Optimization and CR

May 29, 2007 · Filed Under Dungeon Mastering, Dungeons and Dragons, Me and My Gang

So, my buddy Randy wants to run a game for all of his “power gamers.” His idea is that, using the official D&D canon, we should attempt to “break” our characters as badly as we can. We’re not looking for “loopholes” like Pun-Pun, but rather optimizing characters within the letter and spirit of the rules. He will then run us through a “standard” D&D adventure, built for that level character. He wants to see how the standard fare does with optimized characters.

My theory is that a standard adventure with optimized characters will be a challenge, and will meet the Challenge Rating system metrics (i.e. 20% loss for a CR of the party’s level.) I don’t believe it will be a cake-walk. Here’s the basis for my theory: the whole concept of “Challenge Rating” had to be developed largely through playtesting. There are way too many variables in a PC party to simply plug in the right numbers and compare them, so things that make up CR were, in design, somewhat subjective. Here is the problem, then: playtesters are not average gamers. If you are at the point in your life where you are either working for a game company or you are playtesting a new rule set, chances are pretty good that you fall into the “power gamer” category, or at least that you know how to optimize a character.

Now, using this logic, one would assume that a “normal” D&D group would have a tougher time with things. This is true, but only to a degree. If there are 4 players at the table, there is a good chance that 2 have optimized their characters. The two non-optimized characters aren’t totally ineffective, and so they don’t really bring things down that much. In my experience, I have typically had 5 or 6 players run through a standard adventure and come out right about where the CR system says they should.

There’s another thing to think about here, and it sort of goes to the heart of D&D. At the end of the day, D&D has one of the largest rule sets in the world, yet is one game that admits from the start that “house rules” are OK, and that, ultimately, the GM is the interpreter and arbiter of the rules. This in itself changes the math of the game, whether it is Challenge Rating, Gold Piece Value of magic items, or class balance. And, to tell you the truth, I can’t give you an example of a game I’ve played in (except for maybe at Gencon) that didn’t have house rules.

D&D is fluid, and it has always been fluid. If you want concrete inescapable rules, play D&D miniatures.

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