We have a guy in our group like this. My DM keeps killking him off in hopes that he will make a good character. He does the non-primary stat attack powers all the time. If it looks good he doesn't care if he can hit with it, he takes it. At level 15 he has a total of 11 items in his inventory .... 4 of which are potions and the rest have no properties besides a couple saves to obscur conditions from things like abberant creatures which we have never fought. All his stuff has just dailies on it and no static benefits. I don't know how he can do this. The most frustrating part is that he brags about his new characters he rolls up every week. He'll take skill focus feats and he once took all of his multiclass feats. On this build I am lookikgn at now he took not just 1 multiclass sorcerer feat, but both of them. Yes he multi-classed into Sorcerer twice .. and took the adept multi power also. Then he took implement focus heavy blade but he carries a off-hand holy symbol that can be used as an implement for arcane powers .. once again no static bonuses.
I honestly do not understand how people can look at that and think they have made a finished character and be proud of it. It blows my mind.
It seems like you friends* see bad mechanical choices as good flavor choices, and well built characters as characters who lack, well, character. This is a problem.
Characters who are bad at everything do not make for good stories (excluding Rincewind). Go ahead and look for a character from a medium that was inspired by D&D, or inspired D&D, that sucked. Can't do it? It's because good stories include competence. Have you ever read a thread attempting to build Conan? Or literally any other character from a story, movie, or comic book? Try as we might, Char Op cannot create the perfect Conan.
That was a bit of a tangent. The point being, well built characters can emphasize flavor and mechanics. Sit everyone down (or send out an email), and show them how they can play characters that are exactly the same, only more effective. Optimization can lead to wondeful, fantastic stories. As an example, in LFR I have a barbarian I've spent more time optimizing than all of my other PCs combined. Even with all of that mechanical effort I still have a fully nuanced and realized PC (with a background!) whose past exploits are referenced 11 levels later by different DMs.
There is absolutely nothing in an optimized PC that detracts from one's ability to flesh out the character. Likewise, there is absolutely nothing is a pursposefully terrible PC that enchances one's ability to flesh out the character.
*I've seen a lot of posts suggesting you find new friends. I don't know you, or your gaming buddies, personally, but that is probably a terrible idea.
One-half of the tabletop gaming news podcast Going Last Co-author on AoA 2-3 and 4-1.
You could always try and get your DM to do a reverse dungeon day. Have them make characters as usual, then they play the monsters and see how easy it is to TPK the characters they made. Or you could create 3 characters of the same class. One being highly optimized, the second able to barely destroy a wooden door, let alone a monster, and the third being middle ground. Show them these and ask for them to try and make more characters that are middle ground.
I would try that. But no garauntees. Everybody reacts to things differently. Either way, I wish you luck. Have a good one.
I'm leaning towards making their same character but good (not broken, just with common sense choices) and showing them the difference in hit rates and damage. The barbarian will be looking at his long-lost cousin or changeling doppelganger who's not a moron and feel inadequate when he's dealing ten times the damage each turn.
The other is going high-op but lower level. You said you'll be playing at 16, bring in a level 13 character that can beat them all blindfolded. If they complain, lower him to level 12. Keep doing that until you're matching them all in attack, damage and defense with someone half their level and graciously explain the super simple choices you've made to make that happen. And in the meanwhile, you get to play a backwards-time-traveler like Merlin or Benjamin Button, and that's pretty funny right there (make sure to keep making references to things that haven't happened yet in past tense. Use DM cooperation if you can pull that off). Props if you can make the character both awesome and party-focused, like granting buffs or penalizing enemy defenses/attacks.
If you do either of these things, show them your two page character backstory, show them a bullet list of bonuses to attack and damage that make perfect sense, show them simple comparisons like "yes he hits on a 6. He's using a weapon his class is built for, see that class bonus? He's got an expertise feat, and this attack/tactic makes them grant CA. Here's a similar, very simple change you could make to your own build to make it better. You don't want to spend another session not hitting, right?"
