How do you deal with it as the DM when one party member is absurdly more powerful than the others?

How do you deal with it as the DM when one party member is absurdly more powerful than the others?

I stop playing 3.5

What's there to deal with?

Why is he more powerful?

/thread

>this can only happen in one specific game, never any others

Fucking idiots in this thread.

Sorry. Also stop playing Mutants and Masterminds.

Talk to them like an adult? In games with lots of character customization, it's important that everyone's on the same page in regard to optimization level. If you have something like one super-veteran player who loves making optimal characters in an otherwise newbie/casual group, I'd recommend suggesting said player try optimizing an in-optimal premise- In the case of 3.PF, things like trying to make Monk work, or silly/weird builds. This could allow them to get their optimization fix while ending up at a power level closer to the rest of the party.

Second option is just to tell them to tone it down, a bit. Tell them that you're afraid the character is going to overshadow the rest of the party, and would appreciate it if they min-maxed a bit less.

Third option is to help give the less-optimized players build-advice to help bring them up closer to the optimized player. This of course relies on you having sufficient system mastery to build optimized characters, and in those players being willing to accept such suggestions. They may just want a casual game where they pick what sounds cool, in which case you really need option one or two.

Fourth option, the last-ditch effort, is to try to create more difficult challenges specifically for the overpowered player (IE if the player is a super-spy, facing them with seemingly impossible infiltrations that let them use the full extent of their abilities; throwing in anti-mage tactics against a god-wizard, etc.). I'd generally advise against this tactic, however, as lots of things can go wrong. Other players can feel like they have NO chance of contributing to these situations, given how far above them they are. Alternatively, the optimized player may feel that they are being singled out and punished for building a well-made character as opposed to being recognized for their cleverness with appropriately impressive challenges. I'd really try to work it out with the players before trying to solve it in-game.

Force it.

>Powerful PC is told " we'll wait here, you can handle those (X's)"
>I'll keep all the loot then!
>Sure man...you earned it. We'll go do something different.

And Rifts. And Middle Earth. And Rolemaster. And FantasyCraft. And WoD. A BRPG. And Call of Cthulhu. And FATE. And Runequest. Etc. etc. etc.

Virtually any game with significant character customization can lead to some characters being stronger than others, depending on the system-mastery and optimization level of each player. 3.PF is of course the most infamous game for this to come up in, but most crunch-heavy games can have this come up. I've played Anima, Exalted, and GURPS games where there has been a single player significantly more powerful than the rest due to having a better grasp of the game or accidentally picking stronger options.

Roleplay. Have the powerful dude be a mentor, think weaker enemies are not worth his efforts

Buff the other party members then scale difficulty accordingly.

In every sort of way or just one specific way? Like combat only or something?

This.
As a player, if a DM has a problem with my character I have no issues retiring them so long as I'm given an opportunity to do so in a satisfying manner.

So long as you don't do something incredibly shitty like kill the character off against the players desires, your players are one of two things; reasonable people willing to take some inconvenience for the good of the group, or complete faggots you shouldn't be playing with in the first place.

How did I KNOW this would be the first response? Goddamn the tg groupthink has gotten insane.

OP here. I've tried talking to the player and his response is always the same. he always says "that's the point man I'm suppose to be the strongest" but the other players are CLEARLY tired of it and one of them has said so directly to me privately. He isn't a bad guy or a bad player but I can't get through to him that this is ruining the experience for the other players. I am seeing some good advice in this thread and I have an idea as of what to do moving forward.

>Have question with obvious answer
>Get mad when you get that answers right away
hmmmmm

But it wasn't the obvious answer. OP mentioned nothing about 3.5 lol.

Then stop giving him situations where he can leverage his power, do the other shit people have suggested, or don't run games with him anymore.

Simple.

You talk to the party member and explain that the mechanical imbalance is detrimental to you running a fun game for the whole group.

Most decent players will be more than willing to work with you, either scaling back their character or helping make the other players characters stronger, depending on the preferences of the rest of the group.

If a player actively prioritises their PC's mechanics over the rest of the group having fun, just kick the fucker.

literally not a problem in CoC

Also not a problem in Risus, but some people enjoy playing games with more expansive character-creation which leads to the necessary evil of some characters turning out stronger than others.

>"That's the point man, I'm suppose to be the strongest"
"I'm sorry, but this is a group game; you're not the sole protagonist of this story. Your character being so powerful is detracting from the experience for other players. It's fine if you want to make a powerful character, but you need to leave some room for the other players to shine. Have you considered trying to play a [insert interesting but less than optimal character concept here]? I think you'd enjoy it, and I'm pretty sure you could make the strongest example of that type of character while not overshadowing the other players."

If he is powerful in a way that can be nerfed without hurting others, do that. Like, if he's the only wizard, you can start upping magical defenses, that sort of thing. If not, you can start handing out specially made gear that is of no use to him, but which will buff other players to his level.

Alternately, you could ask him to change his character or make a new one for the good of the game, but since you're here asking advice from people on Veeky Forums, I will just assume that isn't something you're capable of.

In the future, you can avoid the issue by either not playing minmaxy systems or not playing with munchkiny players. Or, again, by telling people not to, but I assume that since you're here, that isn't your thing.

Stop playing D&D.

Smart man.

Stop playing D&D derivatives.

Stop playing shitty games.

>t. 3.PF retard

>some people enjoy playing games with more expansive character-creation which leads to the necessary evil of some characters turning out stronger than others.
Then stop gearing the game around combat, you D&Dtard.

It's if a more powerful player decides to ditch the weakling.

kill him