I am a new dm and I have allowed my PC to have GWM. I want to find some creative ways to hinder him and not the party. I was thinking of having monsters or scenarios that give him disadvantage, or grappling him, or something that adds challenge to him. Not all the time but some of the time. Can you provide me with some ideas, scenarios, and or monsters. We are doing a 1-5 level campaign. Thanks in advance.
I'm confused about why you think that PC needs some sort of special treatment? Great Weapon Mastery only offers a free attack when you critical hit something (once, and as a bonus action) and otherwise just trades a -5 to hit for a +10 to damage. Nothing about that is groundbreaking or overly dangerous.
Sorry poor choice of words I want to challenge him, and make sure the encounters allow the other players to shine. So I want to throw some road blocks at him from time to time.
Honestly just about any monster with a high AC will be somewhat challenging to GWM player. Remember that a -5 to an attack roll is mathematically similar to just rolling with disadvantage already, so the player is already handicapping themselves in combat for greater damage potential. Fighting a monster with either high AC or a resistance to normal damage from non-magical weapons will put a crimp in both outcomes. Either the player will hit less often against a high AC, or their damage bonus will get effectively nullified from the damage resistance.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
When you say "I have allowed my PC to have GWM" are you talking about a NPC that you play as though it were a full PC? The use of the word "allowed" is also worrying...as a new DM, you probably shouldn't be disallowing anything in the PHB. (Assuming you allow feats, OFC.) Or by "allow" do you mean it was a bonus (free) feat as a bribe to play a fighter?* You certainly don't wan't to be trying to penalise one person in order for others to shine; it is the responsibility of each player to apply their own spit and polish.
Judging from this and other forums, fighters are unpopular enough as it is.
But if you really must handicap the GWF occasionally.....try swinging a two-handed weapon in a 3 foot diameter tunnel. Or even a 3 foot radius tunnel. Maybe rule that he must have a 5 foot space to the right of him empty or suffer disadvantage on the attack(or maybe not allow the -5/+10 option if you want to soften the blow, so to speak.)....it's not in the rules, but it's not unreasonable.
In my experience, if you give someone a toy and don't let them play with it, they are going to get upset.
*I would approve, and then endorse your desire to occasionally water it down. If it wasn't free, he had to give up the equivalent of at least +2 on his stats to get it, and you are a big meany!
If you wanted to be mean to him, place him against a Polearm master/Sentinel feated NPC, he can stand there and not do anything while the rest of the party shines with range attacks. But that is kind of a petty move on the DM's part :) "for some reason, every foe you face has a polearm!"
Seriously though, is it just Great Weapon Mastery feat that you are singling him out? Why does the rest of the party need help shining in combat? Will the character built for social interaction get scenarios that make it tougher on him but allow the GWM person to shine at that social encounter? Will the lore bard with expertise get some disadvantage when performing while the GWM fighter get a bonus to make him shine reciting a ballad of old?
If it is just to punish the player for taking the feat, give everything he fights 5 more ac and max hit points. He'll slog along while the rest of the party decimates their targets, that is a good way to lose a player though. I know I wouldn't stay at a table long if that happened to me every encounter.
The second feature of Great Weapon Master generally requires advantage or an enemy with really low AC to make sense. Just don't throw a gelatinous cube and that part of the feat is already useless.
I think you are massively overestimating the impact of the +10 to damage will have on combat. He is not going to wade through mobs mowing them down (well maybe minions, but he should!). That -5 to hit is a completely appropriate limit to the effectiveness of the damage bump.
As advice, 5e is about not penalizing things to make a balance. Make sure your other players have abilities, effects and powers that will make them shine. Dont penalize one character to try to make the others look good no matter what they can do. Just bad form. Present a challenge that shines a spotlight on a character's abilities instead. Just a slight perspective change that does come across to your players. Instead of giving the impression you are picking on someone, it will come across as giving the player some "center stage time"
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I am a new dm and I have allowed my PC to have GWM. I want to find some creative ways to hinder him and not the party. I was thinking of having monsters or scenarios that give him disadvantage, or grappling him, or something that adds challenge to him. Not all the time but some of the time. Can you provide me with some ideas, scenarios, and or monsters. We are doing a 1-5 level campaign. Thanks in advance.