F-111 Interdictor Long (200+ squares) distance ally teleporter. With some warlord stuff. Broken in a plot way, not a power way. Thought Switch Higher level build that grants upto 14 attacks on turn 1. If your allies play along, it's broken. Elven Critters Crit op with crit generation. 5 of these will end anything. Broken. King Fisher Does an excellent job at keeping an enemy disabled in a few ways. Strong. Boominator Fun catch-22 booming blade build with either strong or completely broken damage depending on your reading. Very Distracting Warlock Lot's of dazing and major penalties to hit. Overpowered. Pocket Protector Pixie Stealth Knight. Maximizing the defender's aura by being in an ally's/enemy's square. Yakuza NinjIntimiAdin: Perma-stealth Striker that offers a little protection for ally's, and can intimidate bloodied enemies. Very Strong. Chargeburgler with cheese Ranged attacks at the end of a charge along with perma-stealth. Solid, could be overpowered if tweaked. Void Defender Defends giving a penalty to hit anyone but him, then removing himself from play. Can get somewhat broken in epic. Scry and Die Attacking from around corners, while staying hidden. Moderate to broken, depending on the situation. Skimisher Fly in, attack, and fly away. Also prevents enemies from coming close. Moderate to Broken depending on the enemy, but shouldn't make the game un-fun, as the rest of your team is at risk, and you have enough weaknesses. Indestructible Simply won't die, even if you sleep though combat. Sir Robin (Bravely Charge Away) He automatically slows and pushes an enemy (5 squares), while charging away. Hard to rate it's power level, since it's terrain dependent. Death's Gatekeeper A fun twist on a healic, making your party "unkillable". Overpowered to Broken, but shouldn't actually make the game un-fun, just TPK proof. Death's Gatekeeper mk2, (Stealth Edition) Make your party "unkillable", and you hidden, while doing solid damage. Stronger then the above, but also easier for a DM to shut down. Broken, until your DM get's enough of it. Domination and Death Dominate everything then kill them quickly. Only works @ 30, but is broken multiple ways. Battlemind Mc Prone-Daze Protecting your allies by keeping enemies away. Quite powerful. The Retaliator Getting hit deals more damage to the enemy then you receive yourself, and you can take plenty of hits. Heavy item dependency, Broken. Dead Kobold Transit Teleports 98 squares a turn, and can bring someone along for the ride. Not fully built, so i can't judge the power Psilent Guardian Protect your allies, while being invisible. Overpowered, possibly broken Unnamed Avenger|Runepriest/Hammer of Vengance Do lot's of damage while boosting your teams. Strong to slightly overpowered. Charedent BarrageA charging ardent. Fine in a normal team, overpowered if there are 2 together, and easily broken in teams of 5. Super Knight A tough, sticky, high damage knight. Strong. Super Duper Knight Basically the same as super knight, only far more broken. Mora, the unkillable avenger Solid damage, while being neigh indestuctable. Overpowered, but not broken. Swordburst Maximus At-Will Close Burst 3 that slide and prones. Protects allies with off actions. Strong, possibly over powered with the right party.
I'm still a fan of just joining them and running a poor character. (or just click "choose for me" on the character builder, it's the same).
Then the only one that needs to chage is the DM's encounter level.
Now everyone can have fun.
The Poor DM will end up in situation of shaping the world like the movie idiosyncrocity. O_o (Average joe inserted into world completely comprised of austounding incompetance.
