Super Characters (DMG)

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One of the great temptations for players is to create super characters. While this is not true of every player all the time, the desire for power above everything else afflicts most players at one time or another.
Many players see their characters as nothing more than a collection of numbers that affects game systems. They don't think of their characters as personalities to be developed. Players like this want to "win" the game. These players are missing out on a lot of fun.
If players are creating new characters for your campaign, you probably won't have to deal with such super characters. Players can start with ability scores greater than 18 only if the race grants a bonus, but this is extremely rare. Later in the campaign, magic might raise ability scores higher.
The greatest difficulty occurs when a player asks to bring in a character from another campaign where characters are more powerful. Unless you are prepared to handle them, super characters can seriously disrupt a campaign: Players with average characters gradually become bored and irritated as the powerful characters dominate the action. And players with powerful characters feel held back by their weaker companions. None of this contributes to harmony and cooperation among the characters or the players.
Cooperation is a key element of role-playing. In any group of player characters, everyone has strengths to contribute and weaknesses to overcome. This is the basis for the adventuring party—even a small group with sufficiently diverse talents can accomplish deeds far greater than its size would indicate.
Now, throw in a character who is an army by himself. He doesn't need the other characters, except perhaps as cannon fodder or bearers. He doesn't need allies. His presence alone destroys one of the most fundamental aspects of the game—cooperation.
==Identifying Too-Powerful Characters==
There are no absolute rules to define a too-powerful character, since the definition will vary from campaign to campaign. Characters who are average in your game may be weaklings in your friend's campaign. His characters, in turn, could be frail compared to other groups. Some experience is required to strike the right balance of power, but characters created using the same method should, at least, be comparable.
When someone brings a character from a different campaign and wants to use him in your game, compare the proposed character to those already in the game. You don't want him to be too strong or too weak. Certainly you should be wary of a character whose ability scores are all 18s!
==Dealing with Too-Powerful Characters==
If you decide a character is too powerful, the player has two choices. First, he can agree to weaken the character in some fashion (subject to your approval). This may be as simple as excluding a few magical items ("No, you can't bring that holy avenger sword +5 that shoots 30-dice fireballs into my campaign!"). Second, the player can agree not to use some special ability ("I don't care if your previous DM gave your character the Evil Eye, you can't jinx my dice rolls!"). If this sort of change seems too drastic or requires altering ability scores or levels, a better option is simply to have the player create a new character. The old character can be used, without tinkering, in the campaign for which he was created. The new character, more appropriate to your campaign, can develop in your game. Remember that just because another DM allowed something is no reason you have to do the same!