Everything in an RPG is Situational... Everything

There is, perhaps, no bigger argument when it comes to a game's mechanics than about what's more "powerful" when it comes time to roll the dice. While this is a discussion that can be had on a one-to-one comparison (discussing damage output, for example, or discussing the number of dice thrown for particular effects), the more general the discussion becomes the more likely it is you're comparing apples to pineapples.

That's tough enough to get good sense out of, but there is one, undeniable fact when it comes to RPGs pretty much across the board... every power, every ability, and every skill is going to be more "powerful" in certain situations than it is in others. And if you don't remember that, then all you and the person you're arguing with are doing is blowing hot air in each other's faces.

Look, I'm just saying, wizard trumps barbarian. Fight me!

And before we get into the meat of this, consider signing up for my weekly newsletter so you don't miss any of my new content!

Everything Has Its Strong Suit

I've said this several times before, but it bears repeating. Everything in an RPG has a situation where it's going to be more potent, and a situation where it's going to be useless. Even things we think of as obviously powerful are going to be rendered moot in some situations and games because there are simply too many variables for anything to be universally powerful across the board.

For an obvious example, consider the paladin.

This fight is almost totally one-sided.

Paladins are a perfect example of situational potency. Because if you're in a game chock full of evil dragons, undead, demons, and other nasties who rely largely on fear and disease to make them dangerous enemies, then a paladin almost feels like they're playing with cheat codes on. They're flat-out immune to a lot of the conditions coming their way, they get huge bonus damage from their smite, and they can call on potent divine powers to make them an even bigger threat against evil enemies.

You know the easiest way to kick them off the ladder? Put them in a situation where they aren't fighting evil enemies all the time.

Paladins are geared very specifically to stand against the forces of evil. Even if they aren't doing that (say they're fighting a construct, or dealing with magical beasts, or have an opposing force of neutral mercenaries who are just here for the money) they've still got a full base attack bonus, good armor, ability to heal themselves, and a lot of other tricks... but they are no longer a one-character-wrecking-ball.

Yeah, that checks out.

We see this with a lot of other classes and builds, as well. The two-weapon fighter who becomes a blender if they can take a full attack is rendered a lot less viable if they need to run all over the battlefield just to reach a target (or worse, the target is out of melee reach). The ranger who can utterly destroy their favored enemy (especially if they can grant their bonuses to the rest of the party) becomes a lot less effective when dealing with foes outside that specialty, and outside their favored terrain. Rogues and slayers who find themselves up against foes immune to precision damage suddenly find themselves nowhere near as useful as they would otherwise be.

And before all the spellcaster mains out there start preening, you're not immune to this either. While it's true that magic can give you a pretty deep bag of tricks, even those tricks are going to be situational... and when you aren't prepped for the right situation you're no more useful than the barbarian staring up at the flying dragon with their greatsword in-hand.

Easy examples are the evokers and blasters. Dropping a fireball might be impressive if it's on a large group of regular mooks, but if they all have evasion and your DC isn't up to snuff, then suddenly your big hammer didn't amount to a hill of beans. If your magus relies on the nova blast from a huge shocking grasp critical, and you suddenly stab an enemy that doesn't take that electricity damage (or worse, gets healed by it), then you've got a conundrum on your hands. If you're an enchanter, mindless enemies (or those protected by the right spells) can take your most potent whammies off the table. Illusionists have a similar issue, compounded by enemies that have senses that allow them to ignore illusions as fakes. Those who rely on conjured monsters can easily be countered by low-level protective spells that mean the creatures can't actually attack them. Necromancers often find their most debilitating powers are useless against those who are already undead. And if you specialized in utility spells, but you find yourself on an open battlefield where none of them are appropriate, you may suddenly find yourself wishing you'd prepped a few tactical strikes just to be safe.

And the list goes on.

This Applies To Every Aspect of a Game

A lot of folks out there have probably noticed that the last section focused largely on combat. The reason for that is that it's the most visibly crunchy part of the game, and it can be life and death for the PCs... but it's important to remember that situational ability is still applicable outside of the initiative order.

Especially then, you might say.

Say, for example, you wanted to play a rogue specialized in stealth and trap disarming. If your game is a dungeon crawl, or you're the point person on a heist, then you are in your element and doing exactly what you're made for. If you're in a situation that's largely about social maneuvering and mystery solving, then your skill set may not come into play as often (though it may be useful in certain spots, such as eavesdropping, or breaking into a location to try to find evidence).

Alternatively, the big bad bruiser who would be lord of the battlefield in a combat heavy game is going to be twiddling their thumbs in a campaign where problems can't be meaningfully solved through the application of violence. While the diviner, who may have been less than helpful during a siege or a run-and-gun style campaign, is going to be a magical Sherlock Holmes when it comes to solving a murder, or finding out what happened to stolen valuables.

