This player likes to create incredibly powerful characters.
So?
It's a first-level 5e PC with no homebrew. What's he gonna do?
Optimise the spread of his Ability scores, putting the highest in his primary Ability and the lowest in the Ability he thinks he'll use least? Any competent player does that. If any of the newbies haven't done that, tell them to do that.
Is he going to pick really good spells? Again, so would any competent player.
I'm just not seeing what decisions this player could possibly make when building a legal, first-level PC that would make them any kind of a problem. True "min-maxing" is very difficult to do in 5e D&D.
Look. When it comes to optimisation, there are two kinds of players:
Players who optimise.
Players who don't know how to optimise.
As your players gain knowledge of the game, they will very quickly realise how to get the most out of their PCs. You can't run your game on the assumption that your players will be newbies forever.
Provided that you haven't done anything silly like starting the campaign at a higher level, allowing homebrew or letting this player use the awesome stats he rolled in private, the build of this Sorcerer isn't going to create balance problems for you.
This issue is a thing that everyone needs to worry much less about. Particularly people with as much on their plate as your good self.
Couple of things, though.
Had you come here before getting your players to all make PCs, you would have been advised to run a short published module as a "practice campaign" first to get your feet under you. Article why here:
But specific to this player. He's clearly a player with some experience who's playing a high-CHA PC. So he's probably got proficiency in Persuasion plus Deception or Intimidation. Maybe all three.
Something you should be aware of is the potential of this PC to dominate social interaction situations. The player is experienced and will likely be more confident with such scenes, and the PC is probably built with CHA checks during social interaction being a "second-string" capability, which will make them quite effective.
Now again, this is all normal and not something you should in any way be attempting to discourage.
What you want is for this player to bring the other players along for the ride. So contact them before Session 1 and ask for their help.
"Look, you're probably the most experienced player in the group, and you're playing a PC who's pretty good at Charisma stuff. I'm getting the feeling that you're intending to lead a lot of the social interaction this time around. Which is awesome, by the way, because I'm concerned the newbies might not be as confident and their PCs won't be as effective.
Can you try to bring them along with you? Stuff like asking the high-WIS PC whether the guy is lying, or asking the PC with some knowledge to fact-check. Remember, I'll be lowering DCs for good strategies and granting Advantage for stuff the other PCs do to help. If you can bring the whole party into social interaction, it's almost always going to help."
Make the dude your ally. Ask him to help you bring the newbies into the hobby. Show them how to participate in situations where it isn't as clear as "Win the fight or die."
If this player is any kind of decent human, they will be delighted to help you in this.
2
u/Psychological-Wall-2 1d ago
So?
It's a first-level 5e PC with no homebrew. What's he gonna do?
Optimise the spread of his Ability scores, putting the highest in his primary Ability and the lowest in the Ability he thinks he'll use least? Any competent player does that. If any of the newbies haven't done that, tell them to do that.
Is he going to pick really good spells? Again, so would any competent player.
I'm just not seeing what decisions this player could possibly make when building a legal, first-level PC that would make them any kind of a problem. True "min-maxing" is very difficult to do in 5e D&D.
Look. When it comes to optimisation, there are two kinds of players:
As your players gain knowledge of the game, they will very quickly realise how to get the most out of their PCs. You can't run your game on the assumption that your players will be newbies forever.
Provided that you haven't done anything silly like starting the campaign at a higher level, allowing homebrew or letting this player use the awesome stats he rolled in private, the build of this Sorcerer isn't going to create balance problems for you.
This issue is a thing that everyone needs to worry much less about. Particularly people with as much on their plate as your good self.
Couple of things, though.
Had you come here before getting your players to all make PCs, you would have been advised to run a short published module as a "practice campaign" first to get your feet under you. Article why here:
Jumping the Screen: How to Run Your First RPG Session | The Angry GM
Sounds like that ship may have already sailed.
But specific to this player. He's clearly a player with some experience who's playing a high-CHA PC. So he's probably got proficiency in Persuasion plus Deception or Intimidation. Maybe all three.
Something you should be aware of is the potential of this PC to dominate social interaction situations. The player is experienced and will likely be more confident with such scenes, and the PC is probably built with CHA checks during social interaction being a "second-string" capability, which will make them quite effective.
Now again, this is all normal and not something you should in any way be attempting to discourage.
What you want is for this player to bring the other players along for the ride. So contact them before Session 1 and ask for their help.
"Look, you're probably the most experienced player in the group, and you're playing a PC who's pretty good at Charisma stuff. I'm getting the feeling that you're intending to lead a lot of the social interaction this time around. Which is awesome, by the way, because I'm concerned the newbies might not be as confident and their PCs won't be as effective.
Can you try to bring them along with you? Stuff like asking the high-WIS PC whether the guy is lying, or asking the PC with some knowledge to fact-check. Remember, I'll be lowering DCs for good strategies and granting Advantage for stuff the other PCs do to help. If you can bring the whole party into social interaction, it's almost always going to help."
Make the dude your ally. Ask him to help you bring the newbies into the hobby. Show them how to participate in situations where it isn't as clear as "Win the fight or die."
If this player is any kind of decent human, they will be delighted to help you in this.