Footage of Fighter testing out his new combat style can be found here.

Now that that’s out of the way, why don’t we talk about OP builds and suspicious numbers? It’ll be a quick talk, because it’s a fairly straightforward point. All I really want to say is this: If something is too good to be true, it usually is.

That old truism came into stark relief recently when I encountered a player excited for a sorcerer build.

“What’s it do?” I asked.

“It’s invincible!” he replied. And with a wide grin he explained, “My dude has better AC than the Fighter at level 10!”

I was intrigued. But as he explained, I became increasingly distressed about the guy’s soon-to-be-burst bubble. He was rocking a 38 AC in PF1e, and it was all thanks to the magical equivalent of Fighter’s multiple armors. I could only lay a hand upon his shoulder, shake my head like a world-weary TV doctor, and give him the bad news.

“I’m sorry. We did everything we could. Your build died on the operating table.”

Nine times out of ten, when you think you’ve come across the next killer build, there’s some little rule that you forgot. In the case of my disappointed sorcerer buddy, it was the old “most bonuses of the same type do not stack” rule.

While there are certainly OP builds out there, do yourself a favor and verify that mess before you trot out your fancy new PC. Get a second opinion. Ask around on forums and with your resident min-maxer. Whether your AC is nuts, or you’re TKOing enemies with incorporeal attacks (I just reach in and crush the heart!), or you’re dropping wildshaped whale druids on the enemy for 1,000+ damage, chances are that something may be a little off. So do your due diligence and double-check. I’ll be the first to congratulate you if you do manage to pull off some advanced (and totally legal) rules-fu.

Question of the day then! Have you ever encountered a “too-good-to-be-true” build? What was it trying to do, and what was technically wrong about it? Sound off with your favorite “it works great if I get my GM to allow it” shenanigans down in the comments!

REQUEST A SKETCH! So you know how we’ve got a sketch feed on The Handbook of Heroes Patreon? By default it’s full of Laurel’s warm up sketches, illustrations not posted elsewhere, design concepts for current and new characters, and the occasional pin-up shot. But inspiration is hard sometimes. That’s why we love it when patrons come to us with requests. So hit us up on the other side of the Patreon wall and tell us what you want to see!