Every ability, every skill, every spell, is going to have a situation where it is useful, and where it is less than useful. And if the situation where it's strong doesn't come up in a particular campaign, it's easy to think of it as useless. If the campaign is made up almost entirely of situations where a particular ability is strong, then it can seem far more potent than it really is.

Specify Your Parameters

Something that I think would make these discussions far more useful for all of us would be if we narrowed our parameters for what we're actually talking about. It would also stop us from comparing totally unrelated fruits to declare which is the best.

For example, if your parameters are, "What is the most powerful class for killing demons?" you now have a level playing field to compare abilities, feats, powers, etc. If the question is, "Who puts out the highest melee damage?" that's also something you can find an actual answer for using math instead of conflicting opinions.

This also works when you try to discuss character utility and breadth of usefulness over a vague "power" that can be hard to quantify. Comparing the spell lists for bards and wizards, for example, you could see which spells would allow you to overcome particular obstacles that would otherwise be quite hazardous to the party (things like endure elements or perhaps fly). This also stops conversations where one person feels that a bard is more flexible (and thus more powerful), and someone else feels that a barbarian has maximized damage output (and is thus more powerful), since neither of you are talking about the same thing.

Lastly, remember to specify in which situation these things are coming into play. Who is the enemy, how many are there, what is the environment, what is the task at hand, etc.? Because without these specifics we don't have anything to gauge the situation by, and you might be extolling the virtues of a sledgehammer at solving problems that instead call for a can of WD-40 and a Phillips head screwdriver.

Like, Share, and Follow For More!

That's all for this week's Crunch topic! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio! Or if you'd like to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well! And if you'd like to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little bit of help can go a long way, trust me on that one.

Everything Has a Weakness (So Be Sure You Know Your Options)

There is an old saying one of my martial arts instructors taught me when I was young; soft on hard, hard on soft. The idea was that you need to match the type of strike to where you're hitting your enemy, otherwise you're going to do more damage to yourself than you will to them. The stomach is a soft target, so you strike it with a fist for a hard blow for best effect. The head is a hard, rigid target so you should use a softer blow like a palm strike instead of a punch so you don't shatter your knuckles on your opponent's skull.

What does that have to do with gaming?

We've all had those moments in our games where we've run face-first into a wall. Where the enemy's armor class was too high, their strength too great, their damage resistance too big, or their movement speed too fast. When you come up against one of these challenges, you've basically got two options; throw up your hands and admit defeat, or switch tactics to strike at their soft spots.

Dammit, parried AGAIN?!

I'll be talking about Pathfinder here, but the basic theory can be applied to almost any game. All you have to do is ask, "What is this enemy bad at defending?" and that should be the first step of your strategy.

A High Armor Class Isn't As Unstoppable As You Think

Take your shot, there's a 20 on that die.

One of the most common situations you'll run into is an enemy with a really high armor class. Maybe it's a rampaging tank, or a magically-augmented machine, or your party just wasn't built to for the battlefield, but for whatever reason you need to roll really high just to land a hit on this thing.

The issue is that you're probably attacking the enemy's biggest strength, when you should instead be either attacking something different, or reducing that strength in some way. When you find yourself facing this situation, consider alternative options like:

- Attacking a Saving Throw: It doesn't matter what kind of armor you have on when a fireball goes off, or the illusionist hits you with color spray. This typically requires use of a spell, but items like grenades and thunderstones as well as wands and scrolls make this option available to any PC.

- Attacking Touch Armor Class: Whether you're hucking a tanglefoot bag or shooting a scorching ray, it is generally much easier to hit a target creature's touch armor class than their standard one. While not all items/abilities that hit touch armor class will deal damage, many of them can cause useful status effects that will make the combat easier.

- Attacking Combat Maneuver Defense: A big, bad suit of armor and a heavy shield can make someone tough to hit, but it doesn't add anything to their combat maneuver defense. So whether you want to trip them, disarm them, or grapple them if you're really sassy, this can be an extremely useful alternative attack strategy. It will provoke attacks of opportunity, of course, and the higher an enemy's size, Strength, and Dexterity are the tougher it's going to be to succeed... but it should be considered all the same.

- Reducing The Enemy's Armor Class: There are dozens of ways you can reduce the enemy's armor class in order to make it less potent. Items like a tanglefoot bag (or tanglefoot arrow, if you want to keep the target at a distance) can provide a serious advantage, as can spells like adhesive spittle. Tripping the enemy puts them prone, which gives you a +4 advantage to hit them. Sundering their shield or armor would mean they no longer gain a benefit from that particular item (though it also means you'd have to repair it before you could use it yourself when the battle is over).