F-111 Interdictor Long (200+ squares) distance ally teleporter. With some warlord stuff. Broken in a plot way, not a power way. Thought Switch Higher level build that grants upto 14 attacks on turn 1. If your allies play along, it's broken. Elven Critters Crit op with crit generation. 5 of these will end anything. Broken. King Fisher Does an excellent job at keeping an enemy disabled in a few ways. Strong. Boominator Fun catch-22 booming blade build with either strong or completely broken damage depending on your reading. Very Distracting Warlock Lot's of dazing and major penalties to hit. Overpowered. Pocket Protector Pixie Stealth Knight. Maximizing the defender's aura by being in an ally's/enemy's square. Yakuza NinjIntimiAdin: Perma-stealth Striker that offers a little protection for ally's, and can intimidate bloodied enemies. Very Strong. Chargeburgler with cheese Ranged attacks at the end of a charge along with perma-stealth. Solid, could be overpowered if tweaked. Void Defender Defends giving a penalty to hit anyone but him, then removing himself from play. Can get somewhat broken in epic. Scry and Die Attacking from around corners, while staying hidden. Moderate to broken, depending on the situation. Skimisher Fly in, attack, and fly away. Also prevents enemies from coming close. Moderate to Broken depending on the enemy, but shouldn't make the game un-fun, as the rest of your team is at risk, and you have enough weaknesses. Indestructible Simply won't die, even if you sleep though combat. Sir Robin (Bravely Charge Away) He automatically slows and pushes an enemy (5 squares), while charging away. Hard to rate it's power level, since it's terrain dependent. Death's Gatekeeper A fun twist on a healic, making your party "unkillable". Overpowered to Broken, but shouldn't actually make the game un-fun, just TPK proof. Death's Gatekeeper mk2, (Stealth Edition) Make your party "unkillable", and you hidden, while doing solid damage. Stronger then the above, but also easier for a DM to shut down. Broken, until your DM get's enough of it. Domination and Death Dominate everything then kill them quickly. Only works @ 30, but is broken multiple ways. Battlemind Mc Prone-Daze Protecting your allies by keeping enemies away. Quite powerful. The Retaliator Getting hit deals more damage to the enemy then you receive yourself, and you can take plenty of hits. Heavy item dependency, Broken. Dead Kobold Transit Teleports 98 squares a turn, and can bring someone along for the ride. Not fully built, so i can't judge the power Psilent Guardian Protect your allies, while being invisible. Overpowered, possibly broken Unnamed Avenger|Runepriest/Hammer of Vengance Do lot's of damage while boosting your teams. Strong to slightly overpowered. Charedent BarrageA charging ardent. Fine in a normal team, overpowered if there are 2 together, and easily broken in teams of 5. Super Knight A tough, sticky, high damage knight. Strong. Super Duper Knight Basically the same as super knight, only far more broken. Mora, the unkillable avenger Solid damage, while being neigh indestuctable. Overpowered, but not broken. Swordburst Maximus At-Will Close Burst 3 that slide and prones. Protects allies with off actions. Strong, possibly over powered with the right party.
The other is going high-op but lower level. You said you'll be playing at 16, bring in a level 13 character that can beat them all blindfolded. If they complain, lower him to level 12. Keep doing that until you're matching them all in attack, damage and defense with someone half their level and graciously explain the super simple choices you've made to make that happen. And in the meanwhile, you get to play a backwards-time-traveler like Merlin or Benjamin Button, and that's pretty funny right there (make sure to keep making references to things that haven't happened yet in past tense. Use DM cooperation if you can pull that off). Props if you can make the character both awesome and party-focused, like granting buffs or penalizing enemy defenses/attacks.
This is hilarious.
Most of the routes for catching up to / passing the party at a severe level handicap would be cut off to me, though, so I'd just be left with things like good stat arrays, non-horrifying paragon paths, and expertise feats. Frostcheese, Morninglord, and Psychic lock are all banned from his table. He feels that the Elementalist is overpowered (probably because he's never seen / wouldn't allow a mid-OP sorcerer), and Twin Strike would make them cry. Not that twin strike without a large static modifier is even good.
As no one else in the party built a leader for this arc, I think I will play a bard, since level 16 is the level at which a bard can be multiclassed into every power source and trained in every skill.
