Characters with Too Much Loot

[Velox]

So say you've got a good Dungeons and Dragons game running. You're doling out XP and treasure as you see fit; some xp you give to the group just because it fits (xp when they accomplish a certain goal or do something impressive), and some items you give to the group just because it's cool or sensible (if the enemy used it on them, and they kill him, they get the item, if you tell them an item is going to be somewhere and that's the reason they're going, it should be there, etc.). You also roll up treasure randomly per encounter, as in the DMG (or as I like to call it, "organically grown treasure"), and give it to the group when appropriate.

Now imagine that you've incorrectly estimated the power and cost of an item an NPC villian was using during a fight. Imagine that the group kills him and gets the item. Imagine that one person in the group has claimed the item for his own, and it's increased his power so it's almost like he's one or two levels higher than he really is.

I think that many of us have been in this position before, but I'm not sure how to handle it.

Do I take it away from him? Do I have it stolen? Do I let him keep it, and just deny him anything else for a while?

I've calculated how much the item costs, and how much a character of his level should have, and he's a little over. Everyone else is a little (or a lot) under the amount of stuff they should have, which is okay with me. I want the group to have some magic items and wealth, but having a little bit less than the "required" amount is ok. I've compensated everyone in the group in other ways. For example, everyone got an extra free feat at first level.

I'm considering letting the group handle this somewhat on their own, and just have the group more or less exclude the overpowered character from treasure until everyone has an equal value of stuff. Essentially he's "paying" them back for the expensive item.

What do you think? Thanks in advance for your help!

[Velox]

Alternatively, what are some ways I can reduce the power level of a specific character? Preferably ways that can flow into a story and have rules, like a "curse" spell. Anything else come to mind?

[Llum]

Nerfing a character is rarely a good idea.

Is there some kind of backstory to this item? What exactly does it do? This information could be helpful in helping you.

[Stargate525]

Sunder. Sunder and disarm are amazing ways to get rid of a weapon. Gives the players a reason to hate the character, to boot. For other items, a theft is also often a good one. Make it a plot element and not just a random occurrence, of course. I find that if you've built the right kind of relationship with your players, and do things by the book and in the open (to ward off accusations of being arbitrary), most players will understand.

[Velox]

The item in question is a suit of magical powered armor known as Warcaster Armor. Anyone familiar with Iron Kingdoms or Warmachine will know just what I mean.

It's a +2 mechanikal breastplate with a magical generator in the back. It has its own forcefield which adds 25 temporary hit points to the user, it can also temporarily boost either strength, speed, or lower the armor check penalty of the armor. Also, if the wearer is a spellcaster and sacrifices a spell while wearing the armor, the spell failure chance is negated. The group wizard is wearing it, which greatly compensates for his lack of hit points and inability to wear armor.

In the first adventure of my campaign, the group was on a steam-powered train going from one side of the nation to another. There was a suspicious foreigner on board the train, a Khadoran who claimed to be a travelling mechanik. He was later revealed to be a spy stealing secrets from the Cygnaran government. During the climax of the adventure, this foreign spy was also revealed to be a mercenary fighter/wizard warcaster working for the group's nemesis. They had to fight this warcaster and his 10' tall robot cohort. The group defeated them both and took the warcaster armor.

Now I had a plan for this warcaster to escape the PCs and return to strike again, but this plan involved doing a full withdraw, jumping off a cliff, and casting "feather fall". What I didnt expect was for him to be surrouded by PCs, that I would have to let one of them make an attack of opportunity against him, and that this attack of opportunity would be a critical hit that killed this NPC. But what's fair is fair, and they got lucky. I just don't think that one player should benefit from the luck while the others don't get a share of that windfall.

[Nomadic]

Your friend:

[LordVreeg]

Ok, there are many ways out of this.

One that comes to mind is convincing other players to sell it, by bribing them heavily with some stuff but future help as well (so that the bribee does not get too powerful)

You could have one of the enemy really, really want the armor back, and go on a whole campaign of terror to get it back.  This may aid convincing the group to dump it.

And domination/charm/possession are cheap and sleazy GM tricks.  Which is probably why I Know them.  having an artificer lusting after that item charm someone into selling/stealing the armor may just need to happen.

[Stargate525]

It's a +2 mechanikal breastplate with a magical generator in the back... There was a suspicious foreigner... He was later revealed to be a spy stealing secrets from the Cygnaran government... The group defeated them both and took the warcaster armor.

Well, that sounds like a rather impressive, expensive, and distinctive piece of equipment there. Considering the general life of a spy, and that he had a ten foot tall robot walking about with him, it's fair to assume that he had enemies. Given the description, it's probably also fair to assume that they might remember the armor and not the person's face. Send a couple of the spy's old enemies in to seek revenge, see how long they keep it when it's a magnet for trouble.

