interesting at the time), and did the
first module (wildspace or something) to get into it.  After this we ended up
on a planet that was low in magic because mages had been persecuted to death -
the emperor was worried about security or somesuch.  Anyway, to continue we are
currently doing the module with the Yuan Ti in it (The Forbidden City?) and
should soon finish that off.

It should be pretty obvious that we started at a higher level than usual (7th
in fact).  We have now been playing for 2 years, averaging about 6 hours a week
of actual game time.

Anyway, Jawa is a mage, level 8 with the exp to go to 9, but no trainer due to
lack of mages on this world.  Also our spelljamming craft got seized by the
emperor so I can't get off it - YET.

His magic items are not that powerful, except for one - an ioun stone that
holds 12 spell levels.  The others are a dagger of venom (THACO 22! - non
proficient), boots of elvenkind, a couple of spellbooks we have captured, wand
of magic missiles and a couple of potions.  Doesn't sound like much until you
analyse the situation.  That damned stone makes him the equivalent of a level
11 mage wirh regard to spell levels, and he can have more 4th level spells due
to his ability to store them in his stone.  In a world populated by people
ignorant of magic use, creative spell use aided by the extra capacity of the
stone makes him a guy to be feared.  It's got to the stage where we've agreed
to retire him due to the unbalancing effect that he has on the party. 
Hopefully this shows that a character who thinks about what he does doesn't
need huge arrays of magic items to be powerful.  A good combination of spells
and tactics can overcome most opponents.  This is the real challenge to ADND,
not the "I point my wand of instant blatt at the Terrasque and it dies" sort of
characters we have been seeing.

regs

Rob

--
Rob Bruce    |  "And, for an instant, she looked into those soft blue eyes
             |   and knew, with an instinctive mammalian certainty, that the
             |   exceedingly rich were no longer even remotely human"
             |                                  William Gibson, `Count Zero'