I'm confused about why you think that PC needs some sort of special treatment? Great Weapon Mastery only offers a free attack when you critical hit something (once, and as a bonus action) and otherwise just trades a -5 to hit for a +10 to damage. Nothing about that is groundbreaking or overly dangerous.
Sorry poor choice of words I want to challenge him, and make sure the encounters allow the other players to shine. So I want to throw some road blocks at him from time to time.
Honestly just about any monster with a high AC will be somewhat challenging to GWM player. Remember that a -5 to an attack roll is mathematically similar to just rolling with disadvantage already, so the player is already handicapping themselves in combat for greater damage potential. Fighting a monster with either high AC or a resistance to normal damage from non-magical weapons will put a crimp in both outcomes. Either the player will hit less often against a high AC, or their damage bonus will get effectively nullified from the damage resistance.
When you say "I have allowed my PC to have GWM" are you talking about a NPC that you play as though it were a full PC? The use of the word "allowed" is also worrying...as a new DM, you probably shouldn't be disallowing anything in the PHB. (Assuming you allow feats, OFC.)
Or by "allow" do you mean it was a bonus (free) feat as a bribe to play a fighter?*
You certainly don't wan't to be trying to penalise one person in order for others to shine; it is the responsibility of each player to apply their own spit and polish.
Judging from this and other forums, fighters are unpopular enough as it is.
But if you really must handicap the GWF occasionally.....try swinging a two-handed weapon in a 3 foot diameter tunnel. Or even a 3 foot radius tunnel.
Maybe rule that he must have a 5 foot space to the right of him empty or suffer disadvantage on the attack(or maybe not allow the -5/+10 option if you want to soften the blow, so to speak.)....it's not in the rules, but it's not unreasonable.
In my experience, if you give someone a toy and don't let them play with it, they are going to get upset.
*I would approve, and then endorse your desire to occasionally water it down. If it wasn't free, he had to give up the equivalent of at least +2 on his stats to get it, and you are a big meany!
Roleplaying since Runequest.
If you wanted to be mean to him, place him against a Polearm master/Sentinel feated NPC, he can stand there and not do anything while the rest of the party shines with range attacks. But that is kind of a petty move on the DM's part :) "for some reason, every foe you face has a polearm!"
Seriously though, is it just Great Weapon Mastery feat that you are singling him out? Why does the rest of the party need help shining in combat? Will the character built for social interaction get scenarios that make it tougher on him but allow the GWM person to shine at that social encounter? Will the lore bard with expertise get some disadvantage when performing while the GWM fighter get a bonus to make him shine reciting a ballad of old?
If it is just to punish the player for taking the feat, give everything he fights 5 more ac and max hit points. He'll slog along while the rest of the party decimates their targets, that is a good way to lose a player though. I know I wouldn't stay at a table long if that happened to me every encounter.
The second feature of Great Weapon Master generally requires advantage or an enemy with really low AC to make sense. Just don't throw a gelatinous cube and that part of the feat is already useless.
I think you are massively overestimating the impact of the +10 to damage will have on combat. He is not going to wade through mobs mowing them down (well maybe minions, but he should!). That -5 to hit is a completely appropriate limit to the effectiveness of the damage bump.
As advice, 5e is about not penalizing things to make a balance. Make sure your other players have abilities, effects and powers that will make them shine. Dont penalize one character to try to make the others look good no matter what they can do. Just bad form. Present a challenge that shines a spotlight on a character's abilities instead. Just a slight perspective change that does come across to your players. Instead of giving the impression you are picking on someone, it will come across as giving the player some "center stage time"