I started an online campaign a few weeks ago, using D&D beyond for character sheets and to help me manage encounters and Roll20 for VTT.
One of my players created a character and then, at 1st level, gave his character four feats which took his strength to 20, dex to 18 and gave him "Dual Wielding".
I'm not sure why the character builder allows this but how do other people manage this? Is there a way in the Campaign Manager to eliminate this loop hole in character building?
The character builder gives you a lot of freedom outside the official 'rules as written' (aka RAW) because there's a lot of flexibility in the game. It's not a loop hole in the character builder, it's an intentional degree of freedom.
You handle this by telling your players what, if any, homebrew rules you're using and then ask them to adhere to RAW otherwise.
Davedemon answered the what, part of the why is because often DMs will grant feats as boons to PCs. Also, sometimes the easiest way to create some other custom boon for a PC on DDB is through the homebrew feat creator. So being able to add feats at will is kind of necessary.
To be honest, it's no different than a player adding those feats behind your back to their physical paper sheet. Save that in this case you can actually edit your player's character sheets directly if you're the DM of the campaign the character is in, so it's actually easier for you to go in and say "yeah how about no".
Is this player new to D&D entirely? Maybe just explain that this isn't how feats work, if so. Some players may think feats are there to describe cool things a character should be able to do
Well, a simple solution would be to tell your group that Feats can only be taken when they are offered by the class progression and not edited onto the sheet at will. IIRC, that would be every 4 levels for most classes and a single Feat instead of the stat boost. In my opinion, it is a form of cheating, akin to adding magic weapons and armor without DM approval. The builder lets you select Feats when appropriate for the class. Editing the sheet post build is something different.
It has been my experience that the sort of player who would do something like this would also cheat on dice rolls, meta-game, and make the experience less fun for other players and the DM. This sort of behavior needs to be curbed, not excused.
You would be completely justified in explaining that Feats cannot be edited onto the character when they have not been earned in game play (IE - leveling) and having the player remove them. And, if they refused or put them back later, I would kick the player from my game.
But that's just me. I spent too much time dealing with munchkins and dice cheats when I first started playing.
I'd still like to be able to set the flags that are required during character-gen, in particular for the ability score generation to be used. My crew are inexperienced 10-13 year olds - I'm using preset ability scores they can place (a boosted/heroic version of the defined stats list) I'd love to be able to lock that as the score system to be used.
We have guys in our group that will try to get away with anything DDB will allow, against the rules or not. The builder will allow +3 to one stat, custom lineage will allow ANY feat instead of just Origin feats, you can go into the character view screen and add any feat you want, you can directly change HP, AC, stats, pretty much whatever.
Guys have been cheating at the game since the inception, fudging dice rolls, changing things on their character sheet.
You just need to be firm with the expectations for the table/group.
One technique I’ve seen used is to “adjust” the rolls against the guys taking advantage, to balance the campaign between players.
“Gee Sam you are getting hit pretty hard today, good thing you have a lot of HP.”
We have guys in our group that will try to get away with anything DDB will allow, against the rules or not.
Bad actors is a related, but different problem. Especially now with the "2014" and "2024" being mixed up in the builder, newbie players are just taking stuff that D&D is presenting them and it is presenting "Core Rules" (with Core 2024 in the subtitle) at the top.
So if I say, build with "2014" and somebody can pick the 2024 rogue that is presented first, despite me explicitly blocking the "Player’s Handbook (2024)".
And I have to fix the mess.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I started an online campaign a few weeks ago, using D&D beyond for character sheets and to help me manage encounters and Roll20 for VTT.
One of my players created a character and then, at 1st level, gave his character four feats which took his strength to 20, dex to 18 and gave him "Dual Wielding".
I'm not sure why the character builder allows this but how do other people manage this? Is there a way in the Campaign Manager to eliminate this loop hole in character building?
The character builder gives you a lot of freedom outside the official 'rules as written' (aka RAW) because there's a lot of flexibility in the game. It's not a loop hole in the character builder, it's an intentional degree of freedom.
You handle this by telling your players what, if any, homebrew rules you're using and then ask them to adhere to RAW otherwise.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
Davedemon answered the what, part of the why is because often DMs will grant feats as boons to PCs. Also, sometimes the easiest way to create some other custom boon for a PC on DDB is through the homebrew feat creator. So being able to add feats at will is kind of necessary.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
To be honest, it's no different than a player adding those feats behind your back to their physical paper sheet. Save that in this case you can actually edit your player's character sheets directly if you're the DM of the campaign the character is in, so it's actually easier for you to go in and say "yeah how about no".
Is this player new to D&D entirely? Maybe just explain that this isn't how feats work, if so. Some players may think feats are there to describe cool things a character should be able to do
Please do not contact or message me.
Well, a simple solution would be to tell your group that Feats can only be taken when they are offered by the class progression and not edited onto the sheet at will. IIRC, that would be every 4 levels for most classes and a single Feat instead of the stat boost. In my opinion, it is a form of cheating, akin to adding magic weapons and armor without DM approval. The builder lets you select Feats when appropriate for the class. Editing the sheet post build is something different.
It has been my experience that the sort of player who would do something like this would also cheat on dice rolls, meta-game, and make the experience less fun for other players and the DM. This sort of behavior needs to be curbed, not excused.
You would be completely justified in explaining that Feats cannot be edited onto the character when they have not been earned in game play (IE - leveling) and having the player remove them. And, if they refused or put them back later, I would kick the player from my game.
But that's just me. I spent too much time dealing with munchkins and dice cheats when I first started playing.
I'd still like to be able to set the flags that are required during character-gen, in particular for the ability score generation to be used.
My crew are inexperienced 10-13 year olds - I'm using preset ability scores they can place (a boosted/heroic version of the defined stats list) I'd love to be able to lock that as the score system to be used.
We have guys in our group that will try to get away with anything DDB will allow, against the rules or not. The builder will allow +3 to one stat, custom lineage will allow ANY feat instead of just Origin feats, you can go into the character view screen and add any feat you want, you can directly change HP, AC, stats, pretty much whatever.
Guys have been cheating at the game since the inception, fudging dice rolls, changing things on their character sheet.
You just need to be firm with the expectations for the table/group.
One technique I’ve seen used is to “adjust” the rolls against the guys taking advantage, to balance the campaign between players.
“Gee Sam you are getting hit pretty hard today, good thing you have a lot of HP.”
Bad actors is a related, but different problem. Especially now with the "2014" and "2024" being mixed up in the builder, newbie players are just taking stuff that D&D is presenting them and it is presenting "Core Rules" (with Core 2024 in the subtitle) at the top.
So if I say, build with "2014" and somebody can pick the 2024 rogue that is presented first, despite me explicitly blocking the "Player’s Handbook (2024)".
And I have to fix the mess.