Accessory - Dragon Magazine #111.pdf - Index of

fighter with 18/00 strength, 70 hp, and a
sword +3 is godlike compared to a 1st-level
fighter with average strength, 5 hp, and a
normal broadsword. The same 8th-level
fighter is weak compared to a 15th-level
fighter with a girdle of storm giant strength,
140 hp, a holy avenger +5, and plate mail
+5. “Too powerful” means characters who
easily win their fights. Every character has
easy lights, but if they are always easy and
the characters rarely have a serious challenge,
then they are too powerful.
6. Are there too many powerful magic
items in the campaign? This includes technological
devices and other high-powered
special equipment such as items of artifact
status, spheres of annihilation, +5 weapons,
and anything that lets characters win
fights all the time. By too many, I mean
each character having such items. Even
lesser items could amount to the same
thing, if characters have wagonloads of
them.
7. Do the characters have too much
money? Enough gold to unbalance the
economic structure of a country is too
much. Enough money to buy everything of
substantial value in the capital city is probably
too much (unless the characters already
rule the city). The money inherent to high
social class (nobility or royalty) isn’t usually
a problem.
8. Do the characters have too much manpower
available? This can mean any kind of
henchmen or hirelings, human or otherwise.
This can be related to having too
much money. The situation I refer to is in
the dungeon. Many players like to hire
cannon fodder to set off all the traps and
test all the potions. Worse, they like to have
small armies do all their dirty work, like
killing all the dungeon inhabitants. There is
a place for armies on the battlefield. Adventures
usually work best when the characters
themselves must face the dangers.
For questions 5-8, each “ yes” answer is
worth -1 point; each “no” is worth 0.
Total all the points from both sets of questions
and consult the results section below.
Results
+ 4 = Excellent campaign. Depending
on the imagination of the DM (and the
players), it could be a great campaign.
+3 = Good campaign. It has a problem
or two, but probably nothing a little effort
couldn’t fix. If it lacks fun, then it may be
mechanically correct, with no heart.
+ 2 = Fair campaign. Many campaigns,
especially first-time ones, are of this type.
+ 1 = Mediocre campaign (and likely to
get worse unless some serious fixing is
done).
0 = Poor campaign. Any good points
are balanced by equally bad points. Then
again, there may be no good points, but no
particularly bad points.
- 1 = Awful campaign. Bad points outweigh
the good ones. It may be played
because flaws are overlooked. It can still be
fun.
24 JULY 1986
- 2 = Terrible campaign. At best it could
still be fun and challenging, but it isn’t
likely to be that way for long.
- 3 = Miserable campaign. Hopefully
still fun, but it’s probably fading fast and
played mainly out of habit.
- 4 = Pitiful campaign. No longer even
fun, unless you enjoy being tortured. Its
players are extreme die-hards, or the DM
may be an egomaniac who refuses to admit
anything is wrong.
If your own campaign has a rather low
score, don’t be depressed. Despite the problems
a campaign may suffer, it can’t suffer
failure unless allowed to do so. Campaigns
can be severely damaged by lack of proper
control, but any damage can be fixed. Even
a - 4 campaign can be regenerated.
Some might say, “You don’t know what
you’re talking about. Our campaign is still
fun, and that’s what counts!” It’s true that
fun is the most important aspect of the
game. Without it, there isn’t much point in
playing.
But eventually, the flaws in a fun campaign
are likely to worsen to the point
where no one is having fun any more. If
brought under control, the flawed (but fun)
campaign will be even more enjoyable. The
following section offers some solutions to the
problem of uncontrolled campaigns.
Repairing uncontrolled campaigns
First, pinpoint the problem using the
section above. This article assumes that the
player characters have gotten out of hand in
some way, without laying the blame on
either the DM or the players.
If the characters are too powerful, determine
how so. Are they of vastly high level?
Do they have high ability scores? Unusual
powers? Powerful magic or technological
items? Enormous wealth? Great armies?
Ability scores and levels go together to
create physical power in the AD&D® game.
A 1st-level character with a 19 strength still
dies as easily as any other 1st-level character.
Only when awesome ability scores are
backed by high-level hit points do we get
the “superman” effect.
I don’t consider ability scores less than 19
to be a problem, unless most or all of them
are 18’s, which is not only boring but unnatural.
Only unbelievable luck, cheating,
or magical increases will produce such a
character.
Prevention is easier than cure. I never let
my players roll ability scores with more
than three dice, except for demi-humans
(best three of four dice in strength and
constitution for dwarves, the same in dexterity
and charisma for elves, etc.), nor do I
allow the raising of one score by the lowering
of another. Of my own 50-odd characters,
I have one paladin and one illusionist.
I’ve always thought they were meant to be
rare, and have always made it so.
I do, however, allow the increase of ability
scores by training, so that low scores
may be increased while level increases.
High scores are rarely increased. Of course,
fighters do not raise intelligence, nor magicusers
strength. Intelligence is limited to a
+2 increase, the only ability I limit (except
for comeliness, which usually increases only
if charisma does).
Characters who are on their way to godlike
levels and attributes can be reined in by
many means. Levels can be drained by
undead who have strong connections to the
Negative Material Plane. If undead present
no great threat, a gate to the Negative
Material Plane could be opened. The characters
would be forced to close the gate or
perish. In closing the gate, the characters
could be drained of both attributes and
levels. If kept away from restoration spells
long enough, the level drops would be permanent.
Lost ability scores could be gone
permanently, partially restored by the forces
of good, or regained over a period of time.
A quest for a greatly desired item could
break PCs both physically and mentally
(lowering some ability scores by a few
points) but give them the item they desire.
Sometimes, one or more characters in a
group may be too powerful for that group.
This can be a sign of the campaign going
out of control, but remember, anyone can
be a wimp or a warrior. Power is relative to
the strength of encounters, the strength of
the party members, and the average for the
campaign as a whole. A weak character
from one group can be powerful in comparison
to another group, and vice versa.
Almost everyone in my campaign has
three or more characters of varying power
levels. Most characters have a regular set of
companions they adventure with, and the
players don’t try to bring their tough characters
in with a weak group unless it fits the
scenario I’m planning.
Characters will not usually outstrip their
companions greatly if the characters all
started together and adventure together,
providing all had equal chances for good or
bad characters. Although characters may
excel by luck, skill, or both, often the overpowered
characters come from another
campaign or from higher-level groups in the
same one. This is the usual way of it in
campaigns with which I am familiar. Sometimes,
characters advance beyond their
fellows simply because they have adventured
more. This often occurs when a
player group is broken up by college, career,
or the relocation of families.
Whatever the reason, a DM will occasionally
be faced with a player who wants to
bring in a character from another group.
Although there is basically nothing wrong
with that, some DMs will not allow it. No
DM has to let any character into a campaign
if he doesn’t want to do it. The DM
is the final authority in his campaign. Although
my campaign has had its share of
problems, I’ve never had trouble from
crossover characters. While I’ve allowed
almost any characters into the game, I’ve
placed them with equivalently powered
groups or else trimmed their powers until
they were made to lit in with the other PCs.
Anyone entering a game controlled by