Or, the attacks they made on him damaged the suit, and there are now some hefty repair costs for the generator.

[Llum]

The spy could also have some safeguards in the armor. Like something will go wrong if X isn't done every two weeks or something.

I mean, the guy is a spy, he's the kind of person who would prepare for their gear/stuff to fall into enemy hands.

[Velox]

Lots of great ideas! The PC has had the armor for about two months now, and has been wearing it for five days so far... perhaps I can come up with some sort of trap or difficulty planted by the spy.

Also, I like the idea of sundering the armor. Certainly, if it proves to be a great threat or difficulty for the PCs enemies, it is a tactic they will pursue.

I knew I could count on you CBGers!

[brainface]

The group wizard is wearing it, which greatly compensates for his lack of hit points and inability to wear armor.

In my experience with 3ed, good DMs tended to avoid surrounding the wizard with axe-wielding orcs, because that would instantly kill the poor fellow and that's just not fun.

Is it possible you could balance the armor by just having axe-wielding mooks be more likely to bum-rush the wizard? After all, it sounds like he has something like the AC and Hitpoints of a fighter right now, you could pretty much treat him like one. Especially hit him before he gets crazy buff spells going?

[Velox]

I like your suggestion, brainface, as it's the least metagame idea, and that's generally what I've been doing; increasing the difficulty of encounters in little ways to compensate for the overpowered PC. Just a little tweek to make them sweat.

While this has made combat still fun and interesting, the rest of the group chafes a bit at this characters individual power; he's outshining the rest of the group a bit.

I guess it's not just about the gear or the armor. I could pose the more general question to you fine peoples and ask: How do you handle an overpowered PC?

While its a fun part of the game to advance your character's power, and I depend on my players getting the most out of their characters to survive the combats I put them in, how do I deal with one character who's just a cut above everyone else? He's just more focused on increasing his character's power than everyone else. Anything anybody else can do, he wants to do. If anyone has an advantage he wants it. If he finds himself with any disadvantage, he seeks to be rid of it. He's very persistant, and not a bad player at all, as he's very engaging and into the story and fiction, it's just becoming a strain on myself and the other players to have this power gamer at the table. What would you do?

[Jharviss]

The best (and often undervalued) GM trick for fixing a game is to announce, in game, that you're going to do it. Foreshadowing makes the players start to think about it, gets them used to the idea, and then - when it happens - they don't feel like they've been randomly spited by the GM.

In the example of a powerful magic item, I could easily see an infamous thief walking into a tavern where all the players are hanging out, putting his boot on a chair, and proclaiming, "Before the week's out, I'm going to steal that armor of yours. I guarantee it."

It doesn't need to be the theme of the adventure, but you could have a lot of fun watching the player squirm. I could easily see the player deciding that they're just going to sleep in the armor all the time, but it's a breastplate, and therefore going to give them terrible penalties after a couple naps in it. Eventually the thief will strike, steal the armor, and be off.

If you wanted some sort of competition, you could even have the thief leave behind some gold afterwards, with a note scribbled, "It took me more than a week, and by my honor, I now have to pay for it. 'Course, doesn't mean I'm not going to take it!"  

Because it's armor, I will admit that it's more difficult than other items to balance.  Armor is more difficult to sunder, and has greater resists to just about everything.

On the note of sundering, this is a splendid idea. My one recommendation is that you don't sunder the most powerful item first - sunder the armor second, after you sunder something else. Again, foreshadowing. If the player with the powerful item sees somebody else's item go up in pieces, they'll mentally start preparing and you won't be seen as specifically attacking them.

[Elemental_Elf]

Your friend:

That's just evil.

I like it!

Of course doesn't 4E change their rules so they just break the item down in to rust, that can be sold for like a 1/4 of the magic item's base price? That is definitely a good consolation prize for the affected PCs.

[Steerpike]

I'm a little rusty on IK politics etc but isn't it quite possible that the PC wearing Khadoran warcaster armor is going to get mistaken for... a Khadoran warcaster?  Walking around a Cygnaran town wearing that armor would be like a stormtrooper strolling through a rebel base, wouldn't it?

Might not be an effective "hard" way of getting rid of the armor but more of a "soft" method - make the armor more political/legal trouble than it's worth.  A week in jail and a lengthy interrogation by Cygnaran militia (in which the player will have a lot of explaining to do) might make them think twice about keeping the armor (heck it might even be confiscated permenantly).  Springing the character from political prison might work as a good way for getting the group to bond again.