What do you do when...

[blacksheepcannibal]

...one of your players wants to play a burglar that can do 8d6 + 14 damage on a sneak attack (threat 18-20) - at level 6.

[Jake]

Be a little impressed. Wonder why he isn't going Scout to make it 9d6. Melee feats maybe.

I'm guessing about 4d6 is from Knife B and Wolf Pack S, which means he can't throw it out whenever he wants. What is his build? Let's have a look and we'll see what can be done.

[Krensky]

Give him a no prize for being a combat monster and then hit him where he's weak.

[MugMug]

Put him in a socially/politically awkward situation and smile beatifically.

Walter

[Desertpuma]

Put him in a socially/politically awkward situation and smile beatifically.

Walter

This is still the most classic way to deal with a combat monkey. ... Force him to deal with a precocious little girl who follows him around and always speaks the truth. It will not only be unnerving but can be hysterically funny as he tries to deal with it. He's her new hero after all and heroes don't kill when they don't have to.

[Sletchman]

I'm more impressed by +14 damage by 6th level then I am by the sneak attack to be honest.  Flat damage is so rare that I've only seen that kind of thing by a Sword chain user (which is kinda made for that sort of thing).  What's his build?

I'm gonna go against the grain and say that my response is to let him kick 1000 kinds of ass in melee.  I'd be pissed if I made an amazing social character and then the GM ran nothing but fights and never let me use my influence or contacts.  Don't punish the guy for wanting to be good at something, just run a normal balanced campaign and let him shine every so often.  Most players will realise after an adventure or two that they are only having fun 1/3 of the time and then try to balance up their weaknesses naturally - especially if your fight scenes show that he has plenty of murder ability.

[blacksheepcannibal]

Yeah, a big part of the reason for my switch to FC instead of D&D4e was that we were running 6 out of 8 hours in 3 combats per session, goofing off for another hour, and split the last half hour between terrible skill challenges that nobody cared for, and RP. I'm wanting to break it down into moreso 1/3 adventuring/skill challenges, 1/3 combat, and 1/3 RP. That would be my ideal, with significant crossover. (I also have a really fun new way of doing skill challenges that makes it interesting, instead of rote skill checks pass/fail).

His build is something like Pech Rogue Burglar 7; 12 str, 19 dex, 14 con, 14 int, 12 wis, 11 cha; feats wolf pack basics/mastery/supremacy, knife basics/mastery/supremacy, ferocity basics (note: campaign property: fast feats). Skills +9 acrobatics, +11 athletics, +8 blend, +9 bluff, +12 craft, +1 disguise, +6 haggle, +1 impress, +1 intimidate, +5 investigation, +2 medicine, +11 notice, +14 prestidigitation, +12 resolve, +9 ride, +9 search, +9 sneak, +8 survival, +9 tactics.

The trick is, his character is going to be a glass cannon - it's something this player has done before, and often, so I know how it will likely go. He'll take down an NPC, and maybe one or two more, and do huge amounts of damage, and if they NPCs they are fighting are intelligent, they'll all gang up on the huge damage stabbing machine and take it down - and FC is way less forgiving than D&D4e.

[Desertpuma]

Obviously the player understands he is a glass cannon if this is routine for him and, yes, FC is much less forgiving so he could go down hard enough to make him want to think of something different for his next character.

[Gentry]

(I also have a really fun new way of doing skill challenges that makes it interesting, instead of rote skill checks pass/fail).

And that would be...

[MugMug]

(I also have a really fun new way of doing skill challenges that makes it interesting, instead of rote skill checks pass/fail).

And that would be...

Butt-charades?

[Bill Whitmore]

He sounds like Belkar.  What he needs is a keeper, someone with The Extra Mile for when the glass cannon breaks.

Kind of like this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwADL_f4DWA&feature=related 

I had a similar Pech build, but without fast feats I was missing about half those Sneak Attack dice.  Let him know, he should add Bleed to his weapon and get the Salt the Wound trick.  If the first attack doesn't down his target, he may be able to add another d6 on future attacks, if the target fails the Bleed save.

[Krensky]

I feel compelled to respond to Sletch's comment:

That's what I said. Certainly don't be afraid to throw a combat or two at them that gobs of lethal damage won't win (especially if it plays to the strengths of the other PCs, like a fencer and stress or a club user and subdual) but mostly I meant to throw him in encounters that are not combat based.

Something that makes him deal with social situations, or where combat isn't a viable solution.

Also, yeah, he's going to get messed up good if the red team focuses their attention on him. Be sure and have that happen. Frankly I would have put less focus on damage (since most of it's actually wasted) and picked up some of the Ghost and Anonymity chain, maybe some Misdirection.

Also, remember he only gets the Wolfpack sneak attack dice and threat boost when flanking.

[Bill Whitmore]

Also, remember he only gets the Wolfpack sneak attack dice and threat boost when flanking.

While that is true, it is a lot easier for someone with Wolf Pack Mastery to be "flanking" his target as he only needs one other teammate adjacent to the target in any configuration.

Now, characters like this tend to fly off the handle and just kill whatever is ailing them so I would draw your attention to pages 319-321; Crime and Punishment, Laying Down the Law and Trials.

Also consider, if the rest of the party is covering for them, they could also be put on trial for aiding a criminal.

Hopefully it never comes to that, but if the party knows the consequences up front he may not be so keen to turn every encounter into a combat encounter.

[Sletchman]

I feel compelled to respond to Sletch's comment:

That's what I said.

Sorry, I misunderstood you.  I thought "a no prize" meant just avoid combat encounters in favour of social ones (to "hit him where's he's weak").  My bad.

I also agree with Bill.  While I say "let him shine" that doesn't mean "let him murder at a whim with impunity".  The Crime and Punishment rules are very important - your character kills their adoring fan, arrest them.  They resist and attack the guards?  The guards can open fire with Crossbows, and hopefully their second character can learn not to be so bloodthirsty.

[Krensky]

I feel compelled to respond to Sletch's comment:

That's what I said.

Sorry, I misunderstood you.  I thought "a no prize" meant just avoid combat encounters in favour of social ones (to "hit him where's he's weak").  My bad.

Damn limeys.

Or kids.

Or limey kids.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-Prize



What I meant by a no-prize is that it's not a huge deal so clap them on the back and congratulate them for squeezing lots of damage out per hit even though it's not as big a deal as people think. Like I said, most of that damage will be wasted a lot of the time (anything above what was needed to make the NPC fail it's damage save). They get to rock in combats where gobs of lethal damage is optimal. They're less impressive in combats where that's not the case. Or ones where sneak attack doesn't apply.

Just like they get to be awesome in those fights where their schtick works, they should face fights where it doesn't. Even a few where it makes them sub-optimal. They also need to face encounters where combat is not the solution. Some of those should be solvable with their non-combat abilities, but just as many or more shouldn't be so other PCs can shine.