High Saving Throws Aren't Unassailable

Parry this, ye blasted casual!

Another issue (particularly for spellcasters) is that enemies often have saving throws that are just too high to give your spells any real impact. Assassins that can cartwheel through area of effect magic without taking any damage, frenzied giants whose constitutions are nearly unstoppable, or learned wizards whose minds and wills are like juggernauts.

Again, this won't make you completely useless (especially if you choose spells that still do something even if the target succeeds on their save). It just means you need to aim for the target's vulnerable areas instead. Try strategies like:

- Switching Saves: Most enemies will have one save that's worse than the others. If they're acing your Reflex and Will saves, consider testing their Fortitude. A variety of tricks in your bag helps a lot here.

- Reducing Saves: As with armor class, an enemy's saves can be reduced. If you can render an enemy shaken (whether it's through a spell, an Intimidate check, or some other feature), that imposes a -2 penalty on their saving throws. If the enemy can be entangled, that reduces their Reflex saves. Doing damage to (or imposing a negative on) an enemy's attributes will reduce an associated saving throw.

- Focusing on Other Areas: If an enemy has really good saving throws, it's likely their touch armor class (or even their regular armor class) isn't very good. Targeting that area instead will allow you to get more bang for your buck.

Other Issues You May Need To Counter

Armor class and saving throws are the most common challenges for players to overcome, but they're far from the only ones. Which is why it's a good idea to consider having a plan for some of the following effects.

- Flight: Flying enemies are the bane of any melee character. Whether it's ensuring you have a way to fly yourself, tanglefoot arrows to cut their speed and bring them back down to earth (if you're lucky), or even something as simple as a lasso to rope and hold your foe in place, this will show up in game sooner or later. And, of course, always have a back-up weapon, wand, or spell for the occasion.

- Damage Reduction: Some creatures take a particular type of weapon to hurt. What a lot of players don't know is the higher the magical enchantment is on a weapon, the more forms of damage reduction it ignores. For the magi, paladins, and warpriests out there, if you can get the flat bonus to +4 or higher, it allows you to ignore silver, cold iron, and even adamantine requirements for DR. Something to keep in mind, along with knowing that tossing acid and alchemist fire at werewolves is also a solid choice.

- Elemental Resistances/Immunities: This is a big one, especially for characters who are committed to their fire, ice, or lightning schtick. Always have a way to switch up which element you're using, and make sure that you're not stuck with only one option. Otherwise you're going to find yourself in a situation where your biggest sledgehammer might as well be a feather duster.

- Darkness/Senses: One of the big advantages a lot of enemies have over the PCs is that they can see in places the party can't. Whether it's normal darkness (which is typically rendered null by magic weapons that shine like a torch, as well as regular darkvision), deeper darkness (something you need a daylight spell at the very least to get rid of), or the ability to turn invisible (glitterdust and smog pellets are your best friend in these situations), there's always a chance the foe tries to use their ability to see, or to go unseen, when it's the biggest disadvantage to the party.

The Game is Always Multi-Dimensional

There are so many different tools and strategies that it's impossible to be prepared for everything that might come your way. With that said, it's good to have at least 2-3 backups in your belt pouch should your main gun happen to be ineffective against a particular encounter. And the more options you can keep on-hand (especially if it provides the option to the rest of the party), the easier a time you're going to have throughout your campaign.

With that said, I would like to take a moment to remind everyone of an old project of mine I worked on for TPK Games. Because the Feats of Legend series was a lot of fun, but it also put a lot of unique tools into players' hands. So if you haven't had a chance, take a moment to glance over them!

I try not to play favorites... but if you were going to pick one, I'd recommend this one.

- 20 Infernal Feats: From devil-spawned tieflings, to worshipers of dark powers, if the fires of hell run in your veins then these feats will be perfect for you.

- 20 Undead Feats: Whether you want to put one foot in the grave to gain some of the resistances of the living dead, or you've simply run too much dark power through your soul, these feats are what you've been looking for.

- 20 Celestial Feats: From the faithful, to those whose ancestry mixes with the celestial realms, these feats put the power of the holy light into your hands. The bane of wicked foes!

- 30 Fey Feats: A bigger collection than normal, these feats are for those with a tie to the first world... a place where the rules don't apply, and logic has never managed to take root.

- 20 Orc Feats: One of the best-reviewed collections of the Feats of Legend series (by Endzeitgeist himself) this one lets you put some real fire in your orcs and half-orcs!

Like, Share, and Follow For More!

That's all for this week's Crunch topic! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio! Or if you'd like to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well! And if you'd like to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little bit of help can go a long way, trust me on that one.